#I think while working nether hub or nether builds for a while he might change back to the natural born fire

[jamalambbamm]

Okay so, being a creature of the nether, lots of nether creatures are affected by water and snow. Striders mainly come to mind with getting cold as soon as they walk off lava.

Tango sorta works the same imo, when in the nether, his skin is more flushed and his hair will burn a more red flame. This is because the nether is keeping him at his warm optimal temperature, so the flame burns colder.

On the overworld, his hair will burn a hotter flame and therefore is more yellow white.

While living in the citadel that's full of ice, the flame then becomes white/blue as that's usually the colour of a hot flame than of red/yellow fire. This also happens if he were to live in any other cold biome or in the end as its a void/space type biome.

[theres-an-impulstor-among-us]

It's that time once again when Diabolical plays in my head on loop.

Can I please get fic where Hels gets back on hermitcraft server? Causing some shenanigans and general trouble?

This was so much fun to write, thank you!! It also ended up being WAY more angsty than I expected but I’m sure you’ll enjoy it anyway, my friend :) Slight CW: minor descriptions of injuries

...

  Welsknight had been avoiding his nether portal as much as possible since he saw his doppelganger disappear through it. Something about the formerly harmless particles and whooshing noise when he walked past it now just about gave him an anxiety attack every time he walked past it. Once, when Jevin popped out of it to say hello just hours after Helsknight had left, Wels had reacted so violently that Jevin was STILL wary around him all these months later. 

  Nobody used his portal anymore. He made sure of that. 

  One sunny day, he finally worked up the courage to go to the shopping district, something he hadn’t dared to do in weeks in case something happened. He went straight past his own portal and flew all the way to Etho’s; there was no way he was going to use the portal his evil clone went through to go back to the hell dimension from which he had come. 

  The shopping district had changed a lot in the weeks Wels had been avoiding it. He couldn’t help staring around at the myriad of new shops that had sprung up. It almost seemed like an entirely new place. 

  As Wels entered the barge, he found another Hermit already inside, browsing the chest full of golden carrots. 

  “Hi, Joe,” said Wels politely, unable to hide a smile at the sight of his old friend. 

  Joe turned and gave him a wave. “Howdy, Wels. Haven’t seen you around here for a few weeks.”

  “Yeah, it’s been… a while. Just been busy, that’s all.” Wels awkward;y indicated the chest. “You, uh… buying stuff?”

  “Nah, I’m not dealing with diamonds this season. I thought Grian might be open to some kind of trading system using stuff other than diamonds but he hasn’t responded to my message yet, so in the meantime, I’m-.” He broke off with a frown. “Okay, I think I might have forgotten to actually send the message.”

  Wels chuckled. “You’re busy too, huh? You only start forgetting stuff when you’ve got a lot on your mind.”

  Joe matched his chuckle. “I’ve got quite a few projects going at the moment, yes. You wanna come over to my base sometime and I’ll show you what I’m working on?”

  “That sounds nice, Joe, thanks.”

  At that moment, the sound of a firework going off nearby caused both of them to look up. A second later, a figure glided through the door and landed neatly on the ground, his elytra closing as he took a few steps further into the room. “Hey, Wels,” Etho said, giving a friendly wave. “Man, you really got here fast.”

  Wels frowned at his friend. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I just saw you over by Shade-E-E’s a minute ago. You said hello to me and everything.”

  “That…” Wels’s heart skipped a beat. “That wasn’t me.”

  Etho frowned back. “Well, then… Someone must’ve stolen a spare set of armour or something, cuz it looked exactly like you.”

  “Oh…” Blinking very fast, Wels let out a nervous breath. “Oh, boy… Please don’t tell me he’s back…”

  Etho and Joe exchanged a confused look. “Who?” asked Joe.

  Wels considered either making something up or dismissing his comment, but looking at the concerned faces of two of his best friends on the server, he decided to tell the truth. “The evil clone of myself that Beef and I accidentally created who ran off into the nether after I beat him in a rap battle when he tried to destroy the server.”

