Oct 25 New start

 Just a quick start

-700.,-1800 is the fletcher's house in teh village I found.  I don't really need to trade though since I already have a treasure and shipwreck and a bonch of food.

I'll need to find  a lava pool or go digging.  I went digging and only found a large cave so far, with no lava pool.  I will have to go deeper.

found lava.  Portal coords Over:  -664,,-1744   Nether: -83,,-218

Surprisingly, there was a fortress under my portal.  and a blaze spawner 20 blocks away.  I dug a tunnel and killed them in a safe spot.  Only one death in there before getting 9 rods.  I have done a bit of bartering, but no pearls or spiderwebs yet.  I'll have to look for a blue forest.  I also have not got enough obsidian to make a portal somewhere else.  

But.  With this luck I'm going to break a record.  1 death and 1.71 hours so far.

I walked a long way in the nether to find a warped forest.  Did not find.  I did find a bastion, probably Hoglin Stables, but got thoroughly killed before getting inside.  I will not bother going back.  

So I'm in the village above ground, trying to trade with stubborn fletchers (three of them now) to get enough emeralds to level up the cleric to sell me pearls.  I have him ready now, but the value of sticks has gone down to 41 per emerald!!!

Anyway.  Tomorrow's job will be to see if there is clay in the lake.  If so, I'll hire a mason and sell him my clay for emeralds.  and see if the fletchers ease their prices.

I hired another fletcher and this one seemed to have an unlimited stick appetite.  So I traded with him and the cleric to get 13 pearls, and a bunch of arrows.  Now i'm set up to head for the stronghold next time I have time.  

Meanwhile I'm cooking up enough iron ore to make one set of armor.

47.2 says the first eye.  -146 Says the second.

Now i'm in the bottom of a large ocean, throwing pearls back and forth.  hm.

I decided just to dig down.  Just past the deepslate I broke into a giant cave with lots of lava, water, and greenery.  I went in there, planning to throw an eye and dig for the stronghold.  So I went into a corner, planning to kill the monsters from a sheltered spot where I wouldn't get shot.  But I was overrun by zombies and died there in the corner.  and unfortunately respawned at 0!  

Using the coordinates in the notes here, i found the village, and using the angle from before, I went on the ocean and noticed the same ocean monument as before.  I remembered that I could hear the guardians shooting from in the cave, so I decided to dig close to there.  Died by guardian on first attempt.  

-1160,,-1335 is the coords of the hole in the bottom of the sea that i'm using for second attempt recovery mission.  By the way, the stronghold is there.  But not the giant cave where I lost all my ender eyes.  :(  And, I died at the ocean floor now, when I started to search the area for my previous dig. I think there should be a door sitting there from that time.  Or at least nearby.  w

I'm trying again at recovery from deep cave: now at -1206,,-1311.  

Well, that was it.  But, my hard earned stash is absent.  

The plan now?  Should I quit and start fresh?  Or use my blaze factory and find gold in the nether again?

Decided to continue.  I got 8 blaze rods already, and one eye.  All I need to do is find about 20 endermen to kill, and then I can go where I already know the strong hold is.  Tomorrow.

Oct 15 new speedrun initialized.

 Cooking at 451//700.  I'll go for a jaunt around in the dark to find lava.

Lava pool found at 638//411!  And a ruined portal on the trip there!  Now I have a gold block and gold pants.  All set for nether, first night.

Nether location of portal is 90/42/45.

I almost ruined my lava pool with water overflow.  I think it was a glitch - when I placed the water a second time, it didn't overflow.

Nether: -41,70,-25 from here I can see a fortress straight to the  neg z.  also a high number of piglins, so I'm going to get my gold and trade it in on the way to the fortress.

Got the gold.  I'm set with gold ingots to barter, cobble blocks to build/shelter, diamond sword for blazes, lava bucket for brutes if needed, wood, and steak.  

For tomorrow.

Next day:

Fortress entry at 5,64,-85.  Not much food.  I can't burn the nether trees, but if you make them into sticks, they burn.

Shoot.  I got one fire res from trading.  using it fighting blazes.  Doing ok.  Then killed by wither skeleton while fighting them!  Don't know how I'll get my stuff.

