The Black Stallion

Waking of Tuesday, January 1, 2019

The Black Stallion

It was the Rose Parade.

It was seeing all those danged beautiful horses with the luscious garlands of brilliant, colorful flowers hung all around their necks and flanks....

Augh.

I’d taken enough pictographs to somewhat flesh out my Compendium. I’d seen the animal section. There were horses, white horses, giant horses, donkeys, the Lord of the Mountain, stalhorses.... and I think that was it for the equines if you could count the Lord of the Mountain as an equine.

I knew I could register up to five horses, and I still had room for one more.... But it didn’t look like there were any more special horses to find, the one blank space yet to explore on my map notwithstanding.

I wanted a new horse.

I wanted a steed to wear my Extravagant Tack.

It was late, it was past my bedtime, and I had work in the morning, but.... I wanted to culminate the little zeitgeist I felt about it.... zeitgeistchen? Zeitgeistlein—I DON’T KNOW GERMAN.

I skimmed around my map. Where were there horses? I blinked as I realized it was never really something I took any special note of. I knew they could be found somewhat near to stables most of the time. And I knew where I’d seen that black one that one time....

It was the Valley of Terror then. Though the terror was all but gone for me, I think. If I did bump into the one decayed Guardian out in the field, I’d be able to take care of it.

I ran out to find the herd, but there were no all-black ones. A second herd grazed a bit to the north, but that one didn’t have any black ones either.

Where else could I warp? I really didn’t pay attention to where the horses were.... I’d always just stuck to talking to the people, waiting for clues about where the rare breeds roamed.

Those fields north of Jeddo Bridge looked promising, so I warped over to the Odyssean Sheem Dagoze Shrine, and started truckin’ it up the hill.

There were a couple of herds here as well, but again I could find no black ones.

From here I could think of nothing else but to warp back to the Ha Dahamar Shrine at the Dueling Peaks Stable, and again check the herds in the Valley of Terror. Their coats had changed upon the reload! But there were still no black ones.

I wanted a black one.

I bounced back and forth between these two fields for a while. It was most troublesome at night; it took a couple of incidents before I remembered to anticipate the dark with my Radiant Gear. That still didn’t stop the keese, though. And the dang Yigamen didn’t care what time of day it was.

At some point I added another field to search to my cycle: the Fural Plain just adjacent to the Highland Stable. I had been hesitant to go there because every previous visit to that place, at least via the road, had been plagued by that little troop of mounted Bokoblins. But it was the only other place I could think of that I was pretty sure had horses....

I was happy to discover this time, however, that the Bokoblins seemed to have gone! It had been quite a few Blood Moons since I’d cleaned them out.... but they hadn’t respawned. Huh. They reappeared in other get-rid-of-the-monsters sidequests—why hadn’t they reappeared here?

I didn’t know.

I was just happy to see them gone.

And happier to see that there were indeed horses here!

None of the ones I saw were black, though.

Poop.

I warped back and again, around and around, Ha Dahamar, Sheem Dagoze, Ka’o Makagh, Ha Dahamar, Sheem Dagoze, Ka’o Makagh....

I did this for so long—How else do you think I memorized these shrine names?

At some point I cut out the Sheem Dagoze Shrine, though. It was too long a jog to get to the horses; and the stal-creatures, keese and Yiga seemed to appear more frequently there.

So it was back and forth between the Valley of Terror and the Fural Plain. I saw reds, creams, greys, piebalds, skewbalds, appaloosas, gypsy cobs....

There!

There was a black one in the Fural Plain! But.... it had four white socks.

I chased it for a while, desperate. Had I only imagined that all-black horse before? No I hadn’t imagined it; it had kicked me in the face pretty hard. But had I imagined the color....?

I thought about just.... letting the socked horse suffice me. Maybe there were no all-black horses.... Just like there were no common all-white horses.

But....

No.

I kept warping.

And after a great, weary long time.... LO! There really was an all-black horse!

FINALLY!

