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.

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.

Forbidden City, Take One

Waking of Friday, January 19, 2018 ~ 6

Forbidden City, Take One

Did you know that if you press jump repeatedly while running, Link will put alternating feet forward on every leap?

Like you’re skipping.

I skipped over the rocks beside the oasis at Kara Kara Bazaar, in my Gerudo outfit.

....

I’m so pretty.

Upon arriving back at Kara Kara Bazaar, I’d fooled Rhondson. “What a cute vai. Are you out seeking the love of your life, as well?” she had asked. I had answered in the affirmative and she had wished us both good luck.

My pretty disguise seemed to be working all right, and dusk was falling—prime time for traveling in this dangerously hot desert.

It was time to head to Gerudo Town.

I was quickly discovering that the distance between the town and the bazaar was not so great after all. I covered the distance in a trice, but not before running into the brusque and imposing Kyra once again on the way.

She complimented my clothes.

Huh, how warm and genuine she was.

....

Yes, this was a very good disguise.

I arrived at the town well before dawn, but.... I wanted to enter it in the daytime, and so passed the hours by exploring some ruins to the north until sunup. Tons of Warm and Electric Safflina. A Korok. And no shortage of Lizalfos by any means. They followed chittering after me as I searched the ruins in my mask....

But I did not finish combing the structures before the sky began to lighten. It was going to get hot soon.

I would explore the rest of the ruins later.

Dashing back to town, I ducked into the shrine to remove the Lizalfos Mask and put my Gerudo outfit back on.

Man the defense was so low. Just 1 for each of the three pieces.

When lightning struck my brain.

I warped to Cotera’s spring—it was raining in Kakariko—and asked for her help, but.... there was nothing she could do about my Gerudo clothes.

Oh. Never mind. >_<

Back to Gerudo Town.

I approached the gate. Merina and Dorrah still stood sentinel on either side.

....

I calmly walked in without a word like I owned the place.

And I was IN.

Some part of me had expected the view through the gate to be a flat, painted backdrop, a la the entrance into the desert city of Nasrad. But I just watched in only slightly jarring astonishment, as the already-rendered depth took me in, the paved ground opened wide around me, and an enormous plaza springing with palm trees burst into colorful life.

Oh my gosh this town was BIG.

One Fegran told about Chief Riju and her worry about the Divine Beast. A little girl Gerudo ran around at play. There was a clothing shop! I bought a set.... and found them to be little different from what I already had, except in color.

I liked my original ones better.

THERE WAS A GORON! “Are you a lady Goron?” I asked as I ran up to.... her??

Lyndae was her name. But her voice was as low as any other Goron’s. “Sa...botta? You really have to bite your lip to get that V sound out clearly.”

More linguistical delights. XD

“A little kid made fun of me yesterday for not being able to get the pronunciation right,” she went on, “I don’t know why, but it sounds the same to me no matter what I do...”

Someone named Ms. Ashai taught classes on relationships and cooking—AND I SAW A RITO LADY! :D Frita was her name, she had a rosy tint to her plumage, and she was looking for some good meats. But she complained that they didn’t seem to have any poultry....

I’d seen a joke about that somewhere on the internet. XD

The place was too big, too tangled—how far did it go?

I ran around, taking it all in in a flurry. The inn, run by Romah, had a spa plan, instead of a soft bed. (Come to think of it I wonder if that would have blown my cover!) Rima, a retired palace guard whom I found out toward the back, felt like she’d met me before. But she’d never been outside the city. Well she looked old enough—did she know me from a hundred years ago?

I heard gossip and rumors: Some thieves had snuck in and stolen the heirloom of the chief, the Thunder Helm—Oh my, that sounded like something I wanted.... The chief’s sand seal had spooked and pulled her close to Vah Naboris! But she got away. But it never would have happened if Buliara had been there. Who’s Buliara?

New captain of the guard?

And then there was Isha. She made accessories—

OUT OF GEMSTONES?  D8

THAT TRANSFER THEIR POWER TO WHOEVER WEARS THEM?  ತдತ

“YOU ARE THE DROIDS I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR!” I shouted through the screen.

She just needed ten pieces of flint to kickstart her business—I gave them. And she offered me my choice of accessory in return: a Ruby Circlet, a Sapphire Circlet, or Topaz Earrings. Cold resistance, heat resistance, and electricity resistance respectively.

I chose the Sapphire Circlet, since I was in a desert.

“Heehee, I thought you’d pick that one,” Isha smiled.

You did?

“Wait just a moment.”

The screen darkened and there were craftsmanly noises while she made it for me.... and then she handed it over! Ah! Thank you, Isha! ^__^

And since I’d gotten her business up and running for her, she said I could come back any time for a special discount! “Just...don’t tell my other customers, OK?”

“Don’t tell your other customers what?” I said. ;)

I walked into the shop and spoke to Isha’s associate, Cara. “Vas’aaq,” she said, “I heard you brought some flint for us, little vai. You’re a lifesaver!” And then in small font: “How about...I tell you one of the owner’s secrets as my way of saying sarqso?”

