Last Corners

Friday, May 10, 2019 ~ 5

Last Corners

Back to the Outside Track.

I followed it counter clockwise again. I was almost to the entrance to the Dining Hall. There’d be Moblins in there—

Ah—phoo, I’d forgotten that stretch. That stretch of road just off the Dining Hall, that stretch where a dead Guardian had fallen down from above right in front of me before.

It just did it again.

Ahahah....

Now I was back inside.

I wanted to see if I could reach the Malice Balcony. It had been blocked on the west side.... and completely shut off on the south side opening. I had to be able to reach it from here, from the east....

I made it through the Dining Hall, down the corridor to the left, and to a doorway that led into the room below the balcony, some antechamber.

There was Malice blocking the way here, too. But this time there was an eyeball. I shot it, and the way cleared.

The room beyond was new to me.

There was a Moblin. Right in there to the right, squatting at rest on the floor and facing perpendicular to my entrance.

I walked in with my mask. I thought for sure—for SURE—he would see me, but.... Dang. I mean, I stepped into the room right at his 10:30, but he never stirred. Not when I crossed the threshold, not when I walked slowly along the inner wall, further down his left side. Not when I passed his 9:00, nearly brushing his ear. I came all the way down and back behind him.... and sneakstruck him in one.

Well at least it was quick.

Now, the balcony....

A broad and perhaps still handsome staircase led up to the south, opposite where the Moblin had been squatting. No Malice blocked my way here; the path to the last room was open. I started up the red-carpeted steps.

Another Moblin waited at the top. Oh this one saw me all right, as I came straight up his 12:00. And like they do, he started at my mask, and then began lumbering toward me to investigate this new, tiny brother.

I let him come down and draw close, maneuvering him onto lower ground before—“Don’t try it....”—dispatching him on the staircase.

After this I ascended further, but did not leave the mouth of the stairway. There was an eyeball up there, high and away on the far side of the upper room.

My Royal Bow was extremely damaged. But it had at least one shot left in it, if I could be sure not to waste it....

I took aim before the eyeball could spot me, and—“Royal Bow.... fly!” I urged it. And the arrow struck true, as the bow shattered in my hands.

And the eyeball shriveled and died.... and the Malice evaporated.... and I could see....

The rain.

The Observation Room this was called. Fitting.

A crumbled statue of the bird motif from the royal crest, its wings spread back and wild, stood on a plinth in the center of the room.

It must have been handsome once. Was this.... a stylized Loftwing?

I went up one of the smaller side-stairs, which led to the upper platform, and outside. A Thunderblade was embedded in the high, central floor, but I had no room to carry it. I did have room for the bundle of arrows I found just over the threshold, however. Handy.

And that ridiculous longshot Korok was still there. Yeah don’t think I’ve forgotten you, you little guttersnipe.

But....

My gosh, the view.

The balcony was splendid without the wall of Malice choking it closed. This really was a spectacular vantage point from which to look out over the castle grounds, and the town below. How green and alive it might have looked once, with birds chirping and people milling.... soldiers’ armor clinking.... wagons rattling.... melodious voices....

....

The giant gate, on the earthbridge over the moat, had closed its doors again.

The Guardian Flyer still circled, ready to murder in a dun world.

....

The grey waste of Castle Town looked inviting. To escape to.

How ridiculous.

...

I.... don’t think I can find another shrine inside the Castle Town.

....

How am I to do?

....

....

I consult my map.

I think I have visited all the inside areas of the castle.

Observation Room, Guards’ Chamber, the long corridor down to the Grand Staircase, and back to that Shaft Room, the West Passage on into the Lockup.... And on the east side from the Observation Room.... the Dining Hall, the other little Guards’ Room, back into the Library, leading off into the East Passage, and down to the Docks.

And Zelda’s Chambers isolated high on the west side.

....I’ve been everywhere inside.

And a fair number of places outside.

....

I don’t think there’s another shrine in here.

My fear was that it would be like the Toto Sah Shrine, which I did not recall hearing my Shrine Detector brreep-brreep about. Hidden behind that rock barrier below Misko’s Treasure Cache.

But another thing I did not remember about that encounter was whether or not my Slate was even set to detect Shrines at that moment.

Would I be able to hear a hidden shrine?

I don’t know.

....

I’m really low on arrows.

Revali.

Take me outta here.

WEST SIDE

Friday, May 10, 2019 ~ 2

WEST SIDE

As I came to the street that led over the castle’s moat, that big natural bridge of earth and stone.... Malice began to drip through the air. And when I came to the big threshold.... my HUD map changed, and I was in the Castle Grounds Proper, and the music turned to the rupturing, tempestuous orchestra.

A mighty gate with two enormous Magnesable doors in a massive masoned frame spanned the width of the bridge. A single Guardian Flyer circled this edifice, sweeping the road below with the beam of its eye.

I just needed to avoid it....