  Etho stared at him with wide eyes. 

  “I thought it might be something like that,” said Joe, nodding.

  “How can you possibly have been expecting that?” Wels said in disbelief.

  Joe shrugged. “I’ve heard weirder.”

  “Well… anyway. His name is Helsknight and he’s from a nether-like dimension called Hels, apparently. I thought I’d driven him back to where he came from but I should’ve known he wouldn’t stay away for long.”

  “To be frank, beating him in a rap battle isn’t quite as definitive as beating him in PVP,” said Joe. 

  Wels scowled. “The last time I tried PVP, you dropped an anvil on my head from a great height.”

  “Oh yeah.” Joe snickered. “I did.”

  “Leaving that aside,” said Etho, “it seems there’s an evil clone of you loose on the server, so we should probably deal with that. Helsknight, you said his name is?”

  Wels nodded. “He looks exactly like me except his eyes are red, his armour is slightly greyer than mine, and his hair is a darker shade of blond.”

  “Ohh, I noticed the darker armour,” said Etho. “I just thought it was the shade from my shop. I guess we’d better go find him, huh?”

  “Yeah, I need to find him before he causes any more chaos. You guys should probably warn the other Hermits so they-.”

  “No, we’re coming with you to find him,” Etho interrupted. 

  “It’ll be quicker if the three of us look together,” Joe added. “Plus, I’ve never met an evil clone before, so it would be rather thrilling to do so.”

  Wels frowned at his friends. “Are you sure? He’s really dangerous. I don’t know exactly what he’s capable of, but he’s from a hellfire dimension, so...”

  “As sure as the day is long,” replied Joe, patting his friend on the shoulder. “You need our help and we aren’t gonna abandon you.”

  As Etho nodded, Wels gave a small smile. “Thank you, guys. I really appreciate it.”

  “No worries. So where should we look first?” asked Etho.

  “Well…” Wels thought for a moment. “He’s probably trying to cause some shenanigans on the server. If we check certain prominent places on the server, we’ll probably find him trying to lure me out somehow.”

  “I’ll check the rest of the shopping district, then,” said Joe. “He might still be here.”

  “I’ll have a look round the nether hub and the Upside Down,” Etho added. “You said he’s from a nether-like dimension so he might gravitate there. What about you, Wels?”

  “I’m going to Bdubs’s castle,” said Wels. “It’s the most medieval build on the server, so if he isn’t there now, he’ll end up there eventually.”

  “Okay, but be careful, Wels,” Etho said softly. “Don’t do anything reckless.”

  “I won’t.”

  With that, the group split up. 

  Wels flew straight over to Bdubs’s base. As he got closer, he couldn’t help marvelling at the sheer size and grandeur of the cliff and the castle sitting atop it. It was one of the grandest bases on the servers, so Wels felt sure he would find his clone here.

  He landed atop the cliff and started looking around. As he explored further, he spotted the person he was looking for standing at the entrance to Bdubs’s castle. 

  “If you’re looking for your little friend Bdoubleo, he’s in the nether,” crowed Helsknight. “I watched him go through his portal.”

  Wels glared up at his doppelganger. “You know I’m not looking for Bdubs.”

  “Are you here to rap battle with me again, then?” Helsknight grinned. “I warn you: I’ve been practising.”

  Shaking his head, Wels drew his sword. “No, Hels. I’m going to do what I should have done in the first place.” 

  Helsknight sighed and drew his own sword. “So boring. Come on, then.”

  His doppelganger’s relaxed, indifferent manner sent a bolt of anger straight into Wels. Letting out a yell, he charged to attack.

  Their battle lasted at least ten minutes, though to Wels, it felt like hours. He poured all his energy into his swings, attacking his evil clone with all the rage and fear that had threatened to consume him since Helsknight had disappeared into the nether all those months ago. He was done letting his negative emotions control his life. 

