kirabug's idea files

Day 790:

On my way to the mountain today I was attacked by a skeleton (normal) riding armor (normal) shooting arrows at me (normal) FROM THE BACK OF A SKELETON HORSE (NOT NORMAL).

And I’m pretty sure it’s the same skeleton horse that’s been saying hello to me in the morning!

I WAS FURIOUS. WHICH WAS CONFUSING.

It’s not like it was my horse. I’m not even a huge fan of horses, though as a kid I was because what kid wasn’t? Pony rides were exotic.

But that skeleton had no right to ride that horse!

Or did it? Maybe it brought the horse in the first place? Maybe mounted skeletons were a normal thing around here? I can’t even tell anymore.

Instead of rationally running away, I ran toward the mounted skeleton and hacked it to pieces with my sword. Got a good arrow wound to the shoulder for my efforts, but the horse — still wearing a saddle, I might add — ran off.

Made me consider whether this is where  all the saddles in the river had come from. I do pull up bones almost as often as saddles when I fish.

ANYWAY. The horse escaped… and then later in the evening it came over to me to say hello.

It let me pet it. It let me mount it. It let me ride it.

It was a really weird end to the day.

I might grab some rope and see if I can capture it tomorrow. A nice horse is not something to turn my back on, especially if it can outpace exploding monsters.

Day 789:

To get to the mountain from the easternmost plains entrance, I have to go around (or through) a patch of dark forest and over a modest hill. I generally try to avoid going through the forest because it’s early, the monsters are out in earnest, and dodging trees while I run is not a good way to get the blood pumping.

Have I mentioned that I could really use some coffee?

Anyway, while I was cutting around the edges of the forest this morning, the skeleton horse stepped out in front of me. Scared the ducking heck out of me and it was all I could do to remember to take a picture to prove to myself that it wasn’t a trick of the light yesterday.

The skeleton horse, by the way, has a very odd whinny, like the sound of a horse as listened to through the sound of a blender.

After I took the picture I ran to the mountain and got my mining done. I didn’t try to approach it and it didn’t try to approach me and we were all good.

Maybe it’ll leave soon?

Day 788:

Every time I think I’ve figured this place out, it throws me off.

I got up extra early this morning to go out to the mountain and get mining, since my time outside was short yesterday. The sun wasn’t quite up yet, but I’ve gotten pretty good at dodging the monsters as long as I don’t have to do it for long periods of time.

THERE WAS A SKELETON HORSE IN THE FIELD.

ok, technically on the hill.

THERE WAS A SKELETON HORSE ON THE HILL.

At some point it appears that the absolute shock of skeletons existing had worn off because when I go outside I don’t start shouting at them. (That’s a good way to get shot by the skeletons, too.)

NOT THE SKELETON HORSE THOUGH.

MY BRAIN IS VERY UPSET AT THE SKELETON HORSE.

THERE WAS A SKELETON HORSE IN THE YARD.

I slipped past it and did my mining and came home without seeing it again, but my lizard brain won’t stop yelling.

THERE WAS A SKELETON HORSE IN THE YARD.

If I didn’t have the picture I’d think I dreamed it.

Even with the picture I’m hoping it was  a dream. Maybe it’s all a dream. But I’m having trouble getting to sleep either way.

Day 787:

I was outside most of the morning carving away at the mountain. I was so busy — and looking east — that I didn’t even see the storm approaching from the south.

Usually rain doesn’t stop me from mining. (Usually, I am underground.)

Even when I’m outside it’s not necessarily bad as long as I keep my tools and climbing equipment dry.

Today was a thunderstorm, and we hadn’t had one in quite a while, so it took me off-guard.

It wasn’t just wet and dangerous, it was absolutely pelting down rain. Because it was so dark, the monsters started creeping out too. (That’s a guess, but I’ve been here long enough to believe it’s an educated guess. Either that or the jerks like being wet and deep-fried by nature.)

I did get a picture captured in the weird crystal thing before I ran (literally) back to my shelter. The rain didn’t seem to affect it and as soon as I put some paper in front of it, it started etching the picture immediately. As usual, it took more than an hour, but it’s nice to know I didn’t wreck it.

I hope somewhere there’s a color weird crystal thing because it’s really hard to find the zombie and the two exploding giraffe-corgis in this picture.

Day 786:

I was able to finish my sidewalk repair yesterday, and today I spent more time chipping away at the big mountain that’s trying to kill me.

OK to be fair the mountain is not actively trying to kill me. It’s just passively being landscape that I can’t climb or run over, which provides all kinds of monsters and murderers (the murderers have been in the neighborhood again) the ability to pin me into a dangerous position and try to kill me.

The fact that they haven’t succeeded yet doesn’t mean that I want them to.

So I’m slowly mining it into a gentle slope.

It’s so huge that I predict it’ll still collect snow when I’ve cut it down to size, but even if it doesn’t, my safety is more important than the mountain.

And, as I’ve mentioned before, I think I’ve seen every kind of creature that lives here now… and they don’t seem to have habitats outside of “fish like water, sheep like grass, skeletons like trees”.  My “refreshing” the mountain isn’t going to impact the local ecology.

But dang it takes a long time to cut down a mountain. I feel like I’ve been at it for weeks and it’s still there. With a tree at its peak and everything!

You can’t even see the progress I’ve made, really.