//------------------------------// // Journal Entry Eleven - The Adventurers Complete Encyclopedia to Crafting and Mining. // Story: Journal of a Lost Changeling // by IMR1fley //------------------------------// Entry Eleven I'm somewhat anxious as I start to read through the first tome. Just looking at the size of this encyclopedia is intimidating. I'm not too sure how much of the information I'll be able to retain, if any. There must be so much knowledge stored within this one book, and I'm about to take the plunge of my life. I'm not a scholar, I'm just a drone. But in order to survive and learn more about this new place, I have to reach out of my norm. Well, I guess there's no use stalling any longer, let's dive in. Looking at the contents, I see that my earlier hesitation was somewhat earned. There are so many separate parts of the encyclopedia, but not only that, there are subsections, sub-subsections, and even sub-sub-sections and sub-sub-sub-sections! Not to mention that some of these subsections can tally up to 100 pages alone. I know I'm in over my head with this book. But I guess I don't really need to read and memorize every part on my first read-through. I'll be sure to jot down and mark anything that will definitely help in the near future. Some of the more useful parts of the tome are titled: The World, Crafting, and Survival. There are a few other sections, like "Redstone circuits," and the like, but those don't seem necessary at this point and time. I see no need to bother with them. "The World" This world is definitely not on the same page as Equestria. While it has several biomes, ecosystems, and creatures, there are no mentions of leylines, thaumatic fields, or anything related to magic that works in the same way as it would back home. The only thing that seems to be remotely similar is some form of potion brewing. Even then, it's a very loose similarity. Also, this world seems to be lacking diversity. I didn't quite notice it at first, but there is a striking lack of different elements available (at least, that are known,) in this world. If we were to talk about sub-surface materials, then there are very few things that can be found. I can list every element/stone/material that can be found under the ground easily. There is dirt, stone, gravel, coal, iron, lapiz lazuli, redstone, emeralds, obsidian, and diamond. That's every solid element found underground. Not once is quartz, marble, basalt, limestone, or any kind of rock mentioned. It's as if the world just decided that one of every basic type was necessary. Seems rather lazy to me. The creatures that inhabit this world are a different matter. The world has several similar creatures, most of them sharing common traits with Equestria. However, once again, this world seems to lack a substantial number of species. I don't think there's even a single kind of bird mentioned in this book. It may just be that this book is lacking, but it claims to be the "Complete Encyclopedia." Perhaps its' focus is much more narrow than I presume, but that still doesn't quite make sense to me. Anyway, returning to the topic of creatures, the main passive creatures that seem to inhabit my local region are cows, chickens, pigs, and sheep. They are all docile, and simple creatures. The book mentions using them for livestock, and even has methods for breeding, slaughtering, and skinning them all. It also mentions the various uses the byproducts of these animals have. I find it oddly humorous that this was designed for a being that actually ate the animals themselves, and never considered that someone would feed off the breeding alone. That does lead me to wonder though, what am I do do with the animals that will no doubt spawn as I use the breeding for sustenance? I see overpopulation becoming a potential issue. I think I'll just wait that question out. I've got enough on my plate as it is, and I think it will take some time before it becomes an actual problem. There are also the neutral creatures. These are creatures that will leave you be, unless you provoke them. This is where we start to find creatures not from Equestria. We have two standard species, Wolves and (Very VERY Big) spiders. Wolves won't attack unless directly attacked. Spiders seem to become feral during the night, so I will make efforts to avoid going out during that time. The last neutral creature has no similarities from any living equestrian creatures that I know of. A creature that only appears during the night, comprised of a mottled black color, with glowing purple eyes called an "Enderman." This creature is completely docile unless actively attacked, or (for reasons not understood,) eye contact is made. I'm not sure what to make of this creature. Lastly come the aggressive ones. The beings that wish nothing more than to rip your flesh from your bones. I've decided to simply memorize their appearances for the sole purpose of avoiding them. The majority of these creatures seem to be undead, and that is cause for great concern. Not to mention the green monsters referred to as "Creepers." I'm quite sure I won't be going outside during the night. "Crafting" Crafting looks like a very simple matter at first glance. Simply make a table, and gather the materials necessary, and viola, you have some (crudely made,) tools. The tools also have different tiers of strength and durability. This makes sense, but I'm not entirely sure how useful gold would be in most of these situations. Last I'd checked, gold is extremely pliable, and not worth the effort to use, given it's rarity. Given how numerous diamonds in Equestria, I expect I'll have a full set of diamond tools and armor in minutes. One can easily find diamonds in ample supply by digging merely around ten meters underground. I don't think it will be that big of an issue. It also goes into detail on different building materials you can use, such as wood for walls, fences, doors, steps, etc. That will definitely come in handy when I decide to build some form of fortification. These building blocks will be vital in the future. There is also the option for various aesthetic and decorative pieces. That would help make things more appealing to the eye, though we changelings are not usually one for such things. We'll see about that. "Survival" Here, the book goes into many subjects that I already know most about. There are sections on finding food, building shelters, signs of poor health, and so on. This entire section will probably be the least useful for me, seeing as my physiology and biology is clearly different from the figures described in the book. However, perhaps there will at some point in time be use for me to use it on the locals, if only to improve my standing in their community. That is all I'll look into for now. I think I've gotten a decent enough grasp on some of the basic going-ons of this world. Even though I've only gone through such a little portion of this encyclopedia, I've gathered a large amount of knowledge. I've only scratched the surface, and I've learned so much. I'm know for a fact I'll be referring to this book over and over again during my stay and travels in this world. Next, I'll study the "HAYO's guide to Crafting a new Industrial Revolution." This book is nearly as big as what I just looked through, and I don't even know how long I'll end up puzzling and pondering the book itself, let alone the contents. What does it mean, "industrial revolution?" What is this alloy the book is made of? Why is the paper so uniform and perfect? What is HAYO? Hopefully, I'll receive some answers soon.