  Finally, Wels managed to knock Helsknight’s sword out of his hand and kick him to the ground, aiming his own sword at his evil clone’s neck. 

  Helsknight simply grinned evilly up at him. “You gonna kill me, Welsy? I wouldn’t do it if I were you; we Hels Hermits only get stronger when we die. If you kill me, I’ll come back with a vengeance. We have a special lava fountain in Hels that can-.”

  “Oh, shut up,” snapped Wels suddenly. “I’m not going to kill you, but not because of any stupid threats you make. I don’t care what you have in Hels. I’m not going to kill you, because I’m merciful. But if you ever come back here again, I won’t be so forgiving. Do you understand?”

  Helsknight simply stared back at him. “You’ve got some great friends here, Welsy. Better hold onto them in case something… happens.”

  Wels narrowed his eyes. “You stay away from them. I swear to god, if you-.”

  He hadn’t realised that he had lowered his hand slightly until Helsknight moved, fast as lightning, and kicked the sword out of his hand. Before he could react, Helsknight jumped up and grabbed him by the throat. He took two steps forward and threw Wels over the edge of the cliff. 

  The fall seemed to take only a split second, but the cliff was tall enough that Wels’s left leg broke immediately upon impacting the ground. He lay still in shock, too numb to cry, despite the searing pain in his leg, which was folded painfully underneath his body. 

  Helsknight appeared above him and effortlessly picked him up off the ground, again by the throat. He grinned, his face less than a foot from Wels’s.

  “You know what else we have in Hels?” Helsknight taunted. “Fire. Lots of fire.”

  He lifted his free hand, which was now engulfed in burning hot flames. Wels weakly struggled in his grip, trying to lean as far away from his counterpart as possible, as Helsknight slowly moved the fire closer to his face, taunting him with the fact that he couldn’t escape it. 

  The flames started to burn his face. He held his breath, trying not to let his pain show, trying not to give Helsknight the satisfaction. 

  But finally, he couldn’t hold it in any longer. He let out a cry at the burning agony across the side of his face.

  Helsknight barked a laugh and retracted his hand, as if all he’d been after was a reaction from Wels. “Maybe you should stick with the rap battles next time.”

  With that, he dropped Wels on the ground and walked away.

  Wels lay where he fell, unable to move through the burning pain in his face and leg. His chest moved quickly up and down as he struggled for oxygen, still winded from the battle. 

  “Wels!” yelled a familiar voice from somewhere behind him. 

  Seconds later, Joe appeared on his right and Etho on his left, their worried faces peering down at him. 

  “Is he okay?” Joe gasped.

  “H-His face…!” Etho gently touched Wels’s burnt cheek. Wels could feel his friend’s cool fingers trembling. “Wels, can you hear me?”

  Wels couldn’t speak, couldn’t reassure his friends that he would be okay. His leg would heal. His face, he wasn’t sure yet. The only thing he knew wouldn’t heal was the crushing feeling of failure, of knowing that because of said failure, an evil clone of himself was still running around the server, potentially hurting people he cared about. The pain in his leg and face served as an agonising reminder that he wasn’t strong enough to stop his doppelganger. 

  How was he supposed to protect other people when he couldn’t even protect himself?

[mcytrabbithole]

The Crash (Prologue Pt.1)

The beginning of a multi-chapter fic that I’m writing! This involves members of Hermitcraft and the Dream SMP and the chaos that follows when they end up thrown into a new situation together!

I will put all my notes about each chapter up here along with any warnings that I feel the need to write up here. 

Warning: Temporary blindness, our Hermits being in some pain

Word Count: 1802

It started out like any other day on the Hermitcraft server. People were building, playing Decked Out, working on gathering more mycelium for the resistance, just enjoying themselves. Well...most of them were enjoying themselves

Xisuma was currently making his way through the shopping district, walking around, trying to figure out what in the name of the Nether was making everything feel so...off. He had checked the coding of the server about five times, nothing was miscoded or anything like that. Though Xisuma could feel that something was wrong, being an admin made him more connected to the server than anyone else on the server. It was like he could feel the change, but couldn’t figure out where it was.

