POCKY QUEST

Evening of Wednesday, September 19, 2018 ~ 2

POCKY QUEST

With my sand seal gone there was nothing for it but to continue to where Pokki was on foot. And so consulting my map I set my face toward the Misae Suma Shrine... and hoofed it.

There didn’t seem to be too much between us except for a very, very large sand dune, with three Voltfruit cacti growing at its crest.

I’d seen these all over the map. If not the exact species, then definitely the formation. Three plants growing in a perfectly straight line, the ones on the ends equidistant from the one in the middle. I’ve never yet been able to conjure any Koroks from these phenomena.... But I think I heard once.... do they point to shrines?

I looked at my map again. This set certainly did. The Misae Suma Shrine was just over the last rise of sand. As was Pokki. And Pocky....

I collected the fruit and pressed on.

Pokki said the same things as she slumped facedown over the pedestal. She was done for. This was the end. If only she could have tasted a Noble Pursuit....

Well I knew just where to find those.

I warped back to Gerudo Town, and spoke to Furosa, the barkeep at the canteen. When I asked about the Noble Pursuit, she dismissed me as she had many times before—“Not to a young vai like you,” she said.

“Actually...” I responded. That had been my only option. And when she heard what I had to say....

“Pokki’s collapsed?” Furosa perked up at once. She would happily make Pokki a Noble Pursuit. But there was just one problem.

Noble Pursuits required a great deal of ice.

And Furosa was fresh out.

Well I knew just where to find that, too!

We wanted it done fast, but as Furosa was getting on in years, and couldn’t really move like she used to, I offered to go get some from the Northern Ice House.

So this was the Ice House thing! Ah I love me a good fetchquest.

Furosa said I didn’t need to bring it all the way to town; just to the entrance of the ruins would be far enough. But she warned me—Anche, who manned the Ice House, went to bed early. I could only see her when it was light out.

And my, but the sun was fading fast. Dang it it was already evening....

I booked it as fast as I could to the Ice House, but it was no good—Anche was fast asleep.

Nuts.

I picked Swift Violets off the towering cliffs behind to pass the night.... And when the world began to warm I sailed back down to the Ice House and descended in through the trap door and stood and waited and stared at the sleeping woman like an impatiently hungry cat. Wake up, sleepyhead!

She finally did, at seven in the morning.

When I spoke to her, she said what she normally said, some variant of, “Hi I’m Anche and I man this place 24/7.”

Hah! You mean 12/7....

“Actually...” I said in what was once again my only available response. And I related the plight....

“Well if Furosa needs ice you’d better take it to her,” she said, “You are free to take some ice. You took the heat into account, right? If you move too slowly, the ice will melt.”

And it hit me like a ton of pounds why I could only speak to Anche in the daylight hours. Nintendo, you sneaky....

Well, I had Sand Boots, the Heat Spaulder, and my Lizalfos Mask. I could handle this just fine....

The screen blacked out and in again, and I stood holding a huge block of ice over my head.

And it was GO TIME.

I strode out toward the ruins—I couldn’t move very fast under the weight of this block.... But I had no worries about the Lizalfos. They only chirruped in surprise at my appearance and attempted to make friendly conversation.

BUT FUROSA SAID NOTHING ABOUT BOKOBLINS; WHERE DID THESE GUYS COME FROM? I knew it wouldn’t be that simple....

I waddled right by one mean-looking one with a huge club. Just keep moving.... WHOOSH—his strokes would swing and miss! It was a good thing they took their time winding up, and didn’t lead their targets or try to head me. If they’d been Octoroks I would have been in trouble....

And all the while whenever the sun hit my ice block, it started to hiss.

I tried to keep to the shade as much as I could—Iceway Pillars indeed—but it was a little tricky with so many beasties clouding my way....

I moved along the columns of shadow, reminding myself irresistibly of Glim the Candle, until I had gained the more shaded westerly side of the ruins.

I could not move fast enough to shake these Bokoblins! I could only hope that they would lose interest, but would that really happen at this speed?

I could hear them behind me still mucking on in pursuit.... No did they lose interest....? Or did they only lose momentary SIGHT of me? I tried to hurry—WHERE WAS FUROSA?

I stayed on the western periphery—and then I saw her, she was up on the last platform—which I couldn’t reach because the steps were too tall and I couldn’t climb anything while carrying this gigantic block of ice over my head!

Well I couldn’t go back and try to get up!

Huagh! I hoofed it around the horn to the east side, avoiding the bad guys—the ice steamed and hissed further—until I found a step low enough for me to climb, and I huffed and trudged and finally clomped to a halt in the shade before the old Gerudo.

“Huh? You’re... Well, whatever. I don’t care who you are as long as I get my ice.”

