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Prologue. Five Hundred Years Ago.

Notch stood at the top of his castle. Being in this game felt so amazing, even now. He knew he had the power of a god. But now... Now he felt as if his strength was failing him. He was at battle, his once glorious palace in ruins. The worst evil ever to grace this world was at the other side of the courtyard, with every intention of finishing him. If he knew about the World Beyond... Notch could not even dream, in the darkest corner of his mind, what would happen.

"What's the matter?" The man facing Notch spoke. "You getting tired, old man?" Notch resumed a confident expression. "No," he said, golden energy crackling through his veins. "I'm only getting started." He lunged at the figure. The knockback barreled him straight through the highest point in the castle, crashing through the other side.

But, the combatant was no pushover. Notch watched as he flew back, coming straight towards him, at the twice the speed Notch did. Notch only had a millisecond to dodge, and he did. When the figure landed with a boom onto the pavement, Notch saw his eyes clearly once more. Or lack of them.

For he was facing Herobrine.

"Oh yeah?" Herobrine said. "Well, guess what?" He cracked his knuckles. "So am I." He pointed his fingers into a gun-like shape and a spear of purple energy lept from them, hitting Notch in the chest. Herobrine zoomed forwards, ready to rent open Notch with his pickaxe, a reminder to Herobrine of what he once was, but Notch was too quick. He avoided the blow and kicked him, knocking the pick from his grasp. Notch left his foot on his back.

"Come on, brother," Notch pleaded. As much as he did not want to fight this thing, he knew he had to. "I know you are in there somewhere...!" In response, Herobrine simply twisted his head 180 degrees around and cackled. Notch was taken aback, his mouth agape. The moment of weakness was all he needed. He turned into pure coding and shot straight into Notch's mouth. Notch wheezed and hacked until he blacked out.

...

The courtyard was in ruins. Dinnerbone was sent to do a damage report, since it seemed that the fighting had died down. Everything was a mess, but Notch was still there. "Notch!" Dinnerbone yelled, hovering to his spot. Notch had knelt down, looking at the ground. "Are you alright?" he questioned, putting a hand on Notch's back. Notch shrugged it off, stood up, and looked at him. "Never better!" Notch said. But he was not himself. He had the soulless white eyes of a man possessed by Herobrine. Notch flung Dinnerbone back, and his head crashed into the pavement.

"Well!" Herobrine observed his new body. "This form holds so much power! To think I could reshape the world with this... To think I could summon my master...!" Notch levitated, drawing pebbles and dust to him. "In fact, I will!" Notch crackled with renewed purple energy. "Brother, you've served me well after all these years. Here I-- hurk!!"

Herobrine never finished his sentence. He had been backstabbed by Jeb with the Sword of the Forge, the purest sword ever made, and Notch fell to the ground. The evil spirit of Herobrine had been expunged from him. "Notch! Do it now!" Jeb said to Notch. Notch only nodded in response.

"Hisssss..." Herobrine hissed. "You think you're so powerful with all your magic and swords?" Herobrine spat. "Well, I know how to undo your precious little world now, Brother!" Notch wheezed, responding, "And...and I know how to undo you...!" A look of uneasiness flickered across Herobrine's face. Notch regained his composure and yelled in the Language of the Console:

/jail Herobrine

Herobrine couldn't contain himself. He dissolved into a stream of coding, yelling and cursing Notch. He could only look in despair. Notch forced himself to gaze at the display of shining lights and pixels. Then it was gone. Jeb tried to comfort Notch. "You did a good thing, Notch," he said. "You really did." Notch wept.

Chapter One. Present Day.

What was worse? The constant threat of being blown up? Or the heat? Okay, maybe it was the heat. Spiders were never really comfortable around warm places... But this was important. Aero knew he could not fail this mission. Riches would await!

Aero was a Spider hailing from the Badlands, a desertish wasteland. Spiders weren't really common there, and as such Aero was treated badly, being called an outlaw. But he showed them. Aero was currently in Dynamite Peak, the homeland of the Creepers. It was funny, he never expected them to live in a volcano. Then again, he didn't expect a lot of things he saw lately, either.

Aero was stealthy, and could blend in with the shadows. It wasn't very easy here, considering the constant lack of darkness in this place filled with lava. But Aero did it anyway; not a single Creeper was alerted to his presence.Aero crawled up to a golden dais, surrounded by molten lava. On a pedestal was the treasure he sought. There it is! Aero thought to himself. The First Creeper's Gunpowder. Aero's boss wanted this thing to help in the "experiment" he was conducting. Aero remembered the day he met his boss...

...

He had just recently left the Badlands for good. Aero was a good fighter and fended off the people who hated him, spat at him, and attacked him. But it became too much. Aero went with his one possession, his mother's eye, and headed off.

He traveled to a forest at night, and many monsters had begun to hear about him, the Runaway, they called him. Then, Aero heard a smooth voice. If a shadow could speak, he thought, this is what it would sound like. "Why, are you Aero? The runaway?" it said.

Aero froze. He was here to turn him in, wasn't he? They would cut up his eyes for the witches, to ferment them! Maybe even his mother's... "Wh-Who are you?" Aero answered timidly. "Where are you?" He added after a moment. Even with eight eyes, Aero couldn't see the figure talking to him. Maybe he is a shadow, Aero thought. "Right behind you!" the being replied. Aero felt a tap on his shoulder, turned around, and saw him. The Enderman. He was the darkest thing Aero had ever seen. "St-Stay back!" Aero yelled, bearing his sharp teeth. "You want to turn me in, don't you?! For the reward..?"

The Enderman chuckled. "No... I honestly need you for something. Oh, and call me Raqren." Not an odd name, Aero chuckled himself, for an Enderman. "You see, I am conducting an... experiment. Yes, an experiment. And I need a team of monsters. The best monsters. I already have most of my crew, but I needed a fighter. A quick fighter. And then I heard of you...!" Aero got it. Raqren wanted him to join this gang of his..but why? "What's this...experiment?" Aero inquired.

Raqren shifted his weight and looked away. "Let's just say... I have a machine ready. But it needs a charge, and only these few Sacred Items can power it. I need my crew to find them. And when it's complete you'll get money. Money and fame. I'll even clear your name for you! So, are you in?" Aero pondered. He could be accepted for once...and a clear name?! That was better than any emerald. "I'll do it," Aero said.Raqren beamed. "Excellent! Well, let me show you the rest of the crew..."

...

Aero would always remember that day. He knew he would. And this Sacred Item that Raqren asked him to find was the First Creeper's Gunpowder, indeed! "Aw, yeah!" Aero whispered. "This is the one!" He scampered up and stuffed his prize in his backpack. It was gleaming solid gold. Aero wondered what powerful explosive could be made with that thing... He almost didn't want to know."Well, now I've got this thing... Time to head back." Aero breathed.

He noticed an exit to the place the opposite side of which he came. Aero decided to head that way. But, just as he was wondering the validity of his decision, and why there were no guards in the chamber, Aero brushed upon something silky. He looked down. It was a tripwire. Aero gulped as a "SSSSSSSSSSSSSS" sounded throughout the volcano...the Creepers' own alarm system. Twenty Creepers flooded into the room and gazed at the intruder.