107,,223 there's a bastion of some kind.  I got fed up with trying to get my stuff at the fortress and wandered the other way. I'll check what kind of bastion, and save it for tomorrow.

Stables bastion.  I'll need a piece of gold armor, a lava bucket, and blocks. and a boat.

Next day.  I stocked up on some stuff.  I'm in the bastion, killed 3 brutes already.  found 2 chests.  Traded some gold to the piglins here.  tomorrow I'll try exploring some more and try not to die again.

Sunday:  I think I'll stash my valuables in the visible chest in the back here, then explore a bit.  I'll keep a lava bucket, a boat, some blocks, and some food, a pickaxe. and an axe.

-31//314 I found another fortress.  This one is not crawling with exposed blazes.  I think I may be able to get in there and have them in a more controlled environment.  I did get one fire res. from bartering.  This will be my way to the end.  Although, I have no ender pearls yet.  I made a small base at the bottom of the fortress pillar with a chest and crafting table.  

I left myself standing in the lava well room.  I'm exploring the halls to my left hand, and marking with cobblestone and gravel where there is a dead end.  I'm facing to the new area (partly explored to the left).  I think I'll shoot blazes, until I kill 10, then use fire res to collect blaze rods and kill a few more.

I got 9 blaze rods just swinging the sword with 1 fire res!

Now to find ender pearls.  Pearls before swine, as they say.  I've got blocks, food, sword and axe, boat.  I'll go hunting for endermen in the nether.  If that's not productive, I'll start traveling to the stronghold and hope for a village to trade at and get pearls from the cleric.  Maybe arrows too.

I'll have to grab some glowstone dust to multiply my meager arrow supply.

Ender eye (i had just one) pointed me toward -107 degrees.  I'll head that way and hope to find a village for trading.

I'm working the village for emeralds.  Going to hire a cleric to get pearls.

Wow this village sucks.   Or I the village patron/guardian suck.  My fletcher and cleric combo got zombified because I stayed up too late.  My new fletcher and cleric don't restock very often.  I have only 3 pearls so far.  

I built another portal.  I guess I'll have to go enderguy hunting again and hope for a warped forest.  But, that's a story for another day.  

Village is at 2881,,-854.  in case I get lost or something.

367,,-105 is my new portal's nether coords.

That worked pretty well.  Found a warped forest near the new portal.  Got 9 more pearls for  a total of 12.  Stocked my inventory for stronghold and end.  Next day I'll travel, find the stronghold, search for the end portal, tower up to smash a beacon, put up some barriers so I can stand there and shoot other ones, test the bed exploding idea, blow myself up more than likely, and have fun.

37.6 degrees to stronghold.  But i forgot to grab a bed.  

2404,,-107 is where the eyes took me.  I lost about 3 eyes while looking.  Hope 9 is enough!  Need to get some water for my bucket!

Done it!

18 deaths, 12.48 hours.  btw when you take more than 12 hours, the statistics are given in days.  ie 0.52 days in this case. 

I went back in and blew up one bed to see what it felt like.  Pretty dramatic actually.  blows up a good hole in the end stone.  I used one crying obsidian to block the blast and that stayed put.  I think it would be good to place the bed on one as well, so the platform would stay there for a second blast if I survived the first. 

Also, I waffled between towering straight up to get up the pillars and making a spiral staircase.  Probably more effective to tower, and then pearl down or use water.  or a boat.  and if needed, I could tower back up to collect my inventory like I did today once.  And if I use end stone to make little mini pillars at the top, it's hard for endy to end me.

Speedrun #3, Oct 12, 2025

 I've just started up with a new world after my triumph beating the enderdragon yesterday.  In less than 24 hours playing time, I might add.  And only 82 deaths.

So far I've harvested sweet berries and a bunch of meat, started them baking at a broken nether portal (326,63,1) and I'm about to go raid an outpost and look through the ocean for light areas (portals, lava pools aboveground) and shipwrecks.  I'll do the rowing in the dark first.  and I will make a bed to respawn at before doing the outpost.  There's thinking.

