Around the World V2

§0 §r§l§6Around the World§r §l§6 in Twelve Days§r §0 §r§4Book Two§r §4 §r§l§6 4788888§r §l§4 ✧ ✧ ✧§r

§0 ███§r§f███§r§0███§r §0 ███§r§f███§r§0███§r §0 ███§r§f███§r§0███§r §0 ███§r§f███§r§0███§r §0 Library Association§r §0 Press, 2020§r §0Published in beautiful§r §0 §r§2Bremerhaven§r §2 §r§0by §r§24788888§r §0 April 17th, 2020§r

§l§0Book Two§r §0Days 4-7§r §o§0A more or less §r§o§0factual account, §r§o§0embellished for your §r§o§0enjoyment.§r

§0 §r§l§0 V. Wilhelm§r

I woke up hungover as could be, but after an hour or so I was able to move around easily, so I got ready to sail down the river. I left in my boat down the river, and here is where my troubles began. §0Unfortunately, after§r

an hour, I realized that I had left in the wrong direction down the river. Instead of heading back towards Amaryllis and the northern seas, I was heading into a harbor on the south side of the continent controlled by Carbon and Savaguard. By this point,

however, I was so far down the river that I decided I should just sail around the continent to Anvard and then up to Alexandria. §0I first realized I was going the wrong way after entering Carbon, when I began passing dark and§r

gloomy homes and large, imposing factories. The landscape made my skin crawl. It was impossible for a person not to feel uneasy at what I saw. Tall, solemn, cobblestone farms sat wedged between hillsides, looming over the gray, denuded

terrain. Tiny, wooden shantytowns were cropped up along the riverside, and a small handful of somber players stared out at me from them. I realized their struggle, and sympathized for them. It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race.

After making it out of the river and into the harbor, I encountered what at first seemed to be a large and prosperous seaport. Quartz and green-stained glass buildings populated the shore, and a blue and white was flown from the top of the

community’s tower. I disembarked to see if there were any players around. But then, I panicked as I realized that this was the ruins of Chicao, one of the oldest towns on the server! Every building had a sign on it which said:

§oNO TRESPASSING!§r §o§0PEARL ON SIGHT!§r §0Just then, two players came out of who knows where and saw me. I became quite terrified and neither wanted to know who they were nor desired to wait around to find out, so I sprinted back to my§r

boat as quickly as my two feet would carry me and took off flying down the coast. Thankfully, they didn’t follow me, and to this day I still don't know who they were. §0Soon, I was speeding down the Savaguard coast, when something on shore caught my§r

eye. A multicolored form was sitting right on the beach about 100 meters away, so I went over to inspect it. It was a parrot! Having lived in a frozen tundra all my life, I hardly recognized such an animal, but I could tell he desired companionship and

that I was the first player he had ever seen. I needed a crew mate, anyhow, and felt bad that he had to live on a side of the country which no one visits, so I picked him up and called him Wilhelm. §0Wilhelm was a beautiful Scarlet Macaw, with§r

red, orange, yellow, green, and blue plumage. He quickly adapted to life at sea. As we made it out of the harbor and onto the open waters, he flew this way and that around the boat, peering over the horizon for land. The sun began to set on the tranquil

ocean, so I offered him a piece of bread for dinner, which he gladly accepted. I made space in the boat for him and me to lay down, and fell asleep, dozing off to the sound of waves lapping on the sides of the boat.

§0 §r§l§0VI. Leviathan§r

I awoke quite violently to the creaking of my ship and the panicked squawks of Wilhelm in my ear. Looking over its side, I immediately spotted what he was chirping at, but I couldn’t quite make out the large, dark form making its way

towards the boat. It was dumping down rain-we had been caught in one of those ocean typhoons-and I had no intentions to let that thing get near my boat. I dug in on the oars and we were off. §0It occurred to me quite quickly, however, §r

that we were a couple kilometers south of the main continent and needed somewhere to land. The storm was raining so heavily that I couldn’t read my map charts, so I pointed as straight north as I could and tried to keep her steady as the waves splashed

over the sides of my vessel. §0Wilhelm and I must have sailed like this for at least an hour, trying to outrun that monster chasing us along the ocean’s depths, for soon Wilhelm chirped at the sight of land. I looked off in the distance§r

and saw the oriental buildings character- istic of the Yamato people. We hadn’t been heading north, we’d gone due south, and we had sailed straight into Honshu! I pulled swiftly into the docks and luckily, the dark form disappear- ed into the blue ocean's

depths. I vowed to never sail in those seas again before realizing they now were my only way out. Well, there was nothing to do then but out-wait the storm, and so ended my fifth day.