A red Creeper inched closer and spoke. "Well, well, well! If it issssssssn't Aero the ssssssspider! The one and only! I have a feeling sssssomeone will pay a handssssome priccccce for you..."What was worse? The constant threat of being blown up? Or the heat? At this point, Aero had to say... it was definitely being blown up.

Chapter Two.

The Creepers were advancing now. Aero could hear them starting to make the telltale noise they made when they were close to detonation, their SSSSSSS. Never had Aero heard, in all his life, such a terrifying noise. But Aero knew he had to outrun the horde, and that would require some of the fanciest acrobatics he had ever tried to pull off.

Aero jumped and landed on the head of a blue Creeper. He stopped hissing and looked up in shock. Aero bounced on the heads of the other Creepers until he made to the exit. The Creepers turned around to see him, and Aero flashed them a devious smile. He had been here before, and had an idea of how to get these Creepers off his backs... "You want me?" Aero taunted. "Come and get me!" And with that he scampered out the exit.

"Well?!" The red Creeper hissed. "After him!!" The Creepers charged out of the exit and followed Aero. There was no time for stealth. Aero had to make it to an exit. He looked up. The volcano stopped about 200 blocks up, curving inwards until there was open sky. And below was 1000 blocks of hollow hideouts and walkways. Aero needed to get out, and the quickest way was to get the top. But he would need a diversion first.

Aero veered off into a side passageway. The horde sent three or so Creepers barreling after him. It wouldn't matter, Aero thought to himself. ...Hopefully. Aero stopped in a hollow chamber with a spire in the middle. Attached to the spire was a crude button. Written above that, in the unmistakeable scrawl of a Creeper's handwriting, read LAVA CANNON CONTROL. DANGEROUSSS. Well. Even in writing, they elaborated on their S's.

Aero pressed the button, and a thwack resounded throughout the chamber. Then a rumbling. There was a way out at the opposite end of the hall, so Aero bolted through there, with the Creepers at his heels. He ended up back on the walkway where he was previous, and the horde was waiting for him. Right next to him was a massive hole in the wall that emanated heat. "I'm over here!" Aero yelled to the horde.They noticed him and started to detonate once more. The hole was getting hotter... It was rumbling now... Come on, get in position... FWOOSH!

Aero jumped up as the Creepers stood at the entrance of the hole. A stream of lava jettisoned out of the hole, vaporizing all of the Creepers on the spot. At least they weren't immune to heat! Now all Aero had to do was get out... He scampered up the volcano wall and out of the massive gateway to open sky, standing at the top of its rocky exterior. Aero could see about three biomes from this vantage point, plus an ocean behind him! Would it be simple enough that he could just scamper on down and to freedom?

"There he isssss!" A voice sounded behind Aero. Of course not. At once, thirty or so Creepers emerged from holes in the outer wall of the volcano, charging up and down towards Aero. Once again, he found himself caught in the middle. "Give it back!" They pleaded to Aero. "I can't!" He was forced to shoot back. "I need this for something...when I'm done, maybe..." He thought of his mom."No," Aero decided, a smirk on his face. "When this is done, I'm chucking this little trinket in the ocean."

The Creepers growled. Aero clambered down the volcano at lightning speed; as fast as his little legs could carry him. Some Creepers exploded behind him, but he outran them. He was looking back when he saw a Creeper on pace with him. And he was about to explode. Aero was in the air, shrapnel around him. He would join his mother soon enough... He blacked out.

Chapter Three.

A splash of coldness jolted Aero awake. He was startled. He had just had an odd dream... He was in a volcano, there were Creepers everywhere, and then... Wait. That wasn't a dream! Aero was in an ocean, the ocean, right below the top of Dynamite Peak! He looked up. Sure enough, the massive mountain was laid out before him, about 150 blocks away. He could just barely make out little moving things on its rocky surface.

The Creepers! Aero thought. He couldn't let them get to him... Aero swam as fast as he could towards the shore, which wasn't that far away. He swam like he had just seen a human in front of him, in other words, pretty fast. Eventually, he made it to land. The Creepers were beginning to make their descent down the volcano. But Aero had a lead. He sped off into the forest, the cover of night concealing him. And Aero never looked back.

...

"Well, Aero," the shaky voice asked him. "What was it like to scale that mountain?" That voice belonged to Femur, the Skeleton of Raqren's group. While he spoke, he was tinkering with his bow. It seemed like he was always adding something new to it, whether it was a pocket-size TNT cannon or a food dispenser. This time, it looked like a grappling hook. But Aero could never be sure.

"Oh, that volcano?" Aero responded. "Pfft, piece of cake." Aero knew it wasn't, but he wanted to impress his team, and show them he wasn't just a spider from the Badlands."Yeah, alright," Femur said. He was only half-listening now, it seemed. He was more engaged with his bow than the conversation. "Well, see you in a bit, Femur. I have to go report to the boss!" Aero said, at least trying to get a reaction out of Femur before it was too late. But, it was. Femur didn't even respond. Honestly, sometimes that Skeleton could be so difficult... Aero left.

...

Aero sped out of the chamber like a souped-up minecart on a powered-rail system. He needed to report to his boss, so he could be one step closer to having his name cleared... It wasn't long before Aero arrived. The group's base of operations was a big cave system, with perfect hallways and rooms cleared out by Raqren, and the weak stone replaced with iron blocks. There was even a redstone lamp system wired throughout the place.

Raqren's office was at the end of the dormitory hallway. It was connected to the lab where the "experiment" was taking place, so Raqren could get there easily. Aero crept in. Raqren stood away from the entrance, looking at a board on the wall. It was in a strange writing Aero couldn't dechiper. Ender, maybe?

"Did you get it?" Raqren's unmistakeable smooth voice echoed across the chamber. Aero moved closer. "Yes, boss. The gunpowder from the volcano. It's what you wanted, right?" Aero asked. Raqren turned around to face Aero. If he had an eyebrow, it would've shot up. "Is it golden?" Raqren inquired.

"Uh, yes boss," he answered, and opened up his travel pack to reveal the golden treasure. Raqren reached in and held the gunpowder. Its radiance lit up the room. "Amazing..." Raqren breathed. "That's the one! You did well, Aero. Tell me, did you...attract any attention while you got this?"Aero gulped. "No, boss. I was stealthy, heh, yeah! Super stealthy." Raqren chuckled, and said, "I can tell you're lying, you know." Aero's heart sank. "But it doesn't matter," he added. "As long as those Creepers don't know about this experiment, everything will be fine. Now, wait here."

Raqren entered the top-secret lab that housed the Experiment. Then, he closed the door. Aero waited in the dimly lit room for a while. He moved closer to inspect the board with the writing. Aero could make out a few words, if he concentrated hard enough. "Can't... tell... about... true...purpose?"

...No. Nonono. Could Raqren be...lying? Before Aero could think about this any further, the door opened. Raqren came through. "Aero, you're in charge. It's time I got one last thing for our experiment." A humming noise sounded, and then, Raqren was gone.And Aero was left with his thoughts. If Raqren wasn't going to clear Aero's name..what WAS he going to do?!

Chapter Four.

Raqren always loved teleporting. The tingling when his body started to disappear into the fabric of space, the slowing-down of his surroundings as he wound through time, and the rush of him hurtling miles to his destination. All against a purple backdrop.

