Day 126: The Ranchers Set Up In A Small Restaurant Behind Keralis’s Gas Station For The Rest Of Winter.

25 for the wrapped drabble!

25: "Bremen", PigPen Theater Co.

It was part of the plan, everbody would stand On their hind legs, hands holding high the other Like a tower of brothers, and the one on the top Would crow warnings and call in the morning And call out the storm that was coming The one on the bottom would steer 'til the road was clear And people would learn to rejoice and to fear our coming

It is, ironically, a mild, wet temperature over Dogwarts, the sort of weather that mostly feels dreary rather than being properly cold, or snowy, or icy, or any of the sorts of things that the kinds of people who claim to bring forth winter would be expected to have over their fortress.

"Oh, come on, you've gotta be cheating!" says Skizz, throwing his cards down on the table. They're stained a strange purple. "Dippledop, tell them that he's cheating."

"I mean, I don't know, Skizz," Impulse says. "You aren't good enough at cheating to have taught me how to spot it..."

"I mean, you're the one marking cards," Martyn says idly.

"You know I can't help it!" says Skizz. "It's my ender-what's-its. My purple scales. My, my general, uh, what's a good word for it -"

"Ourple," Etho says.

"What?" Impulse says.

"He's ourple," Etho says, and then doesn't elaborate at all.

"You know, if you're going to accuse me of cheating, why not accuse him?" Martyn says. "I mean, look at him. He's wearing a mask while we're playing poker. That's basically against the rules."

"I don't have a face, man," Etho says.

"Did you mean -" Big B starts. Impulse puts a hand on his leg. Big B stops.

"I'm just saying," Martyn says, as he takes the distraction as an excuse to palm one of the cards using and replace it with a king he's been keeping in a pocket. He knows the king won't be suspicious largely because he's been keeping track of the cards Skizz has had, and the king he's about to put in his hand is the same one that Skizz had three hands earlier.

Martyn is going to win, like, so many meaningless favors from people who are all definitely going to die before Martyn can call them in, but hey. He's definitely going to die before he has a chance to worry about it, either.

(At one point, it had been about winning. He's good at cheating.)

"You know what, yeah! That is cheating! Show us your face, huh, Etho?" says Skizz, pointing dramatically. Big B snorts into his cards.

"Uh, I mean, I don't know, man," Etho says, putting his hands up and nervously backing up. "It's like - you know I don't take this off..."

"Actually, yeah," Impulse says. "I sorta wanna see you try to keep a poker face. Take it off, Etho."

"Woah, woah boys. I know we're all friends here, but I don't know if I'm ready for a strip tease," Martyn says, which makes Etho turn bright red, and also makes Big B flustered enough that Martyn can see his hand. Okay, that's not a threat. Not that Big B's a threat to anyone, really, but he's still green for a reason.

Skizz isn't a threat for a completely different reason. His heart's right there on his sleeve. He has a shit hand this round. He gave that given that well away the moment he drew it.

That leaves Etho and Impulse to figure out.

"I - oh, geez, guys," Etho says. "I -"

"Take it off!" Skizz starts chanting. "Take it off! Take it off!"

"I'm - I like you guys, but I'm not taking off my mask!" Etho says. "Impulse, Impulse, we're buddies. You should understand!"

"Yeah, but like..." Impulse says, before shrugging. "I mean, if it really upsets you, I guess... Guys, maybe we should stop."

"Naw, don't try to talk him out of it!" Skizz says.

"Haha, you know, I want to see it too," Big B says. "It's a bonding thing, right?"

"Oh, well you can't argue with the bonding thing, now can you," Martyn says.

"Guys," Impulse starts saying, and then there's the sound of a creaking door, and everyone stops at once as the courtyard changes from dreary and wet to a certain chill. If Martyn didn't know any better, he'd say it's the chill of the grave, but there hadn't ever been any for him, so. Probably not.

Instead, it's just...

"My loyal Dogwarts," says Ren, quietly. "What is all of this commotion about?"

"We're playing cards, My Lord," Martyn says immediately. "See?"

He shows his hand to Ren. Ren chuckles.

"Well, laddie. Show me how you win at cards."

Well, the answer to that's 'by cheating'. But he can't really show Ren that, now can he? He's got to keep some things in his pocket. Besides, it's not like any of the favors in the pot matter.

