The Desert Colossi

Waking of Friday, September 21, 2018 ~ 2

The Desert Colossi

When I came out of the South Lomei Labyrinth, I skirted the hillsides all around once more for good measure, paraglided over the Champion’s Gate corridor, and headed north, continuing to comb the foothills between the highlands and the desert. More Koroks, more Violets.... and there were so many pillars to investigate.... surely there had to be a Korok on top of one of ‘em....

I stood sightseeing from the top of one of these pillars when.... PIANO. There was the Piano, and there was the laser, and a Guardian was after me, and I hopped off quick! Better to stay in motion—

I sailed wide as the bolts shot through the air, until I could reach the ground and have it out, and kill the thing.

When it was dead I looked up, saw how many pillars I had passed and left unsearched.... and decided to kiss that swath of land goodbye for the present—I was busy. Those Colossi were just ahead....

I continued north to the Land of the Goddesses—those gigantic statues so enormous they showed up on my topo—they must have been the legendary Seven Heroines....

I jogged over the sand to the break in their imposing circle.

The East Gerudo Ruins these were called.

Oh there had to be Koroks in here....

(And there were.)

It was one of the cleverer puzzles I had yet encountered, and it took a little bit of searching to riddle it out!

At each Heroine’s foot was a long extension of stone with a hollow at the end, near the center of the circle. A few metal orbs lay scattered about the area, each emblazoned with a mysterious symbol....

I found that one of the statues had a symbol corresponding to one of the orbs, carved into its foot. But most of the other statues didn’t even have any symbols.

But ah, they did, but theirs were carved into different places!

Inward from the outside, the Heroines bore symbols carved upon the Foot, the Breast, and the Hilt, while the central Heroine’s symbol was carved upon her Crown. And after an awful lot of climbing, I found out what each Heroine’s symbol was—clockwise from the break, I called them Yang, KOA, Donut, Twodots, Swipe, Flame, and Pause.

As it turned out there were seven of the corresponding metal orbs hidden all over the construct—some of them high up on the Heroine statues themselves! It was an ordeal and a half, full of a lot of Magnesing, to find them all and get them down to the sandy sink in the center. And I got quite good at scaling the large stone statues in the meanwhile, right up to the tops of their heads—Pardon me, Ladies.

!

I wonder if the Eighth Heroine has a symbol....

Oh now I must go check.

When I finally, finally aligned all the orbs in the ground-level hollows of their corresponding Heroines, WHAT SHOULD COME UP IN THE CENTER OF THE CONSTRUCT but.... the Korsh O’hu Shrine.

And it was a Blessing Shrine as well.

That was four Spirit Orbs.

Guessed it was time to pray again.

QUEST FOR PANTS

Waking of a Saturday, February 3, 2018

QUEST FOR PANTS

I warped from Cotera’s to Gerudo Town, and found Bozai. He seemed overly-concerned when he learned that a delicate little flower such as myself (for I was disguised as a girl again) had actually ventured into the wild Gerudo Highlands. He didn’t think I’d actually do it. But when he saw the pictograph I’d taken of the Eighth Heroine, he could make no disputations—he’d promised me those Sand Boots, and so he gave me those Sand Boots.

Though it was a real wrench handing back the Snow Boots, I tell you what.

He kept flirting with me pretty strongly until I could worm my way out of the conversation. But then.... as he sat beneath the tent out in front of the town....

I approached him again.

And dang. I don’t know if even I had boiled it down to what was really on my mind. Not so baldly or succinctly. But the penetrating bluntness of the very first option I was given in my conversation with Bozai spelled it out plain—“I want Snow Boots.”

Dang it, Nintendo! I could take a lesson in non-codependent assertiveness from this.... XD

Bozai seemed taken aback, but sweetly accommodating. And through all his coddly flirting he struck a new deal for this delicate desert flower and her silly flights of fancy.... one she wouldn’t possibly be able to see through....

If I could snap a pictograph of the Eighth Heroine’s Missing Sword—

Hahh, yes, yes, indeed—the Missing Sword—so that’s what it was.... But I hardly heard the rest of Bozai’s words for how pleased I was feeling at having the fetchquest mapped so plainly before me! ^_^

If I could take a pictograph of the Eighth Heroine’s Missing Sword, this time without the aid of the Snow Boots he had lent me before, then he would let me have and keep the Snow Boots upon my return.

