"...how do I recognize those from far enough off to avoid them?"

"Spider nests are filled with with spiderwebs. You will find cobwebs elsewhere but the ones in their nests are clean. Spiders aren't particularly fast so you should be fine as long as you don't stay in a nest. As for mushroom biomes they glow blue so you should be able to see them even through walls when you get close. And you've seen marble and granite on the pillar."

"Wow, okay. At least that's straightforward."

"Most things are once you get used to them. If you explore particularly far underground you might run into one of the other biome's underground versions. Those mostly look like their surface versions and they tend to have more dangerous enemies too. I'd recommend acclimating to their surfaces before trying to go beneath."

"Fair enough. ...is there a way to tell how deep I'm getting besides squinting at my map and counting blocks?"

"There is a vibe you might notice. You could also see a monster that only spawns in the caverns layer, or you could kill bats until you got a depth meter either underground or in the surface jungle."

"Bats give depth meters, sure why not."

"They also have a chance to drop rabies shots and giant bats shaped like bat wings."

"...rabies shots? Is rabies a concern???"

"Not exactly but if a bat bites or scratches you then you'll be inflicted with a condition called feral bite for a minute. That makes your attacks stronger and makes you heal slower but it can also inflict other conditions at random Rabies shots can cure it early. Since I expect you'll ask there are six things it can inflict. Darkness you've already experienced in the Corruption, the purple biome, slowness makes you move slower, confusion throws off your balance and makes it harder to dodge, cursed makes it impossible to use weapons or grappling hooks, weakness makes you more vulnerable, slower and makes it harder to use weapons that depend on your strength, and silenced makes you unable to use items that depend on your mana well."

"...thanks. Good to know."

"You're welcome. I know that there's a lot to keep track of."

"There really, really is. But it sounds like as long as I stay high up enough underground, and only under the safer biomes, I'll be more or less okay."

So let's see, what was the first order of business... right, finding a pumpkin patch.

Pumpkin patches are reasonably easy to find. On her way there will be slimes, rabbits, birds and squirrels wandering around. Some of the slimes have giant bows on them. She might also note the bright yellow flowers that seem to stand out for some reason or the large vibrantly purple bush.

She has a sword now! She can poke suspicious objects with it, and also slay slimes!

The bush does not deign to respond to her sword. The flowers they each yield a flower and a seed. Slimes yield more slime, more coins, and a bottle of some yellow liquid with one dose of something in it.

Huh. Does the bush respond to any of her other tools?

It responds to her pickaxe. It also turns into a stackable item allowing her to place the bush wherever she wants.

Neat. She harvests a bunch of pumpkins and heads home to figure out crafting them.

She has 85 pumpkin worth of pumpkin according to the stack. This is enough to craft a full set of armor if she has a workbench in her crafting cube.

Well, does she have a workbench in her crafting cube, and/or can she make one?

She can easily make one. She has enough wood from shaking trees.

Then she shall have pumpkin armour. As bizarre as that is.

There isn't any clear way to put it on or take it off but if she puts it in her equipment slots then it fits snugly over her other clothes without constricting her movement. Where it touches exposed skin it's soft and slightly fuzzy.

...weeeeeird.

Actually, hmm, that reminds her.

She finds the Deviant again and asks, "Is there anything to stop me from making my own armour that's not, like, part of the system, and wearing that under, uh," she gestures with a pumpkin-clad arm, "this stuff? Will doing that help?"