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.

Big Sticks

Waking of Saturday, August 11, 2018

Big Sticks

It was always nice at Dueling Peaks. My very first stable.

Poor in both money and supplies, I thought about taking a horse out to ride over to Faron Woods, combing the land for materials along the way. There was also that pesky leaf stamp I had left over there; couldn’t remember what that was about; needed to clear it up....

I chose Memory, and we started out well enough, but on the way we ran into a Big Yiga.

I’d seen David duke it out with these guys. They were slower than their lithe and lean, scythe-wielding counterparts, but thick and tough as old jerky. And they had a few nasty tricks of their own, one of which sent some burrowing devil-flame toward you through the ground....

Fortunately I’d seen David deal with that too.

I leapt as the flame came near and rode the updraft as it combusted beneath me, sailing toward my assailant to get in a few hits of my own....

He went down in due time, and at the end of it all I came back to Memory and found him unharmed; that was good. We weren’t even safe while riding....

The Yiga had dropped a Windcleaver, its long blade shimmering in a ripple as if from water-reflected light....

Nebb wanted to see that. It was a long way to Hateno, not to mention in the opposite direction from Faron Woods, but.... as long as the Windcleaver had just fallen into my lap like that.... I decided to head that way anyway.

However, I was still combing for materials, regardless of my destination. And I found that you can’t really make good progress in any direction when you make it your top priority to chase every little thing you spy along the wayside.

I became VERY distracted near Fort Hateno, climbing all over the hills to the north after Rushrooms and Swift Violets and mineral deposits and critters.... I wandered all OVER those hills and all the dips and climbs beyond....

For certain it did slow me down, but I definitely did not come away emptyhanded—for aside from my scroungings I discovered another Meteor Rod. It was held in the clutches of a prancing Fire Wizzrobe whom I sniped with an Ice Arrow from a high hill. Poor devil never knew what hit him.

I wonder if it respawns when he does at the Blood Moon....

I’m pretty sure that was the case with that insanely powerful Trilizal Boomerang in the western desert. The one with which the Silver Bokoblin zlashed me in the face.

That brute could hit.

The Meteor Rod Wizzrobe danced at the head of the river that ran beneath Kakariko Bridge. I’d definitely have to see whether he’d come back later.... and what heat he’d be packing.... No pun intended.

I eventually came back to the deep-grey clifftops at the south end of all the ranges I had wandered, and looking down to the valley floor saw poor Memory still standing, waiting for me between Fort Hateno and the ensuing forest. He’d been so patient with me. Good boy.

I sailed down and we continued to Hateno, where I showed Nebb the Windcleaver, for which privilege he dropped a sweet hundred rupees. Cool.

Firefooted Flight

Waking of Tuesday, June 5, 2018 ~ 2

Firefooted Flight

Hateno Tower was fabulously tall. And it overlooked that stretch of road where I had met Teli.

Actually.... it overlooked a lot of things, and I had to play marker games on my map and through my scope before I was able to locate the miniscule strip of beige between a tiny cliff and a pinprick lake that I was looking for.

But the distance wasn’t too great for my paraglider.

I swooped in, shed some leftover altitude and perched on a great big spire of stone beside the small lake. I felt like some bird of prey as I scanned the little valley.... and there was Teli on the path, just making his way into the bottleneck preceding the Cliffs of Quince to the west....

I swooped down to catch him before he could get too far, and found that he was carrying different wares this time, but no cores.

Hmmm.

I warped back to Hateno Tower and tried this approach a few times. The results were variable, but.... it seemed a bit of patience was in order....

In the meantime I warped back to Dueling Peaks. Maybe I was thinking again of going to the desert. Maybe I was just continuing to look for ways to waste time. I don’t really remember, because the latter won out, and was then therefore free to rewrite the history of my inner battles as it saw fit.... had I had any.

