Welcome Craftling's the most momentous episode ever released
on this podcast, Aside from the first, of course.
This is the 1,000,000 Plays special.
OK, this episode is quite long and before we get to the story
by Zechariah, which is of course another banger Minecraft story,
we do have an announcement. Firstly, this isn't the
announcement and this isn't really news, but it was up in
the air whether it's going to happen or not.
So the players not alone. A series of stories on this
podcast. It will beginning a part 4.
The story must go on. I'm currently in the middle of
writing it, so expecting not too long from now anyway.
OK, so Microsoft Stories has a podcast for patrons over on
Patreon, if you didn't know, called the Microsoft Stories
Prologue Podcast. I've been promising content,
besides only me, discussing the stories that are right for this
podcast for a while now, and I'm excited to say it's finally
arrived. The first story exclusive for
the Prologue podcast is available right now.
So what is this? So first prologue means
something that happens before a story and that's basically what
these stories are. Minecraft Short Story's prologue
podcast. It's content and stories and
discussions that happened before the podcast.
So this is a story focusing in on Carter.
Carter starred inside episode 35 in the Ordeal of the Fortunate
episode is just that name. That's also the name of the
story. This prologue story picks up
right after Carter gets the blade and we can see what
happens to Carter after that. It's available right now.
It's available to patrons of any tier.
If you want to find that, it's at patreon.com/minecraft Short
Stories or I just have some links in of the description.
Click any of those if you want. Finally, stick around after the
story because I'll be resenting a quiz testing your Minecraft
knowledge. If you remember, we used to do
one of these in every episode in the early days of the podcast.
So in celebration of 1,000,000 plays, we're bringing it back.
Be warned, this is quite a hard question.
I didn't even know this one until I formulated it.
So if you want to test your Minecraft knowledge, stick
around after the story. Also after the story is a quick
listener Q&A where I answer your listener questions, though it is
only two questions, so it's quite quick because I don't want
this episode to be 40 minutes long like the other ones because
that is bad for my retention. Yeah.
Anyways, thank you to Zachariah for submitting this story and
let's get right into it. So this is when I read the story
and I'll get right into the story.
But I did just want to point out something funny I noticed about
the 100K more plays special. So I realized on every single
one of those I've been saying it felt like not so long ago, like
just yesterday, that I was reaching 1000 or 100 or 100,000
plays. And I've said that like five
Times Now. So I have purposely not
mentioned that at all in this episode because I decided to
change it up from 1,000,000 plays because it doesn't really
feel like yesterday that I reached 100,000 plays.
So I just want to point that out kind of funny.
And yes, we will get into the story Now just to know before
the story, I've artificially split this into two parts.
So Zechariah has not split this two parts.
I had to cut in half just because it was so long.
If it feels like a very abrupt into part one of the story, that
was me cutting it, not Zechariah.
So you'll have to wait for Part 2, which will be got soon.
But let's get right into the story.
The end of the hunt by Zechariah.
Darkness, infinite shadow. That was all the I could see
from the Spire of the city. The view paled in comparison to
the blue sky of the overworld, or so I have heard.
I've never really seen it. The Builders had already moved
deep underground by the time I was born.
The struggles of our people run deep.
Everywhere we have gone, every new land we have entered, we've
been forced to hide, to run, to completely move out due to
forces with unimaginable power. Many years ago, after an
exhausting transdimensional war, we accidentally created a
hideous monster known as the Wither.
The Builders, My ancestors, were forced to Burrow underground to
hide from the Withers deadly attacks.
It was there they built a great underground city, more vast and
majestic than anything they had built on the surface.
It was there they settled, they sang, they danced, they held
feasts, told great stories and tales.
They were happy. Happy, that is, until the Wither
found them and may have taken many years, but the Wither broke
through the barrier of stone that the overworld had provided
for the Builders. They do not give up.
However, the builders had a backup plan.
Knowing they would not be safe forever.
As soon as the Wither broke through the walls of the city's
cave, they activated a portal, something that could take them
away from the hideous beast forever.
