Return to Serenne

Waking of Saturday, November 3, 2018

Return to Serenne

I’d heard from somewhere, maybe somewheres, very probably including Madman Joseph, that there were 900 Koroks in this game.

I wondered just how deep my pockets could go, or would even need to go. Would I break through some kind of boundary with Hestu, once each of my inventories took up an entire screen? Would I reach hammerspace?

I wandered out from Tera’s fountain and into the desert. I’d caught unintended glimpses of map screens in my researching for finessing the log; the Korok Seed icons were practically tripping over each other. But where were they all hiding in this wasteland?

I trekked all over the desert, all over the highlands, killed the Lynel.... I found a few more Koroks.... But.... where were they all hiding?

Done with the puzzling Koroks for the moment I finally paraglided down to the Gerudo Canyon Stable, and took out.... Dragmire. Hadn’t ridden him in a while. I wanted him to carry me now, all the way to the Serenne Stable. Faron was found and mapped. It was time to head northwest.

We hit the road, stopping only a few times to rescue people—Regan, Chabi....

Near the Coliseum I bought all of Botrick’s arrows; I was always happy to do business with him. And at the Outskirt Stable I stopped to sell some more meat to Trott; he was always happy to do business with me.

But I didn’t continue right away. There was one other person I’d been meaning to speak to here at this stable....

Aliza stood out in the dappled shade of the trees by the road. “So did you find the Hero of Legend?” she asked when I approached. She was excited.

My choices of response made me laugh—it was either “I am he.” or “Bye.” XD

“I am he,” I said. Lol so stoic....

Aliza was.... surprised! She’d been waiting so long, but.... I wasn’t at all what she expected. It was a shame, she told me, because I wasn’t even her type! But she gave me something she had been saving for me anyway—a Star Fragment.

Well that was friendly! :)

“It feels SO good to finally check that off my bucket list!” she finished.

Then when I spoke to her again.... “You must be really busy, saving the world and all. How about instead of talking to random strangers, you think a little more about doing your job, yeah?”

Oof wow. XD

We rode on, not meeting a whole lot of other people on the road except for a guy named Savelle at the north end of the Breach of Demise. He had a cool helm. Made me want to get on enhancing my Soldier’s Armor....

We reached Serenne Stable in the ten o’clock hour where I boarded Dragmire and spent the night . . . . and when I woke up in the morning it was raining.

But here I took a break to eat dinner and then to watch a movie with friends. It was a little after Halloween, but we still enjoyed a corny run of Spaced Invaders. But in the opening credits I thought I recognized that name.... Ariana.... Ariana Richards.... And as the movie progressed and we came to the part with the young girl OH MY GOSH IT WAS LEX—she was so little!—was this her breakout role....?

Horse Abuse

Waking of Sunday, November 26, 2017 ~ 2

Horse Abuse

I was going to ride Thrice all the way to Akkala—both to report back to that soldier about Kilton, and to check on what my twelve Ancient Gears could get me from Cherry. I meanwhile left my Sheikah Sensor tuned to fishies in case I encountered any of those along the way!

And as with most of my longer rides it came with a number of stops along the way to throw Bokoblins off the other travelers. Mils and Mina.... Leekah (another rider’s horse actually kicked that Bokoblin something fierce before I finished it off).... Tye and Sorelia (that one I settled from horseback—felt rather proud!)....

I wanted to stop on Thims Bridge to play another water-goal Korok game, but the Octorok gave me trouble before I could blow it up, and I turned and—

Thrice?

Where did Thrice go!?

And then I saw the dark shape swimming in the dimness toward the other shore. Did he jump? Fall off? Did the Octorok hit him?

I ditched the Korok game and swam after him. Thrice!

Forgive me, Thrice....

Sobered, I decided there would be no more fooling around; it was time to continue our journey to Akkala.

Our rainy, rainy journey.

At the South Akkala Stable we came to a fork in the road. Would it be better to head east toward Chariots of Fire Beach? Or north through Shadow Pass?

Mmm, the route seemed shorter through Shadow Pass.... Onward we went.

....And stopped in the middle of the pass to rescue Chabi once more.

Hero work is demanding.

We also met Laroba again on the other side (“Sav’aaq!”), and she shared some new gossip: evidently a rare set of arrows was rumored to rest somewhere inside Hyrule Castle. If I ever found myself exploring that place.

Fat chance at present!

At length we finally arrived at the East Akkala Stable, and I spoke to Hoz the Guard.

He was grateful to see the pictograph of Kilton. But then....

“This will surely help me hunt him down,” he said, and gave me a silver rupee for my trouble.

D:

Mmmmrm but Kilton was helpful!

I guess I don’t really know what else I might have been expecting, given Hoz’s attitude toward the Kilton rumors when I first met him, and the fact that he was a guard....