Oh yeah, I remembered. I guess she’d never seen me as a voe. Bare-chested and all that.

“With this I can make the ultimate Noble Pursuit,” she said, and asked if I could go tell Pokki. Pokki was her best customer, she said. “Knowing her, she’ll come running when she hears there’s a wonderful drink with her name on it.”

And the screen faded out and back in, and Furosa had gone with her ice.

A sand seal was in order.

I caught one and struck out toward the east. And being one who has walked through the desert, I recognized the very dune I needed to reach almost straight away.... Honestly it was hard to miss.

Pokki bemoaned herself again. “This is it. This is the end...”

“Actually...” I said.

LOL that’s all I ever say in this quest. XD

And I told her.

Pokki perked up. “What? Ultimate Noble Pursuit?”

Well that seemed to put some life into her.

“I am so gone!” she said, or something like it, and she was outta there.

Running.

The screen slow-blinked one last time, and I was alone.

....

Go get it, Pokki.

....

You’re such a PANSY.

....

But I troubled myself about her no more. For NOW.... it was time for my prize....

Out came the Pocky, and the cocoa smell from the newly-opened package wafted against my nostrils like a draft from a warm oven. And with the delightful soft crunch of chocolate-covered biscuit sticks between my teeth, I entered the Misae Suma Shrine, claimed the monk’s blessing.... and saved. ♡

The Missing Moldugas

Evening of Wednesday, September 19, 2018

The Missing Moldugas

I opened my map and made ready to warp to the Misae Suma Shrine.... but I couldn’t.

Then I remembered. Pokki had been collapsed all over the pedestal. I hadn’t been able to activate the warp pad.

I’d have to get back there on my own power for now.

The shrine still showed up on my map, just yellow instead of blue. I guessed that was what visited but unactivated shrines looked like.

Well, Tera’s shrine seemed to be the next most convenient—not Tera’s, Hawa Koth! That was its name. I warped there, cleaned out all the Safflina, caught a sand seal and started out east.

Every great fairy I’d visited seemed to host a native abundance of.... something. For Cotera it was Blue Nightshade flowers and, very occasionally, fairies. Mija had.... I want to say some kind of root, like carrots. Kaysa.... I don’t remember what Kaysa had; her environ was so dry.... Even Malanya the Horse God had an abundance of butterflies of every kind. And Tera had safflina plants, in many varieties. Good ingredients for whipping up any number of different elixirs.

But I think the Silent Princess flower grew at every fairy fountain.

Now, augh, for SOME reason I forgot to jot this down in my original notes, but.... I think this might have been where it happened.... A likely time and place, anyway....

I couldn’t exactly beeline from the Hawa Koth Shrine at Tera’s to the Misae Suma Shrine where Pokki was stranded.... without passing straight through the Southern Oasis.

I think that this might have been when I decided to do just that.

Fye! Shoddy note-taking....

And I had killed the Arbiter’s Ground Molduga around the same time as well.

FYE!

I sand-sealed toward the great rock until I caught the music on the air, at which point I let the beast go and bade it Godspeed.

Taking my time, I softly circumnavigated the Molduga’s course, limiting my movements when it was near; this one ran a smaller circuit than that very first one I had encountered. In fact, that first one had run the largest circuit of any I had seen thus far. It certainly made each new encounter less daunting at any rate.

One by one I drew out the loitering Lizalfos to put them down before dealing with the main threat. And then.... I attracted the monster’s attention.

Just like at the Arbiter’s Ground, now, I could do this....

I was still short on Bomb Arrows. But.... Well, frankly I had been just a little bit inspired by a certain video I’d seen of someone leading a Guardian Stalker out into the desert to duke it out with a Molduga. That person had been all right handling the Molduga on the ground....

I could do it too.... I’d already done it!

I still tried to keep some distance from it, though, drawing it out of the sand with normal arrows or bombs. And when I’d stunned it, I moved in right up against its great blubbery bulk, and it was melee all the way—which turned out to be faster work than it had been with arrows....

When the Molduga recovered it would thrash and twist round in a huge circle, flicking me high into the air with its huge tail, before burrowing back down into the sand. It sent me cartwheeling head over heels and took some hearts off, but.... it was a licking I could take for the present. My paraglider always caught me.

It only really became complicated when the two of us, ringing round the oasis, chanced upon a Lizalfos I had missed.

It’s.... tricky, to beat back an harrassing Lizalfos when the ground beneath you both is heaving uncontrollably, and could explode at any moment.

But it would be a lie to say it didn’t feel epic.

Turning from my main target I put the Lialfos down in a fury to give me some peace!

Well, relative peace.

But after that it was just a few more meaty exchanges on the ground before the mighty Molduga keeled over and gave up the ghost.