He hadn’t planned on talking to anyone about it, hoping that he’d be able to resolve it on his own, but he sees a message pop up on the chat through his helmet. 

Grian has experienced kinetic energy

rendog: You okay?

Grian: I wasn’t even flying??? I was just standing around. I don’t know what just happened 

Xisuma frowned as he looked at the messages. That meant something was wrong with the server. He uses his helmet to look at what had happened to Grian and grumbled a bit, that was definitely not supposed to happen. Grian had just been working on sorting through some chests so he could prepare stuff for The Barge and then boom, dead. 

Xisuma: That definitely wasn’t supposed to happen. I’ll see if I can figure out what caused it. 

Xisuma finds himself a place to sit down, sitting down on the little porch of the Stat Poker game building as he begins to work his way through the code for what felt like the millionth time. As he looked through it, he swears he sees something out of the corner of his eye, but he chalks it up to just being stressed out from trying to figure out what was causing the problem. 

After a while of scrolling through the code and rewatching the video of Grian’s mystery death, he hears some rockets go off and then the sound of someone landing in front of him. Xisuma moves the chat to the side and sees that Keralis is the one in front of him, wearing his construction outfit and seeming like he was looking for something. 

Though once Keralis sees Xisuma, he grins,” Shiswam! Just the bee that I wanted to see!” Xisuma wasn’t wearing his bee outfit, but he appreciated the pun none the less. “Hey Keralis, what’s up?” Xisuma figured that Keralis coming to find him could mean any number of things. Though he had a feeling that this was about a glitch or something similar. 

“I seem to have ran into a problem at my base and was wondering if maybe you could come help me? I can’t figure out what’s causing it.” Keralis had been trying for over two hours to get this sorter at his base working, he had double checked and yet it still wasn’t working right. “What seems to be the problem?” Xisuma asks this, already pulling up what he could about  Keralis’ base. “I’ve been working on a sorter and I know I’ve got the redstone right, but no matter what I do, it won’t sort.” Keralis may or may not have thrown his construction hat a view times while he was trying to work on it. 

“Do you think it might be a weird piston?” Xisuma asks this as he looks over it, searching through until he found the sorter in question. Everything looked like it was right, the code looked right, the sorter in general looked right. He frowns as he looks it over,” This is weird...everything looks right, even the code looks right...and it just won’t sort?” One is an accident, twice is a coincidence. If one more weird thing happens, then he’ll know that this isn’t just a weird server day. 

As if the universe was listening to Xisuma’s thoughts, a wave of pain shot through him, like he had been stabbed with a sword that had been enchanted to the nether and back. It was only pain in his head, but he found himself grasping onto his helmet for dear life. He hadn’t been in pain like this in a long time. “Shiswam, is something wrong?” Keralis noticed that pain right away, Xisuma never grabbed onto his helmet like that unless he was getting one of the migraines that he rarely got. Those migraines only ever came around on the days where something had gone really wrong and he had spent nether knows how long messing with the code to get it fixed. 

“M-my head.” Xisuma manages to speak, keeping his eyes shut. This was somehow worse than every one of those god awful migraines combined. “Is it one of your migraines? Do you need to get the helmet off?” Keralis takes a careful step forward, not wanting to get too close to his friend incase he needed space. Xisuma shakes his head, he wasn’t taking his helmet off unless he had to. “I just need to let it pass.” Xisuma takes a deep breath, hoping that it would stop. 