Yet even this failed. Another beast with dead eyes but
ten times the strength of the Wither, emerged from the portal
and destroyed the Wither in a matter of seconds before moving
on to the rest of the city. The citizens panicked and hid
from this new blind beast. Too tired to run, they tried to
live in harmony with it by keeping quiet.
Children were hushed, floors and streets were carpeted, and peace
somewhat returned. This was the time period in
which I was born. I remember as a young boy I
would ignorantly play with the slimeball while the beast would
roam the streets outside. We grew to call this beast the
Warden because it imprisoned our voices and our music with its
roars of anger. Life in this environment
continued for years, but complete harmony with the
Warden, though sought after, was impossible.
One or two people died every month just because they made the
slightest noise. It was no way to live.
We eventually realized we had to leave.
I don't remember much, just the elders weeping as it took one
last look at the beautiful city they had built.
We pilgrimed through the winding caves until we were sure the
Warden would not find us, and we built a stronghold to ensure
safety. While I was still young and had
no voice in the matter, the elder builders agreed that we
should start over completely Start over.
They experimented with their items and their crafting
abilities. After much trial and error,
created in another portal, one that led to a completely new
world, A dimension of desolation and darkness, home to next to no
life, a land of endless Stony floating islands.
It was here we unhappily settled.
Many years have passed since the pilgrimage, and this new
beginning brings us to the start of our story.
I sat on the very top of our city.
It was only one building, but it housed hundreds of builders.
It towered high into the air like the trunk of an overworld
tree and branched down on all sides to more rooms to house us.
The underground city may have been the pride of our
grandfathers. These tree cities are the pride
of our fathers. Even I lay down a slab or two at
a young age. For many years we have taken
shelter in our city, and I've prospered quite well.
I stared off into the darkness, watching the black sky.
Hey Mike, a voice said from behind me.
Are you ready to go? I turned around.
It was Ridge, my friend and Captain.
Yeah, I guess so, I replied. We haven't seen anything for
weeks though. Where do you think they went?
Ridge grins and put his hand on my shoulder.
They're probably just catching their breath.
Don't worry man, we'll get your name eventually.
Bridge was probably right, I was part of his crew of dragon
hunters. Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to
mention that this dimension is inhabited by thousands, if not
millions of black purple eyed Dragons.
Several crews, including ours, set off to kill the beasts and
one of their wings which we craft into what we call Electra,
a set of wings with which we can glide across the sky.
Flights was something we had never been capable of until
arriving in this dimension to boost morale.
Our creative game of sorts that we play when one of us does
something of incredible talent, something truly jaw-dropping,
we're in what we call a hunter name inspired by the incredible
action. It's less of a game and more of
a rite of passage, a great initiation.
I was the only one who had to earn his name.
I had to go by Mike, the name given to me by my parents.
Rich dressed her to a ship docked on the edge of the
island. Come on, let's go kill some
Dragons. When we arrived at the ship, the
rest of the crew was already there.
It wasn't a large crew, but it was one with Heart Bridge was
our 18 year old captain. He LED us through the darkness
of the great void with an inspiring tenacity and boldness,
but also with brotherly compassion that was equally as
inspiring. Snout was the youngest of the
crew, but not the weakest. Snout had a knack for Redstone,
the mysterious substance that provide us with power.
Naturally, he was in charge of manning our TNT cannons.
It was a dangerous job, especially for a 15 year old,
but it was one perfectly suited for him.
Then there was Pearl, 17 years of age, and our enchantress.
While also good with a bow and arrow, Pearl's main specialty
was the rare talent to read the ancient writing of the magical
books of old. She could cast spells on our
weapons in the middle of a dragon fight, giving us the
ability to light Dragons on fire or knock them back to keep them
at Bay. Our countless enchantments give
us great advantage against the sky beasts.
Rounding off the crew was me, 16 year old Mike the Lookout boy.
I was OK at wielding a sword, but my job was to sit in the
parrot's nest, the topmost part of the ship, and alert the rest
of the crew when a dragon was Insight.
