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Indigo Empire

 

Order of the (Red) Stone

Part 43 ~ 13 July 2025

Posted: 13 March 2026

The Empire is suffering a shortage of redstone following my recent farm builds. I actually had to go mining (in Minecraft?! Sacrilege!) to acquire enough of the shimmering red dust to complete them. THIS WILL NOT STAND. It's time to exert some more control over my domain in true imperial fashion – by starting a religious order! So I cranked up the villager breeder for the first time since Part 12 (!) and ran the railway over to my potion brewer. Then I used my new moss farm to craft a mossy stone brick trading hall around the towering contraption. Sure, the farm is meant to generate bonemeal, but you can also just stand in there and collect all the moss and other lush goodies :D

A cleric villager trading hall under construction. The wall is made of mossy stone bricks, while the floor is a combination of lapis lazuli, gold, and glowstone blocks.

After a harsh reminder that villagers are jerks who will escape given the slightest chance, I created an airtight setup and started dropping the villagers in. Just the four on the north side at first, then the west and south (cutting into the hillside a wee bit!) as new citizens became available. All up we have 12 purple-clothed clerics, ready to sell me some of that magical red powder! Redstone is my religion, and these are my disciples – the Order of the Redstone¹.

A row of four brewing stands in a trading hall setup, with a cleric villager placed at one of them. A minecart rests on the top of the wall with the next villager inside, surrounded by dirt blocks.
Ela stands ready with splash weakness potions and golden apples, as the clerics look on in bemusement.

Oh, did I forget to tell you about the initiation? Yeah, you get turned into a zombie and back. Trust me, it's safe. Test of faith and all that. I brought an accomplice from the Zombie Well to perform the ritual, and – wait, is that a stray cat? I haven't seen a new cat spawn in this village since I collected the 10 common variants all the way back in Part 7. How did that happen?!

A zombie holding a stick emerges from a mossy cobble box, under cover of darkness.
A stray jellie cat wanders towards some wheat and melon crops.

Anyway, my clerics completed the ceremony with a splash of holy weakness water and a bite of the blessed golden apple. After their religious experience, they were forever changed... and so were their trade prices! I took advantage of this to level them all to Master, unlocking trades for lapis lazuli, glowstone blocks, xp bottles, and (for 7 of the 12) ender pearls.

A zombie attacks a villager in the trading hall. Two clerics and two zombie clerics look on from their stations.
Ela stands among a group of zombie clerics, which are in the process of curing, as indicated by yellow effect particles.

Now, the natural next step would be to build this up into some kind of church-like structure. I... tried, but unfortunately inspiration failed me for the time being. I had a couple of ideas for features, but the block palette proved to be a struggle. Whatever I tested either felt too flat or too out of place among the rest of the village buildings. I'll think of something soon (likely before I even POST this, given my backlog). Author's note: Coming in Part 46 :D But I'm leaving this in as a reminder that not everything works out at first, despite what Minecraft Youtube might have you believe! For now though, I have other exciting things that I've been working on in the background!

  1. After the Order of the Stone, the proposed subtitle for Minecraft, and the group of heroes in Minecraft: Story Mode.

Previous entry: Part 42: Green Economy

Next entry: Part 44: Gold Rush