And it did stop...but when it did, he opened his eyes...and there was nothing there, it was void, endless nothing, a black empty void. For the first time since he was a child, Xisuma felt nothing but pure fear. “Keralis?” He asks this, his voice shaking like a leaf. “I’m right here, Shiswam.” Keralis’ voice was right in front of him, speaking softly. “I-I can’t see.” Xisuma had known Keralis for long enough that he allowed himself to let the fear show a bit more than what he would've normally shown. “It’ll be alright, Shiswam, I’m sure it’s just the server throwing a bit of a fit.” Keralis was trying to keep calm, but the worry he felt for his friend was worry that made his heart hurt. 

The blindness didn’t stop, but what happened soon after was further proof that things were going very wrong. Keralis had taken a seat next to Xisuma, trying to help him ground himself and not getting lost to the panic he felt...when Keralis got the hit of pain just like Xisuma had earlier. Little did the two know, that at that moment, all across the server, hermits were getting flashes of pain like none of them had felt before, none of them got it as bad as Xisuma did, but it still hurt like all hell. 

Keralis had sucked in a sharp breath, gripping onto the porch for dear life. This wasn’t good. If this was anywhere near the pain that Xisuma had felt, then Xisuma handled it like a champ. “Keralis? What’s wrong?” Xisuma heard that breath, that wasn’t a good sign. He couldn’t see the code, he couldn’t see anything, he hated this so much. “My head.” Keralis says this as he takes his construction helmet off yet again, holding it in his hands and just squeezing it that way he wouldn’t be pulling at his hair.

“It’s happening to you too?” Xisuma hated this. He felt helpless, like he couldn’t do anything to help his friend. “It should pass, give it a few minutes...let’s just hope it doesn’t blind you like it did me.” Xisuma manages to find Keralis’ shoulder and give it a squeeze, hoping that it would stop faster for Keralis than it stopped for him. Keralis closed his eyes, hoping that if he closed  them then it might stop a bit faster.

As they waited for Keralis’ pain to vanish, all around the server, people found themselves in similar positions. False had been in the Nether, helping Stress with setting up her path to the Nether Hub, when the pain had hit them both and sent them both crashing to the floor, hitting some minecarts in the process. Wels had been nearby, doing some work on his portal when he had heard the loud crash of the minecarts, so he decided to go check and see what caused it. 

Wels had seen the girls on the ground and gone running to them, hoping that he might be able to help, but only for the pain to hit him at that very moment...and sending him crashing into a minecart head first. Not his best moment, but at least he had his helmet to protect him. The sound of him crashing into the minecart didn’t help the pain in their heads, if anything it made everything all the worse, especially for Wels since his helmet hit the cart and the cart practically slammed the helmet back at his head, which hurt a lot more than 

In a similar turn of events, Grian, Impulse, and Etho were all in the Mycelium Resistance base, working away on actually getting the base looking like a proper base. The other resistance members were out doing things like getting materials, checking their shops, that sort of a thing. 

First it was Impulse, who was sorting shulkers at the new meeting table, who just grabbed the nearest chair and sat down cause he knees nearly gave out from the pain. Then it was Etho, who had been writing down the amount of mycelium that they had gathered up and doing a tiny bit of math as he tried to figure out how many mycelium they could make in an hour. He had been standing by the mycelium generator, when he felt the pain hit him, causing him to drop his book as he leaned against the wall to try and keep himself steady. Finally, it was Grian, who was working on the walls of the base. He had seen Etho and Impulse sit down and had been a bit confused, then the wave hit him and he almost fainted from the pain as he sat down against the stone wall. All the three could do was look at one another, unable to speak from the pain. 

The pain spread through the server like wildfire...and soon enough the pain had gripped onto every member of the server. As people all around the server began to hit the ground, gasping for breath as they tried to figure out what was happening, they felt the change in the air, felt the change in what felt like the very core of their codes. As they all shut their eyes, hoping that the pain would stop, they felt it, things had just changed, yet they couldn’t seem to open their eyes to see what had happened. 

Suddenly, the pain stopped, and their eyes shot open. What they saw was that they were all now in an open field in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere...and they weren’t the only ones there. 

[waterfall-ambience]

Void Fog (Cosmic Horror AU), Part 1

A summary of everything we have so far.