As soon as it passed, I ran to the gate; the Flyer’s scanning did not come near to or brush the actual structure. Even so, I started climbing. Once I’d gotten up on top, I could see there were Guardians everywhere inside.... One Decayed one beyond could see me if I climbed wrong or didn’t keep my head down. I tried to parry its blast, but the distance was too great, my timing was off—

And as I landed back on the ground and then scurried to hide from the circling Flyer again.... “Daruk’s Protection is now ready to roll!” the Goron Champion rumbled in my head.

Convenient.

Hah. Lousy timing, though.

It had been regenerating.

I may need Daruk’s help.

The Decayed ones.... They spot you from such a long way away. But Daruk’s Protection was as good as a Perfect Parry....

I decided I would call on Daruk....

And I did. And it helped.

But there were other Guardians to deal with yet, as I left the Gate and its Flyer and pressed my way inward. Too many for Daruk alone to deal with. I tried parrying again on some of them, and that worked too at times!

I made an effort to follow the road, but was distracted pretty quickly by a tiny, spinning pinwheel up on a balcony.... an Archery Korok.

I climbed up to the wide, battlemented balcony and found it to be backed by a wall of pure Malice, with no eyeball in sight. If there was a way past the dark blockade and into the castle just here, any eyeball guarding it must have been situated on the inside.

The Korok, meanwhile, proved to be RIDICULOUS in its demands—after dispatching all nearby Guardians or hiding from their view, I stood in the optimum spot beside the pinwheel and went through so many arrows trying to land a hit on the Korok’s designated target, which seemed for all the world to be all the way back across town....

But land it I did, eventually, and collected the seed, whereupon I sailed back down to the road.

This was a smaller track than the great broad street that was so large it showed up in the topo, winding its way over the Castle Grounds and up to the Front Door. But it was still wide enough and serviceable; the blasted waste of a hundred years had not robbed the cobblestone of its charm.

I don’t think it’s possible to do that to cobblestone.

The Lesser Road bent to the left, seeming to start a clockwise circuit of the castle, trailing away around the west side through a pox of Malice and eyeballs.... I followed it, but only briefly, and stopped well before reaching any more Malice gates; for near where that first Decayed Guardian had been that had knocked me off the moat bridge gate, there was a doorway on the right side of the track, leading into the castle’s interior....

I went inside, killed some Lizalfos....

This passage looked like it wrapped back around to the right, and I could use it to make my way back to that Malicey balcony from the inside; the HUD seemed to indicate a connection there.... But when I reached the appropriate junction after following the hallway, Malice blocked my way there, too.

The only way left to approach the chamber leading to the Malice Balcony, then, was from the east. The other passage must connect....

I’d find it later.

I went back the only other way to go. Bypassing the door I’d come in, I followed the passage westward and northward until I made my way to the Guards’ Chamber.

More Lizalfos, and one Moblin. I killed them all. I also found another piece from that dark-sheened weapon set, the Royal Guard’s Claymore. Or whatever the big giant swingy one was.

In the Guards’ Chamber, uh muh gush, there were a couple of hidden chests.... One contained a Savage Lynel Shield. I’d take that! The other, dumped in the hollow under a staircase and hidden behind a curtain of dried leafy overgrowth.... was a SHARD OF NAYDRA’S FANG?

WHUUUUTT???

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh....

Okay.

Okay....

But....

Augh, but hadn’t I fired on the poor beasts in too many places already? Visions of shooting the dragons in the mouth spun through my head.... Now that would just be irritating!

Did they drop eyeballs too?

Whatever!

I kept on!

I made my way back to another chamber, another path.... and this one led to a grand circular staircase blocked by Malice.

I killed the eyeball, clearing the way up—this staircase was massive....

Oh but first... I ran back down and checked round the rubble on the other side, the right side—it was piled up thick beneath the ascending circle of stairs—and climbing up over the heaping mounds of it.... I found more treasure up in the cracks near the top. :) Been finding lots of good weapons.... And in this chest.... 3 more Ancient Arrows. I think that’s the third chest here that’s done that for me.

Thank you.

I clambered back down and back around to the left side to ascend the massive spiral staircase in its ponderous clockwise turn....

And of a sudden I was outside. Back in the blustery grey before I knew it.

A Turret took issue at my appearance.

I killed it.

The staircase had come out underneath some kind of huge overhang, some kind of masoned patio roof with a perfectly level ceiling.... The cover from anything overhead for a generous radius was comforting at least, though it still left the lateral directions to deal with.

A very shallow channel-like depression ran through the patio, stretching away in both directions—and then I realized. This was part of the Outside Track—the Lesser Road. There was the Main Road that wound up to the Castle Gate, and then there was this smaller Outside Track that circled all the way around—I could see that now on the 3D overlay in my HUD.

Well, I had started out following it....

I was going to follow the Outside Track again.

As I continued clockwise around the castle, the road took me lower.... I wanted to go higher; I suspected.... that a shrine might be higher, closer to the top, but.... Well, as long as I was here....