I’d beaten it on the ground. In the sand. In its own element.

At last I could explore this Southern Oasis! Perhaps the top held some kind of shrine-puzzle? I climbed up in the light of the falling sun, checking for Koroks everywhere....

The top was fairly level, with a little oblong depression in the middle where water sprang. A few fruit-bearing palm trees stood about, and there were a few more useful plants.... There were also a few boxes, and an unlit wok. Who had been here before?

After looting a treasure chest I found buried in the dirt, I couldn’t find anything else to do, except.... just enjoy the quiet up here.

Surely there had to be a SHRINE or something? The place was too far out of the way!

But I only walked around, cooked a few meals, explored the placid top of the rock, and enjoyed the quiet.

Until the Blood Moon rose that very night and spawned another Molduga, along with that confounded cello ensemble which I liked VERY MUCH, but which had QUITE overstayed its welcome at this point.

I chucked Bombs at the brute until it was mostly dead, whereupon I sailed down and finally put it out of my misery.

Of course the Lizalfos were always up for another round of sword-tag....

No rest for the weary....

I wondered if I’d missed an opportunity before that Blood Moon. I wondered what might happen at the Southern Oasis.... if I first dispatched all the Moldugas....

I was definitely going to come back here later.

Only those who have walked through the desert

Evening of Monday, September 10, 2018

Only those who have walked through the desert

I warped to the Gerudo Great Skeleton in the corner, ran into the farthest storm, and started walkin’ east. Time to continue my circumnavigation of the map.

It was about noon when I started, and I walked for a long, long way.

But the Lizalfos kept me company.

I was getting better at wardrobe changes in the desert, and so was ready with my Ruby Circlet when night fell. But when the Electric Keese started to come out—where do they roost anyway?—I opted instead for a Warm Doublet and.... the Thunder Helm. It was SO NICE to fight them with the Thunder Helm on! No shocking! Even with metal weapons! 8D

Ahh, never again would I need face their incapacitating overreach in the rain.

I kept running, bumping into the southern boundary with my right shoulder time and again. Occasionally I would venture a few steps to the north if I saw some Hydromelons or a Voltfruit cactus.... and then it was back into the blur, the grit flying in an endless storm.

The desert was vast.

Once I inadvertently stepped into.... a laughing tambourine? And the cellos started up and taunted me to come out, and the name Arbiter’s Ground Molduga appeared at the top of my screen, along with a life-meter.

Arbiter’s Ground?

How interesting....

It was another name from another game. Another reference. Like Spectacle Rock. Or the more obvious Death Mountain—that one’s in a lot of games. But those were geologic features, and not so fleeting as any man-made structures.

Like the Arbiter’s Ground....

I am very fond of Twilight Princess. I was curious to investigate any reference to it, but.... No, I would come back to it later. I was busy combing the nether edges of my map.... in search of.... I was there because....

Well I just wanted to do it.

Soon after I stepped out of the Molduga’s song, however, a new sound came to my ears—the brreep-brreeping of my shrine-detector. And that did warrant a detour!

I turned north, and came out of the swirling limbo and into a brilliant, bright white world of glaring sky. I’d been in the murk so long; the difference was jarring.

Away in the dunes to the north I could see a single, large, solitary rock. One guess where the shrine was.

I followed the signal nonetheless, and was unsurprised when it took me straight toward the formation. I wondered if this was the shrine I had heard when the Chief and I had been sand-sealing after Vah Naboris.... I thought I’d even caught a glimpse of it then....

I climbed up on top of the rock and swept for Koroks before I found the familiar orange glow on the far side. The Misae Suma Shrine. But when I floated down.... I found there was a Gerudo collapsed against the activation pedestal.

What the....? Was that Barta? But this one wore green.... I didn’t remember Barta wearing that color....

It was....

Pokki!

I’d been looking everywhere for her!

She was exhausted under the hot sun, and she croaked that if this were the end.... then before she went, she just wanted a taste, just a sip.... of a NOBLE PURSUIT.

This gave me something of a dilemma.

See, Pokki’s name always made me think of Pocky. I do enjoy Pocky. And somebody must’ve let it slip to my Mom because she’d given me a large box of it for my birthday. And now I was down to the very last packet. And I’d been saving that packet.... for whenever I happened to find the missing Pokki.

And I’d just found her.

But it was late. It was nearly bedtime. I didn’t want to go to bed with a whole packet of Pocky just sitting in my gut like a stone all night.

So....

I left her there. Still begging for a Noble Pursuit in all her heat-stroke delirium. Very unlike me....

And I ran back down into the farthest storm and continued eastward.

I would save the Pocky for the time when I rescued her instead.

Soon, Pokki.... Soon....