I decided, after a very long time of avoiding it, to once again take on Rensa in his horse-taming challenge—the same challenge that had brought my beloved Brown to me, if you recall—or rather, that had left the brown horse standing stark in the field, caught between the wild and the domestic, which I had then decided out of a sense of duty to take on and care for as my own.

You know I do not like to attempt to take a horse out of the wild lightly.

My efforts this time would have to be perfect.... Or close enough to it.

Rensa started the clock and I was off. Sprinting into the fields I quickly found a small herd grazing.... I was wearing my Stealth Suit for an extra edge, but as I neared the herd, I really wondered how much good it would do me. I didn’t have to worry about making a sound, even at high speed—But not every horse would turn its gaze away at the same time, and so I found myself pinned in a crouch afterall.

Some horses trotted away, but I was able to come close behind one handsome red one....

And on I jumped, and soothed it to a huffing standstill before urging it back toward the stable!

I would make it this time.... I would make it....

And I did. With twenty or thirty seconds to spare, no less. Out of two minutes. Not bad.

And Rensa rewarded me with a fifty-rupee purse.

Cool.

But I did not register the horse.

Instead, I rode him all the way to Gerudo Canyon, admiring his form from all angles as he picked up the road and followed it. He was a handsome beast: red body, white socks and muzzle, fiery mane and tail....

I woulda called him Firefoot.

But I didn’t.

I sold him to a man named Zyle, for three hundred rupees.

I had met Zyle many, many moons previously, in Gerudo Canyon. He was stranded halfway from anywhere in a little alcove against the canyon wall, just waiting for someone who would be willing to sell him a good, strong mount....

As the one who had tamed it and ridden it so far already, I felt a certain amount of responsibility toward the fiery steed. It was hard to hand him over.... But....

Zyle would take good care of him.

After the exchange, Zyle thanked me for my help, and started walking his new horse toward the Gerudo Canyon Stable.

I walked with him.

Ah what fine screens of the two of us traveling and glancing as though in friendly conversation on the long and dusty road.... I wished I could still save screenshots.

I had thought to see what would happen if I walked all the way to the stable with Zyle, but.... well, the NPCs, they just move so slowly....

I’m afraid I became impatient, and got a little ahead of myself running circles around my companions, and in my haste.... I lost them.

Once they fell out of proximity, the game depopulated them.

Hhhhh.

Well....

I continued on foot to the Gerudo Canyon Stable, arriving there just after midday, the one or two o’clock hour, and.... I slept until the evening.

Return to Hateno

Waking of Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Return to Hateno

I wanted to play, but there were people around; I could not continue on with my main quest with that kind of buzzkill risk hanging in the air.

Have I only lost faith in humanity?

Hm.

I warped from Gerudo Canyon to the Shrine of Kaam Ya’Tak. There were plenty of crawlies in there; surely one of them would drop an Ancient Core for me....

No joy.

So I warped to Hateno—I could have sworn there was somebody who sold Guardian parts SOMEWHERE near there.... someone I’d met a long time ago on the road....

No luck.

But I did buy that fancy armor set David had reminded me of in his playthrough—the Soldier’s Armor. And I showed Nebb the Moblin Club, for which viewing he gave me fifty rupees! That was nice. :) The next thing he wanted to see was a Duplex Bow....

Haeh, well.... given where I was fixing to go in the near future that didn’t seem like too tall an order.

I also cleaned up an old sidequest by stepping behind the counter and addressing the lady inkeep directly. Dunno why I hadn’t tried that before.... I asked her what she liked, and she told me “Darners!” more out of a desperation to get rid of me than out of honest consideration. I relayed this to the lovesick chump down the street who’d put me up to it, whereafter he paid me a royal rupee for a handful of my own darners. I don’t even remember which kind.... I had plenty to spare.

I also made a friend at the inn, Worten. He was just sitting out on this patio I had never explored, looking content with the world. He was a traveler like me, and he told me about a few of the places he’d visited—or at least tried to; he hadn’t actually made it to Goron City. Nor had he been able to enter Gerudo Town. But he said if I was looking for adventure, I might try Zora’s Domain or Rito Village, though both of those were quite a ways away.