It showed up on the Fural Plain on a sunny afternoon, and the flamerosy glow played havoc with my view of it through the scope—was it really black? Or was it a brown or a grey, only painted darker by a trick of the sun’s glare?

But I got closer and it was all black. There were subtle color variations on its muzzle and around its hooves.... but so were there for Memory. I didn’t think I’d find a blacker horse than this.

This chase was on.

The problem with the Fural Plain was that the grass, most of it, was remarkably short. This made sneaking up on the black horse deucedly difficult, especially as he had one other horse friend on the lookout with him. Several times I sent him trotting and galloping away into the boundaries of the field, many of which were comprised of sizeable stone cliffs. But it was a real fear of mine that the horse might come to an open spot and bolt down a road or somewhere leading out of the field. But I wasn’t sure how justified that fear really was.... Would the game keep it hemmed in?

I chased the horse for [game-] days, trying to maneuver it into one of the grassier spots where I could approach it more stealthily. The intermittent Yiga did not make things any easier.

But at great length I was finally able to mount the black stallion and soothe him into submission, whereupon I took him straight to the stable for to register him before anything else could happen.

I thought for a long time about his name. Jett? No, too literal. This was one of the harder conniptions I’d had over naming a steed! I wanted something strong-sounding, something ancient, something kingly, something like one of those archaic words that has a CH pronounced like a K....

Archeantus?

Mmm.... I didn’t even type it in. A strong name, but.... maybe not the strongest namesake.

Archibald?

That wasn’t a K sound....

I was just stuck on this Arch- usage....

Somehow in all the archaisms I swayed into the possibility of Oberon. Mmm, the deep vowels matched his coat and color.... and the reference matched the mystique of an all-black horse!

But I also thought of the name of Knight. Strong and royal to be sure.... though the pun was perhaps not as sophisticated.

I swiveled between these two for a while. Oberon and Knight. But Knight felt more alive, sharper, keener, and faster. Not so serious or reserved as Oberon. Or as wise-sounding, but that was okay.

Knight it was!

I rode him around the Fural Plain until his trust in me was such that I could alter his mane and other trappings. And back at the stable.... on went the Extravagant Tack.

....

Knight looked embarrassed in it, too.

Hmm.

I.... fiddled with it....

....

A look at Knight’s statistics showed me that he had.... four of five points in speed.

That was faster even than Memory.

Dang he was a fast horse. I could see the difference as I rode and spurred him into a gallop—how fast the land flew by around us!

Hah hah, he truly was a Knight!

I rode him to the Dueling Peaks Stable, just to get a look at him in motion in this momentary tack and mane-style....

And then I remembered upon arrival Uh, no mane-changers here.

So I rode to Outskirt, took him to the girl by the manger, and played with his mane some more....

“Oh my gosh you’re ridiculous, you spend three hours finding a horse and playing dress up with it. This is why I’m ahead of you in getting shrines.”

Beautiful lines from David.

In the end, I just stuck with the mohawk and the Extravagant Tack. The mohawk suited his wild temperament. And Knight could stand the Extravagant Tack. He could make up for the flamboyant red feather springing from his crown. He was the fastest horse in my team. And a glorious, powerful midnight black besides!

Knight could wear the Extravagant Tack with welcome challenge to any who scorned.

But a horse named Oberon would never have been able to abide it at all.

I rode to the Tabantha Bridge Stable.

I was ready.

A Matter of Presence

Waking of Saturday, November 3, 2018 ~ 3

A Matter of Presence

It would take two shards of Naydra’s horn in order to enhance the Champion’s Tunic, but I decided to just stop at one for now. Waiting for that dragon had taken forever! And I didn’t want to put it off any longer—I went back to Serenne, and I was gonna head north. I was gonna.

I just noticed a few more possible Korok hiding places along the way.... and of course with David watching when the sun went down I had to show him what the Skelesuit did, when the Stalcreatures started popping out of the ground.... It was a disguise! David had had this suit way longer than I’d had it, and he’d never known! And then when I saw the light from that fallen star I had to switch to my Stealth Suit to run there and get it in time, just a little detour.... Whoops, had to watch out for that Lynel beneath Mount Drena.... How long had that been there?