I kept going east until I came to a sheer cliff face—the drop-off at the west end of the Devil’s Own Highway. I attempted to climb it, but.... it was too tall and I didn’t have the stamina.

I could no longer circumnavigate the map from here.

....

But.... that had never really been my immediate intention....

For now.... I decided to suffice myself with the desert. For there was plenty I had not seen of its deeper interior.

And so I bent my course to the north. I didn’t venture into the mountains but stayed down on the sand, skirting curious and tempting features on my map like that large, straight-edged rectangular structure, and of course those monumental statues of the Seven Heroines, whose grandeur I had thus far only witnessed in the topo.

However I was already fairly well acquainted with the desert’s northern edge, and its forests of stone pillars. And so halfway to it, I left the anchoring foothills, and plunged back westward into the trackless ocean of grit.

I passed through strange, flat scapes of small, isolated stonework ruins, the lot of them jutting from the sand like a pox. I found the sandy dell where my sand seal and I had won the race, and for kicks I rolled Bombs down into the Lizalfos camp. And I scaled every surprising island rock I found breaching the sand for air. The Koroks did not come out easily.

Every so often I gazed into the south at the enormous, palm-capped rock that had to be the Southern Oasis. I’d been giving it a wide berth; there was a Molduga down there, and I was short on Bomb Arrows. Soon.

After a very long time, mostly via the sand seal track at the end, I managed to walk all the way back to the lookout tower, and thence back to Gerudo Town.

I had walked through the desert.

And it was vast.

But does vastness retain its vastness once it is known?

Hm.

At any rate I felt undaunted enough to continue westward further still! I did make a stop at my favorite specialty arrow stall first, but.... Bomb Arrows were so expensive. And I was still short on cash. I couldn’t go Molduga hunting just now.

Unfazed, I continued nonetheless into the desert’s northwestern regions, with which I was not quite so familiar. There were many giant bones, and a lot more rock. Great place for an ambush, I thought in Scott McNeil’s voice.

I made it all the way up to that shrine beneath the ribcage, and this time, with my stronger clothes, I was able to climb up on top of the spine! And as I’d suspected there was a Korok.

The Koroks weren’t so shy out in the west. In fact they were fairly obvious, one of them perched at the top of a ribcage angled so high out of the ground that it could be seen for miles all around. There were also absolute treasure troves of Swift Violets to collect! Albeit along rock formations crawling with Lizalfos. But that didn’t pose too much of a hassle.

When I had ventured to the edge, and had my absolute fill of climbing around in the western sand storm, picking violets from high walls, turning over treasure chests, scaring up the odd Korok, and fending off Electric Lizalfos.... I hoofed it back to the ribcage shrine, captured a sand seal, and sailed back to Tera’s spring.

With all the Swift Violets I had collected, I was able to have her do up my Sand Boots another level, which was a welcome enhancement in this environment. However this also required me to part with four of my five precious remaining Molduga guts. I’d need to go hunting again soon.

That Molduga at the Southern Oasis....

All in good time.

I’ll get you later!

I warped back to the woods, settled Link down in Pepp’s bed at a decent evening hour for once.... and went to bed myself.

A Game More Dangerous

Evening of Tuesday, September 4, 2018 ~ 3

A Game More Dangerous

I touched down on the warp pad of the Ishto Soh Shrine, and was met with the buzzing sound of hundreds of flies.

I’d forgotten how much garbage Moza had piled up here.

But I dashed past it all and peered down into the Lynels’ Corridor! I had plans to try out my new toy.... On went the Lynel Mask and Link once again adopted a beefy, stoic stance. X-)

The canyon floor was too far distant for me to make out any creatures prowling along it, and so I relied on the skull stamp I had placed on my map—that was where the southern Lynel would be.

I floated down—there it was—and circled wide, landing some distance further south. Somewhat far away but not too far away.... but pretty far away....

The Lynel still stepped so grandly and paused so ponderously and roared.

And then it turned and SAW ME. FROM FAR AWAY.

We stared at each other. Usually when a bad guy sees its respective mask it starts walking toward you. But neither of us moved. We just stared. For a moment.

And then the Lynel circled round in a canter, faced my way again and nocked a Shock Arrow.

Nope! It was Ishto Soh for me again! I warped the heck outta there! :D

So wow, the mask really didn’t fool the Lynel for very long....

Well they were powerful creatures of many abilities.

But still....

I wanted to try again.

So I ran and jumped and floated down to the left this time, northward toward the mid-Lynel near the base of the Talus’ butte. I spied him as he walked among the baobabs....

With a crunch and a rush I hit the ground running through the long yellow grass. I wanted to get close this time....

It was a White-Maned Lynel, and when he saw my fast approach, he turned to face me, and stood his ground.