Success in the outpost.  no death.  Found two separate treasure maps and chest within 200 blocks or so, and the good half of a shipwreck.  And I got diamonds, so I fixed the broken portal and am in the nether already, with extra gold armor and food stashed at my island base!

Portal in nether location is 35,73,7, in netherrack, in sight of a Crimson Forest.

AND a fortress right nearby at 96,70,32!

Ok doing good with 5 blaze rods already.  I'm needing more food so I need an escape route but there's blazes everywhere.  haven't died in here yet!

I got out nicely with 8 blaze rods.  Realized I had no pearls yet so I'm hunting in the blue forest.  out of food, so at -95,93,-42 is a chest with ender pearls.  have to go find food before I lose this batch.

Now my eye is telling me to head for 70.7, from the Pillager/portal base.  

now, after the swamp, it's 34.1 degrees.  Must be close ish.

Stronghold starter staircase appears to be at -1435,,612.  I'm digging down and hit a cave.  I decided to wait until tomorrow lest I rush in and scatter my valuables to the monsters denizens.

next day:  I think i'll unload all my stuff and go down and check it out.  I think I'll run a bit, look for a low spot, dig in, and then tunnel for the coordinates I wrote above.

THat worked.  I'm in.  I found the portal room.  I threw away two eyes of ender when i didn't aim straight at the portal frame!  but i brought enough to make two more.  phew.

I'm about  to go in....

Sept 30 notes

 I'm in a spruce forest.  There's no villages or oceans.  I see a lava pool though.  location:  53,,-84

I found a shipwreck and treasure map.  Now i'm set for hitting the nether and looking for a bastion.  heading to the lava pool now.

nether portal location in soul sand valley: 16,98,-8

Bridge bastion 1: -214,70,136

got killed by a brute after getting the chalice.  some stuff i heard burn in lava.  :(

killed again

killed again

again

again

killed again, this time i found most of my inventory.  did a bit of trading with the one dude I could corner.  No fire res yet.

the plan now is to collect nuggets and keep trading safely.  until I get fire res.  then I go look for the nearest fortress.  

so far I'm 4 hours in.  Last round I speedran the game in 21 hours.  We'll see if I beat that.

I parked a chest behind the bastion at -193,,183.  I'll go look for gold for a while and try to get back in one piece.

I ended off today across some lava in a warped forest.  Got a couple of eyes there.  Right now there's an enderman screaming at me but can't reach me for some reason.  I blocked in to help him forget.  Next, go unload my nuggets in the chest and find some more.  There is another nether waste on the far side of this warped forest - maybe i should just go there next before unloading.

I should have gone there to unload.  I decided to go collect more nuggets first.  killing a bunch of endermen along the way.  one of them killed me!  and I lost (sigh) all my gold again.  Couldn't quite get back in time.  

For next time - continue rebuilding gold, collecting mushroom to eat, killing endermen carefully, and go back to the bastion.  I suspect there will be a fortress across the lava sea I'm near.  

I'm at 8 deaths and 5 hours.

Well, make that 10 deaths.  I collected a bunch of gold and, true to form, died with it.  And got there too late to collect it again.

Now i'm goign to keep collecting gold and barter it every time i see a piglin.  I don't think there's any advantage other than time in getting a bunch of them in a hole and throwing a lot of gold at them.

I also lost my 4 eyes of ender.  duh.

I'm now up to 4 ender eyes through trading as I search for nuggets.  I hope i don't get lost.

I got 11 eyes!  and one fire res.  I found my way back to the stash behind the bastion and left them there BEFORE MY SUDDEN DEATH!  So now that i've died, I'm not starting from scratch.  I couldn't find my inventory somewhere at the edge of a basalt delta that I found.  I left the game standing by the enderman candle area.

I decided to go around the other way to look for nuggets and found a fortress just  a stone's throw from my portal!  died from distant blaze fire.

I went into my mine to prepare this time.  got some iron and gold.  and a few diamonds.  I think I'll go get my arrows, shoot the blazes from a safe distance, then use fire res to go collect the rods.

I got one more fire res from my piglin friend in the bastion.  I'm near the fortress but i'm scared of the blazes spawning out in the open and sniping me.  