He was sure I would never find it this time, as it didn’t really exist, I heard him murmur beneath his breath.

Oh what wicked cacklings were mine as I warped off to the Shrine of Kema Kosassa....

It was slower going, without the Snow Boots. But at least that left me to finally invest in something with a higher defense for my legs.

I schlumped up the mountain to the Dragon’s Nest, and was favored with the good fortune of there not having been a Blood Moon in the meanwhile—no Lynel to tangle with.... and no Moblin either!—and took a fabulously artful pictograph of the sword.

A simple warp and a change of wardrobe later I was back at Gerudo Town, once again listening to Bozai’s incredulous fluster at my having ventured into such savage, dangerous territory, a dainty little thing like me, I mean really! Silly girl, didn’t I know I could’ve been seriously—

I showed Bozai the pictograph.

He was shocked.

“Snow Boots,” I snapped.

DANG! XD XD Didn’t let him mess around much for this encounter, did they? XD XD

Bozai.... shifted, and hemmed, and hawed, and.... decided he’d better stay true to his word. After all.... this was his big move for a pretty lady....

He gave me the Snow Boots. And started to ask, “Would you... g-go... out... with...”

“Not a chance.”

“You could at least let me finish the question.”

Aoh MAN.... XD SAVAGE. XD XD XD

Well, Bozai couldn’t really go anywhere after that—he was confined to the little tent out front of the city. The sand was very hot after all.

I felt kinda bad that I’d taken every lower-body wardrobe item he had....

But not nearly bad enough to do anything about it, not that the game had a mechanism for it that I could tell!

Nyahahahaha! XD

Colossal

Waking of Saturday, January 27, 2018 ~ 2

Colossal

I made sure to change back into my winter garb before I spoke to the monk. And when I exited the shrine of Kema Kosassa . . . . the sun was shining.

The storm had passed, and the cracked snowfield shone brilliant in the daylight.

And according to my map, the Eighth Heroine stood just on the other side of the mountain, off the northern edge of the saddle snowfield.

But she was missing something, some aspect that the other seven had, according to the topo: two little jutting points off the tip of the triangle of her aerial silhouette.... I guessed I’d just see it when I got there.

I tried to climb higher for my approach, but as I scaled the western steps the wind came back, blustering the world into grey once more. A few Ice Keese came out to sport, and I was happy to collect their wings (the Great Fairies would find them useful in upgrading my clothes), but when I reached the last wall of the very highest western plateau of all the Gerudo Highlands, and tried to climb it—

That prohibiting chime.

And—

You can’t go any farther.

Huh.

I was still at an uneven, skewed edge, misaligned from the cardinal directions.

So the map was not truly rectangular after all.

Part of me.... kind of liked that. c:

It was all right; I continued northward and eventually the winds died down. And it was awful tricky out along the sheer rock walls as the shelves for my footing wore down to narrow ledges.... but the pictograph I captured of the colossal Eighth Heroine was excellent.

I begged her pardon as I paraglided over and climbed back up her person and ran around on her outstretched arms—it was the best way to regain the snowfield, and.... I like to climb on rocks.

And back up on top I immediately gave in to the temptation of a treasure chest tightly encompassed by no fewer than six baby Talus Pebblits.

I was rewarded for my persistence with a METEOR ROD, which I had never heard of before! It was powerful! 8D

The encounter had only slightly frayed my patience.... I wanted to continue to the peak east of the snowfield saddle, but the way between was thick with enemies. I didn’t want to deal with any of them, least of all that cluster of Bokoblins near the most obvious and accessible slope.

And so it was back to the western steps for a new approach. I climbed until I could climb no further, by which time the pretextual blizzard returned—this made it difficult to determine the optimum paragliding trajectory over the snowfield.... but my HUD was enough for that. It still functioned here.

I lined myself up as best as I could manage, and took a flying leap toward the slope I could not see....

The air cleared about halfway over, and I only needed a little correction. But aside from this my solution proved to be most effective! ^_^ Leaving camps of Bokoblins and multitudes of crouching Lizalfos in the dust, I hurried up the slope to the clear, bald top of Gerudo Summit where everything was open and the blue sky was so big....