I went down lower. Found another entrance to the interior, with Luminous Stone deposits around it. Hmmm.... I wondered if this were one of the ones I had marked on my map in spying the place out from the Elma Knolls. Would I have already walked over it and thus deleted the map marker? Time would tell. Or I guess it wouldn’t.

I went inside....

The name of the place gleamed over my screen, coming into focus....

LOCKUP?

D:

It was a prison....

Or rather a dungeon.

That’s right, I was on the west side, near the Castle Town Prison out on the grounds.... made sense....

What was more, there were Moblins and Lizalfos in here....

Guess they been bad.

....

Man, how awful did a monster have to be for Ganon’s Forces to throw it in the dungeon?

What violent brutes these must have been....

....

The architecture was all hard stone and iron, and a little wood. No fineries for anyone meant to be housed here. After the corner near the entrance, the single corridor continued on a gentle curve, with a row of cells on either side. A very shallow depression ran along the center of the way, sluicing some dismal water drainage away to who knew where.

Malice eyeballs blocked the path, but those were easy enough to dispatch. And I could see what they had been guarding at the first one’s evaporating: there were switches in the central corridor, straddling the sluiceway, that could open the cells on either side, all down the way.

One Silver Moblin was free already, and he and I had it out until I’d laid him out and spoiled his corpse. And then.... I started activating the switches.

Killing them all.... did not feel nice.

They were trapped.

And I an Executioner.

I just wanted to be thorough combing this place....

Well, the Lizalfos were still able to spit at me.

Small consolation.

I killed them all, raiding what spoils and treasures were to be found strewed about their cells. My Master Sword didn’t seem to be running out of energy; it’d been glowing like this for ages, and I’d been killing so many things.

So this was its strength....

Some cells had bombable walls between them, which proved to be the only way to access some of them. And one cell on the left, the castleward side, had a bombable back wall....

I broke through, followed the passageway around; it opened up into a large chamber with some Moblin skulking around.... What was this place....?

But....

No. Not yet.

This wasn’t just some hidden hidey-hole; this was a whole other pathway, and I was not done in the other room yet.

I ran back to the Lockup, slipped around a final dark corner to get to that last, biggest cell, and walked in.

The portcullis slammed shut behind me.

How very OoT.

I’d seen the Stalnox bones. They’d been flopped out in the center of the floor of the big round chamber, bleach-white against the dark stone, and they had stunk of miniboss.

They came to life now.... and I put them down again, with a flurry of arrows to the great, bulbous, black eye, slicing the thing into evil oblivion with my sword at the end, as it popped out and bounced grotesquely around....

There was a treasure chest now, as well as a signpost in the back, engraven into a stone marker. Had these been here all along? The room was quite dark....

The stone read:

- Test of the Royal Guard -

Strike down the giant foe to become

recognized as a knight of the kingdom.

Well....

I opened the chest.

There was that You Get The Thing Music and....

*GASP*

WHAT?

A Hylian Shield?

I mean I had wondered what could be in here, but this was.... I hadn’t expected....

“A shield passed down through the Hyrulean royal family, along with the legend of the hero who wielded it. Its defensive capabilities and durability outshine all other shields.”

Does this.... Is this shield....?

My Master Sword—The Master Sword had been staying so strong. While it had shone. Here in the dark castle. In the Malicey air that seemed to activate its resilience.

Does this shield....

Is this shield unbreakable?

Its strength was 120. Shield Guard Up +30. What does it mean?

Oh my gosh....

Was this shield unbreakable?

I almost didn’t want to test it.

....And after typing a flurry of notes for the log I came back to the game and....

....

Oh, my inventory was full. |D

I dropped the Lizal shield I’d been using, and opened the chest again.

Got the music a second time. Nice.

Now I had the shield....

But heck if I was ever gonna use it.

Return To The Castle

Waking of Monday, April 22, 2019

Return To The Castle

I searched a few more shrines for missed treasure.... no good.

SHRINES.

I am missing some shrines.

Impa is hiding at least one shrine.

And Impa wanted me to regain my memories.

My last memory rests at the castle.

I must go to the castle.

So.... I went.

At least I had a shortcut now.

I warped to the Docks Shrine, donned my Lizalfos Mask, and ascended the crumbly, rubble-strewn passageway to the Library once more. Venturing further along the avenues I had previously discovered, this time I made my way to the Dining Hall.

And found I had to change my Mask.

Ugh, four Moblins had turned it into.... a waste. But there were edibles everywhere. On what looked like animal furs draped over the ruined tables. What a mess. But I took the foodstuffs for myself.

Two Moblins squatted near a little fire at one end of the long room, and the other two squatted near the cold and unused fireplace at the other end. For—

I killed them. As was my wont in such tight quarters; I didn’t need their noses in my face while I was poking around.