I just kept running. If things went south I could always just warp back to Ishto Soh....

The Lynel stood still until I had run right up in front of him, and could physically no longer move forward for his person. He had only looked at me the whole time. The way his head just dropped at the end.... looking down at me....

I was a tiny creature.

We looked at each other only briefly before I walked round to his left flank to see if there was a get on option. There wasn’t. Those zebra stripes. Broad tapers. So high over my head, the body so tall, so BIG. Thick, muscular legs, feathered hooves....

The Lynel turned as well; he wasn’t having me behind him. And we faced each other once more, staring just a bit longer. I was on the north, facing south now. The long south reaches of the Lynels’ Corridor stretched away into the distance behind my.... companion. The baobabs stood in the yellow grass. The Gerudo Highlands glowed bright ruddyrust in the daylight away to my right, the shade of the Zokassa Ridge cooling to my almost immediate left.

At precisely the same moment, I threw the game into a semi-pause by toggling toward the Stasis function, and the White Lynel reached behind his enormous back and fwipped out his gigantic spear.

Oh my.  ._.

I was able to Stasis him and get in a few hits.... But that charm works only briefly on living things, and briefer still on powerful ones.

I could have warped away, but....

Well I did need Lynel bits.... and I was here, wasn’t I?

I stayed.

I stayed, and stood, and fought. And remembering the Shock Arrows this one had pelted me with before, I tried the Thunder Helm for a spell. But apparently the Lynel only resorted to those at a distance, and no range I could give him on the ground would suffice—the ill-defending helmet was not helping. And so I switched to something more justifiable. Real armor. My strongest clothes.

Stasis could only help me so much between rechargings, but I employed it as best I could, capitalizing on every chance to land a Bomb Arrow right between the brute’s eyes. Head-shots dealt double the damage, or so I’d heard and witnessed elsewhere.

This one didn’t stun like the lesser foes did, though. Any Bokoblin would have been bowled over backward with a shriek, and not regained itself for precious seconds....

But a Lynel....

I don’t think he ever even had to shift his footing.

Then again he did have four of them. A leg at each corner. Huh!

I was a mouse to him.

Well the mouse could still bite!

More than once, more than thrice, more times than I counted, really, he sent me flying and tumbling and rolling across the grass with a groan—Get up get up get up, Link!—And I found myself chewing through my stocks at a vigorous pace!

But I gave him his own headaches in return—a Bomb Arrow could slow down a galloping charge! Even if I had to take a bit of it myself at close range—he moved so fast....

It became inescapably dicey however whenever HE BLEW FIRE FROM HIS MOUTH AT ME. The fireballs were broad, far-reaching and enormous, and they set the grass alight all over. Remembering the Big Yiga Clansmen, I used the flames more than once to slip away into the air, a bit singed nevertheless. The Lynel watched me with patient, hungry eyes in one such maneuver as I glided over him, released a Bomb.... and then detonated too early.

Well, that happened sometimes. Good thing nobody else was in the room.

The fire kept coming. I never had the thought of a linear retreat, but rather circled round him in evasion as he kept blowing and blowing and BLOWING! It was deadly and dangerous!—And the best opportunity to get close enough for a strike.

I pulled weapon after weapon from hammerspace as my blades gave their all and shattered in glory. Daruk had leant me three good helping hands that had evaporated pretty early on. And Mipha saved me from the brink before she too had to withdraw her power for a time whose end I would not see in this fight.

But when that monster hit me, ripped me, shredded me so hard that I saw that gleaming little winged orb come swirling up out of my pockets to my aid—

THAT WAS A FAIRY YOU JERK! DON’T YOU KNOW HOW RARE THOSE ARE?

I’d had enough!

I spared no provisions in maintaining my health from then on, and GAVE NO QUARTER in hammering my foe! I did not relent until his mighty, immovable hooves finally gave out from beneath him, and his proud knees sank at last into the ground below his bowing head, wild with mane and horn, heavy with defeat and death.

His carcass was mine.

When I’d pocketed his remains, I looked around at the aftermath of the encounter.

....It was ugly.

The grass was scorched black in great hatching swaths, or shorn clean away in places by blade or hoof. What a ruin. We’d all but burned the whole valley down.

....

It did feel kind of epic, though.

I visited Tera once more in the chill of the desert night to do up my Radiant Gear. The tights were already at level two, but with the shirt and mask enhanced to that level as well....  surely there would be a perk.... I was pretty sure.... it had to be....

IT WAS A DISGUISE I KNEW IT. AND MY ATTACK POWER WITH BONE WEAPONS WAS UP BUT THIS SUIT WAS NOW A DISGUISE I COULD USE TO WALK AMONG STALCREATURES UNDETECTED. I KNEW IT.