All the information here is already available, but I haven’t updated the AU storyline since April, so I’m making this post for completeness’ sake.

- The eldritch abomination is an entity that has existed for millennia. It resides in the space between worlds- the Infinite dimension.

- It's only true desire is to consume.

- It’ll consume anything, but it’s particularly drawn to worlds that have been, or are currently inhabited by players. Considering the practically infinite amount of worlds (seeds), these are difficult to come by.

- The Hermit’s pattern of moving between different worlds has allowed them to unintentionally evade the Entity.

- It’s able to enter minds and control people to some extent, usually with the goal of finding other worlds and entering them.

    - EX was exiled to a blank void world within the infinite dimension. Though he couldn’t travel beyond the void world, he could sometimes access the rest of the infinite dimension through his dreams. The Entity established a psychic link between them by preying on his insecurities (which, all things considered, is a huge can of worms).

    - When EX managed to escape using his unstable admin powers, the Entity was able to locate the Hermitcraft server and bring forth the apocalypse.

Meta plot stuff:

- From a meta standpoint, it’s kind of difficult to pinpoint when the story takes place, and write a lot of it beyond what’s happening to EX. He was banned from the server in March 2019, and stayed in the void world for an extended period of time. By the time EX manages to get back onto the server, it could be any time during S7, but likely in the future, when the world has been developed a bit more.

- Some elements of the story will change as the season goes on so that it can fit into the context of S7

- The story mostly focuses on EX, so unless a canon story arc has elements of alternate dimensions (eg Area 77) or the supernatural (eg Demise), then the ‘Hermit’ side of the story is unlikely to have a major impact on the story as a whole. If EX comes back in canon, then the circumstances of how he does so will be incorporated into the AU.

World notes:

- X and EX have admin powers. EX barely knows how to use his and as such, lacks control. For example, he might try to summon a few stacks of a particular block, and end up summoning too much or too little. 


- EX’s powers can be influenced by his emotions. When upset, he has a tendency to teleport all over the place and cause lighting glitches, lag, and other errors. His ability to teleport and travel between dimensions is also unstable.

- The Entity would’ve found the Hermitcraft server sooner or later. If the Hermits extended Season 6 into Sixfinity, they would’ve attracted its attention. If Doc had kept using the infinity portal to access other servers, then it’s likely that he would’ve run into the Entity at some point, and this whole apocalypse mess would’ve happened anyway. 


Exile:


- When he was banned, EX was sent to a creative superflat dimension outside of normal worlds. No structures generated there, and the floor was made up entirely of blue glass. He spent most of his time trying not to think too hard about the isolation, and instead turned to building nonstop.  


- His main ‘base’ was an ever expanding rustic house. He spent some time with NPG before getting banned and was taught how to build in a rustic style, which is what he’s most comfortable with. The house has gotten exceptionally large, and is near impossible to navigate due to its erratic floor plan. 


- EX also spent a lot of time sleeping, because the less time he spent conscious and aware of the usual passage of time, the better. However due to the nature of the void world he was exiled to, he could enter other dimensions in the Infinite (infinite dimension) through his dreamscape, as could the Entity.

- Isolation did not help EX deal with his fears and insecurities in the slightest. Often he’d find himself thinking about the circumstances of his exile, no matter how hard he tried not to. The fear that everyone hated him, that he had pushed everyone away with his evil schemes and rash decisions, that even if the Hermits were nice to him, they would never truly consider him to be their friend- it consumed him.

    It was only natural that they would never trust him- he lied and stole from them, after all. He deserved it, but realising that was a permanent blow to their faith in him stung far more than he anticipated.

    Often he found himself questioning every relationship and interaction he’s had with other people. Was he too aggressive with the tag game? Did he forget to say goodbye to Pixl and Zloy that one time? Did he bore NPG with his rambling about Worm Man?