The Dining Hall had a very gentle bend along the length of it, so that one of the long walls was slightly concave and the other silghtly convex. The convex wall had two doorways, each double-doored and both widely spaced from each other, and those led back to the red-carpeted corridor where the Lizalfos patrolled. Or.... where they had patrolled.

The concave wall had only a single door in the center, framed with fine stonework, and that led outside.

....

I went outside, and it was a bewilderment of Maliced things, the mighty Sheikah Sealing Pillar looming toward me, looking down the drop-offs, dun and dusty ruin, cobbled stones and.... uhuhuhuhhhhgjklhdfsjgklfhjk Guardians.

! But what was that Guardian? There on the other side of some kind of battlemented tower. Just far enough around the structure so that it couldn’t see me. The head looked different, skinnier like a pole, there were swivelly bits.... Guardian Turret? That’s what my Slate told me.

And then that dread spotlight, and a Guardian Flyer chased me back inside. I hated the flyers; they were hard to kill....

Hhhh but....

Gotta move forward now.... gotta find that memory....

I watched the Flyer settle down and resume its normal pattern, and waited for it to pass by again.... and then came back out through the door. It was a broad, flat area, just bare stone, with what seemed to be a street of hardy cobblestone continuing off from it in either direction, running fairly parallel to the Dining Hall behind me. And across this street from the Dining Hall was only a drop-off down to the lower levels of the tiered castle grounds.

I had seen the castle from many angles, but it was bewildering to be crawling around the surface in the thick of it.

As the Flying Guardian was elsewhere in its circuit, I ran to the left, hard along the wall, which degraded into a rough earthen slope as the street continued counterclockwise at a gentle incline. I ran until I was certain I was far from the Guardian’s patrol loop, and continued cautiously as the street became progressively rougher, the cobblestone giving way to packed dirt and the traces of double-ruts.

The wall of earth to my left became more uneven and encroached upon the road, as though parts of it had broken off and slid down over the years AND A BIG DARK SHAPE DROPPED AND THUDDED ONTO THE ROAD IN FRONT OF ME.

A GUARDIAN? DECAYED? NO, IT WAS—it was—It was dead.

Its overturned, cereal-bowl-shape teetered to a creepy standstill before me, and a couple of Ancient bits tumbled down beside it or bounced away unclaimable down the drop-off.

I looked up.

An Ancient Screw still perched on a little jutting boulder most of the way up the steep slope.

Had this Guardian fallen from all the way up there?

What the heck?

That Flyer was coming back. Coming from the direction of the Dining Hall. I didn’t want to be under its gaze, and so darted up the landslide from which the dead Guardian had fallen.

I didn’t even know which way I needed to go.

Where was that spot?

That spot in the pictograph, the last memory.... such elegant stonework....

I thought I needed to get higher at any rate, and so I abandoned the circuiting road and just kept climbing up to the next tier. It was unnerving to peek up over the last edge....

But I climbed. I could face down the Guardian Turrets, for they behaved no differently than Decayed Guardians, and I could simply avoid the flyers. Or dang well try.

Where was it?

I ducked beside a wall and studied the pictograph: Spires, a big round turret of some kind, winged caps of stone on the battlements. Echoes of that motif from the Royal Crest. Those wings.... Where was that spot? I looked at the pictograph, the map, the pictograph, the map, my surroundings.... Danger was everywhere.... and the 3D overlay map was deucedly difficult to read.... Could it even register details so fine? Maybe that structure there....

One Turret had me pinned. It had the higher ground, it was far away at a very unpracticed distance in my parry-reaction-timing, and Daruk’s Protection had become a short-lived resource in this place. But I couldn’t hide forever. I stepped out from behind the wall again and again, fishing for the correct angle, and I arrowed that Turret to death. Dashed across the open—how could there be grass here?—and hid beside a large structure. This was quite sizeable and roundish. Could this be the castle turret in the pictograph?

There was a doorway that led inside the structure, but I did not go in. I could see Malice Mouths in there. And no eyeball in sight. Didn’t need to deal with that....

And on the outside of the structure, just around the corner, was another Turret. Didn’t need that just then either.

My options were somewhat limited.

So.... I climbed up.

I climbed up over the awful, perpendicular stonework and jutting battlements, and onward and upward, until I found myself clinging to the side of a very pointed roof-spire. But I didn’t dare go higher than the width of my own silhouette lest another Turret spot me. The Guardians seemed to crop up on all sides; they were so thick on the castle grounds.

The air was so blustery and hellish hellish red....

I looked around, but the pictograph.... this place that I’d thought might have been it.... It didn’t look like it was so. No matching battlements, no winged capstones.

Haungh, besides, the turret in the pictograph didn’t have a pointed roof-spire of its own.

Hahhhh.

But as long as I had such a spider’s-eye vantage point I took the opportunity to look around a little more.... Those wings.... Looked around.... looked around.... scrutinizing every pointed spire I could see and every object nearby, scanning for those wing-shapes.... near and far, far and near, high and low, low and—and?