They're all gonna die before they matter. Some of them already are.

Martyn loses the hand to Impulse. He collects the favors with a sheepish grin. Ren barks out a laugh. "You'll get them next time, laddie."

"I'm sure I will," Martyn says.

"Mom, Ren's playing favorites," Etho whines.

"That's - that's unbecoming a knight of -"

"Yeah, Ren's playing favorites," Big B says.

"I mean, dudes, uh, I mean - my loyal Dogwarts -"

Martyn laughs so hard that he forgets to pay attention, and loses the next hand too.

Quick canary jimmy doodle

nothing highlights how weird xisumas base is more than him starting his monologue about being homesick with "i miss the Skull"

Etho is such a funny little guy

He’s the og Minecrafter, he listens to metal music and punk rock, he never drives over the speed limit, he learned to code at age nine, one of his best qualities include sobbing “nooohohohooooo” while being chased by mobs, he’s a redstone master, he’s recently fired from his own made up cooking show, his biggest fan is a sentient moss man with massive eyes

He’s so funny and I love him, he’s just so incredibly special to me

He doesn't think too much about it. When stepping into the forest, he isn't worried. One could say that he's quite excited. The swamp witch has asked him to inspect the local forest filled with a mysterious fog and the mysteries of the world are known to unravel before Cub whenever he decides to take a deeper look into them. He doesn't hesitate in taking the offer, sure, the scientist doesn't know what to expect in the dense clouds surrounding the mangroves but he's sure of himself and his abilities, and his experience. Cub has been graced with knowledge and power not even fathomable to an average person. But he was far from average, his brain filled with galactic spells and complicated contraptions, the own self no longer of his belonging.

And that's a crucial factor of his being.

The novice witch with her vague instructions forgets to mention that the fog feeds on the souls of any who dares to enter deeper. Maybe, if the hermit knew of that he would mention he has no soul to offer at all. That was far from him, long gone now in the hands of the Vex. Or maybe not. Cub wasn't exactly known for being cautious, he enjoyed the thrill of the unknown. He enjoyed bending and manipulating it to his will even more.

Cub had been walking for a while now, traversing through what seemed an endless forest. It must’ve been hours at this point, everything looked the same and nothing was particularly unusual, it all becoming a blur. A normal swamp biome - filled with the casual mangrove trees surrounded by mud and apart from the dense, aquamarine fog; nothing really stood out to him. And it’s not like it wasn’t something he hadn’t seen or read somewhere about. Just a weirdly tainted bunch of water, he couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about.

He wasn't even sure when to deem his journey over. Was he supposed to find the source of the fog? Or just explore and see what's hidden in it? Not carrying a clock, the hermit has lost track of time but he was growing impatient with each step. He can always return later, ask Shubble more specific questions, this experiment, or whatever one might call it, was getting him nowhere. He should've expected this to be a longer-term project, without any clear instructions he didn’t really know what to expect as the goal of his exploration.

Just as the scientist was taking out a glass vial from his coat pocket, to gather a sample of the thick clouds, he heard a noise. A rustle. Yes, definitely something was there, between all the roots and it suddenly moved. Somewhere to his left. Or right. He wasn't really sure anymore. As he kept on marching the fog grew heavier and only now he realized he can’t see much farther than past his own feet. The sound repeated, a bit closer this time. Cub jumped and secured the grip on the, absurd in size, axe that he was carrying.

A gift from Katherine - the monster slayer.

Somehow the thought of that calmed him down a bit. Really? Getting this anxious over some lost mob he can take out in seconds? He felt ridiculous. Letting out a nervous chuckle, he threw the weapon over his shoulder and began the wander back to Evermoore.

Back to Evermoore. Which direction was that in exactly?

After hearing how easy it is to get lost in the depths of the mangrove swamp, Cub did not stray from the straight line path that he was taking until now, when he heard the sudden noise and it had startled him enough to now be completely… lost. Okay, this was fine. It’s not like he hasn’t found himself in much worse scenarios in the past. After not giving it much thought the hermit started the stroll once again. The forest couldn’t be endless, he was bound to find an exit at some point as long as he kept walking forward.