Spotting a black dragon in a black sky is tough work, but
with trained eyes and a night vision potion, it was easy work.
Rich insisted that we wouldn't make it 100 blocks without me,
but it certainly didn't seem that way most of the time.
We were definitely the youngest hunting crew in the entire
community. Most crews consisted of burly
men and armor crafted from diamonds, swinging axes and
maces while screaming at the top of their lungs while they chase
down a startled dragon. Four teenagers and chainmail
certainly made an uncommon hunting crew at the site of our
arrival. Snout piped up.
Now, are we going? We've been waiting here for like
10 minutes. Rich chuckled.
What, did you think we were just going to leave Mike behind?
Well, no, but we haven't seen a dragon for weeks.
I want to get out of here before we lose them all.
Earl looked up from stringing her bow.
So now it's nobody has seen a dragon for weeks.
We're not falling behind or anything.
The Dragons might be getting smarter or something.
That means we'll have to get smarter as well.
Rich commented. You turn to me, Mike.
We need you more than ever this time.
If we can get a dragon on this run, we'll be heroes.
Are you ready to hunt always? I exclaimed.
Dragon hunting was basically my life.
I'd never known any other trade. Of course I was ready to hunt.
Besides, any hunting trip could be the one, the one where I
earned my name. I got some extra night potions
from the old Brewer. Rich handed ME3 potions of night
vision, glistening a pale green. We might need to be out there a
few days longer than usual. Snout, do you have the food?
Yep, Snout gesture to the pack lying on the deck, chock full of
coarse fruit. We groaned.
Coarse fruit was a purple potato shaped fruit that was found all
over the dimension. It may have been bountiful but
it tasted awful and gets help for you to a random nearby
location, which was not only annoying but also painful.
It was also suspected to cause a skin disease that turns your
skin black, but that was only speculation.
Even Ridge Grim said the thought of the horrid course fruit.
All right, let's go for a hunt. After securing our supplies and
hoisting our sail, we set out into the void began our usual
tasks. Snout descended below the deck
while Pearl crafted arrows for the hunt.
I climbed up to the parrot's nest and squinted out into the
abyss, searching for movement. Ridge was at the wheel, making
sure we didn't stray from our hunting path.
The path falls, an elaborate migration path of the Dragons
that took months to find. There used to be hundreds of
Dragons that would instinctively fly through here, but now
there's not a dragon insight. It was strangely empty then the
less I kept searching, eyes peeled.
Time ticked on. Snout loaded all the cannons
below deck. Ridge continued steering, and
Pearl had crafted enough arrows to take down a dozen Dragons.
Everyone but me was standing on the deck, not sure of what to
do. By this point, we usually would
have found at least one dragon out of boredom.
The rest of the crew would rather stare out into the void
or watch me watch for Dragons. I can almost sense their doubt.
They're worried that I might not see a dragon.
There are any questions of if I would ever get my name.
I boiled inside, wishing they would just find something to do
and let me work. Then I thought more about it.
My mother would probably just laugh at my frustrations,
commenting on how when I was young my father would
desperately try to get work done while I ran through his
workshop, playing with various items and asking question after
question about what he was making.
I chuckled to myself and realized I didn't have it that
bad. Many hours went by and there's
still no dragon to be seen. The crew had grown bored and
tired, so they did the best thing they could think to do,
tell stories. Storytelling was an important
pastime of our people. With our crew was often the
stories of how they got their hunting names that are passed
around. Everyone had heard the stories
about 100 times, but they were treated like new adventures
every time they were told. Pearl, previously known as Arya,
left everyone speechless when she earned her name during a
fight with one dragon. The thing batted our ship with
its great tail. Arya, who was standing on the
edge, fell off and tumbled into the void.
We watched with terror in our eyes as she wrestled with her
pack to pull out a single ender Pearl and sent it flying
upwards. It sailed smoothly through the
air, hovering for a brief moment, and then fell down
towards the deck. It landed with a puff of purple
ash and Arya took its place. We gaped at her.