And then here came Dinraal down the canyon.

I ran. Still in my Stealth Suit I ran, moving so fast, giving no time for baddies, my gosh, I had to get there—! And I BARELY made it to the big canyon’s edge to shoot a scale off the dragon’s tail as he curled and twined massively away and out of reach.

I floated down into the canyon to pick it up; that was two of Dinraal’s scales I had now. I could offer one to the Spring of Power....

And with a warp and a short jog—gosh Akkala was such pretty country—I did. And a door back behind the Goddess statue opened up to reveal the Tutsuwa Nima Shrine.

It was a Major Test of Strength. Always a good challenge....

But my controller battery was running low; I opted to wait a bit before defeating the Shrine-Guardian. But once I had, I felt cocky and confident enough to turn my attentions to the three Guardian Flyers in the neighboring Ordorac Quarry. I’d deflected enough bolts from the landbound ones.... I could probably deal with the flyers....

As it turned out it was much more difficult than it seemed. With the Stalkers I could assume an optimal distance away, and time my reaction to the bolt. For me it was easiest when they came in close....

But the Flyers evidently didn’t need to hover in the same distance to blast you. And they swung and weaved beneath their propellers, further complicating the timing, and not even ensuring a deflected bolt would connect!

It was hard. But once I’d started I wanted to see it through. I ended up burning through Daruk’s Protection, breaking a few shields and using more than a few arrows, but in the end I did destroy them all. And the run of the quarry was mine.

Disappointingly, however, there wasn’t much to be found therein. Just a few good ore deposits, which wasn’t entirely unsurprising, but I could find their like anywhere.

The encounter was not a loss, though; I found something else out.

I discovered what makes my sword gleam at odd whiles.

It turned out the whiles weren’t so odd after all. The Master Sword would double in strength, and shine with the power to repel Evil, whenever Evil was in close proximity.

I discovered this when I was maneuvering around the edges of the quarry, making ready to draw the attentions of one of the Flyers. As it moved around its small patrol-circuit, it would come near to me and then move away again, over and over. And the range was just right, so that when I held the Master Sword in my hand and the thing came close.... the sword would KLANG with a ringing that hungered to be thunder, while the blade would light up and shimmer fiercely. And when the Guardian hovered away and out of range again the light would go out, and the sound would sleep.

THIS WAS AMAZING. There was something really cool about it, though also a bit daunting, if not scary.... But I felt a little bit past that kind of dread now, with the Guardians.

I could get close to them....

Also it would be a lie to say all of this did not remind me at least a little bit of Orcrist, Glamdring, and Sting.

Well the Ordorac Quarry was nice, but I didn’t anticipate ever coming back here again after the next Blood Moon. There was ore to be found elsewhere, and this place was too choked with small trees anyway. I swept for Koroks and other treasures, searching round every obstructing hump of unblasted stone.... place shoulda been a lasertag course instead, really....

Where was I? What was I doing....?

....OH YEAH—

A Game More Dangerous

Evening of Tuesday, September 4, 2018 ~ 3

A Game More Dangerous

I touched down on the warp pad of the Ishto Soh Shrine, and was met with the buzzing sound of hundreds of flies.

I’d forgotten how much garbage Moza had piled up here.

But I dashed past it all and peered down into the Lynels’ Corridor! I had plans to try out my new toy.... On went the Lynel Mask and Link once again adopted a beefy, stoic stance. X-)

The canyon floor was too far distant for me to make out any creatures prowling along it, and so I relied on the skull stamp I had placed on my map—that was where the southern Lynel would be.

I floated down—there it was—and circled wide, landing some distance further south. Somewhat far away but not too far away.... but pretty far away....

The Lynel still stepped so grandly and paused so ponderously and roared.

And then it turned and SAW ME. FROM FAR AWAY.

We stared at each other. Usually when a bad guy sees its respective mask it starts walking toward you. But neither of us moved. We just stared. For a moment.

And then the Lynel circled round in a canter, faced my way again and nocked a Shock Arrow.

