Lunacy at Washa's Bluff

Waking of Saturday, August 11, 2018 ~ 2

Lunacy at Washa’s Bluff

Forget Faron Woods—I wanted that shrine at Washa’s Bluff, dang it.

I rode Memory out from Hateno, still collecting this and that for a bit until we arrived at Dueling Peaks. I boarded him then, maybe for time’s sake, and warped ahead by my lonesome to the Ridgeland Tower. After making a few flights for Branli, setting a new personal best distance record, and earning a few more rupees, I continued on foot into the rolling western hills.

The traffic was unusually thick, and I made a lot of new friends on the road, not the least charming of which were Nazbi and his horse Dauntless. I don’t even remember what they were on about; I just thought it was great to meet such a brash, young-hearted character with a horse by the name of Dauntless. They were a merry duo....

Another hop, skip, and a jump and I had made it to Washa’s Bluff, and the pedestal I’d need to stand on in order to call out the shrine. Kass waltzed away on his accordion in the treeshroom above me....

Hm. I wanted to go see him.

A quick warp to Satori Mountain and a long and precise paraglide saw me up into his lofty home. He recited the riddle for me, to stand on the pedestal bare—

Um....

When the moon bleeds and enemies are reborn, the monks will something as they have sworn, stand on the pedestal bare, with nothing between you and the air.

Or some such words.

It had been a while since the last Blood Moon, and Washa’s Bluff wasn’t exactly easy to get to.... I’d had the thought to do this in my mind for some time, but now I was actually doing it—I was going to wait with Kass until the next Blood Moon. That way I would be sure to get the shrine!

I almost went crazy listening to his music. I read his journal, I climbed on top of his house.... There wasn’t much else to do.

And when there was no Blood Moon that night, I laid down some wood and flint, built a fire, and waited ‘til the next night....

And as luck had it.... that was a Blood Moon.

So I floated down and stood on the now glowing pedestal.

And stood.... and stood.... and stood....

And Zelda’s vision of warning loomed through the night....

And I stood.... and stood.... and....

The pedestal went out?

Wha-euh—? Where was the shrine??

I scurried back into my menus and tracked down the shrine quest details.... I read the poem carefully....

Yes, yes, Blood Moon, blah blah blah....

Stand on the pedestal bare, with nothing between you and the night air.

Stand on the pedestal bare....

Stand on the pedestal bare.... with noth—

OH MY gosh.... this—

The descriptor, “bare”, referred to ME, not the pedestal!

UGHH I couldn’t believe this—Washa’s Bluff was so isolated, so far away from anywhere—There was no quick way to reach it, and Blood Moons gave such short notice.... I’d been so focused on actually being there during a Blood Moon that I hadn’t bothered to heed the rest of the poem....

I’d needed to strip for the shrine to come out.

I thought “bare” was just a rhyming device! Padding! I mean, judging by how every other song and poem in the game had felt when it reared its asymmetrical head.... The localizers had been wonderful and clever; I don’t deny that, but for friggin’— THEIR SENSE OF RHYTHM AND METER....

....

Wonder why it took me ‘til page four hundred to bring this up.

....

Probably ‘cause it’s the first time it’s gotten me in trouble.

....

....

I suppose just a comma might have helped but In my experience once you set a shape for your lilt you plumb that thesaurus ‘til the language FITS or you don’t come back at all.

Dang it.

The thwartation made me reckless; I warped to the Shrine of Katah Chuki—I was gonna get that Korok in the Castle Town Prison....

I actually found a lot of Koroks along the way. But when I closed in on the prison, and killed the Guardian that had scared me off before.... the little row of three statues stood with one platter empty, and the other two bearing.... Rusty Shields?? I didn’t have a Rusty Shield!

And considering the location you’d have thought I’d be able to find one fairly easily but no matter where I wandered there were absolutely none in sight!

So I tried just moving the Rusty Shields over and filling all the platters with apples.

Nothing happened.

Dang it!

I was just thwarted all over today.

I wandered a little more around the riverlands northwest of the castle; there was yet another Consolation Korok on a little crag below the ruins of that Ancient Laboratory or whatever it had been north of Jeddo Bridge. And a Star Fragment struck the earth a good ways upriver, near the base of the northernmost of the gigantic sealing pillars surrounding the castle—I made it there by Ninja Suit. Been picking up a lot of those lately.... due to waiting around looking for so many Blood Moons, I realized.