Aaaand promptly turned around and ran back the other way when I saw that prowling equine silhouette.

The Lynel didn’t see me, but I could hear it roaring as I skirted about the edges of the peak. Thank goodness the cap was so rounded—there was so little to hide behind up here; the extra horizons were most welcome.

I came behind the single, house-sized butte on the peak that could offer sufficient cover—and laid my eyes on the most abrupt spectacle: a browned and weathered sword-hilt made of stone, jutting up from a deep crack in the rounded snowcap. It was about forty times the size of life.

I peeked over the edge of the little gorge; a Moblin snoozed before the spot where the giant blade was plunged into the earth.

Hhhhrm I didn’t want to deal with him just then.

But that Lynel....

This was the high haunt of Farosh. I might get scales or hornshards here.... But I wouldn’t be able to move freely with that Lynel in the way....

A White Lynel. The most powerful according to my Compendium.

Never faced one of those before.

....

No time like the present.

I camped atop the little butte, just far back enough to be out of sight. The high, rushing winds made Bomb Golf somewhat impractical, and so I switched to strong bows and specialty arrows. Still, the monster wandered where he would, and over distance my aim was weak. It was more a matter of persistence than patience, with the Lynel. I could sometimes pique his curiosity to draw him in by showing my head and tempting his terrible question-mark-thermometer before ducking down again. But he did not always come by me as the Molduga had. And once, getting wise, he came too close—and I found myself pinned down in my only retreat, which had been discovered from the desperation of the moment: clinging still and silent to the backside of the frozen butte while the monster surveyed the top.... until he finally wandered back down into his snowy field, and I could hunt him again.

In the end, busting Duplex Bows and with nothing but fletched wooden shafts to my name, I brought him down. And it was the first time among the bits left over that I was rewarded with Lynel Guts. They were quite.... colorful as I recall.

And then the run of the Dragon’s Nest was mine.

....For the moment anyway; I did not think I would be able to abide a Blood Moon up here.

I ran around and found the landscape to be more crowded than I had expected, with Pebblits, Octoroks, and un-Magnesable treasure chests. But these were paltry hurdles to clear for the ranging over of my prize.

There was a terrific gash carved across the summit, so big it registered on my topo. Ice and stone lay in broken slabs about it and scattered along its bottom. I wondered if Farosh had done that with his passing.... just scratched it right into the mountaintop. By the look of him he’d certainly be capable of such a feat. And at the end of another such depression, that giant sword stuck in the earth.

I crept up easily on the Moblin as he dozed, and sneakstruck him in the back.

I really do love that feature. X3

But one thing I have noticed about the really tough enemies.... is that one sneakstrike will not always bring them down. :c

But I put as hefty a dent as was possible in his health meter in one go for the opening salvo, and that was good enough to go on for the moment. A few more hits and he was down, and I was free to regard the giant sword.

It stood at an angle, and, in a most artistic juxtaposition, a regular-sized sword stood plunged into the snow at a mirrored angle, just before its base. Maybe the Moblin had been guarding it, or admiring it.

It was some beautiful thing with a shining golden hilt.... Gerudo I think....

But I had no room for it in my inventory.

I really.... really did need to see Mr. Hestu again.

In due course Farosh returned and I claimed a shard of his horn and sent him spiraling back into the heavens—so close now....

After this I knew it could be days before he’d make another appearance, and so set out to explore what remained to be explored. And in running all over the rest of the mountaintop, dodging Pebblits through the gouge like TIE Fighters in the Death Star’s channel, I gave in to my own peer pressure and simply demonstrated for David what the un-Magnesable chests were.... Ah I am too impatient....

As I checked my map to be sure I had swept over everything of at least visible interest, I spied a Korok circle down off the summit on the other side, the northern side. It sat low on a long plateau, with no small amount of topo lines in between. Very close laterally, but much farther away in terms of elevation. But the Kema Kosassa Shrine was enough to get me back if I wanted.

I stepped to the edge of the snowcap....

Hhhhh, there was always a hesitance. No, there was sometimes a hesitance.

You can’t fly and stay King of the Mountain.

In a wrenching jump my boots parted company with the Dragon’s Nest and I sailed down over the white northern ranges descending in rocky cascades all below me, the low plateau stretching ahead for all the world like Bright Angel Trail beyond Indian Gardens....