She picked up her pack and nonchalantly said, what are you
guys looking at and resumed fighting.
Thus, she was named Pearl. Snout's name was earned in a
fight with a massive dragon. We had grounded the dragon and
descended to the island below to finish it off, but even without
its wings it was still incredibly powerful.
We were knocked to and fro by its mighty tail and great claws
for several minutes, the sides of our ship getting weaker and
weaker with each assault. We were near the point of
retreating back to the city when Lucas, as he was known then let
out a cry and ran towards the dragon, his enchanted sword
swinging in the air. The dragon glared and swung his
tail at Lucas. He ducked just in the nick of
time. He reared back and beat the
behemoth right in the snout with the butt of his sword as it
swung back around. Nobody knew the little guy had
such strength, but the blow hit the dragon so hard that it fell
to the ground, completely unconscious.
Lucas was thereby named Snout. Ridge's story was always the
most impressive. During one hunt, we had been
chasing down a dragon for nearly a day.
No matter how far we travelled, the dragon travelled farther.
No matter how fast we sailed, the dragon was faster.
Time after time, we fired a hail of arrows at the thing, but
since it was so far from our ship, we rarely hit it.
Jonathan, our captain, colleague, and friends,
abandoned his post. We were all too focused on the
dragon to pay much attention to his absence, but even seeing him
inexplicably leave out of the corner of one's eyes was
discouraging. We thought we were going to lose
the dragon for good until something shot past us like a
firework rocket. It was Jonathan, donned with
Electra, gliding through the abyss and straight towards the
dragon. We watched in confusion and
shouted for him to turn back, but he didn't hear us, or at
least then acknowledge us. He caught up to the monster, who
had yet to notice him, and grabbed hold of its great spine
and hit the dragon hard. The beast roared in pain and
tried to shake him off, but it was to no avail.
Jonathan struck it again, this time on its left.
The dragon let out of pains growl and instinctively flew to
the right to avoid the pain. He struck again and again,
steering the dragon towards the Ridge of a nearby island till it
crashed straight into the land. A minute later we reached the
crash site, anxious about what we would find there.
When we got to the Ridge, Jonathan was walking towards us,
dragging the head of the dragon behind him.
He had a limp in his step and a grin on his face.
That very head was mounted on the master of our ship as both
the trophy and memorial to remember the day Jonathan was
named Ridge. These stories were told as it
sat in the parrot's nest, listening to their tales and
watching the sky half heartedly. Eventually they remember that I
was still in the nest and asked if I had any stories to share.
I replied that I would rather keep Dragon watching.
Though the privilege of telling a story was the one that I
longed to have, I simply had no stories to tell.
I laid on my back and stared into the ever black sky,
wondering how I would earn my name, my respect amongst my
crew. I closed my eyes as countless
staring stunts and feats floated through my mind and drifted off.
End of part one. Welcome to the quiz.
So there isn't the normal music, my normal music.
I meant music I used like two years ago because Spotify for
podcasters remove the on site editing tools.
So I no longer have access to that song.
But I tried to pick the closest thing to hopefully, you know,
get some nostalgia up. Anyways, this is the quiz.
If you are on Spotify, there will be comments where you can
put in your question ABC or D. There will be four options or
you can also just participate inside the pole.
Choose it on there. If you're on Apple Podcasts,
just put your comments inside the comments for the Microsoft
first podcast. If you get the answer right, you
may get shouted out on the next episode.
So the quiz question for this episode and the last quiz for I
don't know maybe till in 2,000,000 play special.
The question is which mobs transform when struck by
lightning? The options are A witches,
vexes, creepers and pigs, option B vexes, pigs, villagers,
creepers and mushrooms, option C villager, pig, mushrooms and
creepers, and then finally option D horses, pigs, creepers
and villagers. So submit your answer to the
relevant places and let's get right into you guys's listener
questions. Hope you guys enjoyed that quiz.
Maybe another quiz in the next like million place special.
It's kind of hard to keep finding things for the quiz.