Not even a dozen blocks of distance covered and he heard something again. It wasn't the same rustle as before though, no, it’s as if a person moved, a person was out there, a person… Alright, this was getting out of hand, there is not a single reason for anyone else to come here. His brain must have started playing tricks on him, anyone would lose their mind in a swamp that feels immovable and fog clogging up your throat. Has it always been so hard to breathe in here?

Cub started panicking again but this time calming down didn’t come as easy. He tried grounding himself, looking at the sturdy axe, repeating to himself that he’s safe, that everything is fine. He never felt like this before, it’s as if something began putting a continuously growing pressure on him from all sides. But nothing was out there, nothing the hermit could spot at least. He started losing all his senses. Or to word it better, he started losing control of all his senses and then he heard it, again. The sound that made his state worsen so drastically, now multiplied by a hundred. Or a thousand, he couldn't really tell. The scientist recognized the sound as voices. Human, creature, just voices.

"The Vex must be playing a prank on me" was the initial thought. Overcoming all and any senses - their speciality. And considering how much Cub has distanced himself from them as of late, they probably decided that he's deserving of a punishment. A terrible choice of a place for this kind of a prank, he must admit, but vexes aren't necessarily known for being merciful. However this time something felt, odd. Not only in an irritating way, this was obviously not the peak of comfort, but it wasn't the type of punishment he has ever experienced before. Instead of his surroundings being blindly bright, everything around him was quickly succumbing into darkness. Instead of spiky needles the little mobs would prick your skin with, it felt as if he was being dragged deeper and deeper into the mud. And instead of the loud, grating chuckle of the vexes, oh, as evil as it was laughable, playing in his skull, what he heard was a cacophony of voices too smooth on his brain but yet so tragically desperate. No, it couldn’t have been the vexes. Whatever took over him, whatever rested in this swamp was slowly lulling him to sleep.

His legs felt like jello but Cub started running. Not sure where, not sure why, he just knew he can’t fall asleep, not now. Frantically escaping from what he considered the epicenter, his heart was racing, forehead covered in beads of sweat. The power surrounding him was mysterious. A mystery, even for Cub. He was sprinting, at least for him it felt as though, in reality it was a slow trek, the mud and roots underneath his feet successfully preventing any attempt at leaving the swamp as quickly as possible. After a few minutes, but what felt to Cub like forever, he stumbled and fell, entirely covering himself in mud.

Darkness.

He wasn’t entirely sure if he blacked out or if the shadows had fully taken over his vision but he laid in the mud for a while, exhausted, limbs limp. “Don’t fall asleep, whatever you do, do not fall asleep.” was the only thought he was able to form and repeat in his head. Slowly, Cub extended his arms in support and started collecting himself, grimacing at the brown, damp stain on the center of his shirt and at how his legs were begging for rest. Sitting on the heels of his feet, he took in his current situation. His senses still were being attacked from all sides but it has gotten slightly better. He has also noticed the fog is significantly lighter at his current position. While turning his head around, searching for any sign indicating a way out he noticed something again. No, not something. Someone. A dark silhouette, clearly human, clearly… familiar. Too familiar even. No, there was no way. New spurge of energy and Cub was up again, approaching the figure with too much, unusual for the scientist, excitement in his step.

“Scar!? Scar, is that you?” he was frantic, he was terrified, he was saved. “What are you doing here man? I- What..?”

A hum. Scar was humming. Cub started drawing in closer. His mind was full of the fog. He didn’t for a second think how this interaction doesn’t make any sense. That Scar, his Scar, would run up to him asking about their situation. He would act like he isn’t petrified of the haunted swamp and would laugh with that all too loud giggle. He would then grasp his hand and pretend it’s to keep warm even in the stuffy climate. But Scar wouldn’t want to get lost and neither did he. But it didn’t matter anymore.

Not to Cub.

He outstretched his arm and it was held.

It wasn’t Scar, he could see that clearly now. But it didn’t matter anymore. The caricature of the other half of the Convex was darker than the deepest of shadows, only its eyes glowing with a bright, blue hue. He could feel the mass, whatever what was standing before the scientist was made out of, covering his arm and slowly creeping its way further. Reaching his chest it seemed to still, as if taken aback. Maybe Cub could escape now, rip himself from the grasps of this alternate and try to run again for his life. But it didn’t matter anymore.

