{i do!} the water spirit confirms. {what would you like to know?}

Bruce's search space is massive but his priorities are simple. "Do you know a recipe for something I can write with?"

Tiny blobby nod.

{you can make a writing desk at a refined crafting table with wood or stone, glass, metal, reed, and ink!}

"Nice!" Fist-pump! . . . Hastily aborted fist-pump so he doesn't unbalance his shoulder friend. "Where do I get reed and ink?" He bets the void an imaginary dollar that he has to harvest the ink from squid.

{reed grows in rivers,} the water spirit says, pointing at a bit of vegetation poking up out of the water. {ink comes from shadow forests.}

He owes the void an imaginary dollar and also yikes. "The shadow forest is that place with the screaming trees and the nightmare monster?" He attempts to pick some reeds and resolves to make metal armor and also a shield or a sword or something before attempting another run on that forest.

The water spirit nods. {it's scary there!}

{very scary,} the forest spirit agrees.

The reeds come up fairly easily, and when he pulls up a stalk it transforms in his hand into {1 reed}, Tiny Item-style.

"What do I do to get ink once I'm in there?" He shouldn't even be considering this. But the need to take notes on all the things he's discovered is a constant mental nagging, like a bit of dirt on his glasses that won't let him forget about it until it's fixed.

{you can pick it up with buckets, i think,} says the water spirit.

{yes! is liquid!} agrees the forest spirit. {like water and lava and honey and blood!}

"So there's just. Rivers of ink. And honey and blood. Sure, why not."

{no, no river,} the forest spirit assures him earnestly. {only water do river. other liquid do pool!}

"I guess that makes more sense than a whole hydrosphere of each. Does this place have a water cycle like I'm used to? Water flows from rivers to the ocean, evaporates in sunlight, condenses into clouds, falls as rain?"

{...water is, river is, ocean is, cloud is, rain is...} says the forest spirit, somewhat uncertainly. {what is evaporates?}

"Where I come from, water can exist as a liquid, or a solid--ice--or as vapor in the air. When you heat ice it turns into water, and when you heat water it turns into vapor. So the sun heats rivers and oceans and lakes and puddles, and bits of water from all of them turn into vapor and float up high where the air is cold, and then they cool down enough to become liquid again, and that's clouds. And when there's enough clouds it gets to be too much water to float around in the air, so it falls as rain."

{oh,} says the forest spirit. {think cloud different here...}

"Nifty!" Bruce stares at the clouds above them. "So what are they made of, then?"

{is block!}

{you could see them for yourself if you made wings!} the water spirit suggests helpfully.

"Oh, wow, I can make wings? How?" He's going to learn to fly and possibly get extra limbs, how cool is that?

{you need a delicate crafting table and some ingredients! the least scary kind to get is probably the leafy wings, that needs five seeds from different special trees...}

"Is a delicate crafting table different from a regular crafting table? Also I probably shouldn't just stand here interrogating you all day, sorry." (He doesn't look very sorry.)

{yes! you make a delicate crafting table at a refined crafting table which you make at an advanced crafting table which you make at a crafting table.}

"Well that's just extremely aesthetic! You've been super helpful, is there anything I can do for you?"

{i like helping!} the water spirit says cheerfully. {i'm a spirit, it's what we do!}

"That's a really nice way to be! I'm going to head home now, but I'll definitely be back later. Will I always be able to find you here?"