Chapter VI: First Contact
Tacky searches The Nether for The Maker to no avail, so he heads back to Maker’s Grove to search for clues inside The Maker’s Hut. Once again, he finds nothing, but remembers the book of coordinates. At the end of the book, he finds a page that he has never seen before, a page telling of a “second End Portal” being found in deep in the ravine behind Underwater Cavern. Tacky remembers seeing the strange portal frame down there and decides to return. When he arrives, he finds that it is no longer merely a frame; in its center is an infinite abyss filled with stars: a portal. He enters it.
Tacky arrives on a small island of obsidian just off a much larger island made out of unidentifiable rock. He flies over to the larger island and sees a man standing on a ledge. He slowly approaches the man, consciously but unwillingly drawing his Enchanted Bow and pointing the Arrow at the man’s head. The man notices Tacky and looks at him calmly and knowingly. The man tells Tacky…that he is The Maker. The Maker then informs the young adventurer that they are in The End, a dimension entirely separate from Faradesia and The Nether, and that he has returned here to research what The End actually is and how it could possibly exist. Tacky suddenly unleashes his Arrow but manages to move the Bow so that it shoots the flaming Arrow past The Maker’s shoulder.
The Maker then gets down to business. He knows vaguely what is happening to Tacky, that Tacky possesses some of the same powers as him. He tells Tacky to take out the Fire Charge that he knows the boy has in his pocket and explains that Fire Charges draw upon the mysterious power that exists within the two of them in order to summon fire from the ground. He also informs Tacky that he has no idea why he is having blackouts and attacking people and plant life uncontrollably but he does know that he, too, has had experienced dark, destructive impulses over his lifetime; he reveals that the so-called “Ruined House” of Desert’s Edge is in the condition that it is in because of him, a revelation that shocks Tacky.
The Maker and Tacky then, at The Maker’s insistence, leap into the Exit Portal, returning both of them to The Maker’s Hut. Also at The Maker’s insistence, Tacky leaves to explore and map out Faradesia for him, a quest that will hopefully give Tacky the time to overcome whatever is plaguing him. The Maker, in turn, sets off to experiment further with his own power, inspired by the coming of his “heir.”
END OF ARC 2
Played out in-game on 11/23/2012 and 11/26/2012. Written 12/1/2012.