He was too tired, he was just so tired and his thoughts weren’t coherent and the wet shirt on his body started feeling all too displeasing. He couldn’t bring himself to care. The silhouette seemed displeased, not being able to feast on the soul that Cub lacked. Instead it leaned its pretend head towards the caught hermit. It captured his lips in a kiss, exchanging a thrilling power Cub has never had the pleasure of exploiting before. The souls, to which the desperate voices belonged, were now flowing through his veins and he felt like he hasn’t ever before. He felt powerful, he felt meaningful, the hole in his body that was left by the Vex bringing him to their side was now full. His life now with the direct purpose of bringing the darkness to light, he felt as if he could take over the world. He felt exhausted.

The Scar look alike parted itself from Cub’s face and started disintegrating. But it didn’t matter anymore. Cub was falling asleep, his senses numb. He fell down back onto the mud, his head hitting a root on its way down. But it didn’t matter anymore.

He was resting and all he could hear was the quiet hum of a lullaby.

Knights your boatem

One of my favorite parts of zedaph's new episode is how grian was clearly just. SO pleased with himself about the knowledge he has from double life on how to move a player with a fishing rod

He heard that they had to move tango somewhere and he INSTANTLY pulls out the rod, like, he had it READY

Will you bless us please with more headcanons?

(It can be about anything!)

You’ve unlocked me talking about tattoos on the hermits (:

Keep in mind that a lot of my ideas are loose as is, and I’ve yet to fully draw out a lot of my proper designs for these ideas. We just existing on vibes here.

But yes yes hermits with tattoos and markings, some magical, some with special meanings, and most importantly, the stupid ones that came from late nights. [Feel free to use the ideas if you like em! just credit me please!!]

Let’s start with Ren's because he’s got the most thought put in to his tattoos,

He has the two main tattoos he had done around s8, a band around his upper arm, then the piece on his lower side that goes down to half his thigh, both of them being clusters of Dogwood flowers!

He got the pieces done as a way to give himself back control with how his body gets changed. Having all the events of 3rd life happen to him, only to then come back to hermitcraft s7 and deal with all of That and then right away be shipped off to s8, doesn’t give a guy a lot of time to cope healthily.

Ren also has a very faded tattoo in his ear, it’s very hard to see if you aren’t actually looking for it. He completely hates that it’s there. Makes him feel like a marked dog, it’s why it’s there after all.

[this one was inspiresd from this post!] Tango! Bit of a more useful tattoo for him, matching script of "WaterProtection" written down both his arms, it helps him as a nether runt be able to actually touch water to a safer degree. A lot of enderians tend to get the same tattoo and sigils. [this one I need to clean up the design for]

in a similar vein, Etho also has a winding tattoo of galactic on their arm, it is enchanted, but they haven't really told anyone what it does. The wording and the structure of the galactic script used is also very old, so not many others have been able to properly translate it anyway,,, They also have a beautiful back piece done of what looks like an artic fox with multiple tails, surrounded by different floral arrangements, leaves, or ice crystals. They honestly enjoy changing the tattoo depending on the season, they will also change the tattoo to mess with Bdubs' head, just a lil.

This ones not really a tattoo? but it keeps Impulses mind at ease to just say it Is a tattoo that he cant really remember getting, cause that happens to a person right? it isn't super visible most of the time anyway, its lately gotten all cool and golden so that's a plus! Really they are the markings from a withers curse, rather rare for those boss curse's to still happen, yet here Impulse is. he doesn't really know he has the curse, and that is to be said about his knowledge of Any of the curses or blessings he somehow has,,,

He also got roped into a matching tattoo with Skizz when they were both out,,, "drinking Sodas". it was done around his hip, not really the best quality, but it was built off memory's

Gem and pearl have also been trying to get him to be apart of their matching tattoo as well.

and I'm pretty sure those were all the ones I've drawn before, so now its just test!

As said, Pearl and Gem have matching tattoos! they are both clusters of Sunflowers and Moon daisy's. both the tattoos are done in different designs to match both the girls styles. Gems is along her hip to lowerback, and Pearl has his around her thigh mainly.