There! That spire! Those shapes! Could it be?

I studied the scene and it.... looked likely! Those wings were there! And they seemed a proper distance from the spire!

But.... it was on the other side of the castle! The west side!

I was on the east!

....

Well....

There was nothing for it.

I climbed up to the highest, highest spire on this big round structure—and found a Korok. Hey there jolly little friend.

The Turret did not see me.

There was another Flyer nearby, however. Patrolling right around the direction I wanted to go no less, gleaming a loop over some kind of landbridge near the end of the broad road to the castle’s gate. I waited for it to make its round a couple of times, and then.... paraglided. Oh gosh through all this danger....

That other Turret saw me then, but didn’t lead me as a target. One blue bolt flashed behind me, I cleared its range or line of sight—didn’t check which—slipped under the landbridge and was coming down fast over a deep pool. Made it to the water, swam only a couple of strokes against a tame waterfall’s current and climbed up the little bank which immediately dropped off in a ledge. Malice gathered on both sides of me. The air was clearer again down here.

Danger? Am I safe?

....

I thought so, for the moment.

But this was a narrow perch—what waterfall engineering....? It was a little like standing on the lip of a bowl.

I looked over the edge, down the drop-off.

There was another Turret on the next tier down below, a bit to my right. Guarding that little winding staircase I’d seen on the external map. Only he was facing the large open area away from the wall behind him. Away from me.

So I dropped down onto the stairs behind him and whistled to get his attention.

Funnily enough, it worked.

I parried him into oblivion.

The stairs were only slightly clockwise round the Castle of where I had stood on the lip-ledge, and they were set into a much taller tier of the castle ground, the one spilling the waterfall that fed the pool I’d landed in. A mountain of Malice globbed all over the towering walls of this tier, and high above, spanning out from near its crest to connect with another tower....

That bridge.

That must have been the battlement from the pictograph. I was probably just below the round turret-structure! I was so close!

I climbed the stairs—watching out for the Flyer, for there was another Flyer patrolling high around the attendant tower. Patrolling that battlemented walk where I needed to be....

The Flyer passed by, I scrambled up quickly over the rough and weathered stones, got inside.

Inside—

Silver Moblin!

I wasn’t wearing my mask.

Oh, he’d seen me....

But I switched to my Barbarian Gear, and the Master Sword had been glowing fiercely this whole time besides.

I killed him in short work, and he went down beside a fireplace.

Inside. Inside.... Where was I?

What was this room?

What? What.... was this.... corner?

There were papers plastered on the walls.... books everywhere.... and.... one book open on the desk.

Zelda’s Diary.

Oh my gosh.

The Weapon Connoisseur

Waking of Sunday, February 24, 2019

The Weapon Connoisseur

I jumped off Kass’ Landing in Rito Village, and sailed for the western shores of Totori Lake. Making my way back to Gisa Crater and its sleeping Talus, I set out to continue my exploration of the western edges of the Tabantha Frontier. I killed the Talus, kept on northward, killed a Lynel—Silver. Gads, why are they all so strong now?—but could not find any shrines anywhere. Where are the shriiiiines....

I might have spoiled myself some days ago; I’ve heard a number on the shrines. I have 117 right now. Not many more to go, I think.

But I still couldn’t find any just now.

After exploring around far and wide, hunting high and low and still coming up empty.... I decided I wanted to try and finish Nebb’s quest instead. That would certainly still throw me for a world tour; I could still keep my eyes open for shrines.... just passively rather than actively.

I checked my quest log to see what weapon Nebb wanted to see next....

Where the heck could I find an Ancient Battle Axe +?

My Compendium said Hyrule Field and the Akkala Highlands.

Hmm.

So I started checking the shrines around those parts. I found a few with some little Guardian baddies inside, namely KAAM YA’TAK for one.... but none wherein the baddies had that weapon.

So I tried Katah Chuki. A Minor Test of Strength. And to my surprise.... the enemy popped up again! Even though I’d defeated it!

THEY RESURRECT. The Test of Strength Guardians come back.

I wonder if they do that every time you enter, or just on Blood Moons....

Unfortunately Katah Chuki’s Guardian Scout carried only a regular Ancient Battle Axe. And so I decided to bump it up a notch and return to the shrine of Muwo Jeem, way out on the east end—the Modest Test of Strength. My first Modest Test of Strength. The only shrine-fight I had ever run away from....

And this Guardian Scout—IS THAT THE WEAPON I’M LOOKING FOR? I thought madly as I sported with it!

I killed the thing, and.... IT WAS!

An Ancient Battle Axe +!

I took it to Nebb, and let him have a good long look at it, and he gave me a silver rupee! 100 rupees! Man his pockets were deep.

“Grandpa said ‘Give it to the one who shows you how to fight!’” he said happily.

Aww, this kid had such a great grandpa. ^_^

And then.... NEXT, he says.... he wants to see a Frost Spear.