That freaking Korok was so much trouble....

I’ll give you a hint: No, you can’t carry the rock up that hill.

The last thing I regarded about the mountain was something I thought I had seen before, though I couldn’t remember when: Carved into the north face of the bare red rock was a large, four-pointed symbol of some kind—a lightning motif.

I was closer than I’d ever been to it. But.... I was tired. I would hike to it another time.

Instead I warped to Kakariko, and Cotera’s spring, where—wouldn’t you know it—the guts and hooves and horns I had recently taken from the Lynel came in handy in upgrading my Barbarian Helm! In fact I was able to upgrade a whole lot of clothes....

I guessed I had amassed quite a few extra materials since the last time I’d seen a Great Fairy.

The City Again

Waking of Friday, January 19, 2018 ~ 9

The City Again

Dang it, where had my sand seal gone? Hopefully back home....

No matter; I could just warp back to town.... And I did, Molduga guts in tow, before doing myself up like a girl once again and heading for the gate.

Before I got there, however, I bumped into Bozai.

I guessed this was the first time he’d seen me as a girl; he positively fell all over himself making an introduction.

“So yeah, hey, the name’s Bozai. I’m 35, single, and I LOVE jogging. Especially on sand.”

Oh yeah those Sand Boots! He said he might give them to a girl!

At once I started trying to weasel them out of him, and I heard him mumble something to himself about a golden chance to woo.... But he seemed quite attached and he kept playing coy, and in the end he said he’d only give them to me if I could first do him the favor of finding the legendary Eighth Heroine, somewhere in the Gerudo Highlands.

And to help me out he lent me a pair of.... SNOW BOOTS?

Well HANDYSAUCE I guess! ‹8D

I checked my map—I’d heard tell of the Seven Heroines, and I was pretty sure I knew what those had to be. I found that circle of Desert Colossi I had seen, and counted—there were seven.

And if those Colossi were big enough to register on my topo.... my eyes swept over the Gerudo Highlands....

Ah! There it was. :) Way up round the north side where I hadn’t been able to reach before.

But with my new Snow Boots, and my Warm Doublet AND the cold-resistant circlet from that nice lady back in town....! 8D

But.... that was an excursion for another time; I had some business at present.

As the day became stronger I stepped into the city, and immediately got lost in the sprawling tangle. Where was Malena? I went looking here, looking there, looking for Malena—no, the area full of guards was the wrong place—I needed the front of the palace....

And even as I veered to correct my course, I bumped right into her as she walked up the street!

Malena! ^_^

And I gave her the Molduga guts.

And she was in disbelief, she was so grateful—“OH, SARQSO!” she cried! and promptly became all sniffly with emotion. “This will save him...”

She wished she could give me more in thanks, but I graciously accepted her proffered 300 rupees.

“I never asked your name, did I?”

I told her it was Link.

“Sounds like a sturdy voe name to me,” she said.

Ah, hehh.... ^_^;

“May I... possibly... name my vehvi after you? If I ever have one, that is!”

AwwwWWW! There was a Gerudo word for BABIES!  ^___^ <3

“Deepest Sarqso, Link. I’ll never forget about you.”

Dang that felt good.

As I moved further about the city I found yet more areas that I had never encountered. One odd corner of town brought me to an old woman named Muava, sitting alone on a rug, and further along the wall, on the other side of.... what looked like a pile of rubbish.... a Goddess Statue.

I spoke to Muava, and she recognized me for a voe! But she wasn’t going to tell anyone. Actually she liked the idea of chatting with a voe once again.

She said she was quite a trveler, and a beauty, when she was younger. She had looked all over for the Lover’s Pond, but she never found it—I knew where that was—and before she knew it she was old.

Now.... she was just lonely. Lonely and alone, and she appreciated the time I spent talking with her.

Hhhhhhh, makes me want to.... I don’t know. I don’t know any cut-off and detatched elderly people. Though I suppose if they were cut off, how would they inform anyone?

What a cruel joke.

....

I wonder if I’ll end up like that, since I’m not very outgoing.

....

At the very least we could Christmas carol to a nursing home again.

Oh, the way their eyes light up and their smiles come to life....