His favorite color!

And then it stopped. A noise sounded as Raqren found himself back on solid ground. He was at his destination. Raqren thought back, when he told Aero he was in charge. Aero seemed scared of something... Could he have figured out the experiment's true purpose? If so, Raqren had to act fast.

He looked around. Sure enough, he was in a forest, but right ahead of him was a square house. Being an Enderman, a species which are natural builders, he had to admire the architecture at work. The house was very well made, and the roof looked like it could have a sniping perch. But, of course, Raqren knew who the inhabitant of that house was.

Steve. THE Steve.

Raqren crept up to the window. Since it was night, Steve was (thankfully) sound asleep in his bed. It was right next to the window, but as long as Raqren didn't make any noise, he wouldn't have to worry about Steve. He teleported inside. Torches lined the walls, along with swords Steve had made with his Forger. And there, resting at the window, was Steve in his bed.

Raqren searched around the house for a lever, being careful not to disturb the baby Creeper resting in the corner. He had seen Steve's house before, and knew that someone as advanced as him wouldn't just have one room. Raqren found the lever hidden in a small nook. He flipped it, and an entrance opened up, revealing a staircase leading underground. Many rooms branched off from the staircase.

At the end of the staircase was a solid wall. But, being an Enderman, Raqren could see things that no one else could. And he knew that the treasure he was seeking was behind that wall. Since Raqren only needed to have seen the area he wanted to teleport to at least once to be able to teleport there, he teleported down to the end of the staircase.

Raqren grabbed a stone block out of the wall, and sure enough, a chest could be seen behind the wall. Raqren teleported there, and opened the chest. He had to look away from what he saw; the brightness was too great. It was Steve's chest of diamonds. All of his fully enchanted diamond gear, diamond tools, and all his diamond block reserves, all in one chest.

It was the last Sacred Item Raqren needed. He braced for the teleport. He felt the rush of senses whirl past him again as he found himself back in his room. It seemed Aero was still in there, and he had brought most of the crew in there as well. He was talking to them."...Yeah. I just don't think he's telling us the whole--" Aero stopped as he glanced up and noticed Raqren. He yelled and toppled over, but regained his composure right afterwards."Oh, uh, hey Raqren! Didn't, uh, see you there!" Raqren leered at the spider. "I know," He said. "You were too busy saying something to the rest of the group. Care to tell me what that was?"

"Uh, well..." Aero started. Raqren knew when someone was lying or nervous, and Aero was definitely nervous. He was about to talk, when Dave Jr., the Zombie of the group, interjected. In a groaning voice, he said, "He was... telling us.. 'bout the... brains... experiment, boss.... yeah." Honestly, it was hard to listen to him drawl, but it seemed he was telling the truth. "Now....where's...good food....around here...?"

Raqren chuckled. Dave had an insatiable appetite, and a good eye for food, which was surprising considering he was a, well, Zombie. "We were curioussssss..." Lt. Creeper continued. "To sssssee what your experiment doessssss." Well, it was time. It would be best to show them. "Actually, I have just found the last thing we need. You have all been very helpful. And now it is time to show the fruits of your labor."

With that, Raqren opened the hatch to the laboratory.

Chapter Five.

The second the hatch to the laboratory was opened, it seemed like the room's temperature dropped by a mile. Aero involuntarily shivered. Raqren looked somewhat amused. "Well," Raqren spoke, breaking the silence. "What are you waiting for? Step inside." Aero swallowed and trudged forward. With the knowledge that Raqren could be concealing the Experiment's true purpose, Aero was not so sure he wanted to see it.

The others in the room seemed to be feeling the same way. After a bit, they all followed Aero into the chamber. Raqren reached for a lever. He pulled it, and a voice sounded throughout the facility: "Everyone is to report to Raqren's office at this moment. The Experiment is ready." It was spoken in the monotone drone of a Command Block. Aero looked back and saw the rest of the group trickling in. He entered the lab.

It was a chamber made completely with iron blocks. If Steve were here, Aero thought, he would be having a field day mining it all. But, it was so bright Aero had to look away. And that's when he saw it. Yes, IT. That was merely how Aero could describe it, for lack of a better term.

It appeared to be a complex machine built into the wall right of the door. It was made of a sequence of squares. The one closest to the wall was the largest, with the words DANGER! DO NOT TOUCH! on it. The next one was covered with an intricate design. Twelve holes covered its surface. The next two were even smaller, and the final one looked like the opening of a cannon. Wires hooked all of the squares together, and it seemed that a huge fortified tube ran through the cannon.

On the wall right in front of the door, seven pedestals were shown. Different items were in each of these. Aero instantly recognized the First Creeper's Gunpowder he had just retrieved. The other items appeared to be a a jar filled with a purple-blackish liquid, a cauldron, a purple crystal, a golden leaf block, a silver rock, and a chest.

Raqren spoke. "These are the Sacred Items you have been asked to retrieve. The First Creeper's Gunpowder, a jar of Wither Blood, a Witch's Cauldron, an Ender Crystal, a Leaf from the Aether's Golden Tree, a Moon Rock, and this chest, containing all of Steve's diamonds." Raqren tapped the chest. "Together, they can power this machine I have built. It will have enough power to channel through to..." He stopped.

"Well," he started again, "You'll see soon enough. Wyth," Raqren pointed to the Wither Skeleton of the group. "Would you be a gentleman and pull that lever over there?" The group was confused. There was no lever in here. "What lev--" Wyth started to speak, but the sound of pistons drowned him out. From the left wall, a lever was revealed. Wyth was speechless. He simply walked forward and flipped the lever.

An extremely loud siren sounded. "ATTENTION!" A voice yelled. "RETREAT TO THE SAFE ZONE IMMEDIATELY. THIS IS NOT A DRILL." It repeated these commands over and over. A door opened and a chamber was revealed. Glass windows opened up. "There's the safe zone!" Raqren shouted amidst the din. "HURRY!" Everyone ran to the safe zone. "Why do we need to be in here?!" Sliip, the Slime, asked once they were safe, and the door had closed.

Raqren looked at the Slime with a piercing gaze. "Do you want to be able to breathe in five seconds?" "Y-yes," Sliip answered timidly. "Then stay in here," Raqren responded. Glass jars with wires attached to them descended around each Sacred Item. The wires filled with a blue energy that connected to the machine. It hummed to life, and a low throbbing pulse sounded from the chamber.

Gears were turning now, and twelve Eyes of Ender were attached onto the second square of the machine. The cannon fired up. It started to get very hot, and very loud. The cannon looked as if it was about to spew out a molten stream of fire, but it suddenly turned into pure black energy. Then, the loudest sound ever heard to these mobs boomed outwards, encompassing all. Within a few seconds, they all crumpled to the floor, and lost consciousness.

Chapter Six. Two years ago.

"Ahhhh!" Aero woke up. He just had a bad dream... There was a loud noise, and a lot of darkness. But it didn't matter. This was going to be the best day ever! He was in his underground home in the Badlands, where he lived. A lot of people came to his house a lot, "making a ruckus", as his mom would say. And whenever he went out, people looked at him funny, called him names and such. But Aero never understood why.