Well that should be easy, I thought, I just saw some guys with that kinda thing over in Hebra when I was wandering around.

And I spent the next very long time bouncing back and forth between Hebra and the Gerudo Highlands looking for a Frostspear. It’s one word. Frostspear.

No.

Luck.

ANYWHERE.

I looked around for so long. David recommened I just turn on my sensor. I told him I didn’t have a picture of one.

“Oh.”

I looked and looked and looked....

Nothing.

I tried jogging out west from Selmie’s spot and paragliding to the big baddie treehouse on the very northern border. I swooped down from higher up the mountain, drawing nearer to the monster-nest, lookin’, lookin’.... oops they saw me.

One of ‘em sounded a horn and they all flew into a tizzy, yowling insults and casting arrows of various types.... Okay just scan, I thought, staying on the move, scan, scan.... Nobody’s got it. I couldn’t see a Frostspear anywhere.

So I dropped to the ground, started from there, and just marathoned it back to the east. The frigid shelf of land was not broad, and there were plenty of baddies. Surely somebody had to have the wanted Frostspear....

I was running, running, there were guys blowing their horns and shooting arrows after me, wolves howling—so many freaking wolves—more baddies, Lizalfos either popping out of the snow or jumping out of their ill-camouflaged hunkerings. None of them had the spear that I wanted.

Man, it’s everywhere except when you’re trying to find it.

I was coming up to a skull-den. Somehow the lookouts didn’t see me until I’d come up the left side and around to the front. Ran right in the open mouth. Three Bokoblins and two Lizalfos. But no Frostspears. Ran back out as fast as I’d run in.

Of course they all started at once and came chasing after me. Monsters were yammering all over the snow in pursuit, the animals were going nuts, every creature was freaking all the other creatures out, a rhinoceros was chasing me....

When suddenly I came upon Lynel country. Silver to boot....

Nope. Not again. Where the heck was I?

I considered my surroundings and realized I’d reached the northern end of the snowfield. I was back in the familiar territories.

Hey, I thought, the shrine is right there. That shrine at the north end of Hebra’s big snowfield. And according to my Slate, there was treasure left inside it. I went to check it out....

No luck.

But the shrine gave me an idea—there were other shrines, plenty of other shrines, where I had likewise left treasure unclaimed. Weapons for which I had no room in my hammerspace. Maybe one of those had been a Frostspear....

So I started looking in shrines whose treasure I had left. Not a lot of luck. A whole lot of not luck. In all the icy regions. I searched and searched and searched every icebound shrine I could find.... And in one icy shrine, I found a FLAMESPEAR.

NOT THE KIND OF THING I WAS LOOKING FOR.

So that’s the game, is it?

I went to the volcano for a bit to look at the unclaimed treasures in shrines there. No luck there either.

Where where where where wheeeeerrrrrre....

In my Slate I looked at the shrine at the Spring of Wisdom. It was a Blessing Shrine. It had treasure unclaimed. That would be easy enough to check. Easier than a combat shrine anyway....

So I went there, and I checked.

AND IT WAS A FROST SPEAR.

YES.

I warped straight to Hateno, straight to Nebb, and showed it.

Gold Rupee. 300 rupees. Oh he liked that.

“Grandpa said ‘Give it to the one who can show you the real deal!’”

Where was his grandpa getting all this cash anyway? Must’ve been a real doter....

Next....

Oh man, Nebb, how far can you take this? But I had hope.... 300 rupees was the highest value you could go in one gem. Surely this would be the last thing.

Next Nebb wanted to see.... an Ancient Short Sword. “You can’t get those around here,” he said as my only clue.

Ancient Short Sword?

I had a one-handed Guardian blade in my inventory, but that wasn’t what it was called.

Hm, I could only think of one place to try....

Robbie.

Away to Akkala I went, and checked in at the Tech Lab. The Ancient Short Sword was there. Cherry could make that all right. For a thousand rupees, a bunch of nuts and bolts or whatever and two of my precious ancient cores? (Out of eleven, one of which I’d only just bought from Teli in Hateno on a rainy day.)

I came back out and paused to check my Ancient Armor. It was already upgraded all the way.

....

Hnnng. I could.... spare the cores....

I asked Cherry for the Short Sword. Freakin’ thing so expensive when weapons were so transient anyway....

And she made it. 40 damage. Looked cool.

Back to Hateno.

But Nebb was headed to bed.

Dang it!

Okay, okay.... It had been this long, it could be a little longer. I slept in my house, too. And had Blood Moon dreams.

The next morning I did some shopping around town: arrows, Bomb Arrows, Tabantha Wheat.... Came out of the shop and it was hard to tell all those little running kids apart when they wouln’t stop moving....

But I eventually found Nebb around midday, playing with his sister Narah.

And I showed him the Ancient Short Sword.

And he gave me a diamond.

“Just like in the books!” He thrilled. He was always saying things like that.

He was really pleased.

“Thanks for showing me so many things! I’m sure my grandpa is super happy... wherever he is! Bye!”