I prayed at the Goddess Statue, and received another stamina vessel, which made now for two complete wheels.

Back at the clothing shop—Armor Shop?—I attempted to explore a little deeper beyond the front stall—but the attendant told me that door was “for employees only”.

Huh.

So I combed the outside of the building until I found another door. But when I attempted entry here, a voice from within asked me for a password.

! So this was the password door!

I had a wild guess at it anyway. Not unexpectedly, I got it wrong.

The voice chided me and told me to go back to the tavern and order.... milk or something or some such words.

I turned and ran back to the square, passing Jules in the street—we momentarily reveled in our sharing the secret. Hee.

But I hurried on to the tavern—I wanted to learn the password!

As it turned out there was indeed a new option to order milk from the bartender—but when I tried it she told me off just the same!

I got the feeling both the bartender and that voice behind the door each thought the other were playing tricks on her....

The only other things the bartender talked about were one Pokki and some purported Ice House which aided in their business. Of neither of which I found any sign as I looked all over.

I spoke to another patron in the bar, Pritana, but she only said I didn’t look old enough to be in there. “How old are you really?” she asked.

“I’m over 100!” I answered, selecting the answer before I realized the dialogue had given me options.

Pritana laughed and told me what a funny vai I was. “When you’re older,” she said, “let’s have a drink together!”

Fed up and unable to squeeze anything further from the canteen, I threw the barrel at those lounge ladies once again before plunging back into the city.

I think inwardly.... I only wanted to put off my quest for a little longer. I wanted to play, and yet I also wanted to keep from doing the important things in the game.... because I was always behind on my log, and I wanted to catch up on my writing first before playing deeper into the main storyline....

Though I’m sure you can see the lot of good that has done me in my writing. Sometimes it doesn’t matter whether it’s important or inane, main storyline or not. The moment that strikes you has no preferred time or place or shape or color or taste. It manifests when it wants to, and you can only try your best to bottle it with your words.

Like that whole Molduga chapter.... How did two or three sentences of notes become three or four pages of log?

I guess because the moment was familiar.

Maybe I am the spider in the web, perservering motionless for endless hours.

I am Buck in the wilderness.

I’m Pangur Bán hunting mice.

I’m the scholar, hunting words.

Hunting mice is his delight,

Hunting words I sit all night.

Better far than praise of men

‘Tis to sit with book and pen...

Translated from the Irish by Robin Flower (1881 – 1946)

A walk around some very high walls with enormous planters and palm trees in the corners gave me a view of one more sand seal paddock, containing only one animal.

I floated down—this sand seal was different, and had a stronger color.

Padda, the single Gerudo standing by, informed me that this was the chief’s favorite sand seal, Patricia.

I regarded the creature.

She had a tiny red bow at the front of her scruffy mane, but I think.... it only accentuated what great hulking squash-faced beasts they are.

Padda further explained that Patricia was an oracle.

WAT.  ._.

“Offer her fruit, and she will give you words of wisdom,” says Padda.

So I gave her an apple.

She ate it, and then proceeded to bark and grunt and flap her big flippers with a great deal of show.

Padda translated for me: “‘The southern desert is...searing hot during the day! Bring gear made for it!’ I’ve spared you the painful seal pun,” she added.

OH GOSH. |-D

Thanks, Padda.

I think.... I’d had enough.

I got out of town, grabbed a seal, sealed back to the Bazaar, headed to the inn....

And went to bed.

Good night.

Wasted in the Wasteland

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 8

Wasted in the Wasteland

It didn’t look as if.... sleep was going to be a big option for me tonight.

I went for the Sheikah Tower. 熬夜！Aoh yeah!

As soon as I saw this tower, I recognized it from something Joseph had described, long, long ago.

This tower stood in a bog, beside an array of tall stone slabs. Fierce winds prevented approach by paraglider. But a few Magnesable metal boxes littered the shore—I could use those to construct a footpath.

In Magnesising—Magnesing?—the first box, I saw that an additional host of other metal boxes lay beneath the bog’s bubbling surface—it seemed it was deeper than I had realized.... and there were also a few chests hidden down there!

In laying the foundations for a step beside the stone slabs, I accidentally knocked them over, thus creating the domino-ramp that would ultimately give me access to the Sheikah Tower.