The sight of him contentedly sipping from his mug as he sat there in the breezy shade was so happily striking that I took a pictograph.

It’s a good one.

I felt like I might have been overworking poor Cotera, so I warped to Mija’s fountain in Akkala to see what she could make of my new armor set. She was able to enhance each piece two levels at least—three levels for the greaves. But I needed Hinox guts for further upgrades.

Fortunately I knew where a few Hinoxes could be found.

At Digdogg Suspension Bridge I left I think it was Memory a couple of bridges out while I marched straight in and killed the Hinox myself—ON FOOT! And I didn’t even get squished. :)

But the brute didn’t drop any guts. Cheapskate.

I boarded Memory again, warped to Dueling Peaks, took out Brown, and—dear me.... as I had done long ago in the dreary, dreary rain.... rode him down the long Hateno Road.

I had not taken that road in so, so long.

Why is that?

....

I don’t know.

Maybe my very first Yiga encounters had made me shy of it.

Maybe the pressing danger of the Yiga and the madness of the Valley of Terror had made me detest Hateno, and its road.

I still have not purchased that house.

....

We’ll see.

I spoke to everyone I met along the Hateno Road, and this time.... good luck was with me—I met a man named Teli, who sold GUARDIAN PARTS. Er, Ancient Tech, I mean.

However bad luck was with me too, for he carried no cores.

Hhhhh.

I rode Brown onward into Hatenooooish lands. One more place to check.

David keeps saying They’re in shrines! The cores.

Well, I knew of one shrine with a high chance of core capacity, that’s.... an odd way to word it.... core containment, no.... breach the core, um.... mockingbirds—

—I knew of ONE shrine with a high chance of containing an Ancient Core. I had quit from it many moons before in a bid to preserve mine own life. Just quit from it—I hadn’t known how to load a previous save from within the menu.

I had Brown take me back to it this time, while I maintained a rotation of different masks; for we passed roaming Moblins in the Woods of Concussion, and Bokoblins in the heights beyond.

The great, jutting mountain-cliff beside the sea was perhaps not well suited for horses, but we picked our way as best we could between stones and along ledges (Brown at one point attempting to align to a path crossing forty feet below us), and we made fair progress until we reached the highest, broadest open shelf.

The Shrine that stood at its tip over the ocean may very well have been the most prominent Shrine on the map. You could see it for miles from many directions. Maybe that’s what had drawn me to it so long ago. I’d been out of my depth, then. But now.... I was stronger.

On the flat, open ground Brown and I broke into a welcome gallop, slipping past the strong camp of curious Bokoblins until we were safe about the reaches of the shrine.

Even so, I led Brown around to the shady back of it, out of sight of the baddies.... just in case.

And then I stepped inside the shrine—the Muwo Jeem Shrine—and faced the long-feared Modest Test of Strength that had so daunted me into retreating before.

I beat it easily this time.

But there were still no cores for me.

Hhhh.

Well, it was another Spirit Orb anyway. I was overdue to pray at a Goddess statue....

I rode Brown back down the mountain [back toward home I wrote in my original notes—To Hateno? Strange of me....]—it was a little tricky to reclaim the path we had imagined for ourselves to get up here in the first place. And when we finally reached the road, I met Teli again.

I asked him about his wares just to see.

AND HE HAD A CORE!

I BOUGHT IT. FOR A COUPLE HUNDRED RUPEES AND THEN SOME.

SWEET.

Aha! So Ancient Cores could be bought!

It was raining as I galloped back westward. But I was feeling too jubilant—this called for a change of outfit! I ripped off my Bokoblin Mask. And then.... I ripped off everything else! And rode back to Dueling Peaks in my skin.

“Well, you’re looking peppy today, stranger!” said Tasseren the stablehand when I came to board Brown again, and I laughed.