I drew a quick breath. Wait.... his grandpa.... who gave him all these rupees, he was.... was he....?

Nebb?

And before I knew it the banner flashed across my screen, the gleaming sound effect sheened, and I’d completed the The Weapon Connoisseur sidequest.

What.... but....

Uh?

The sidequest notes confirmed it for me:

You showed Nebb, the young man in Hateno Village, all the weapons he could ever want to see. He rewarded you with a diamond.

He feels that his grandfather is unquestionably smiling down on him from the next world now.

....

Man.

Nebb.... I’m sorry for thinking ill of you.

It was late and.... I needed to go to bed, and.... it was late afternoon for Link, so.... I’d put him to bed, too.

I took him back to his Hateno House, and because I am a girl, I first had him remove the Master Sword, and the faithful Rusty Shield that has seen me through all the way from Divine Beast Vah Medoh, and the Knight’s Bow. And I put him in his Warm Doublet because it looked warm yet loose-fitting, and his Snowquill Trousers because they looked comfortably warm as well.... and I put him to bed.

Good night, Hero.

High Hopes . . . Bogged

Waking of Saturday, December 8, 2018 ~ 2

High Hopes . . . Bogged

David asked me later about the shrine in Ludfo’s Bog, and how I had gotten the orbs down.

“I just climbed up and got ‘em,” I said.

He stared at me.

“....What?” I said.

“You climbed up and got them?”

“Well, I mean, it took some doing, but I had enough stamina—and the Climbing Gear!”

And he stared at me like Gonzo stares at an imbecilic Rizzo, and I stared back at him like an oblivious Kreacher who doesn’t see the issue.

And then he shook his head and I kept playing.

Off to Hestu. I had enough Korok seeds. I asked for one last dance and Hestu did his thing and sang his song, his maracas exploding in a giddy burst of blue confetti.... and I obtained the final shield slot.

Now all my equipment pages were full.

“Shakalo!?” he started with a jolt, “You’ve expanded all your inventories!?”

But he recovered himself quickly and resumed his easy swaying stance dance. “Naaaaaaice!” he said, the word flanked by little music notes. XD

NOW what would he do?

“Thanks to you my maracas sound so... shakey-shake SHAKETY!”

Yes? OuO

“There are more children of the forest out there, and I’m sure they’d still love to meet you!”

Or some such words.

....Oh.

I guessed that really was it. Each equipment page now had twenty slots of hammerspace and.... that was it.

I guessed the rest of the Koroks were....

Well what would happen if you got the rest of the Koroks?

....

I might not pursue that in this playthrough.

Well! With my pockets deep as they would ever go it seemed, I ran to see what I could see in another unvisited piece of the world.

I’d seen this one many times in looking over my map of Central Hyrule—it was hard to miss with its contingent of giant ribs sticking out of the earth in unnatural arrangements, the tight cluster of weathered skull-dens, and the giant horned skull that sat atop the crest of the hill.

This was a place my map called the Bottomless Swamp. It was situated on the eastern edge of the central plains, just north of Whistling Hill. But I’d never ventured close to it for the rampant Guardians in the area....

It seemed a Guardian-free approach could possibly be made from the riverbank on the east side. But that direction led up through the forest of battlemented ribs, as well as an overabundance of sprawling, gurgling Pools of Malice. And it was uphill from low ground, no less. No.... I would take the back door.

I could handle the Guardians now.

I ran out into the grass until the Guardian Stalker saw me. It had the higher ground, but I could still time my parries all right.... Maybe due to my experiences outside the Pit Gate, it just made me nervous whenever they had the high ground.... in the grass....

I took the Guardian down, and proceeded to the top of the hill. At the crest, the grass died away and the earth became pale and hard, sinking into a large depression full of bogwater, in the middle of which rested the enormous horned skull. Monsters patrolled around on it, inside and out, except where one massive horn had partially broken off. That ponderous fragment rested alone and low in the muck. Around the edges of the bog, Malice pressed in toward the shore and sloughed heavily away downhill to the east and among the skull-dens clustered into the rock like trophies. By the river, the ribs stood clawlike in a challenging and grotesque barrier. Interspersed with all of this stood tall, jagged rocks that were pocked all over as if they’d been boiled.

Ugh, it was creepy. Malice and bogwater....

I stormed the castle nonetheless, knocking what baddies I could into the muck with my arrows before.... eugh.... paragliding over the bog and landing on the connected horn’s lower tip—for the horns curved back and down and around, like rams’ horns.

The number of silver monsters I was made to endure, Bokoblins and Moblins, was a right pain in my royally beknighted patushka. I knocked them into the bog as often as I could; any gemstones they might have dropped weren’t worth the hassle of beating it out with them over solid ground. Or bone.