Huh.... I’d thought Joseph had used a Bomb.

I guessed a flailing metal box could work, too.

The depth of the pool necessitated some precarious stacking and a great deal of guesswork and patience, but at length I had fashioned five somewhat level stepping-stones across the bog. Then it was a shinny up the fallen slabs, a climb up to the top of the tower, and....

I was rewarded with a map of the Wasteland.

The farthest southwestern reaches populated in my Sheikah Slate.

!

There was a Leviathan skeleton down there.... in a place called Dragon’s Exile.... wow....

And that Satan Canyon that had been full of all the Yiga Archers—that part filled in, that singular little canyon, creeping like an encroaching tentacle into the Gerudo territory map.

And there were all those rock-spires at the canyon’s mouth.... and strange, huge archways of stone.... and giant bones littering the emptiness.... and that circle of Colossi I had seen!

And away to the southeast, there was the Devil’s Own Highway, where I had placed those three star-stamps ages ago! Just above Moza’s cooking disaster, at the mouth of the Lynels’ Corridor....

The area was vast, and looked just full of places and things to explore! Oh I wanted to head for that Dragon....

But.... it was so, so late....

I considered, shouldn’t I just close on the activating of the Sheikah Tower? That was a good achievement to stop on.... I’d have to get ready for church soon....

Then I saw on my map the name Kousok Plateau, and remembered—that guy.... that guy back at the stable, the oily guy, Sesami—hadn’t he said that’s where he had lost his friends?

I could just.... head back toward the stable via that.... plateau and then.... and THEN I could call it quits.

A Climb about the Canyon

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 7

A Climb about the Canyon

It was well past midnight, and I really, really did need to get to bed and to sleep.

I wanted to end the session, but.... maybe just one more thing first....

I rode a bit further on from the Gerudo Canyon Stable, and the canyon came to an abrupt end at the edge of a vast and sandy desert scape. I tried Dragmire at the edge of the desert, but he would go no further. There was something of a small ledge that dropped down several feet, and so I tried him again at the high end of a ramp that seemed meant for foot traffic.... but he wasn’t having it.

So I ran him back to the stable and boarded him.

That would be the last thing I did. Maybe.

It didn’t seem like it would hurt just to talk to the stable people first.

Beedle was there—no, I wasn’t going to trade him my Energetic Rhino Beetle; most of his trades seemed like not such great deals anyway. And Kass was there—he said he was impressed with me for having come so far! “Even I, blessed with the gift of flight, had trouble getting here,” he said.

I did not stay to listen to his song, though.

A man named Sesami told me he and his friends had been jumped by some baddies around such-and-such plateau, and they were lost and would I please go help to find them. Their names were Oliff, Flaxel, Canolo and Palme.

What an oily-sounding bunch. XD

And then there was an old man who was in need of Rushrooms. He wanted to gather a bunch of them, but he was too old and frail to climb up to where they grew on the cliff walls.

AND WOULD I PLEASE HELP HIM.

Well that.... didn’t seem like too much work.

Maybe I would just dart up and grab him the Rushrooms—they grew everywhere around here it seemed—and I would make THAT the last thing I did before I went to bed.

It turned out he needed quite a few of them—certainly more than I had on me; I never gather those things....

And so I climbed a few hills, climbed a few cliffs, up the one side of the canyon, the side overhanging the ground where the stable stood.... And then I decided to check out the side across the way, the hilly side that mounted up beyond the Kay Noh Shrine.

I’d been curious about that side. Huge and angular steps of grey stone stood in stark contrast to the beigeruddy, windswept curves of the rest of the canyon. A castle among the cliffs.

No, not a castle—a fortress.

It was hard not to see the old Gerudo’s Fortress in those shapes.

There were no doors in these stones, though. Only a few ladders and pulleys led the way to the top.

Up and up and up I climbed.... losing track of everything. Weird scapes opened up before my eyes. Strange lands and monumental shapes. It was as if I had entered a Land of Goddesses; a ring of Desert Colossi stood ancient and imposing, facing inward together as if in prayer.

Away out in the desert, I saw the Divine Beast stomping around.

And looking up.... there was the Sheikah Tower.

It was quite close.

Should I....?

....

I debated.

.......

The hour was so late....

. . . . . . .

Was that the sun?