Nope! It was Ishto Soh for me again! I warped the heck outta there! :D

So wow, the mask really didn’t fool the Lynel for very long....

Well they were powerful creatures of many abilities.

But still....

I wanted to try again.

So I ran and jumped and floated down to the left this time, northward toward the mid-Lynel near the base of the Talus’ butte. I spied him as he walked among the baobabs....

With a crunch and a rush I hit the ground running through the long yellow grass. I wanted to get close this time....

It was a White-Maned Lynel, and when he saw my fast approach, he turned to face me, and stood his ground.

I just kept running. If things went south I could always just warp back to Ishto Soh....

The Lynel stood still until I had run right up in front of him, and could physically no longer move forward for his person. He had only looked at me the whole time. The way his head just dropped at the end.... looking down at me....

I was a tiny creature.

We looked at each other only briefly before I walked round to his left flank to see if there was a get on option. There wasn’t. Those zebra stripes. Broad tapers. So high over my head, the body so tall, so BIG. Thick, muscular legs, feathered hooves....

The Lynel turned as well; he wasn’t having me behind him. And we faced each other once more, staring just a bit longer. I was on the north, facing south now. The long south reaches of the Lynels’ Corridor stretched away into the distance behind my.... companion. The baobabs stood in the yellow grass. The Gerudo Highlands glowed bright ruddyrust in the daylight away to my right, the shade of the Zokassa Ridge cooling to my almost immediate left.

At precisely the same moment, I threw the game into a semi-pause by toggling toward the Stasis function, and the White Lynel reached behind his enormous back and fwipped out his gigantic spear.

Oh my.  ._.

I was able to Stasis him and get in a few hits.... But that charm works only briefly on living things, and briefer still on powerful ones.

I could have warped away, but....

Well I did need Lynel bits.... and I was here, wasn’t I?

I stayed.

I stayed, and stood, and fought. And remembering the Shock Arrows this one had pelted me with before, I tried the Thunder Helm for a spell. But apparently the Lynel only resorted to those at a distance, and no range I could give him on the ground would suffice—the ill-defending helmet was not helping. And so I switched to something more justifiable. Real armor. My strongest clothes.

Stasis could only help me so much between rechargings, but I employed it as best I could, capitalizing on every chance to land a Bomb Arrow right between the brute’s eyes. Head-shots dealt double the damage, or so I’d heard and witnessed elsewhere.

This one didn’t stun like the lesser foes did, though. Any Bokoblin would have been bowled over backward with a shriek, and not regained itself for precious seconds....

But a Lynel....

I don’t think he ever even had to shift his footing.

Then again he did have four of them. A leg at each corner. Huh!

I was a mouse to him.

Well the mouse could still bite!

More than once, more than thrice, more times than I counted, really, he sent me flying and tumbling and rolling across the grass with a groan—Get up get up get up, Link!—And I found myself chewing through my stocks at a vigorous pace!

But I gave him his own headaches in return—a Bomb Arrow could slow down a galloping charge! Even if I had to take a bit of it myself at close range—he moved so fast....

It became inescapably dicey however whenever HE BLEW FIRE FROM HIS MOUTH AT ME. The fireballs were broad, far-reaching and enormous, and they set the grass alight all over. Remembering the Big Yiga Clansmen, I used the flames more than once to slip away into the air, a bit singed nevertheless. The Lynel watched me with patient, hungry eyes in one such maneuver as I glided over him, released a Bomb.... and then detonated too early.

Well, that happened sometimes. Good thing nobody else was in the room.

The fire kept coming. I never had the thought of a linear retreat, but rather circled round him in evasion as he kept blowing and blowing and BLOWING! It was deadly and dangerous!—And the best opportunity to get close enough for a strike.

I pulled weapon after weapon from hammerspace as my blades gave their all and shattered in glory. Daruk had leant me three good helping hands that had evaporated pretty early on. And Mipha saved me from the brink before she too had to withdraw her power for a time whose end I would not see in this fight.