I flitted back along the shore beneath the Elma Knolls to where I had been, and scared up one more Korok before.... just warping to the Keo Ruug Shrine and sweet Pepp’s bed. I was tired.

It was 10:40 in the morning, game-time.

I slept until noon.

Heh, sounds about like the sleep I might get here, I thought, and went to bed.

Bird-Man

Waking of Friday, August 11, 2017 ~ 3

Bird-Man

On top of the cliff west of Serenne Stable I heard another shrine, but just like the one in the Forgotten Temple, for the life of me I could not pin it down!

It took a couple of flying leaps from the cliff top for me to notice—and get to—an explodable bit of rock halfway down the sheer rock face.

A Blessing Shrine was inside.

I was feeling just dandy by this point! ^_^

I kept climbing the mountain until I got just about to its crest, from which I had a clear and open view of a Sheikah Tower somewhere between south and east.

I knew this tower. It stood in the center of a body of water atop a roundish, bald plateau. From a distance it had always looked easy enough to reach, though I was certain there had to be some trick or riddle to it. For I had passed this tower many times in my wanderings, but never yet attempted to climb it.

It was time to try it now. I considered my altitude.... and took more direct approach: via PARAGLIDER! 8D

As I sailed toward it I wondered whether I’d come up short and land in the water. I hoped not; there could be baddies in there, maybe creeping evil things I hadn’t even encountered before. Deep water does things to your mind—you don’t know what could be lurking in the depths....

But as I drew near, I could tell that my course would keep me from getting wet. Only just! But that was good enough. And it was a good thing, too, because I saw what the resident obstacle was: the water teemed with awful things that would surely wish to do me harm at first sight. Electric Lizalfos churned through the surface, wielding strange Thunder-weapons I’d never seen before; more Lizalfos patrolled the shore; and a handful of Lightning Wizzrobes skipped gleefully around the lower airs.

Hm, wish I’d been able to come in a little higher.

I wondered if this were the tower David said was his least favorite....

I landed on the lowest platform, and waited only long enough to regain my stamina. Lucky for me Wizzrobes like to skip around invisible for a while after they spot you. If these had been flying wolves.... I’d’ve had problems. But I climbed as quick as I could, resting only as long as I needed, and the shots from their Lightning Rods were easy to dodge.

Still.... I couldn’t help but recall my experience at the Lake Tower. Would they cook up some kind of super lightning storm if they couldn’t catch me after a while?

Plink! Plink! Plink! They continued to stalk me invisibly, ascending as I did up the tower...

I might’ve taken just one hit, but it wasn’t bad, and there was a platform just beneath me. Otherwise I made it to the top in a trice without a hitch.

There was a man up there.

His name was Branli, and he seemed to have been stranded a la Gruve as the Sheikah Tower burst out of the ground.

Dear me I take too much time wandering; this Branli could have starved to death—

Branli was very into studying the Bird-men. In fact, he asked me if I were one of them, as he wasn’t sure how else I could have gotten onto the tower. We got to the topic of how to get down, and he was shocked at my claim to be able to simply fly down. He asked me to demonstrate—I put him off for only a moment, so I could activate the tower—

Hey, it was an easy way down, but there was no telling whether the game would bring me back up to the top!

I downloaded the map, was delighted to finally have an image of Satori Mountain and a setting for all my stamps and shrine-icons, glanced over the features of the land with all their interesting names—and shuddered as I FINALLY discovered the name of that great toothy CRACK in the earth just north of Jeddo Bridge....

The Breach of Demise.

Uhhhuhuhuhuhhh....

I thought of the proximity of the Forgotten Temple.... and that giant Goddess statue.... and wondered....

But at length I came back to myself, and this Branli, and agreed to demonstrate flying on my paraglider for him. He told me to go for distance, and so I flew directly into the lower lands of the Breach, touching down, as it happened, just about in the middle of that nest of Bokoblins with their two skull-dens....

But fortunately, the game did zip me right back up to the tower, and Branli’s report: I had flown over six hundred meters! He was quite impressed, and invited me to come and give it another go whenever I had the chance.

Heh, funny man. ^_^