    How long ago did X consider banishing him? Was it when he fell into old habits and reached out to press the button that would supposedly destroy the server? Was it then and there that X decided that he’d never be ‘good’, or was the decision the result of smaller mishaps? Was it when he over steeped their tea that one time? Was it when he caught himself slipping into a ranty, dramatic monologue? He recounted every stupid, impulsive decision he’d ever made, replayed it in his head hundreds of times, wracking his brain for answers he knew he’d never get.

- Over time, EX’s dreams became increasingly vivid. Most of them devolved into nightmares of phasing through fog, smoke, and crowds of vaguely recognisable people and ruined cities. Occasionally he dreamt of the dimensions in the Infinite- with its fleets of ships, endless libraries, and whispered orders.

- As he began to remember more of the dreams, EX noticed the near-constant shadowy presence that encompassed everything and nothing at the same time. He made a conscious effort to ignore it, but like all his other decisions to *not* think about something, it never truly worked. Most of the time, he was able to somewhat focus on his surroundings, but it’s when he dreamt of the Hermitcraft server that the presence was impossible to ignore.

- The presence never named itself, but disturbing as it was, EX felt compelled to trust it.

EX’s return to the Server

- EX was found at the base of an unfamiliar Nether portal. X and Joe theorised that he collapsed from the transition between game modes and exhaustion from forcing himself onto the Season 7 server.

- From the moment EX returned to the server, some of the Hermits reported incidences of objects disappearing and chunk errors. Some claimed that the layouts of their bases shifted as they walked through them.

- Joe asked around different villages to see if these incidents were constant across the server. Most of the reports tied back to folklore of an entity seen by those who travelled between dimensions.

More World Notes:

- Some of the Hermits have made contact or communicated with Higher Beings (e.g. Cub and Scar with the Vex, or EX with the ‘evil voice in his head’), but they are less powerful than the Entity.

- The Hermits are a group of interdimensional travellers. Each Season takes place on a different planet or in a similar alternate dimension

Infodump Continuation: Season Seven

Story note: Particular locations and events aren’t specific for the sake of flexibility, as the story takes place further into S7.

- Some of the Hermits reported incidents of chunk errors and missing entities. A few hours later, EX was found unconscious in front of an unfamiliar Nether portal.

    - The portal was removed for the sake of clarity within the nether hub.

- EX was brought to Xisuma’s base and his reappearance was discussed during a server meeting.

- Xisuma and Joe began to investigate the cause of the reported errors. X spent hours poring over the server’s code, and Joe started asking around some villages to see if the errors were consistent across the server.

- EX didn’t wake up for a long time. Some theorised that he was exhausted from the transition between game modes and forcing himself back onto the server. Keralis and Stress mainly watched over him, and would occasionally pop in to see if he was okay. Sometimes they found him tossing and turning, but he only somewhat responded to outside stimulus.

- Joe returned, and EX woke up a few hours later. After a well needed shower and hot meal, Joe took him in and asked him to explain what happened. EX gave his ‘statement’, and began to help Joe with the investigation.

    - EX talked a lot about consistent nightmares and how the dark presence didn’t go away, even if he was on the server. In fact, it seemed to whisper to him now.

- EX spent the next week or so trying to adjust to living in the Overworld. Everything was too bright and dark at the same time and called attention to itself. Sometimes he felt that the air was too full of particles. Sounds were louder than they had the right to be.

- While EX was recovering from his time in exile, the investigation was mostly reading written tomes of folklore and reports of errors in libraries.

- EX continued to suffer from frequent nightmares, and it got to the point where he was hesitant to sleep, and tried to stay awake for as long as possible. It didn’t help. Joe found him sleepwalking and muttering about searching for something, but couldn’t make out what he was searching for.

- EX grew increasingly worried about the dark presence and voices he heard in his dreams, and freaked out a bit when Joe told him about the sleepwalking. Joe offered to lock the door to EX’s room from the outside- it might not have directly helped with the problem, but it helped him feel more at ease.