"What is it, dear?" A voice rang out from the other side of his home. It was Aero's mom. "Oh, I just had a, uh, bad dream." Aero said. He didn't want to worry her. "But it's fine! Nothing to worry about!" Aero practically heard her raise her eyebrow. "Well, if you say so. Anyway, come to the kitchen, Aero."

He got out of his room and went into the kitchen, where, predictably, his mother was. She was a Spider, just like him, but larger and was slightly purple. She was at the furnace (that she had stolen from a Testificate), preparing a morning meal, as always. What would it be this time? A baby chicken? A lizard? He never knew.

"Are you excited for today, Aero?" Mom asked. "Oh yeah!" Aero replied. Today was the day that he would go to the Ender Bros.' Traveling Circus with his mom! It was a renowned traveling show, and whenever a mob came in, they came out happy. Aero had wanted to see it for a long time now, and it was finally coming to the Badlands, where he lived!

After he ate, Aero grabbed his travel pack, so if he found anything interesting, he could take (steal) it. "This is going to be so fun, Mom!" Aero said to his mom. "I'm sure it will be..." she replied. Aero looked up. Her eyes were scanning in all directions, as if looking for something. It seemed she always was... "Mom?" Aero looked up at his mother. "Are you alright?" She stopped and smiled. "Yes, honey. I'm fine. Come on!" she said triumphantly. We dont want to miss the circus!

And they sped off.

...

Present Day.

Aero's vision cleared. He faintly heard a voice saying, "Hey, boss! He's stirring now!" It sounded like one of the Zombie Pigmen. Aero was dreaming about the last normal day of his life. The day before... before... Whatever. If Aero remembered correctly, the Experiment had just been fired. Whatever it was. Aero looked through the glass window. The portion of the wall directly opposite the cannon was blown away. In its place was a thick black goop, that reminded Aero of a portal.

"Boss..." Dave Jr. noticed the blackness too. "What... is that... on wall?" He asked. Raqren started to open the door out of the safe zone. "That is our goal." He was grinning. "Since that is there..." The hatch opened. "I know the Experiment has worked! Follow me out. What happens next is of great importance to us all."

The whole group gathered together in the middle of the room. They were all murmuring amongst themselves, some wondering what that thing in the wall was, others what that cannon was for, others wondering why they had collapsed earlier. Raqren seemed to be hearing all of their conversations, because he said, "I will answer of all your questions, team. In due time." The group was silent.

"Now, prepare yourselves," Raqren said. "I have a speech to make." He cleared his throat.

"That cannon you see on the wall is a machine I have been creating for years. It is a cannon, yes. And it produced that thing on the wall, yes. And I bet you are all wondering what that thing on the wall is." The group nodded. "Well, I have to start from the beginning." Raqren took a breath.

"I haven't exactly been honest with you about the Experiment's purpose." No one seemed surprised. But they all seemed angry. Some more than others. "I KNEW it!" Aero said. "I saw that writing on your wall! It said something about not telling us its true purpose!" Raqren stared back at Aero. "The only way to insure that you would all come to this group was saying money would be a reward! For you, clearing your name seemed to do."

"S...So you won't?" Aero asked. Raqren looked back at him. "...Hopefully, he will." Aero turned back to the grou, then looked again at Raqren. "He?" He asked. "He who? What exactly haven't you been telling us, Raqren? I'm prepared to walk off the team if you don't spill it."

"So will I," Femur said. "Me too," Wyth agreed. "Dave... will... leave..." Dave Jr. responded. Everyone else agreed they would leave Raqren behind if he didn't tell them what the Experiment was really for. "Well," said Raqren, "I would have anyway, if you had not interrupted!" He looked at the group with an unmatched ferocity. Everyone looked intimidated, and slightly embarrassed, Aero especially.

"Anyway..." Raqren continued. "The cannon fires a portal. If a powerful enough charge can be generated into it, like it was, it will fire to my exact co-ordinates. And I bet you are wondering why I can;t just teleport there. Are you?" The group nodded again. "Well, I can only teleport to places I can see or have seen. And I can assure you I have NOT been to this place yet. Otherwise, this experiment would be unnecessary.

"Now, I'm sure you are all wondering, where does this lead? I can answer that, because I have researched this every day I have worked on this experiment. This portal... will have enough power to cut through to the heart of the End. The very place where an ancient evil rests."

Aero cut Raqren off again. "WHO? Who is this 'ancient evil'?!" Raqren looked at him with his amethyst eyes, and answered him in a cold, dark voice he usually reserved for dealing with people who he hated. Or who hated him.

"Herobrine."

Chapter Seven.

A nuclear bomb may as well have dropped off in that room, because there was an explosion of noise. Many people were arguing, yelling, and a few were crying. Raqren was simply astonished. He opened his mouth and let out the most ear-piercing shriek any of the mobs had ever heard...

...He was cursing at them in Ender.

Instantly, the crowd was quiet. Raqren cleared his throat. "Yes, we are rescuing Him. The One With No Eyes. The Bogeyman. The Diamond Miner, whatever you want to call him. And as you may be wondering, well, why does he even need rescuing? He's Herobrine, after all, right? He has powers we can't even dream of, right?" The crowd nodded.

"Well... He doesn't anymore. Let's just say things happened...and Herobrine is locked up now. And if we can get him out, then... You may just get all those riches you've been promised after all." The crowd's spirits lifted some. Even Aero was feeling a little better now that his name could be cleared once and for all.

"But what?" A Zombie Pigman from the back of the room spoke in a growling tone. "What would happen to our Savior that he would be imprisoned?" Raqren continued to peer at the crowd intently.

"It's a tale that should be common knowledge amongst mobs by now, but so many people refuse to believe it. I'll say it now. Just pay attention."

...

499 Years Ago.

It was the year after Herobrine had been fully contained in the heart of the universe. In secret from the rest of the gods, Dinnerbone and Notch had been working on his prison. It was a prison that had to be crafted so ingeniously, so meticulously, so perfectly that Herobrine could never escape it. But how could they contain a god? And then they realized the answer.

A sphere.

Something that defied all laws of physics in a world that appeared in a world would surely do the trick. And so the most powerful, unbreakable thing ever to be created was started. It would be created in the Sector of Dne, a far-off asteroid in the End. Construction lasted for a full Minecraft year, or close to it.

The end product was a huge cavern taking up most of the asteroid's inside. A giant black sphere interlaced with a hexagonal pattern took up a portion of the room. An opening in the sphere revealed it was hollow. Inside was Herobrine, who's arms and legs were chained to four metallic posts. A forcefield cut off the opening. The forcefield also drained Herobrine's powers.

Its name is the Ender Matrix.

...

Present Day.

Raqren continued. "So, this Ender Matrix is unbreachable in every sense of the world. As such, it will not be easy breaking in--" Raqren never finished what he was going to say, for at that moment, Sliip the Slime started screaming at the top of his non-existent lungs and babbling. His speech was something along the lines of this.

"BREAK IN?!?!! YOU EXPECT US TO BREAK INTO A SPHERE?!! (Whatever that is, anyway) I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!! THIS IS SO STUPID, YOU--" Sliip never finished his sentence either, because Laaz (a Blaze) fired one of his rods at the Slime. It tore straight through the gelatinous gelatin, and curved back to join Laaz.