But when that monster hit me, ripped me, shredded me so hard that I saw that gleaming little winged orb come swirling up out of my pockets to my aid—

THAT WAS A FAIRY YOU JERK! DON’T YOU KNOW HOW RARE THOSE ARE?

I’d had enough!

I spared no provisions in maintaining my health from then on, and GAVE NO QUARTER in hammering my foe! I did not relent until his mighty, immovable hooves finally gave out from beneath him, and his proud knees sank at last into the ground below his bowing head, wild with mane and horn, heavy with defeat and death.

His carcass was mine.

When I’d pocketed his remains, I looked around at the aftermath of the encounter.

....It was ugly.

The grass was scorched black in great hatching swaths, or shorn clean away in places by blade or hoof. What a ruin. We’d all but burned the whole valley down.

....

It did feel kind of epic, though.

I visited Tera once more in the chill of the desert night to do up my Radiant Gear. The tights were already at level two, but with the shirt and mask enhanced to that level as well....  surely there would be a perk.... I was pretty sure.... it had to be....

IT WAS A DISGUISE I KNEW IT. AND MY ATTACK POWER WITH BONE WEAPONS WAS UP BUT THIS SUIT WAS NOW A DISGUISE I COULD USE TO WALK AMONG STALCREATURES UNDETECTED. I KNEW IT.

AUGH BUT IT WAS TOO COLD TO WEAR OUT HERE IN THE DESERT.

SOON.

I warped to the Deku Tree’s Navel in the three o’clock hour of the morning.... and slept until noon.

GOOD NIGHT.

From: Andrea

To: David

2018-09-04 11:43p

By the way I killed a White Lynel

tonight. On foot. It was ugly. The

whole valley burned down.

From: Andrea

To: David

2018-09-04 11:43p

Love you good night. <3

Another Deal in Contraband

Waking of Thursday, August 2, 2018

Another Deal in Contraband

I’d already beaten the Divine Beast Vah Naboris.

But it wasn’t until this Monday that I remembered the Four Slate Functions’ correspondence to the Four Divine Beasts.

Cryonis for Vah Ruta.

Bombs for Vah Rudania.

Magnesis.... Magnesis was the corresponding function for Vah Naboris.

And that just left....

Stasis.

Owa Daim, what in the world does your Divine Beast have in store....

I was in the desert. Trying to find Pokki.

I ran through the Iceway Pillars to the Icehouse, gathering hecktons of Safflina on the way, but getting no new information from the sleepy Anche.

David asked what I was doing.

“I’m looking for Pokki.”

“Who’s Pokki?”

“She’s been missing,” I say.

“What are you trying to do?”

“Well, I really just want to get the password and get into the clothing shop. The armor shop.” Whatever it was in there....

And David LAUGHED at me! Uh! Why, David?

“You STILL haven’t done that?” he drawled.

I fumed beneath my skin and ran back to Gerudo Town.

I spoke to everyone in the canteen—that poor Gerudo, Deltan, was still crying over whatever stupid voe had wronged her. But the lounge ladies still wouldn’t tell me their password.

I swiped at them with a giant Guardian Axe.

I threw the barrel.

“They won’t tell me,” I said.

“Are you suuuure?” says David.

David you’re so freaking smug sometimes.

I looked around the lounge.... I had tried getting up on the roof and eavesdropping from there, but—

. . . .

There was a window.

I noticed a window in the wall behind them.

A window to the adjoining structure.

I could feel David’s.... regard, as I had centered the view on it, and then more intensely as I leapt down to the street to make my way into the other building.

And as Link is just SO wont to do, I busted in the door, caring not a button for whoever was inside or whether I was welcome. I just made my way over to that danged decorative grate....

The password was G, S, C, and a Diamond shape. I think it stood for Gerudo Secret Club or something like that.... I didn’t commit it to memory. I just booked it straight back to that door in the rear of the clothing shop.

This was it!

I gave the correct password, and Greta let me in.

The door opened onto an abrupt wall—I’d come into the side of a narrow hallway. This opened up further to my left. The air was filled with a strange purple haze like perfumed heat....