§0 §r§l§0VII. Intermission§r

The next two days did not carry any events of great magnitude in them, but I will describe them here anyways. I first made it my priority to update my maps with the help of some local Yamato fishers who knew the area well. My goal

was still Alexandria, and I knew if I sailed strong I could reach it in good time, perhaps a day and a half of sailing. I sent a telegram ahead of me to TTastic to let him know of my arrival. I still had over a dozen books, both traded for and to be

traded, so I knew I would have the collateral to make a deal. §0Wilhelm and I set off towards Anvard, first, that morning, and by mid-afternoon had managed to arrive at its mountainous, lush coastline. Being out of the open ocean and§r

along the coast relieved me greatly after the incident the day before, and I think it calmed Wilhelm down, too. By noon, we had passed by Anvard's great city, and were well on our way to Alexandria. §0Bobanga’s shores appeared in the§r

distance, and soon Wilhelm and I were enveloped in the lush and tropical ocean-side jungles. There weren’t many man-made structures where we sailed along the coast, but perhaps I missed some as I was eager to reach Alexandria as soon as possible.

Finally, we sailed around the edge of an island and the ocean opened up into a harbor. I knew we were getting close. Port Paradis appeared in the distance to the west. The sun had begun setting, so I figured I should stop there and see if there was

a place to stay. There wasn’t, and the port was all but abandoned-looking. Unlike Honshu, no friendly players greeted me, and I felt the loneliest and furthest from home I had felt since that day I had left Bremerhaven nearly a week ago. At least

I had Wilhelm with me now to share my sorrows with. I pitched a tent on the shore and Wilhelm and I fell asleep easily under the silver Minecraft moon.

§0 §r§l§0VIII. Alexandria§r

The next morning, a hopeful, yellow sun greeted me at the Alexandria. Wilhelm and I sailed past the lighthouse and moored our vessel just outside the city proper. I felt significantly more comfortable in Alexandria, and was relieved to be on

land for a change. §0Promptly, I met up with my contact, TTastic, who was a wonderful host and showed me down all the streets of the city. Unfortunately, though, he did not have the books I was looking for.§r

"I’m sure a member of the Alexandrian Council has them, but in the mean time you’d better talk to noahravn. He’s collected most of Jess' books," he informed me. He had some more important business to attend to so we cordially parted ways.

Disheartened, but not discouraged, I decided to remain in Alexandria and seek out noahravn. TTastic had been great help, but unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to meet my seller right away. I sent a telegram, but to no immediate response.

The vast, empty roads were intimidating, and I had a hard time finding where I needed to go. But I had time, and I wanted to know the city. I wanted to feel the history running through the streets. I saw the statues, the stores, the great lighthouse,

Jess' tavern, The Sweet Roll bookstore (housing some of my works). Additionally, I did get my fifth unique book of the trip, one which I think is quite rare and overlooked by book collectors as it is sold at a small market shop on Alexandria's

waterfront by a player named fggh. §o§0Taming Big Dogs§r§0 would make a fine addition to my collection.§r §0Suddenly, the phone rang for me, and noahravn told me to meet him in CivCorp in several days. He said that he received my message and would§r

gladly scrounge up as many unique books as he could, but he did need some time. Wilhelm seemed slightly impatient at this fact, but we were content to remain wondering for several hours in Alexandria before booking a room at one of the local inns. It

had been a week since I'd slept in a proper bed and I forgot how much I missed it.

§0The End of §r§4Book Two§r §4 §r§l§6Around the World§r §l§6 in Twelve Days§r §4 Book Three§r §0Resumes my travels, beginning with a sojourn, then pursuit. §r