Sliip was split in half, so all that really accomplished was making two miniature Slimes appear, which was arguably worse. Laaz decided to talk. "Listen up, *wheeze* Slime. Herobrine is the *wheeze* only person on this forsaken planet who *wheeze* cares about us hostile mobs. So if you *wheeze* don't want him back, then get off the *wheeze* team.*"

*All Blazes are born with asthma, hence the wheezing (it's in-game as well).

The two small Slimes looked at each other and agreed it would be better if they were not hit by a sword again, so they agreed to go through the portal.

"Now," Raqren said, "It is time for us to head through the portal. I will give you your instructions on what to do once we get there, but I must warn you, under all circumstances, you must be as quiet as you can once you step through that portal. That goes double for you, Lt. Creeper and Laaz!" The two nodded.

"You can head through whenever you are ready, but I'm not sure how long the portal will stay open..." With that, Raqren disappeared through the portal. Aero headed shortly after. Femur nuged Wyth, who went through. Femur followed suit. Lt. Creeper and Laaz went through together, followed by the Boahr Tribe (A group of five Zombie Pigmen), Dave Jr. and Sliit and Sliin (the two Slimes) bringing up the rear.

Before they entered, Sliit and Sliin hugged each other, and said in unison, "Geronimooooo!" They too, entered the portal... Right as a human fell through the ceiling.

"All right!" Steve yelled to an empty room. "Which one of you took my diamonds?!"

Chapter Eight.

Steve looked around the room menacingly, baring his Iron Sword that gleamed with a purple light. "Huh? Oh, you're invisible, aren't you? Well, take that!" He swung his sword across him. "And that!" He lunged behind him. "And some of THIS!" He threw his sword outwards, intending to aim for the wall opposite him, but ended up going straight through the portal.

"Whoa..." He said. "What is that thing?" He looked at it interestedly. He decided it wouldn't be a very good idea to stick his hand through there, so he looked around the room. It was huge, made of iron blocks and various stained clays. All the iron he could be used for a lifetime! Steve readied his pickaxe at the thought, but stopped. Something odd was going on here.

Steve saw the cannon, and gaped in awe. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before! It looked like there were End Portal Frames, and wires hanging out of it. He tried mining it, but no luck. Whoever had made this was smart. Steve remembered waking up and feeling slightly off. Then, he noticed the entrance to his real house was open. He went down the staircase and saw his stash of diamonds had been snatched.

He knew it wasn't a griefer; there was no signs of escape, and the only way they could get a teleportation device was if they went to Nodus Inc., but that was locked up now. So that left a mob to do this work, and there was only one mob that could get out without leaving a mark.

An Enderman.

Steve grabbed his secondhand iron armor and tools (still fully enchanted, regardless) and prepared to set off. But, he was about to forget something! Steve whistled. "Creeps! Come on!" The baby Creeper sleeping at the edge of the room suddenly woke up, startled. Steve had acquired this peculiar Creeper from Dynamite Peak, the homeland of the Creepers. It had been a harrowing adventure there, and he almost didn't make it out.

"Creeps, someone's stolen our Diamonds," Steve had said. "I think it was an Enderman. Do you smell Enderman anywhere near here?" Creeps stuck his head out in an odd gesture that was like sniffing the air, which would have been normal if not for the fact that Creeps had no nose. But Creeps was clever, as he could smell where a mob had been. And, in the case of Endermen, sense where they had teleported.

Steve now opened the door of his house, and Creeps bolted out. "Hey, wait now!" Steve said. "Wait for me!" And so the two had made their way here, to this underground iron lab. Creeps hissed excitedly at somethings on another wall. Steve turned around and saw seven blocks in glass jars. One of them was a chest. "Creeps, we've found them!" Steve hollered excitedly. He opened the chest and found all of his diamond gear staring him in the face.

"Alright! Let's not waste any time putting this on!" Steve exchanged his Iron gear for Diamond ones. They fitted perfectly; he had made sure of that, and the sword felt balanced in his hand. Steve looked down at Creeps. "Creeps," he said. The Creeper looked up. "I need you to take my diamonds back to our house. Try and do it quickly. Once you're done, stay there." Steve looked at the portal. "I'm going into there, and I'm sure it'll be dangerous at the other side. So, don't come after me." The Creeper nodded sadly.

Steve looked at the portal and wondered how it would feel once he traveled through it. More importantly, he wondered where it would lead. He ate an Enchanted Golden Apple for luck, and felt his skin turn to what felt like metal, and his blood turned to potion. He felt powerful, so skilled he could overcome anything. He ran at the portal, and instantly melted away into lines of code.

...

When Steve came to, he saw his Iron Sword laying on the ground next to him. He was in some sort of tunnel made of yellowish rock. He had read about it in the ancient texts. What were they called? End Stone? Something like that. Steve stored his Iron Sword away in his inventory and ran across the tunnel. He wasn't expecting what he found at the end.

He saw a perfect sphere. It was hundreds of blocks below him, but he could just barely make out a figure in the middle of it. And it appeared to be... If that was possible... Himself. But there was no way! Unless it was...

Him.

Steve instantly knew what he had to do. He looked downwards and saw a group of Zombie Pigmen. He jumped down, and knew his legs would instantly brace for impact, empowered by the Apple. When he landed, the tallest and brownest pig had only a moment to say, "What the--" before he was sliced in two. A fight was brewing. And little did the rest of the group know it, but almost none of them would come out alive.

First of all, let's start with the bane of all builders; what I'm sure every minecrafter has ever constructed in their lifetime. The starting home.



It's simple, it's easy to build and it does what it's supposed to do pretty well - to protect the player. The only issue is, it's a massive eyesore. So let's start working on it.



First thing that we can do is add some windows. Things are starting to look a little bit better. I chose glass panes over glass blocks because they give a little bit more depth. It's those little things that makes buildings look just that much better.



Putting block variants drastically improves how the good the building looks. I decided to use oak logs as in my opinion it looks pretty good with stone brick and glass.



Roofs are generally the same with buildings in that there has to be block variations as well. Here, I used stone brick as the outer border and oak wood in the middle. However, I'm not a big fan of this kind of roof, but I'll get to that later.



Alright this might appear like a big jump but I'll try to explain it the best I can. A lot of you might think that "oh, the roof is there, therefore it's complete". But it's far from that. You see, the detail is where it's at. I'll get into detail further on, but I'll explain what I changed to the house here. I changed the blocks between the panes to stairs, and I also added horizontal log blocks in between the main supports. I also added fences to further increase the look of stability.

And there we have it, a good looking starter home which started off as a small cube that every single minecrafter despises.

Before you even begin to build, you have to take into consideration the blocks that you will use. Of course, one of the number one rules is to avoid using just one block. Here I prepared 9 different block palettes. Each palette has 2 blocks that compliment each other, and one block that contrasts the other two.



With that in mind, here are some wall designs that are based off these palettes.





At this point it should be rather clear that each of these different palettes represent different building themes. For example, the stone brick - oak combination represents medieval/fantasy while the snow - ice combo represents a more modern style. Of course, all this is simplified and you can certainly have more than 3 blocks in a palette.

My main point is, it is very important to have a block palette in mind before you start building something. This allows you to stick to a certain theme and also avoids having too many or too little colours.