:c

Huhhh.

....

Huh.  !

....

Good thing that pictograph was only of Kilton’s back.

It was indeed that very one that had had the quest-exclamation-mark affixed to it.

Guess we broke even there.

I thought I could just gallop past the Guardian on the way to Robbie’s; that’s what David said he did.

As it turned out, the Guardian.... had an exceptional range....

It shot Thrice.

Twice.

There were clinging flames.

Forgive me, Thrice.... Oh I was taking him home after this to a stable straight away....

The rain poured again as I walked into the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab.

My Ancient Gears sadly could not afford me any more armor, but I had plenty of Ancient Shafts on me, and I put these toward a bundle of five Ancient Arrows.

They were precious and expensive. I would have to be very careful with them in the future. No more mistakes.

That was one reason I bought the Ancient Helm first: Of the three armor pieces, the helm alone utilized Ancient Shafts, which I knew I would need later for arrow fodder. May as well have gotten the big Shaft-purchase out of the way early on, right?

Now to get Thrice out of here....

I would kill the Guardian first.

The only problem was that it was still raining outside, and the weather had broiled into a storm.

And I had only metal weapons on me.

But I could at least close the distance between myself and my quarry.... and a close lightning strike in front of me proved to be serendipitous as the small fire it sparked gave me an excellent updraft!

I tried and failed to land on top of the Guardian’s head—I’d just wondered if it could be done. It didn’t seem like it.... Would that be like the central space beneath.... Kalle Demos? I can’t believe I remembered that name....

I waited behind the rock until the storm finally blew itself out, and then dispatched the Guardian directly with melee weapons to its awful, wicked eye.

With the road safe and clear I boarded Thrice at the East Akkala Stable.... but I took out Dragmire for more riding.

Do horses heal when they are boarded at a stable, as Hylians heal when they sleep in a bed?

There was something else David had said he had done, with his own acquired Giant Horse from the Lynels’ Corridor (Shooper? Was that what he called that one? No maybe it was Shaq....).

He’d told me, and I’d seem him demonstrate, that the Big Horse was strong enough to just trample whatever baddies were in the way—even Lynels.

Not in one go, of course, but a galloping pass at a stationary Lynel would deal out some degree of damage.

Dragmire did have the greatest level of strength of any horse I had seen.

I wondered if I could make a pattern of David’s hit-and-run technique....

Dragmire and I plunged into the lush lowlands of Akkala, toward Tempest Gulch.

Toward the Lynel.

It.... didn’t work.

The Lynel was bewildered and bebothered for a short time, but there came a point where he’d had enough—and combusting arrows soon followed.

More flames—clinging, searing flames—

I boarded Dragmire again.

My poor babies.

It was enough. It was too much.

No more endangering the horses.

The Trouble with Boomers

Waking of Friday, August 11, 2017 ~ 2

The Trouble with Boomers

I still stood over the head of the Forgotten Temple Valley and—confusticate and beBOTHER the sirens of this game—I was hungry to keep exploring!

Well there was that shrine and stable I could see far to the west across the green fields.

Onward! ^_^

Oh it was a long and rainy jog to get there.

David had seen me playing at one point, or actually I think I had described to him where I was. And I’d told him I wanted to go grab that very accessible looking shrine and stable.

David scoffed and said I’d freeze before I got there.

ò.Ó

I’d said it didn’t look that cold.

But David assured me the environment would be far too cold.

Hm! I’d see about that! u_u

The road went on and on and on, and the rain did not abate. I found at least one Korok up on top of an old ruined hut, and I met.... probably Chabi again. We sheltered beneath the splintered half-roof to chat for just a bit.

There were an awful lot of arrows stuck into the ruined buildings around here. I collected them where I could, but.... it made me wonder how it had gotten like that. What rivaling powers had clashed here?

At length I came to the Serenne Stable.

And it was NOT too cold for me.

HA, David! >8D

I skipped up the adjacent hill and completed the local shrine, and then.... decided to keep following the road. North of the path, before a great mountain cliff, there was a tall tower with a lookout platform on top. It stood beside a camp of Bokoblins.

I ran in and started to climb before they could stop me, and—ah, delight of delights—found a red-barrel boomer on top. ^_^

I peered over the edge; all the Bokoblins were gathered near the base of the tower. I picked up the boomer, and just dropped it over the edge.

And then something happened I had not expected.

Evidently the very tower I stood upon was not immune to the blast. The platform fell out from beneath my feet and I found myself falling through a mess of splintered wood!

Oops.

I remembered my paraglider before I met the ground, but meet the ground I did—along with a squad of angry, burning Bokoblins.