After I’d cleared the top, I was blessed to discover a hole in the crown of the skull, via which I could rain terror from above on the inner inhabitants, courtesy of Ja Baij. And as the inner level was not well founded, the blasts were sufficient to knock most of the smaller baddies over the edges and into the sucking, mucky drink. But that big heavy Moblin.... him I just had to sail down and deal with personally.

When every last baddie had been sent back to the Evil Jar, I turned my attentions to the precarious plank of wood bridging a large and dangerous gap in the floor of the inner layer. On the other side, nestled in the cavity of the occipital bun, was a wooden chest.

Huh, wooden....

But appearances weren’t everything. This place was so dreadfully imposing, so heavily guarded, surely there had to be something valuable inside....

I tiptoed my way across the plank, and opened the chest.

It was a hundred rupees.

A cool hundred rupees.

Neat.

Thanks, guys.

I got off the skull island and traipsed around the hillside to the east, skirting the Malice pools and sweeping up what baddies I’d missed. There was a small forest a short way to the north. The forest that spanned from one shore of the river to the other, just near the Wetland Stable. Pikango had said.... there might be a memory in there....

Or, well, rather I had shown Pikango one of the images from Princess Zelda’s pictograph gallery, and he had said the pictograph was probably taken in that forest, though on what side of the river he could not tell.

I knew David had yet to find the memory linked to the pictograph taken in a woods....

But David never stops to chat it up with the locals.

The only problem was.... David and Savannah were in the room with me now, and they wanted to watch a movie.

Huaaugh I killed time in pointless ways, examining boring-looking hills for Koroks, running back to climb a stone tower.... The forest was so close.... I wanted to explore it for the memory, but.... I didn’t want to let on to David what I was doing.... Plus with he and Savannah together in the room.... That was an as yet unknown variable, and I didn’t want to risk any buzzkill at all, especially with a memory cinematic on the line....

Eugh and there was that tense bit in the conversation; David kept pestering me to wrap it up and get off already.... but I kept pressing that I wanted to explore.... How did it lead up to what he said....?

“What is there a memory in there or something?” His voice was still chiding, not serious, but crap.

“I didn’t say that—” Wrong thing to say. “—I’ve been trying to find Koroks....” Or some such lame excuse when I’d ONLY JUST already maxed out my carrying capacity....

I ran around the riverside green like a distractible puppy—typical enough behavior in and of itself whenever I was running out of juice on playtime.... Did it throw him off the scent?

He pressed me further. They wanted to watch a movie.

“Okay, okay,” I said at length when I could think of nothing else to do.

I relented, and went to Pepp’s—it was 9:00 in the morning, game time—and slept until noon.

Good night.

Beachfront Shenanigans

Waking of Saturday, October 27, 2018

Beachfront Shenanigans

I entered Lurelin Village!

It seemed.... a lazy kind of place.

I was helping people right off the bat. I supplied Kiana and her son Kinov with a Hearty Blueshell Snail and some Goat Butter—which ingredient I had JUST bought from that Chumin as he ran out of town (it was raining).

But! Kiana let me eat with them for my trouble! And I got a pretty good dish out of it, too! Cool!

Kiana’s husband Sebasto further bemoaned that fishing had become difficult since monsters had lodged up at Aris Beach.

I had flashbacks of Final Fantasy VII at the name. Emily, Lisa, Marlee and I had won some pretty good prizes with those cosplays. But I’d never played much of the game myself. Owing to the awkward questions I got from a much younger David when I made it to the Don’s place. After that I promised myself I’d never play the game again. Sometimes I’ve regretted it.

Monsters at Aris Beach, huh? I still didn’t have the map, so I just made a guess and turned.... left. Uh, northeast.

I ran and scoured the beach for a good long distance, but I didn’t find too many monsters. I found a few. And a few Koroks. But nothing too substantial.

So I came back down the beach, passed the village again and searched to the west. The wind blew in fiercely from the sea on my left. With a glance at my Sheikah Slate I realized.... Oh.... I was at the bottom of my map.

A few more Lizalfos cropped up and took issue with my passage, but I put them down easily enough. And then I saw it—a BIG monster nest, treehouse style, a duplex! Standing in the water just off the sandy shore of a shallow bay.

There’d be no sneaking to the top of this mess with my paraglider.... Unless I felt like hoofing it all the way to the top of one of these mountains, but I didn’t. And I didn’t trust that wind none too much at any rate.

Fortunately, the treehouse seemed mostly full of Bokoblins; there was only one Moblin that I could see. Maybe I could still pull a bit of sneakery. On went my mask....

But I had to take a raft to actually access the joint.

And after that....

Well, you know how these parties go.

I cleared it out and was rewarded with a nice Royal Halberd for my troubles. I’d been seeing those more often lately.... Maybe there wouldn’t be a need for me to hold the precious ones I already had in reserve anymore....

And the banner flashed across my screen—there was an update on the beach-quest!

So I guessed this must have been Aris Beach. Cool. That was good to know.

Maybe I should have gotten the map....

But Lurelin Village would be easy enough to find without it for now.

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.