Waking of Saturday, November 24, 2018
I hoped David wouldn’t peek when I
looked at my map—he’d been creepin’ off my shrine locations!
I warped to the shrine in Ulria
Grotto, the Thing Under The Mountain,
and headed for the coast. I wanted to explore those tall islands standing just off the mountainous shoreline....
Because
I’d been creeping shrine locations off of David, too!
Or at least.... I just happened to
see one out on his map of Tingel Island.
I’d seen this series of islands
many times on my map, and noted how they all seemed to be connected by a
network of thin, wooden bridges. And when I reached them.... I had a sneaking
suspicion as to why....
I wasn’t sure, but something about
those winds worried me—they were positively howling
out there so high over the sea! I suspected that if I attempted to flit between
islands using my paraglider, I might get back an unexpected result, and be
flung either back onto the mainland or perhaps even out to sea!
And so I simply just buckled down
for it and swept the islands on foot. There were plenty of moblins and no
shortage of landbound Octoroks, and of course, stal-creatures that popped out whenever the sun went down. They
were irritating for sure, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
I was just happy they didn’t haunt
any of those bridges.
(No, the only things haunting the
bridges were the patrolling Guardian Flyers. I avoided them.)
The bridges were made of wood all
right, but they weren’t like Manhala Bridge or Thims Bridge, broad and planked.
They weren’t even like Jeddo Bridge, planked just the same but with bites taken out of it.
These bridges were comprised of thin logs, bound together at whiles with
cords, and staggered lengthwise to create a surface to walk on. Maybe three or
four logs broad at the narrowest, five or six at the widest. I’d actually seen
bridges like these before, many times in fact. But never to such extreme lengths!
And, curse the foley engineers, but
they creaked! They creaked and groaned in the high fierce winds!
I was doing all right when I
ventured out to Davdi Island, and thence to Ankel Island and Knuckel Island. But
when I came to THAT bridge.... that last bridge.... the one single span
that remained between me and Tingel Island, where the shrine would be.... THAT
BRIDGE....
I stood high on the tallest crest
of Knuckel Island, and the last bridge extended before me in one immense,
swooping bow that did not inspire confidence.
It had to start out fifty degrees downward at
least!
It
creaked in the wind.
Okay....
I set foot on it and skidded for a tense few heartbeats,
shortly catching myself on the narrow logs. I
just had to stay straight.
The wind howled and whistled as I
took a few more sliding steps forward. The sea spun dizzyingly far below me,
the logs in front of me shrinking into the distance, stringing into the tiny,
faraway, dark line that connected with the other island.
Creeeeak-k-k-k-k.
Step—step—skiddd—step—step—step—skiddd—step, step, step.... Very slowly, the
angle began to rise with the bowing of the bridge, until at last I could walk
normally.
This did not alleviate the
narrowness of the path, nor banish the hovering Guardians, but it was something.
And what seemed like a very long time
later, I finally set foot on the final island, Tingel Island.
Brreep-brreep! went my shrine detector.
And two full handfuls of unpleasant
monsters later, I came to a bald patch between two hills where a large, dark
slab lay on a flat spot of ground. This
seemed to be where the signal was pointing....
I Stasised the slab and knocked it
out of the way and lo! there was the
shrine, in a hole in the ground. The Kah
Mael Shrine.
After this adventure I paraglided
back to the mainland, touching down on the dramatic slopes above the sea, and
followed the coast south to the Talus Plateau and the Lodrum Headland. Another name I recognized but whose originator (Holodrum I assume) I had never visited.
As I neared the end of this
particular jut of the landmass, called Tarm
Point, David cautioned me with a “Careful....”
And I slowed, and caught a glimpse
of what he meant. “Oh. A Lynel.” I could see it prowling a sizeable green field
before some tottering ruins of stately columns. I guessed David had been here before. “Thanks.”
“Yup.”
I considered the white beast, and my
wardrobe, and actually concluded after a few seconds, “I’d like to bag me a Lynel....” I wanted its guts.
And so I went in, and we danced about it, and I took them. And the
contents of the two chests he was evidently guarding among the ruins—two gold rupees! No small prize! 8D
I rounded the horn of Tarm Point
(accidentally skipping over a Wintre
Island) and came back up north along the inside, the west side, and into
the bay—Lanayru Bay. It wasn’t the part I had flown over before, that one time
when I was chasing Naydra’s scale, but a different branch to the north called Horon Lagoon.
And WHO should I find here.... but Kass.
I was always happy to see Kass. ^_^
He sang me the song of the region,
and what followed was one of the more diverting
challenges I had yet encountered.
I am very fond of Ja Baij; and Ja Baij’s bombs are very easily
manipulated by the wind. And this
Horon Lagoon was full of nothing so much as strong
air currents, and explodable hunks of
rock.
After much searching and bombing
and sailing and cutting down pesky Octoroks
and casting more Bombs and sailing
again.... I had cleared enough space for three whistling air currents to
converge through a single, singing stone, and then shoot out as one from the other side—and it was this conjoined whirlwind that I rode through the hollow stone, and then all the way out the impossible distance
to the pedestal, the landing upon of
which, immediately after having passed through the wind tunnels, summoned the Shai Yota Shrine up out of the jagged,
tide-pooly earth.
Yay.
That was two more shrines for me.
David and I were.... well, we were
on to each other, and kind of racing
each other for shrines at this point.
But after the Shai Yota Shrine I
just kind of followed the bay inland, chasing Koroks. I’d been catching Koroks
all the way and there were still plenty
of them to turn over. I traced the shoreline up until I did reach that part I’d flown over before, and came to that low
spot of ground outside the Eastern Reservoir, where the Bad Blood Lizalfos
camped.
At length I left the bay entirely and
plunged on ahead over land. I came to Rabia Plain where I sent the deer
scattering said hi to Eryck. I chased a shooting star into the wetlands where
it vanished—saw that happen to David
once, too; maybe a glitch.... I chased hilltop Koroks into Eldin Canyon and the
craggy, red foothills of the volcano. Perhaps reminded by the rocks, I warped
away to the Gerudo Highlands to pick up another Korok I had marked on my map but
then forgotten about—came with a friend, that one did. I warped to the Outskirt
Stable and got that Korok by the Fire Wizzrobe—
And what even are Wizzrobes?
They’re not like other monsters.... More man-shaped; no stal-equivalent; not a beast like a Keese or a Chuchu.... potential
for tremendous power.... but I’ve
seen Bokoblins with more brains.... Were they human once?
Hm.
I had started this playtime with
less than fifteen Korok seeds in my pockets. But by the time I was done hunting
I’d gathered more than forty. I
cashed ‘em in to Hestu for two more shield slots. Just two slots more and I’d
have a full shield page....
And I thought about cashing in the 16 Spirit Orbs I had on my person,
but.... I didn’t. For some reason. I don’t know.
Instead I went to Pepp’s, and bed.
Good
night.