I walked the length of the passage to the dimly-lit room beyond, and saw.... something.... mounted on some mannequins on the far side, what the clothes were those? Glowing skeletons like Day of the Dead....

“Oh, haven’t seen you around here before,” said Greta. But she welcomed me all the same. She told me this was the only place in town to find Gerudo clothes for voe, which was illegal.

Oh dear, contraband, is it? >:)

Greta continued, “But I’ve never seen a voe disguise himself as a vai, like you have.”

I jolted backward in shock!

“Don’t worry,” she said, “I won’t give away your secret.” She said she had plenty of secrets herself, and I gathered that if we could just let each other be with whatever we wanted to hide, we’d get along famously.

Turning from the Skeleton set, I looked behind me at some mannequins I hadn’t seen clearly from the hallway. They held DESERT VOE TROUSERS, SPAULDER, AND HEADBAND—AND THEY OFFERED HEAT RESISTANCE!

THIS COULD BE MY DESERT GEAR! :D

Mmmm but I didn’t have enough on me to buy the Desert Gear and the Skeleton Suit. I needed to choose.... What were those Skeleton Clothes for....?

I hemmed, and decided that.... the Desert Gear was more readily useful, and so I bought that first. All of it.

As for the Skelesuit.... excuse me, the Radiant Suit.... its three components were eight hundred rupees apiece, of which I could only afford one at the moment. But what in the world was its purpose? I dared say you couldn’t very well hide in it, not with it glowing so brightly....

And then all I could think of was that Halo developer, remarking on the Flaming Helmet you could earn. Sure, it didn’t make for very good camouflage, and everybody on the map could see you, but on the other hand.... You got to run around with your head on fire!!

Hmmmm.

May as well start with the head.

I bought the Radiant Mask. But then.... agh, confound it all—not wanting to leave the set incomplete, I fished around in my pockets for things to sell back to Greta, until I had enough to buy the other two pieces.

When I was done, I had all the Desert Voe Gear, the complete Radiant Suit.... and eighty-three rupees to my name.

That felt dirt poor—hadn’t been there in a while.

I said goodbye to Greta, and left town to try on my new clothes—since I couldn’t very well try them on in town. I didn’t even want to attempt it in the sealed-off confines of Greta’s shop! That Merina and Dorrah.... I didn’t trust them!

Outside in the night sand, the Radiant Suit did look pretty awesome glowing in the dark! And the Desert Voe Gear looked right manly after running around in that sirwal.

Of course, new clothes could mean only one other thing—time for a visit to Cotera.

After the warp I shot a few Blupees on my way into her woods to pick up a little extra money, but.... there wasn’t much to go on there.

I had Cotera do up my Desert Gear one level, but I didn’t have enough Luminous Stone to level up the Radiant Suit all at once.

(Just by the nature of the menu, and its placement of recently upgraded items.... I’ve become rather partial to doing them in sets.)

Looked like I’d need to go mining again. But Luminous Stone was easy enough to find.

I wandered Kakariko Village until I chanced upon Cottla, whereupon I was FINALLY able to play games with her to her satisfaction, which brought the long-suspended sidequest to a close, and that was nice.

I think she gave me a carrot or something in return.

Mmmm I needed money....

A lightbulb struck, and I warped over to the Outskirt Stable. Trott was still happy to buy Gourmet Meat from me for a hundred rupees a pop—though he did stop after three cuts of it. I guessed there was only so much even he could take in a day. But that was all right.

And then who should I see over in the shade by the manger but.... Zyle!

Zyle that guy I had sold the horse to! :D

I went up to speak to him, and he thanked me again for my help in getting him a horse. He really appreciated it. I was his hero—

Where was the horse, Zyle? :D

He continued to talk a little longer about it than he meant, and then—“....plus I made a niiiice profit selling it to—”

What? D:<

Zyle stopped himself and looked at me. “I mean—”

HE SOLD IT? >8[

He spun some lame tale—

WHO’D YOU SELL IT TO, ZYLE? D8<

You opportunistic, TENDERFOOTED CHARLATAN! ಠ⩄ಠ