So that's why I stopped it because it was just getting into
like it's either weird technical information or it's way too easy
for anyone who like actually plays Minecraft.
So the quiz has ceased. This was a nice little refresher
and it was actually a good question, if I do say so myself,
though I won't tell you the answer.
But now we've gone to listener questions.
So like an entire year ago ask you guys for just questions to
ask me. So I'll just be answering too,
because I like these ones. The first question is from Tony
Stark. Two Apparently there are two
Tony Starks now and they ask. You have been making this
podcast since you were small. What was your motivation to keep
posting even when the podcast was still small?
Thanks for submitting this question.
It's a good question. And honestly, my answer to it is
even if only a few people are listening, that's still a lot of
motivation for me. Like, yeah, in the very
beginning, there were 345 that slowly grew into like 30,
etcetera, etcetera plays a day. Now it's enough for me to keep
posting. And then also the constant
feedback from like Apple podcast comments, seeing the views,
seeing the ratings, that also just kept motivating me.
So my motivation was people listening to it.
And then yes, this is very short.
The next question is from Rick Kitzner 8.
I believe that is your name. And this is 2 parts.
First one is do you enjoy making podcasts?
And you may have just been asking about this podcast,
Microsoft Stories, but I've actually had four podcasts.
Yes, I'm up to four. I don't know how I reached that
high of a number, but I've had the Poke Amazing podcast, which
was the first podcast. Don't go looking for it.
It's been like unlisted. It's completely dead for like 4
years. I've had this podcast.
I've had the Minecraft Spooky Stories podcast, which is now a
series on this show. I have to say that whenever I
say I have the Micro Spooky Stories podcast and then there
is a Micro short stories prologue podcast.
So I've had four. And I do enjoy making podcasts.
It's it's just kind of a way for me to be productive, which is me
writing the stories. And then this is of course my
hobby because it's a Minecraft podcast.
I'll never have it as a full time job, of course.
It's just a fun hobby. I enjoy writing, I enjoy
editing, I enjoy recording sometimes.
So I do enjoy making podcasts. And then the final question from
your Kitsner 8 and then the final question for this very
short Q&A is where do I get my inspiration?
And so this is, well, it's a Minecraft podcast.
So mostly Minecraft, mostly me playing Minecraft, mostly things
I've heard about in Minecraft, sometimes like Minecraft
updates, micro snapshots, that kind of stuff.
And also sometimes even like Minecraft Dungeons, the
escalader and the outer ends had a little bit of we have yet to
get to something that is directly inspired by it, but is
a little inspired by Minecraft dungeons the like in DLC one.
So I get inspired by Minecraft and then also by you guys's
listener stories and then also by stories I read, books I read,
like when Zechariah is submitted.
Not this story, but the uncanny tale of Hollow.
That story inspired me to make the players not alone.
So I was thinking of things to do for a story and then just his
way of doing that Minecraft spooky story.
This really inspired me, so that's why I made Players Not
alone. So that's the end of this Q&A.
If you would like your questions, put down the comments
along with, you know, your answer to the quiz.
And thank you, Tony Stark two and our Kitchener 8 for
submitting these questions. Thank you guys so much for
listening to this podcast and to this episode.
It's been like about 3 1/2 years since I started this podcast and
getting to 1,000,000 plays was completely out of what I thought
I would accomplish with this podcast.
And it would have been possible without you guys listening to
episodes, you guys supporting those episodes, telling your
friends. So thank you for listening.
Make sure to look out for The End of the Hunt Part 2 by
Zechariah coming out soon. That will be inside an episode.
And this Million Play special is actually two parts, so that'd be
the second part. Maybe some stuff besides the
story in that part as well. Also make sure to check out the
prologue series. The series is called The Hidden
Stories. That is the series's name.
And that's just what I was talking about in the intro.
And of course, look out for the Players Not Alone Part 4.
A lot of exciting stuff happened to the podcast at this time.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed, I hope you'll stick
around for another 1,000,000 plays, however long that may
take, and I'll see you guys inside the next episode.