Depth and detailing is quite an important part in building, and what I find a lot of minecrafters lack. Here is a simple wall. Again, just like the starter house, it serves it's purpose well. But again, it is still rather an eyesore.



So what exactly do we have to do to make this structure much more aesthetically pleasing?



First of all, add columns that divide the wall into several different sections. This insets the cobble wall backwards, adding an idea of depth.



Stairs and half slabs make for great detail blocks. They allow much more shapes to be created instead of just simple cubes. Here, I added stairs for the bottom of the columns and half slabs to connect the columns together. This creates a border around the cobble wall.



Here I showcase several different blocks to add further detail and depth. These include, but not limited to, fences, leaves and sideways - facing logs. I also added slabs in between to act as windows or shooting holes, depending on how you look at it.



For the finishing touches, I added even more stairs to make the whole wall look more sturdy. I added fences on top for a possibility of a walkway.

Voila! There we have it. A wall with a lot of depth and detail, and it all started with a simple 3 high cobblestone wall.

So what if you want to modify your buildings but the buildings just so happen to not be a wall? Here are some simple tips and tricks to modify your building/home.

Inset the blocks and use foliage to your advantage.



The wall on the left is the normal building, and the one on the right is the modified one. I not only inset the wall, but I also added a small "roof" to the window, combined with the fences. I also added several plants on both sides of the window.

Try to put in as much detail as possible.



Here is a small roof detail, preferably on smaller houses. On larger houses, you can put in a full fledged attic. It is pretty simple - cut away a portion of the roof, add some fences and also some glass.



Another small detail. To do this, extend the uppermost block of the roof a couple of blocks, and place an upward facing log at the very end. Put a slab on top of it and place some fences below it. Place a glowstone block, surround it with trapdoors and place a slab below it.

Curves make the structure seem to 'flow' more smoothly.



In this small mock up structure, I used a variety of stairs, slabs and fences to make the building 'flow' more smoothly. The fences make the edges seem like it is a slight curve, instead of a sharp ~90 degree angle. The stairs below the second set of logs makes the wall look like it is one line, instead of two lines separated by one block.

Adding arches, curves and circles into your buildings allow a lot of extra detail and shapes to be made. However, building curves in a game full of squares is indeed rather difficult. One rule to help make things easier is something I call the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 rule.



As you can see in the picture above, there are several different sections in an arch. Every section is one block smaller in length than the previous section. Of course, the different sections can be the same length, but a section cannot be larger in length than the one before. This rule is there so that the arch makes sense. With that in mind, here are several examples of arches used in building.



I've said beforehand that I am not a big fan of the classic 45 degree roof. This is because that in my opinion, it looks flat and it doesn't offer that much shape. Above is an alternative version for a roof. As you can see, it follows the guidelines of an arch but in the opposite way. The roof starts with 1 block, then another, then 2 blocks, then 2 blocks.



Here, I used the rule of arches I mentioned earlier to create the supports in the bridge. As you can see, I used the same principle. It starts at 3 blocks at the bottom, then 2, then 1. I then repeat this 3 times to create the supports shown.

Circles follow the same principles as arches, but repeated 4x over. Using this, it is quite easy to build a circle without the use of a guide. Here are several circles that I prepared beforehand, ranging from smallest to largest.



To create your circle, you have to start from the center. Then, create the 4 different edges of the circle. In the picture above, it's either 3 or 5 blocks. This is the start of the first arch. Then, start using the arch principle I mentioned earlier. Experiment with different lengths to create the circle.

At the first circle, there is only 1 block, so there isn't exactly a pattern forming. On the second circle however, the pattern is 1-1. On the third circle, the pattern is 2-1-2. The fourth circle, 2-2-2-2. See how this works?

Here are some examples to use circles as decoration in your buildings.



Here's a design of a watermill using a 15 block diameter circle. I have to admit this is not something I made myself, but instead it's a design off lynchyinc's steamshire farm. Nevertheless, he used logs to frame the entire structure together, and also fences to add some necessary detail.



Here's another structure involving the use of circles. It could be used as a foundation for a castle tower, a normal watch tower, or even a corner of a wall. Nevertheless, this is a 9 block diameter circle extended upwards with some extra detail.

There is no point in learning a lot about building but not knowing where to put it. I find that a lot of people here tend to just level the land, creating an empty canvas to build their structure. The thing is, terrain, if used correctly, creates more shapes, detail and is overall more aesthetically pleasing. One rule I like to follow is build with the terrain, not against it. For example, here we have a mountain biome.



Now, we have to analyse it. See what building would go where, what structure would fit in this area etc.



Here I labeled out several different areas that I find stand out in the mountain biome. We have a small isolated piece of land to the bottom right, and a small flat-ish area to the left. There's a small hill that has to be partially improved, but would make for a good looking 2-story structure. The small slope at the top left has possibilities for a stair to the summit.



Now, let's start with a bridge. Here, you can see I used the arch principle I mentioned earlier, upside down. This bridge has a pattern of 2 - 3 - 3 - 4.



I stamped a building on the flat piece of land I mentioned earlier. I decided not to show you guys the construction process, as I already covered that previously. This building doesn't use any aspects of the terrain as it was all flat.



Here, I highlighted the several different floors of the secondary structure. You can see how I used the terrain to my advantage on this building. On the smaller ledge I used half slabs. On the steeper side, I will use stairs.



While working on the structure here's one thing that you guys might encounter often. The supports are off by one side and it doesn't look natural if you extend the terrain/support out. So how to fix it?



It is in fact pretty simple. Place an upside down staircase below the supports. The logs between are optional, but I think it looks nice and adds a little bit of texture.





And here is the completed structure just for completion's sake. Here you can see the tips I mentioned earlier at use. The roof uses the arch principle, and the walls use some tricks from the depth and detail section.





Here are some interior pics, showing how I mold the structure around the land. You can see the main staircase that leads to the second floor and also the smaller staircase that leads to another smaller room.

But what if you want to decorate the terrain even further? Here are two things that I added that also compliments the terrain.



Here's a small path that follows the contours of the terrain hidden behind the house. You can use this to lead up to the summit etc.



A small piston door that can lead to some farms, a tunnel, an underground base, whatever.



And here's a finished view of everything. For those of you who might wanna experiment with the same terrain, or just want a cool mountain place to build/start a survival world, here are the seed and coordinates.

Seed - 1716790406808994629
Co-ordinates - X: -139 Z: 438

Whenever I see a forest, I just see it as a perfect spot to build something medieval/fantasy/steampunk. So that's exactly the theme that I'll be going for in this specific section of the guide. First of all, let's start with the block palette that we'll be using.



The 3 blocks on the left are the blocks that compliments each other, and the 3 blocks on the right are the blocks that contrast each other.



Here's the forest that we'll be working with. I chose it because there's a large rock formation in the middle that would be rather interesting to work with.



...and let's stamp a building to the side of the rock. Note how I used the tips I mentioned in this structure. Both in the roof and in the walls.



Every structure/village/city etc. requires some form of lighting. Here, I used fire as a light source to show a more medieval theme.



To the side of the structure I added some aqueducts. These create an interesting archway over the path and also adds some more detail.



Note the small details. I used item frames with a half slab to show a handle for the torches.



