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The beginning of a Hermitcraft season, Mumbo had explained, is always rather chaotic. He had not lied about this. Three had been quickly overwhelmed by the initial flurry of activity, wherein it had attempted to catalog the names, faces, and defining details of twenty-two other Players in rapid succession, and while it had planned to stick to Mumbo’s familiar presence for its first foray into this new server, it entirely loses track of the man in in the mix of all the Hermits dispersing from spawn and instead ends up in a jungle, alone.
Thus, for lack of a better goal, it begins as all Players do: it gathers wood.
As it crafts its first tools, Three realizes that it cannot remember the last time it started a survival world.
Of course, Three is a weapon; it is designed to survive to the completion of any mission it is given. As such, it retains knowledge of all the skills necessary for survival, including any current and upcoming world updates, so that it might perform at maximum efficiency. It knows that over the course of its time as the Watchers’ Blade, it must certainly have joined many survival worlds in order to seek out its targets. It most likely, on occasion, would have stayed on survival worlds for extended periods in order to gather information on potential threats. However, all mission details are lost during the reconditioning process, and thus Three has no memory of what its experiences on those theoretical worlds may have been.
It does, in recent memory, recall an ugly house on a pay-to-win server, and a hollow monument in an old, abandoned world. These had both been survival, but its stay in both locations had been relatively transient. Passing through established worlds as a visitor was one thing; establishing its own place on an entirely fresh world was another entirely.
This was not to be a brief stay for a mission or a temporary safehouse. On Hermitcraft, Three is meant to make itself a home.
Three realizes that the last time it had started a new world to make a home for itself, it would not have been Three at all. The thought is unsettling, to say the least.
Perhaps thankfully, it does not have long to linger on the thought before it is interrupted by a voice coming from just over a ridge.
“—sir, good sir, how are you!”
Three identifies the voice from its brief initial encounters with the group at spawn as the Player designated GoodTimesWithScar. It recalls from Mumbo’s briefing that Scar is a builder and terraformer and “really quite a lovely guy.” It also recalls Mumbo’s anxious anticipation at the prospect of Three meeting the rest of his friends.
It does not want Mumbo to be disappointed.
However, as Three scales the ridge and readies itself to make conversation, Scar’s voice continues, “Question, Mister Panda: do you provide anything in the meat department? Because I am hungry and in need of some food.”
Three reaches the top of the ridge, intending to quickly inform Scar that pandas are neutral passive mobs that will retaliate to attack, only to catch the burst of items signaling a player death and a message in the global chat announcing GoodTimeWithScar was slain by Panda.
Ah.
As the chat fills with the bewildered reactions of other Hermits, Three gathers up the fallen items and places them in a chest to prevent their despawn. It is little wonder that Scar had been so quick to die, it thinks; the man had been wandering the jungle at night with only wooden tools and a scant few slices of melon.
The panda that killed Scar snuffles and rolls onto its back. Three wonders briefly if it ought to kill it, but ultimately decides there would be little point in doing so. It doubts that the other nearby panda would understand the concept of retribution.
Thankfully, the jungle is not too terribly far from spawn, and it is not long before Three hears Scar approach with a call of, “I promise I’m not gonna eat you, I just want my stuff!”
“Your items have been secured,” Three says.
Scar emerges from the bamboo thicket. When he spots Three, he smiles. “Why, hello there!” he says. “You’re the new guy, Mumbo’s friend, right?”
“That is correct.”
“Well then, lovely to meet you! GoodTimesWithScar here, though the people just call me Scar.” He shoots a glance behind Three. “And I’d love to get to know you maybe somewhere away from those angry beasties over there?”
One of the pandas sneezes.
“The server is set to forgive dead Players,” Three says. “The pandas will not become aggressive unless attacked again.”
“Right, of course, of course!” Scar nods as if he had been aware of this information, despite clearly being unaware of this information. He approaches and notices the newly placed chest. “Oh, you grabbed my stuff! Thank you very kindly.”
Three steps aside to allow him access to the chest and watches as he reclaims his meager inventory. It notes with some bemusement that underneath Scar’s garish purple robes, his legs are clad only in brightly patterned boxer shorts. “Why are you not wearing pants?” it asks.
Scar laughs and strokes the obviously false beard on his face. “Well, I’m a terribly absent-minded old wizard, you see. Must have forgotten to put them on!”
Three frowns. “This server is not modded to include magic beyond standard vanilla enchantments,” it says.
Scar waves a hand. “Never mind that. I’m a very magical wizard, I promise!”
Three updates its information on Scar to include that he is likely an idiot.
“Anywho,” Scar says, “I passed by a starter base on the way back from spawn. Are you settling down in this area too?”
“That was not mine,” Three says. “I have yet to choose a location in which to build.”
It hesitates. Scar is a well-established member of Hermitcraft, and one whom Mumbo spoke highly of. Despite most likely being an idiot, he may yet have useful advice.
“I do not remember building a base for myself before,” Three says. “I am…unsure how best to begin.”
Scar nods and continues to stroke his false beard. “Were you more of a creative builder before?”
“No,” Three says. “I was the Watchers’ Blade.”
“Oh, right,” Scar says mildly. “Well, starting out is always the hardest part. It helps to have a theme you want to build on. That’s why I’m a wizard!” He gestures down at his robes. “I decided I wanted to play with organics this season, and I figured that a magical village would be perfect for that. So, do you have any idea of something you want to work on?”
Three nods. “I have decided I want to learn interiors.”
Scar hums. “Well, if that’s your goal, why not find a good hillside and dig out some rooms? Like that hobbit hole I passed by; that way you can jump straight to the interior without much work on the outside.”
Three is surprised to find that Scar’s advice is not only useful, it also gives it a clearly defined goal. It mentally reassesses Scar again. “That is…helpful,” Three says. “You are much less of an idiot than my initial estimation indicated.”
“Why, thank you!” Scar’s smile shifts rapidly to confusion. “I think?”
Three takes stock of its inventory and makes ready to depart. “I will search for a good hillside, as you have said.”
Upon seeing it start to walk away, Scar makes a noise of protest and quickly catches up to match its stride. “Actually, lucky for you, my journey back from spawn gave me a good lay of the land. I spotted a nice hill just over yonder, not too far from the lake where I’m settling. We could be neighbors!” He gives Three a sheepish grin. “Plus, if you base close by, it’ll make it easier to pay you back for saving my stuff from the killer pandas. What do you say?”
Three pauses its steps. It had made no plans that would conflict with Scar’s proposal—though it had anticipated maintaining proximity to Mumbo, neither of them had vocalized any such intent. Making use of a previously discovered location would be more efficient than searching the world itself. And, Scar had thus far been both agreeable and useful. It had little reason to refuse.
Slowly, Three nods. “Willing to comply with being neighbors.”
Scar beams. “Great! Right this way— Actually, remind me, what was your name again?”
“I am Three,” Three says.
“Right this way, Three!” Scar takes the lead and, as he skirts a wide berth around the pandas, shoots a smile back over his shoulder. “And welcome to Hermitcraft!”