AUGH BUT IT WAS TOO COLD TO WEAR OUT HERE IN THE DESERT.

SOON.

I warped to the Deku Tree’s Navel in the three o’clock hour of the morning.... and slept until noon.

GOOD NIGHT.

From: Andrea

To: David

2018-09-04 11:43p

By the way I killed a White Lynel

tonight. On foot. It was ugly. The

whole valley burned down.

From: Andrea

To: David

2018-09-04 11:43p

Love you good night. <3

Errands in Zorana

Evening of Tuesday, September 4, 2018 ~ 2

Errands in Zorana

It was time to smarten up—I could at least aim for what materials I wanted. And Luminous Stone from Zora’s Domain was a pretty easy place to start.

I wandered around to Upland Zorana—finally spying on my way, via Magnesis, the Ceremonial Trident at the bottom of the channel beneath the western bridge. Trello had said it had fallen down there....

But I only took a mental note of its location and continued up into the hills, ranging all over, collecting Luminous Stone.

On a paraglide back down toward the Domain proper, I saw that Kilton had parked his balloon near Ralis Pond, so I went to pay him a visit.

Upon approaching him I noticed that the back of his hood (he always faced away from the counter at first) seemed to have.... a hole in it? What?

So I spoke to him, wondering if he had anything new.

And LO AND BEHOLD his hot new item tonight was the LYNEL MASK.

And he confided to me that he had recently nearly been killed while studying actual Lynels to design this mask! Well that explained the hole then! XD

Lynel Mask?

YES PLEASE!

I sold him monster bits for Mon—999 Mon!—and then exchanged again and the Lynel Mask was mine.

SWEET.

I tried it on right away—and laughed so hard—for similar to how he had done with other masks, Link immediately took on the stance and air of its.... what was that word.... exemplificator....

He stood up tall and puffed out his chest and held back his arms like some beefy bodybuilder posing for a film ad! XD Oh my gosh.... XD

Kilton warned me, though.... Lynels were smart. The mask might not fool them for long.

Well I’d just burn that bridge when I came to it then. :)

With my pockets full of Luminous Stone and my Lynel Mask in tow, I sailed down to try and pick up that Ceremonial Trident....

It was a bit of a chore to reach it. But only because I so often forget and neglect the Sheikah Slate power of Cryonis. With a little persistence I was able to ice-bridge my way out to the center of the channel, grab the Trident and get back to solid ground.

But I still didn’t know how to plunge it into the pedestal at the Veiled Falls. I spoke to Trello, I spoke to Laruta, I spoke to Keye.... Keye gave the same demonstration he always had: you jump up high and then slam your spear into the ground.

But I had already tried that with Lady Mipha’s Lightscale Trident, to no effect. And I gave it a go with the Ceremonial Trident. Still nothing.

What was I doing wrong?

I didn’t like damaging these weapons....

Jump up high.... jump up high.... Did I have to go higher? There was a way for that....

I put on my Zora Armor and jetted straight up the Veiled Falls, bursting out the top to hang in the air by my paraglider. Then down, down, down I floated....

I took care to center myself directly over the pedestal. And when I was still high up, but not so high that I’d injure myself.... I let go and plunged down with the weapon....

I didn’t hit dead center, but it was enough.

The Dagah Keek Shrine rumbled out of the earth just up near Ralis Pond!

Well that would make an excellent waypoint up into the hills! It would save a long jog up the stairs and across the bridge anyway.

I entered the shrine and received the monk’s blessing. Excellent.

Trello later mentioned something about a similar effect the Lightscale Trident might have on.... Mipha’s pedestal?

What like the one in the square?

Which I considered and.... might have even tried once or twice.... but....

I don’t like damaging these spears.

BLOODY UNWATCHED POT

Evening of Tuesday, September 4, 2018

BLOODY UNWATCHED POT

The Hateno Tower gave me an excellent vantage point. Now I just had to wait. What phase of the moon was it again....?

There it was creeping over the horizon: waning gibous.

I warped back to the Deku Tree’s Navel and sat by the fire. Again. And again. And again.

David remarked that the Koroks must have thought me very weird. Just sitting there unmoving on my haunches for such a long time.

I counted sittings until the full moon night, whereupon I warped to the Muwo Jeem Shrine on the eastern edge of the map. I would definitely get the earliest possible notice looking out over the sea from here....

And up came the big full moon....

It was white. Not red.

Rats!

Okay! I thought to myself, here is what I will do then! I would just go about my business as usual, and then, as each night fell, I would just warp back here to the Muwo Jeem Shrine over the sea and check.

Oh but first I would need to test, yes.... How long would it take me to make it to Washa’s Bluff from the shrine by Tabantha Bridge? I warped there to try it....