And some more buildings. I added an extra lantern to the side of it as well as a "lantern handle" that goes off the roof of the building.



To the other side, we're gonna use the terrain for our advantage. I added another aqueduct, this time slightly simpler. Also to the left you can see some stairs that follow the contours of the aforementioned rock.



At the top, I added a well that shows where the water comes from and also some more lanterns.



Now, where will the village gain any currency? Here I installed a market using the hardened clay blocks. We can make this actually work by using a hopper below the chest connected to a small sorting system that in turn connects to a dropper.



I added another market stall with some storage behind it.



And here we are. A small medieval outpost, hidden in the forest by a large natural rock formation. I have to give credit to Novv from Planet Minecraft for the inspiration on the buildings.

Jungles are a little bit more complicated to work with, mostly because of the rough terrain at the bottom as well as at the canopies. I find that a lot of treehouses made in minecraft are just boxes placed on top of the trees, which in my opinion is probably one of the biggest eyesores ever. Nevertheless, here's the jungle we'll be working with. (Note, this is the same world as the one with the medieval outpost in the previous section).



You can see where I started working at the top, where the wooden planks are. That's the specific section we'll be using.



The block palette, you'll see later on that I won't be using the stone bricks and clay though.



First thing that I did was to scatter wooden planks across the top of the jungle tree. This creates some more texture and instantly makes the floor look "stable". I also added railings using sideways jungle logs as well as jungle leaves. This also makes it look more 'natural'. I didn't show it previously but there is a small ledge at the back where I installed a staircase. This is another example of using the natural terrain to your advantage.



The main lighting source we will use in this is glowstone, hidden with jungle leaves.



Time to expand this even further. On the back side I installed a small staircase following the contours of the jungle tree.



Here there are two jungle trees at close proximity, so I connected them together and created a floor.



There's another jungle tree to the right, so I connected the two paths together with a bridge.



With the flat canopy I decided to create a building on top of it. I also show how to create a structure on top of jungles without making it look ugly.



The finished structure. As you can see, I used leaves as the roof and I also used half slabs as the walls, to make it look more 'open'.




Some of the interior pics. The table with the flower pot and the cactus was posted by another user here. The name escapes me at the moment, sorry about that.



Now let's further expand this path. Since I made this with survival in mind, I placed some jungle pillars with cocoa beans - could be used as a farm in survival mode.



There are a bunch of jungle trees here, so I decided to just connect them all together to make one large floor.



Starting on the house/building to be built on top of this massive canopy. It's more modern with the columns and the glass panes.



Just a picture of the design of the side wall. As you can see I used open fence gates to support the half slab.



Extended the floor outwards as there is a small one block difference to the bottom tree. This will become a form of balcony.




Several progress pictures. As you can see, I used the arch principle here but in a smaller case to make the entrance to the balcony. The roof is also made out of leaves and are scattered and asymmetrical; thus making it look more natural.



There was a large tree of about equal height to the other side of the main entrance so I created a 'skywalk' to connect the two together.



And on the other side I used the extra jungle tree to create a small cow farm. Sure, it's not that humane but ah well.



Another small raise calls for another small staircase.



The flat rooftop means I will build another structure there. Again, as I'm focusing this to be made in survival mode, this structure will be a small bedroom.




Several more progress pictures. As you can see, it is the same principle and theme as before, you should be able to get the hang of it by now.




And here are some interior pictures! I will make an interior section further on.



Back to the other side now. If you look closely there's another jungle tree on the other side.



And connected!



Of course, all bases need some form of storage system. Here's the start of one.



And done!



Here's a look from the outside. I used half slabs instead of full blocks for another feel of open space.



And finally, a bird's eye view of the entire outpost. I hoped that this section helped you with building in the jungle, as it is a really awesome place to build in. The jungle has a multitude of different levels, which force creativity and shape instead of boxes. So with this, I hope to eradicate the amount of square, cube treehouses.

Deserts are like plains - large empty flats. Generally these kind of terrain is very boring; many others would prefer extreme hills over deserts, for example. But, deserts can be a place to stray away from the usual medieval style builds. I say two styles fit perfectly for deserts - middle eastern and modern. Notice how both of these styles use a LOT of sandstone; the perfect block for desert builds.



The block palette. Again, this follows the the core of several blocks that compliment each other, and several blocks that contrast.



We're going for a middle-eastern theme here, as the modern style will be focused on more in the plains. So to start of things, make a few columns.



I apologize that I did not capture enough pictures in between this picture and the one before. My main point is, I extended the columns to make it 3 blocks thick. I also added some walls in the inside as well as some stairs as the roof. These stairs also add some curvature.



Now let's start adding a small room/patio. I actually tried to follow the contours a little bit here by making it go down a step.



Pro tip - buttons and fences add quite a lot of detail to buildings, especially sandstone ones.



It's rather tough to see in this picture, but what I did was I added several columns extending to the side; filled it with glass in between and add the roof you see here. I will eventually change this later though.



Add the floors. I wasn't planning to use hardened clay at all in this guide, but I did anyway. I took inspiration from the desert temples that naturally generate already.



Now simply cover the entire thing up and curve the edges a little bit.



Overall view of what things look like at the moment. You can see the second floor balcony overlooking everything else there, as well as the yellow hardened clay on top of the small room.



For the entrance, use the technique similar to the one I used for the forest roads. Scatter similar looking blocks together to create a path.



Now to finish things up. I added some hardened clay at the very bottom floor similar in pattern to the small room we made earlier. I also extended some of the walls.



Copy the design again to the second floor, and create the walls. I originally wanted the structure to be more covered up, but it looked better open like this.



Add the roof. It's open again here, as those blocks are only half-slabs; placing glass blocks would deter how it looks from the outside by quite a bit.



And the finished product!

So, Savanna. When they were first introduced, the trees were just jungle trees and there wasn't really any materials that fit well with them. Then, Dinnerbone introduced the two new wood types - dark oak and acacia wood. Funnily enough, these two types of wood are perfect for the Savanna. But how about theme? Well scroll down and find out.



Here's a Savanna about 4000 blocks away from my main base in my survival world. What I did was I created a new world with the same seed, and used AMIDST to locate a Savanna M biome.



Fast forward a tiny bit, and here we have two different houses. If the style isn't particularly clear, it's steampunk. You can also see the different block types that I used here. The columns are dark oak wood; the roof is made out of dark oak planks; the walls are mostly acacia wood and the glass are blue stained glass.



Here's a closer view of the other house. You can sort of see the steampunk influence in this build. There is a gear next to the house that acts as a sort-of water mill. The shape of the structure itself is very unconventional, and the roof is arched in the way that I showed in the circles section of this guide.



Let's begin creating a new house. First of all, I create a rectangle that has odd dimensions, i.e. length and width of odd numbers. In this case, 9 x 7. Then I placed wooden columns every other block.



This is quite a jump, but I'll try to explain it. First, I expanded the original rectangle by a block on both sides. Then, I create another rectangle next to it also with odd dimensions. Afterwards I placed wooden columns in the same fashion as before and placed a roof.



Just a look from the front, you can see how I incorporate the acacia wood and the blue stained glass into the build.



