#blackbrick

See my last post if you find this AU interesting!

Enjoy!

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Background:

A much younger Grian wakes up after his world is destroyed to find himself in a strange Nether with no portal and no access to obsidian. Convinced it’s a dream or he’s doomed since nothing can live in the nether, he decides to explore a bit. He finds strange blocks and altered soul sands, eerie sounds echoed through the cavern he found himself in, his way illuminated by unnatural sapphire fire.

Grian comes upon a lava ocean with a shadowy building in the distance, barely visibly through the light and ash. Believing it to be a small fortress, Grian begins circling the nether rack ledges, making his way to the oddly shaped castle.

As he was climbing a tall hill of nether rack he spots something glinting within the compact rocks that make up the floor. It looks like an ore but not the quartz that he’s used to! Curious but without a pick axe he scratches at the heated ore, a small chunk coming loose from the crumbly rock, heating the palm of his hand.

It was gold. He was holding a gold nugget.

With hope that maybe someone else was in the nether and just had some of their boots melted (and also judging them for wearing gold boots), he jogs the rest of the way to the obelisk like castle.

As he approaches what he believes to be a backside entrance he noticed the material. It has the colour of damp ash and the texture of jungle temple stone, only much more decrepit. If he was fully equipped and not stranded in this strange Nether then Grian would have been ecstatic at a new block. Except in this situation it just leaves him uneasy. Left with the choice of exploring the building or going further into the caverns, the player decides to take his chances inside, praying for obsidian despite him having no way to mine it.

Inside is just as eerie as the outside, perhaps more so due to the strange groans and oinks from what must be Zombie Pigmen. He creeps along the crumbling corridors, worn down not due to age but due to shoddy building.

This is not a fortress.

He comes across a chest in a closed off hallway, the groans louder as if just a room away.

Convinced that he’s safe as long as he doesn’t accidentally swing his fists and hit a pigman, he opens the chest with relative confidence, hoping for tools or even some food.

Nothing. Just a bowel and some string. Which he swipes and mounts in his inventory anyway.

His train of thought is cut off when he hears a loud aggressive squeal from the beginning of the hallway, a grotesque piggish man dressed in shabby cloth, a scratched gold helmet and wielding an enchanted gold sword. Grian backs up quickly, scrambling against the wall as he retreats from the encroaching enraged person. Animal. Thing.

With the dead end approaching Grian searches for any weakness in the worn bricks that he could take advantage of. Spotting an area where glints of lava peaks through large cracks Grian then speeds up, hunching his back and using shoulders as a battering ram he near blows a hole in the bricks, just big enough for him to wriggle out of.

Climbing out feet first he’s just swinging his lower legs over the open lava ocean when he’s yanked from behind, the terrifying mob squealing in his ear. As he grips the outside ledge with his legs and tries to shove away the disgusting hands gripped around his arms and hair a small ‘tink’ is heard, the small nugget of gold he had fiddled with skitters on the floor, hitting the aggressive mobs shin.

Grian has barely noticed the nugget dropping, but as soon as it settled near the two brawlers, the grotesque pig like man paused to stare at the nugget, snout twitching in supposed interest. Much to the confusion and great relief of Grian, the thing let’s go of him and the sword he would use to chop him up, trotting over on mutated hooves to bend down and use an unexpectedly gentle motion to pinch up the tiny nugget, letting out a strange cooing snort as it bows its head to get a better look at the nugget cradled in his palm.

Due to the angle of his lumpy, oval head the gold helmet perched on top slips off and clangs against the ground loudly, rolling to a noisy stop near Grian, who is still half out the gap in the bricks, watching and panting in shock.

Despite the noise, the pig continues to admire the piece of ore, leaving the panicked player enough time to catch his breath and swipe up the enchanted weapon, sheathing it in his trouser belt. Just as he was about to make his escape he paused to pick up the discarded armour, tucking it under his arm.

This motion apparently jolted the creature out of its admiration, floppy ears twitching and turning with a snarl to the young player, beginning to charge once again.

Clumsily Grian shimmies out of the hole, turning his whole body in order to grip at a large crack below his escape.

The once again aggressive mob launches through the hole with a loud snarl. Or at least it would have if it’s pudgy torso didn’t become stuck. It’s single free arm swung at Grians head, screaming and squealing in rage at the thievery.

Grian ducks and decides to take his chances and let’s go of the crack, dropping like a stone to avoid the swinging arm. As he falls he gasps, the helmet comes loose from his grip, careening down with him. In a quick manoeuvre that he would later be smug about Grian scrabbles and grabbed a jutting out brick with his left hand whilst simultaneously wildly swinging his legs, managing to hook the tip of the helmet his right foot.

Using some impressive core strength and his left arm, Grian manages to solidly grip the helmet and plop it on his head. Much to the still stuck mobs frustration.

With the strength in his arms waining, Grian swings to the next loose brick, a few feet below him and close to a nether rack ledge. Thankfully it stays tightly in the wall despite his whole weight being on one brick. Then with a slight rock of his legs, sword clanging noisily against the wall, Grian launches the 12 foot drop to the ledge, chest making impact with the very edge, knocking the wind out of him as he scrabbles for a last time to solid ground, flopping on the heated rock with very little grace, the stolen sword jutting into the small of his back painfully and the loose fitting helmet clanking off his head a short distance away.

Taking a moment to relax and breathe, Grian listens to the now grumbling squeals and snorts from his attacker, still stuck and hanging forlornly over the lava ocean.

With a final ash filled breath Grian hefts himself into a kneeling position, reaching over to retrieve the fallen helmet as he stands, staring out across the unfamiliar ocean, taking in all the differences and the similarities to what he once knew.

With a resigned breath he turns and observed his new path, a large cavern filled with lava falls and magma blocks, distant squeals and the cries of ghasts echo through the cursed land.

Taking his first step foreword his hand raises the helmet to place it neatly on his head.