Wow.  I'm at the fortress.  I'm walled in because there are blazes from all sides, and ghasts, and wither skeletons.  and no walls or ceiling to make blockers on.  I think i need to find the spawner, make a barrier to keep it just to me and THEM, drink the orange drink, and hope for the best.  Maybe I'll make a chest in my shelter first to leave my good stuff.

good idea. 

I died after going out from my shelter, around to the left, then down the narrow stairs, and running away from wither skeletons.  In a little dead end, no pun intended.  Not sure if I want to go back there right now!  But my two fire res potions are in there!

lost it all.

beginning of the fortress is at 75,, 146.  Why can't I see it from my portal?

I think I'll take time to mine out some gold in the over, trade with piglins again!  and try a different approach to the fortress.  I think I'll bridge out over it, and snipe the blazes and wither skellies.  Actually, I should speedrun torches over that whole top level.  That might give me a chance to isolate one platform of blazes without being tormented from every side.

I've been speed-dying/speedrunning torches.  Left stacks of unused torches in all the deep places too.  But it helps, so i'm going to get more coal and spread those things all around, not just in stacks.  The blazes are still spawning, and sniping me everywhere I go, and I have not seen a single blaze spawner yet!

12 hours in game, 34 deaths.   so far.

I spent this evening mining coal, kelp and trying to light up the fortress plateau.  a good many deaths, and lost torches again, but making progress.  Hardly any wither dudes left.  But so many blazes, everywhere, all the time!   It's actually just stupid, I should find a different fortress.  But, I like a stupid challenge, so I think I'll strategize a next step.

next day:  I think I'll explore the hallways below surface.  See if any lead to spawners and keep track of my turns.

yes, I explored the hallways and did not find spawners.  But I did find isolated blazes and have managed to eke out 5 blaze rods so far!  I think next time i'll hunt down enough to get 8 in total, then head for the END!

As of right now: 52 deaths, and 15 hours.  I think I'm on track to beat my record!

Next day.

Yes, i have definitely set some kind of record.  I am at 72 deaths now.  and only one more blaze rod!  6 might be enough, right????  Sheesh.  I need a nap.

Next morning:
i had an idea.  I tunnel my way across the plain of death and through to the target area in the fortress.  I figured I could do that before breakfast.  So I walked the dog and logged in.  Got stone tools, dug a tunnel, perfectly lined up.  Cut through to the path of pain safely.  In a moment, two blazes showed up at the mouth of the tunnel.  I backed out of the way and let them fire.  Ran at them, killed them both, in the comfort of my tunnel, and POOF!  Two more blaze rods!  I now have eight (in various chests in this fortress) altogether and will be heading for the end next!

That was this morning.  This evening I showed off my vanquished fortress to T, then gathered all my blaze rods and ender pearls from the various stashes I used to store them.  Then harvested bone meal to boost my wheat production into survival range.  Now I've gathered everything useful and headed for the stronghold.  Used one pearl to get the heading 23.3 degrees.  

Just got distracted by a pillager outpost on my way.  I think I'll visit them first, for fun.  They don't usually have amazing loot or anything but maybe i'll pick up a crossbow. and some arrows?

Time for bed.

Ok I was cocky at the outpost.  I set up a bed and set a spawn point, raided the outpost, jumped off and lost half my health, ran through the pillager crowd to get my bed, broke it and then got killed.  Oof.  Had to race all the way from original spawn, hoping to find my loot which included all those hard-won blaze rods and eyes of ender.  

Found the stuff.  phew.

Found a village.  Got bales for food.  Traded for lots of arrows.  now, because I think i'm so smart, I'm digging down below the village well at 5,4 because I heard that the staircase is sometimes directly below.  Well, I've hit deepslate already and no hint of a stronghold.

Wrong place.  Followed the eyes to

-971, 63, 2069

I'll have to run and get some water before going down.

DONE!

I went down to the correct location.  Tristan helped me find the portal.  I was way better at shooting the end crystals but not too good at shooting the dragon.  I built stairs up around 3 of the pillars with little disruption by HER.  I also built a little shelter in the  fountain to hide under whilst hitting her adam's apple.  Eventually she perished and I recorded a non-record time of .98 days and 82 deaths.

HUZZAH!