The night-speed of the Stealth Suit would help. I touched down on the warp pad at 10:25 pm, and started running. I did not make time to correct the camera angle and so had a bit of a stumble getting off the little hill and down to the ground, but I got the general direction well enough!

Augh, and then I accidentally ran myself out of stamina—Link slumped into a slow, panting jog for a few moments while he recovered—but that was all right, this was only a test run after all. And I wouldn’t make that mistake during the actual Blood Moon....

I dashed and sprinted ahead, giving no satisfaction to the Keese and Stal-creatures hounding my footsteps.

I made it to the pedestal by Kass’ treeshroom—AND THE TERRIBLE ACCORDION RANG DOWN THROUGH MY TEMPLES—and it was five or ten minutes past midnight. I was late.

Hmmmm.... But I had only started at 10:25.... I would be able to see a Blood Moon come up over the sea before that time of night.

Moon usually rose about ten o’clock....

I could make it in an hour and forty minutes....

I could make it to Washa’s Bluff....

I would just go about my business in the meanwhile, yes....

Business as usual.

I was stark raving moon-mad crazy.

I visited Tera and suffered a clothes-alignment conniption inside my menus—I didn’t want to rearrange my closet. But I was short on most materials anyway.

And so I had the BRILLIANT idea to just go back to the beginning per Vizzini, go back to the plateau, and loot EVERYTHING, and take the old east road I had taken before—there were lots of minerals along the way, like between the Dueling Peaks....

Unfortunately the Great Plateau had nothing but a plethora of mushrooms. I killed the Talus anyway. And many Bokoblins. So many Bokoblins. What a killing spree.

When I realized and remembered that the Plateau yielded only the most basic of materials, I paraglided down and headed east through the old ruins anyway, cleaning out the Moblins as I went. I sniffed around every corner, looking everywhere, turning over treasure chest after treasure chest that I just couldn’t fit in my inventory.

I’d meant to explore this place more thoroughly later anyway. Huh, “later”. When exactly was “later”? I’d thought of it back when I first left the plateau. But I’d had to find Impa then, and I hadn’t been strong enough.

I came upon a weapon stamp I had left on my map, for in case I was ever in desperate need of something strong. And at the indicated location, thrust into the earth at the center of a shallow rain-pool.... was a Rusty Halberd.

How little I used to be.

The ruins were a somber place. Inside some of them I could see where I was sure that.... beds.... used to stand. Such simple little dwellings. And I imagined the faithful, loyal guards who must have manned them.

Our poor country.

I continued searching, chasing out a Korok at the top of a weathered flagpole—my gosh there were so many such towers in the field—how many of them hid Koroks? And there turned out to be more Moblins than I had realized between the Plateau and Proxim Bridge as well. Big Yiga Clansmen came out to play sometimes. I killed them too.

Then suddenly I looked up AND THE MOON WAS RED. I GASPED.

IT WASN’T EVEN A FULL MOON NIGHT. WHAT THE HECK, GAME?

CURSE YOU NINTENDOOOOO!

I looked at the clock. Oh wicked fate! It was 10:25. The same as last time. The time I hadn’t made it.

I went to my map—no.... I paused first. I put on clothes for night-speed. Yes. Then to the map. And I warped to the Tabantha Bridge Stable.

This was it....

I had a better time getting off the little hill, hugging tight to the mountainside in my paraglide and jog until I could round the bend enough to make a beeline. I won’t make the stamina mistake, I won’t make the stamina mistake, I won’t make the stamina mistake I MADE THE STAMINA MISTAKE. D8

Link recovered, I was running, I was beelining, hoofing it, there were bad guys, I ran past them, there was no time, the ground began to smoke, the creepy music started, I could see the pedestal glowing far ahead of me, the sky was turning red, I was running, I was RUNNING—

The clock struck midnight.

I didn’t make it

Zelda’s voice warned.

Dang it....

The vision ended.

I ran still.

THE PEDESTAL STILL GLOWED.

I GOT ON.

TOOK ALL MY CLOTHES OFF.

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AND THERE WAS A SHRIIIIINE! 8D

THE MIJAH ROKEE SHRINE BURST OUT OF THE EARTH JUST THERE IN THE LITTLE DEPRESSION ON TOP OF WASHA’S BLUFF!

Mijah Rokee!

What did Mijah Rokee have in store for me! A blessing perhaps? Surely....

It was a Modest Test of Strength.

I put my clothes back on.

And when I came out, the sun was shining so low and warm and beautiful.

And the accordion was gone.

....

It felt a little hollow.

Campout with Kass

Evening of Sunday, August 12, 2018

Campout with Kass

The storm blew off shingles and knocked the tops off our bottle trees. I hoped Meesh was all right.... She hates stormy weather....

