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.

Procrastination

Waking of Saturday, July 29, 2017

Procrastination

I came out of the Tah Muhl Shrine and headed northeast to another shrine I had marked: the Sah Dahaj Shrine. This one lay in a deep hole beside a mad treehouse full of nasties. I cleaned them all out—after I completed the shrine.

Was it just me? Or did all these Eldin shrines contain fire-based trials? ¬.¬

I’d been picking up Koroks here and there, but THAT CIRCLE—that circle of stones behind the treehouse—for the life of me I could not find a spare stone ANYWHERE that would complete that circle and tease out the Korok!

I climbed all over the mountain above, and found nothing but more Fireproof Lizards—dandy for making more fireproof elixirs and made me wanna have another go at Bayge & Co.’s endurance challenge in the Gerudo Highlands but that wasn’t what I was looking for just now.

I even backtracked to another Korok I’d found hiding under a rock.... but that rock had long since vanished. Dang it.

I knew where there were more rocks.... somewhat nearby....

They were down in the shallow lake, near another Korok puzzle I’d solved: throw the rock in the water-goal.

Rocks for those kinds of Korok puzzles never run out.

There was only one problem: that lake was about a hundred feet lower than where the treehouse Korok Circle was—separated from it by terrain that was steep and ill-suited for walking. And walking.... was the only way to carry a rock for a Korok Circle. You couldn’t climb with those things.

....But those were the only rocks anywhere....

....

Yeah, I used one of those.

Yes, it was a chore.

No, the Octo Balloons weren’t that helpful—and I injured myself more than once.

Turned out I didn’t need them anyway.

NO I’M NOT TELLING.

ANYWAY!

I climbed a little more around the mountain—and found just one more Korok in a very frightening location, in a pool right next to a Guardian that patrolled back and forth along a section of road that passed beneath a delicate arch of stone.

Well, when the Guardian’s back was turned, I paraglided in and ran for it! I got to the little hot spring and ducked behind a large rock just in time.

It was tricky picking up that Korok—it was another rock-in-the-water-goal puzzle. I missed with the first rock I picked up—my nerves were on edge with that Guardian so close! But I got the second rock right where it should be.

I know when the Korok is interacting with you, the world of the game is frozen. But.... man, you still feel a pressure to hurry up when you’re on such dangerous ground!

I collected the Korok seed, started for the cover of the rock, and the Guardian saw me. It turned glowing hot red. “Oh man that thing’s agitated,” I muttered.

But it did not enter the spring to look for me.

Maybe they can’t walk on water.

I climbed a little more, started going up a pathway haunted by too many Fire Keese.... but, deciding I didn’t want to burst into flame anymore in the volcano’s heat, I hopped over the mountain’s arm and climbed into Akkala.

I came down almost right on top of the South Akkala Stable! I played some bug games with the stablehands there; they were cute. ^_^ After that I took the road north through a place I’d been curious about for a long time: Shadow Pass. I wondered what was in there....

Turned out it was just a lot of game. And of course all the beautiful Akkala plant life. <3

I also ran into a bear.

It growled at me, its eyes shining green in the moonlight....

I quickly jumped onto a big rock and climbed right to the top in a trice!

But the bear was already running out of sight.

Maybe we scared each other.

I continued north, looking for I don’t even know what....

I saw Karsh again. “Sav’saaba!”

I saw Chabi again. She’d heard Kilton was on the move now.

I basically just made a big circle, coming back toward the South Akkala Stable via the road that ran through the wetlands.

Those wetlands were another fine Valley of Terror, let me tell you. I set my detector once again to Decayed Guardians. And it chirped a foreboding beat....

I scavenged all the dead Guardians I dared, only backing off when I saw that I was nearing the live ones—I mean the ones that move. There are two of them down there. I’d seen them when I paraglided out of the Akkala Tower.

It was a fairly good haul anyway. Made me want to go visit Robbie again, and see what Cherry could make for me.

Back at the South Akkala Stable I met a guy whose dark skin was at odds with his platinum-blonde hair, and his name was Rex.

Rex said he was looking for that Legendary Sword. I chatted with him about it. He said he reckoned the sword was somewhere near the volcano.... but not on this side. He said it was probably closer to the Woodland Stable.