I expanded the rectangle outwards again by a block on both sides, so it is now 2 blocks more than the original rectangle (on both sides). I placed the wooden columns and then begin work on the roof. Note how this roof is constructed - it is an upside-down arch.



On the other side is an example of how you can decorate your wall. This is just one of the ways, there are many other possible ways out there. You can put shrubs, large windows, lamps, whatever.



Anyways, I filled in the roof with dark oak planks and stairs, and then added these large "buttresses" (not sure what word to use here) one block off the stone brick border.



Sometimes, if there are large sections of a roof that is completely blank, I add a circular window. They're pointless, but whatever. They look good.



Overview of what the house looks like. You can also see that I added a chimney (the stone brick with the anvil on top) and added leaves around the house to add some more detail.



Let's add some more components to emphasize this steampunk theme. Here, I added a small railway. In survival, I use a similar-looking railway to transport items from a collection area to a storage room.




Aqueducts are always awesome. Here, they're pointless. They look pretty damn good but they don't actually serve any purpose. In survival, you can use this as an item transport system (which I do) or even to transport a water source for a farm.



Here's an overview image of what we've built in the Savanna biome.

What exactly do we have to do to decorate the interior of a structure? There isn't necessarily a step by step process to follow, as decorating a building is entirely relative to the building itself. So let's use some examples.



Here we have a small house, built in the forest part of the building with biomes section above. I purposely made the house empty so that I can build it here.



Floors. Don't just jump in into the little chairs and cabinets, make some floors first. Stairs are pretty difficult to incorporate most of the time, but here I just used a small one wide staircase.



Start decorating. I'll go more into depth in the next section about different kinds of furniture, but keep note that detail is incredibly important in furniture. The more, the better.



Another picture of the first floor. Note the shrub in the corner and the carpet in the middle, surrounding the glowstone. I also added some cracks on the floor using different orientations of stairs.



An enchanting station at the top floor. This one is directly connected to the roof, making the transitions smoother per say using the hardened clay.



And the bed, with a lot of books surrounding it. I find this fits the fantasy theme well, but not so much so for other themes.

Interior design has a lot of similarities with building in general. Detail is a necessity, and themes and block palettes are things that we also have to keep in mind.

I get asked now and then about if I prefer building things to function well, or building things to look good. The thing is, it's not difficult at all to make things that are both of these things combined. A lot of people like to call this rule as form follows function.

To get started, let's choose a random machine; say, TangoTek's automatic brewing setup. This is an amazing design, and one I will probably use in my world as well. So let's get started trying to make this thing looking good.



First of all, we have to know what are the parameters. As in, what needs to be there and what doesn't need to be there. In this case the parameters set are rather simple.

• All redstone lamps have to be visible
• All chests have to be visible and accesible
• All levers have to be accessible
• All droppers accessible
• Item frames not need to be there, but is recommended
• Water does not need to be where it is

With all the parameters known, let's get started.



Of course, a palette has to be set. Since I want to make this in my own world, I use a palette that is commonly used in my main base. Note this can be changed later on.



First of all I changed the iron blocks to the palette that I am using. I placed half slabs below the redstone lamps for more shape. I used slabs here to follow the parameters that I set above.



I'll attempt to explain everything I did here. First of all, I pretty much replaced all of the previous blocks to blocks in my palette. As you can see things are already looking great just by replacing the blocks. However, instead of stairs I placed solid blocks. I then place half slabs below those blocks. All of the blocks I placed here follows the parameters I set above.



Here it is clear that I moved one part of the machine - the water source. This is stated in one of the parameters above - the water does not need to be where it is. Because of that I moved the water to a place that appears to be more aesthetically pleasing.



Detail can also be implemented. Here's a small fence wall with spruce leaves behind it.



Overview of everything. This is a very simple example of how form follows function is implemented. It also goes to show how not everything that is complicated has to look bad. As long as the parameters are set, it is possible to make everything look great.

I'm excited to see what this world will look like!

Will this world be as existential as the seed is? Probably not.
Also, why are cheats on? It's not like I'm going to use them... of course not! o_o

Dropped off into a strange world, I have no idea what to do. Actually, I have a pretty good idea of what to do. Looks like I'm in a plains-esque sort of biome. There are some big hills in the distance... and there's my bonus chest! Go away, sheep...

Apples, a wooden pick I'll never use, a bunch of sticks, an axe, and... ONE plank? What am I supposed to do with just one plank!?

Let's walk over to those sweet looking hills!

This is apparently an "acacia" tree. I don't even know what that is, but it's a tree all right. No, I'm not going to replant you.

I'm going to dig into this wall here and dig some stone with my pickaxe! I could definitely use some more tools, and maybe a furnace...

How am I supposed to get all the way up there?

COAL! Hell yeah! I'm going to make torches, and then I'll use the torches to set fire to cows. Can I do that?

No, I'm not going to use shears. It's either they die, or I die. I just need to kill three sheep, and......

Bed! Whoo! Night is going to be a breeze now. I can just lie down at sunset, and all the monsters will ignore me for the entire night. Maybe they will think I'm dead.

Pork Time!

That was a long and tiring climb... I need to sit down for a few moments and catch my breath. But I'm on the canyon thing!
(By the way, the mod that adds all this sweet generation is "ExtrabiomesXL")

Must... mine... coal...
Must... never... stop.... mining.... coal....
Must... mine... all... the... coal... I.... see....

What is this strange black liquid doing in my canyon? I wonder how it tastes...
Best not to try drinking it, though. Who knows, it could be pig semen combined with black dye...

These talks of pig semen... they are making me hungry!

This reminds me of the song, "Bathing In The Oil In The Moonlight".

That's not a real song. At least I don't think it is.

Bedtime! Beds feel so cheap!

Good morning! First things first, let's gather a TON of this red stone. It could be useful for building a house later on in the game...

Hey, look, there's some land all the way in the distance over there! I wonder what could be on it! I really have no idea

Let's go on a boating adventure across the sea. Crafting boats is so easy!

Hey look, it's a vanilla forest. Probably my favorite vanilla biome, but I won't make my house here. Might as well grab some oak wood though.

This stone is so... white.
What could it be?
Apparently, it's called "quarried stone". Strange.

Wow! What a wonderful, bright plains biome! I love it!
I want to live here. This biome will be mine!

Is... is this...?
IT'S AN NPC VILLAGE!
Hello, villagers! Will you help me, or just stand around offering crappy trades?

I'm in ur house
Stealing ur bookshelves

How romantic! This would be a great plot for a movie.

The hearts are going into his head now. He doesn't seem to notice.

I just got an AMAZING idea.
You see that large hill right in the middle of the village?
I will build a large tower right on that hill, overlooking the village! And I will live in the tower, as the ruler of the villagers!
An evil ruler? Or a helpful one? Who knows? I will rule over the villagers forever!!!!

For now, this hole with a door will do.
My dreams will have to wait.

Minecraft 1.5.2
ExtrabiomesXL
Twilight Forest
Aether II
Xeno's Reliquary
Railcraft
Flan's Mod
Inventory Tweaks
CraftGuide
Mekanism Tools + Generators(UE)
Atomic Science (UE)
Modular Powersuits (UE)
Complex Machines (UE)
Galacticraft (UE)
Equivalent Exchange 3
Buildcraft
Iron Chest