Pearl also has a good few little jammer type tattoos on her legs. its manly those doodle type cats, there's one in a clown hat with a balloon, he's named it stru. there's also a bee in a cowboy hat. She's just a fun little colouring page with all her tattoos! a fact proven during all the boatem sleepovers, when Scar and Grian just started to (With permission, mostly,,, maybe not at first) colour all his little tattoos in.

Cub is fairly simple, he's just got a piece done on his shoulder/ upper arm. its a wonderful geometric pattern that surrounds a map of planets and stars. Him and Scar have worked together to enchant it a little so the stars actually glow a little! there is a scar forming through some of it due to the skulk corruption though, he's trying to ignore it for now,,, and its not really a tattoo, Cub does have faint markings of webbed wings on his back. they will glow a bit if he's messing around with magics, and disappear whenever he's actuality using the Vex's wings

Scar, much like Pearl, also has a shoty little tattoo of a cat. it has a little hat on it as well.

Scar does have a fair amount of tattoos though! most of them are done in special inks, so they are largely invisible to most players unless he's been using magic. most of the tattoos are a lot like Tangos and Ethos ones, there they are meant to be enchantments that'll help him out however he needs, but most of the enchantments either failed, or simply did not work how he wanted them to. Cub helped Scar with one of them, and like the true friend Cub is, he may, or may not, have put said tattoo on that one spot on Scars lower back,,,

Grian, similar to Cub, has markings that mimic his wings whenever he is not using them, as rare as it is. And then there are all those invisible markings along their skin that are rarely seen, many of them looking like,,, broken eyes,,, to have the closed description.

Doc has a back piece that he's been just been slowly adding to. it started out on their left shoulder ands spread along their back and upper arm. its a really unique piece of work, having random bits of circuitry, gears and bits, flowers, and just random bits of memory's all woven together into a map along his skin. They are proud of how it had been built really.

They also may have almost He did punched the tattoo artist when the poor soul started going over the scar tissue by their prosthetics. He was very sorry and wouldn't stop apologizing for the rest of the session.

EvilX has a tattoo. its like that one that Ren has. They absolutely hate it and its covered in old scars at this point. Just a simple [0258] marked on him, the ever praised clone that finally lived past the first five days! the first mostly successful clone of the *******Commands army's lab! Xisuma hates what it means, he's been trying to find a way to ask if Ex ever wants to get a coverup on it, neither of the two really want to talk about it though.

Bit of a quick round here, I'd like to say that Xisuma himself has some kind of dragon tattoo. Hypno probably has something, has the vibes, but i've got no ideas. Wels has an old sword, around it is the script to an old poem that no one else can really read. Cleo has random bits of old skin that do have tattoos on them! some of them are cut off, but they have no intentions of making the designs complete.

and now for my favorite headcanon! the smiley face tattoos.

it started as a bet between False and Stress during s5, they both said they could get a random hermit to get a silly pricing with little convincing or knowledge of what was happening, faster then the other. That is what caused both Zedaph and Iskall to own their own bellybutton pricings, complete with a little butterfly charm! the knowable of who actually won the bet is unclear, what Is clear however is how Zed and Iskall choose to seek revenge by having False get a smiley face tattooed on her ass. She agreed on the terms that the both of them also have to get one as well.

and that is what started a game between the hermits to get everyone else to get a silly little smiley face tattooed somewhere around their ass. [its not always actualy right on the ass, sometimes its just below the belt kinda thing. like hip area. some of them 100% got it right on the cheeks though.]

so far Xiuma, keralis and Pearl have gotten one because of False. Iskall got Mumbo to agree to one, and almost had Cub agree too, They also bet that Beef wouldn't. Beef in fact Did get a smiley face tattooed on his ass, and Etho has yet to stop laughing at him for it. Zeds managed to get Ren, Tango, and Bdubs to agree to getting one, he's almost convinced Impulse to get one as well, just needs a few more "sodas" for that to actually happen. They also asked EvilX if he would want to get one tattooed, and Ex may or may not have one too, it also may or may not be their most favorite tattoo.

welsknight has canonically eaten at least one diamond shovel which i think is near the top of the list of weird things hermits have eaten

He... what... pffffffffffffffffffffffft yep that's certainly up there.

I don’t go here but that was precious