Huh.

You know.... I’d had a feeling about the Lost Woods for a long, long time.

When I chatted with Rex about it again, he became defensive, aggressive, saying he was going to be the one to find it! And I’d better just stay out of his way....

Huh.

....

Well now that my on-screen avatar had received a proper clue about it....

....

Well.... I do like chasing the scripted breadcrumbs.

Eh.

I took Memory from the South Akkala Stable, and rode him all the way to the Woodland Stable.

That.... was a pleasant ride.

And the Piano came out to accompany us, splashing in the wake of Memory’s hooves in its sunlit-raindrop song, and swaying and dipping its lovely Violin dance partner as they told us some of Koji Kondo’s best stories....

Zelda’s Lullaby.

The Legend of Zelda.

Beautiful themes.

I kept a sharp eye as we clipped along the riverside leading out of Lanayru.... and there she was, flailing away from a Bokoblin.

“Leekah.... Memory stay here,” I said as I dismounted....

When I’d escorted the disaster-prone girl back to the Woodland Stable, I checked up on Memory’s stats.... and saw that the last seven percent had finally filled up to max out our bond to each other.

He is willful, and wild.

And he is mine.

Somewhere around the stable I saw Laroba, another Gerudo. “Sav’aaq,” she hailed me, and then said something about where to find all the strapping voe.

Voe....?

....

I wondered if it was some concise term for boyfriend material.

I’d momentarily forgotten that the Gerudo couldn’t possibly find mates among themselves, as they are all women.

Hmm.

I wondered how they’d receive me once I ventured into their lands.

Well I ran up the hill to the Lost Woods and, more confident against wolves, even ventured inside a bit.

The mist was weird, curling in unnatural scud all across my view. The Piano came to heel again, tapping out once more those repetitive descending notes in a watchful key of G. It sounded more.... assertive this time, as though it knew there was something to be sought after hard in here.... though that may only have been my imagination.

I followed a few lit torches into the green misty gloom....

But....

I considered my surroundings. I mean my surroundings. In my house.

There were too many people around. The buzzkill risk was too high. And this seemed too important.

I didn’t want to do it right now.

I backed out.

But on my way I thought I saw something faintly glowing in the distance, something.... orange or pink....

I tried to climb a rock to get a better view and—

EVERYTHING WENT WHITE—and I swear I heard some.... someone.... laughing....

And I wound up back at the entrance.

....

Unlike Ketoh Wawai’s shrouded island.... it seemed the path in here.... could not be strayed from.

I came out and decided to climb north around the volcano.... looking for more shrines maybe. I found that epic treehouse I’d seen before [or rather what I thought was that epic treehouse I’d seen before—there’s a couple of them on Death Mountain’s western slopes], got up behind it, and cleared it out with an equally epic game of Bomb-Golf.

You know.... I really.... really love having infinite bombs in this game. =3

After I killed the treehouse.... well the volcano was just so massive....

What was I doing, anyway?

I changed course, and started to go after my blue marker instead. As far away as it was, it was probably closer than any north part of the volcano I thought about exploring—Death Mountain was huge.

I hiked west around the north side of the Lost Woods, getting quite close to the edge of my visible map. I could see the way to where I’d put my Blue Marker. It was so close!

But.... as I’d suspected, it did get too cold before I got there. Too cold even for my Warm Doublet. I could even see the boundary where the falling rain turned into falling snow.

I met a nice lady merchant walking along the road there. Yammo was her name. But she and her donkey didn’t have any cold weather clothing I could buy....

The two of them just kept walking toward the freezing air.... and a moose. A Tabantha Moose. I snapped its pictograph as its head was turned in my direction. It had the same green eyes as that bear had had....

When Yammo and her donkey got close to it, it spooked, which spooked them, and they all ran away from each other. XD

Well, the way up the road and toward my marker was too cold, but I could plainly see a shrine and a stable far away in the west, amid a grassier, gentler clime.

But.... I could also hear a shrine beeping much closer than that....

It was in that place I’d seen in the northern reaches of my Woodland Map. Those huge, huge angular structures in that low valley....

I wanted to find it....