A terrific fire-fight ensued. Grass alight. Blazing clubs swinging. Hot times down on the ground I tell you wot!

After I dispatched them I made a note to never drop any more powder kegs close to the structures I was standing on, and proceeded to climb the mountain.

FEVER

Waking of Saturday, May 27, 2017 ~ 3

FEVER

There is a really joyous kind of abandon to this game that.... really doesn’t give a fig whether you’re hungry, or low on sleep, or even trying to keep a careful log.

There are colors in the distance, and creatures to behold.

There are hills with other sides to be got to....

Sometimes I forget why I’m writing this.

Sometimes I wonder what I’m even doing.

Part of it is for me. I’m a journaler, I’m a logger, I crave the art of crystalizing experiences within combinations of words—and this is one exciting adventure to take down!

But part of it is still a love letter too. Still one great big reaction comment composed with love to the game’s developers.

Hhhh, I just keep falling into this cycle lately. It goes like this:

1. Plunge into the game for several hours without coming up for air.

2. Jot down a skeleton of notes and then crash.

3. Guardians in all my nightmares.

4. Flesh notes out into proper log entries.

5. Get super caught up in finessing the writing until I think I’ll never catch up to my last save point.

6. Procrastination Oreos.

7. Half-watch David play when it’s not too spoilerish, and if he starts laughing at how few shrines I have compared to him, remind him that I’m still way richer than he is. And I have Zora pants.

8. Ache to play the game again myself.

9. Remember that I’m not writing a friggin’ novel; zoom out, pull back, and gloss over with quicker, easier log entries until I write up to where I am in the game.

10. Repeat.

It drives me.... only a little bit batty.

HuHHH I didn’t want to keep falling into that one; it’s just that I love the game so much. I love to play it. I love running around the world and seeing where the trails lead and rooting out the secrets.

I’d thought to just take smaller bites of the gameplay, to make the logging easier, but....

Oh man....

KNOWING the heaps of self-inflicted homework it would lay on me, and yet.... feeling so full of a glorious lack of concern, and ultimately deciding that.... I didn’t care! —

~

It was with the freest, sunniest abandon that I forgot the Hateno House, warped to Zora’s Domain, climbed up into Upland Zorana, and paraglided into the warm, autumnal glow of the north countries. The sweet lush valleys I had so scarcely laid eyes on.

(Which was the same route David used to get into Zora’s Domain, by the by: he Cryonised his way up one of the waterfalls near Toto Lake.

He said he’d tell me some day and now he’s told me and now I’ve recorded it.)

I sailed down into lush grass beneath ruddy trees with golden leaves, where red rocks broke through the surface of the earth in lumps and piles and wild cascades just begging to be jumped and hiked and climbed upon!

Scattered a pack of wolves just to enter that first nearby shrine!

Crossed over beautifully shaded bridges beside towering, romantic waterfalls beneath the cliffs of Zorana!

Trekked westward past the Akkala Parade Ground Ruins!

There were parades here once? :D

Contracted a tiny case of the willies as I looked over the big open square—decided to stay on the road!

All the while the terrible Sheikah Tower patrolled by Guardian Flyers loomed tall and mighty above me to the north....

Threw a bokoblin off a woman named Chabi, who gave me in return.... what some kind of Monster Essence? 8O

Said she got it off a guy named Kilton, who runs some kind of establishment called Fang and Bone, and that it’s only open at night, and it deals in.... all things monster??

She said that essence would go great in any dishes I cooked, but.... I had reservations.

Continued west as the path gained in altitude, and came upon—a diverging of the ways! The bridge north to the tower? Or a paraglider float west to a very near stable?

Briefly felt like Robert Frost! D:

HNNNGGG Decided to lock down the stable first and SO....

Continued west again!

Rescued a couple of sisters from some more bokoblins! How dandy it was to be able to read my enemies’ health-meters!

“I got the Champion’s Tunic!” I had joyed to David.

“Oh!” he gave me a polite smile, “where’d you get it?”

“Impa gave it to me!”

—And his furrowing brow made his eyes narrow at me and he looked confused....

Well where’d he get his Champion’s Tunic?

Continued along the yellowy path!

Found the Foothill Stable and beat the resident shrine!

Cliiiiimmmbed the long road back to the bridge toward the north!

SPORTED WITH SOME BAD GUYS AND FOUND SOME LOVELY WEAPONS!

CROSSED THE BRIDGE TOWARD THE NORTH.... CLOSER TO THE AWFUL TOWER....

Found.... another Stable first! :D The South Akkala Stable!

This was Akkala! I knew it!

Robbie was somewhere close!

And that tower, high up on the red crag, had to have the Akkala map!

Started climbing the red, red rock!

Encountered—

Oh....

Right....

GUARDIAN FLYERS. .__.