But I would see her safe and sound the next morning.

But tonight.... DANG IT I WAS GONNA GET THAT SHRINE ON WASHA’S BLUFF.

I PARAGLIDED from Satori Mountain down to Kass’s place. I was getting better at covering more distance! I no longer feared missing the treeshroom’s platform—I could land well beyond its lip.

Once there, I camped.

....

And camped.

. . . . . . .

And CAMPED.

I lit fires. I spent flint. And when it rained I lit a fire beneath Kass’s wooden roof. Thing was fireproof, thank goodness. And I dropped something like four separate woodpiles before I found I could just relight spent campfires with a new piece of flint. And when my flint started running low, I switched to Fire Arrows....

And still Kass played his accordion.

For days he played his accordion.

I skipped around the platform to the endless waltz.

I was going koo-koo for cocoa puffs.

DANG IT WHERE WAS THE BLOOD MOON?

I could speak with Kass to quiet him, and then stand beside him after our conversation was over. He would look at me. And I would look at him. Or at Satori Mountain. Or at the sky. Or at the strange lands beyond Tabantha Bridge. But I couldn’t move away and leave him alone or he’d start playing the song again. It got.... kind of.... maddening....

I wondered who would win between he and Guru-Guru the organ-grinder.

Hmmmm....

Kass: V --- | i --- | VII --- | III --- | N6(???) - V7 - | i --- | i64 - V - | i ---

Guru-Guru: i --- | i --- | VI - III - | VI - V - | i --- | i --- | VI - V - | i ---

....Hhhhuh.

Is that even a Neapolitan sixth? Dang I don’t remember my music theory....

Well I guess Kass gets points for more sophisticated modulations.... but I think Guru-Guru’s strong half-cadence definitely makes for a more pleasing and attractive structure.

These are the things you think about when you campout with Kass for days.

The moons came in cycles of eight phases: waxing crescent, half, waxing gibous, full, waning gibous, half, waning crescent, new. I would light my fires eight at a time in rapid succession and sit through the days on Kass’ treeshroom before stopping to stretch my legs and watch for the rising of the moon.... And if the full moon were normal and white, I would warp through eight more night-fires to try it again....

Link doesn’t fall asleep when he is crouching. But I think he shakes a bug or something from his hand....

I had a sneaking suspicion that Blood Moons only manifested on full moons, and so between the fulls of one cycle I took a brief break to try for the Prison Korok again. But the statues’ bowls were just empty. And they wouldn’t take apples then, either. Ugh....

But at least I was free of the accordion for a spell.

I wandered nearer to the castle.

It had a music.... a Piano. I didn’t really get to hear much of what it did; there were other things going on the house. But it just felt.... malcontent.

I don’t know why, but I dared not pass the boundary set by the five Great Stones. Glowing pulsing pink in their sealing Sheikah designs. It felt.... like it would be wrong. Or like it bore the same taint that kept me from ever interacting with that SATAN statue again....

I was very near to one of them.

....

I didn’t want to touch it.

I inspected long-abandoned guard towers along crumbling parapets. Some of them had treasure chests inside. One of them was haunted by a Korok.

Skipping past a Guardian Flyer I scuttled up onto a large rock and stood in the bright, placid day.

I calmly observed the Guardian Stalker in the inner town. It was too far away to react to my presence. Just barely, I think.

A big, bubbly pool of Malice oozed and gurgled below the ledge where I stood. It was piled thick in all directions. I regarded the Guardian again....

If I fell in I would be.... in horrible trouble.

Off to my right was a pool of clear water. There were ducks. And fish. Even here.

I was tempted. To go into the castle. For long, dreadful moments I was tempted. But....

No.

No.

I returned to Satori Mountain and paraglided back to Kass’s home.... and that bloody accordion.

I kept camping.

But I didn’t want to strain my bows or burn through my Fire Arrows to keep lighting campfires.

So I pulled out one of my Meteor Rods.

The fireballs bounced everywhere.

One of them might have accidentally hit my host on the back of the head—I saw his shoulders tighten from behind.

Sorry, buddy.

WHERE THE FRICK WAS THE BLOODY BLOOD MOON??

There had to be a better way to do this—there was a better way to do this—I tried a cycle at Pepp’s, in the Deku Tree’s Navel. I just sat by the fire there, too—it was already made; no flint and tinder off my nose—passing night after night until the full moon night came round again, whereupon I sailed back to Kass’ place and waited for the wheeling of the sky....

But there was no Blood Moon.

ಠ_ಠ

It’s like the game knows.

ಥ∼ಥ

Dastardly....

I went back to the Deku Tree’s Navel and slept until the morning.