“Tell me!” I say. :D

“I heard the owner... sleeps wearing nothing... but accessories...”

Oh dear! Ó༤Ò

“I wonder if she gets cold...”

Haha, yeah, I wonder, Cara! ^_^;;

She gave me a few other secrets—it seemed they varied—before I bought two more accessories: Ruby and Topaz.

Back outside and the city was as large and sprawling and confusing as ever, so I started climbing the walls—and found that there were aqueducts up on top! All nicely tiled and everything! Wow!

I was certainly enjoying the bird’s eye view—and there were still so many ways to go up here! I dashed along edges and looked and climbed until—

I was momentarily bemused by a melon rind floating down the current; it spilled over an edge and into a rubbish heap.

I looked upstream: another melon rind came drifting after the first.

What the heck?

I followed these mysterious rinds up the aqueduct until I climbed up over a high ledge and discovered.... a single, solitary Gerudo, sitting cross-legged on top of the wall, pigging out on melons and tossing the rinds into the water.

Her name was Calyban, and she didn’t really care for my company or my conversation, but only continued eating, up here in her sequestered hideaway.

....

I hoped she was not named for her father.

Though if that were the case the city might have been peopled with Calybans by then.

*

In climbing higher up the aqueducts I had come closer to the enormous central stone formation from which all the water seemed to be flowing. It came down in great, cascading falls that spilled into an encompassing, beautifully tiled channel before draining out to the rest of the city.

I wanted up there.

But the rocks looked . . . . difficult. The formation flared outward before the top came to its crest—would I even be able to hold on? And I couldn’t wear my Climber’s Bandana; that would leave my man-face exposed....

Hmmmm....

! The Zora Suit! I could swim up the waterfall in my Zora Armor!

I ran around the central water channel until I found a place where I was sure no one could see me, and ducked down for good measure.

I wonder why I didn’t think to just put on the chest piece.

As soon as I unpaused, wearing the complete Zora Set—

“Sound the alarm! A voe has been detected,” said Dorrah.

And the screen faded to black and they threw me out of town.

Good Friends

Waking of Thursday, July 20, 2017

Good Friends

Good friends really are wonderful. Alison, Jenenne and Jenny came over and took me out for a burger to celebrate my birthday. They couldn’t do it on my actual birthday because.... it’s just been so busy at work.

It’s rough when for your birthday you gotta drive a longer commute, to a less sanitary building, with ventilation systems ill-designed for the desert environment, which don’t really work anyway, to sit in a smaller cubicle, at an earlier hour than usual, to do mandatory overtime.

It’s been some long and hard days. But....

Good friends really are wonderful.

After food they brought me back and we all wondered what to do next. “Games?” someone proposed.

And frankly I probably just panicked. Games like the kind you play at parties? Parties full of people, crowds make me nervous....

I don’t know when the last time I just plain.... played a game was. With other people. I know I used to. Lots of people. But....

When did it become so uncomfortable, so dangerous, in my mind?

That just someone saying the word Games could.... make me want to back out and run away.

And so I brought up something else that I had heard my friends express an interest in: “You guys want to see my Zelda game?”

“Ooh yeah!” said Jenny. I turned on the console.

Alison wanted to start her own game but when we came to the rigamarole of that she would have to create a profile on my WiiU first.... she told me to just go ahead.

Just for kicks I found my own way out of Ketoh Wawai’s shrouded island. Even remembered to turn my HUD back on halfway through, oops.

Our mission, I told them, was to Collect the Blue Marker and Find Mister Kilton.

And so we wandered west, toward my blue marker.... but it was quite far away. And zooming in with my scope, it looked like there might be a danger of my freezing to death before I could reach it.

Well.... not wanting to be all night, we decided to forego the blue marker for the present, and wander back east around the north of the volcano, toward Gut Check Rock, and Skull Lake.

But that was quite a long distance, too.

And so after looking at some wildlife—Alison enjoyed the cranes; she asked me to take a picture but I didn’t.... I should have—after looking at some wildlife I simply warped straight to Gut Check Rock.

From there I paraglided toward Skull Lake, found the highest jump-point I could and then paraglided again toward the shrine on the spire island. My friends were wowed by the vastness of the world! Jenny was right glued to the screen. And Alison was right glued to Jenenne’s snack she had brought: some kinda sticky-sweet puppy chow mix, which I tried to partake of carefully because I didn’t want to gum up my WiiU gamepad!

It was delicious.

“Here, take it away from me,” said Alison, and Jenny and I obliged.

The shrine was named for one Zuna Kai, but I don’t remember whether it was a puzzle shrine or a blessing shrine. Might have been a blessing shrine.... Yeah.

After that it was a slow float down all the shelfy rocks to find Kilton. There were so many crags to explore.... Killed a few baddies....

In the lake at the bottom there was a boat, and I showed my friends how to blow it around with a Korok Leaf! That was pretty cool. B)

I blew it the short distance to Kilton’s island....

And WAITED.

The water in the lake was full of giant flowers, submerged some feet beneath the surface. Made me wonder if there could be a fairy nearby....

Night fell, storms came and went (the foliage-obliterating lightning was quite transfixing!), and Kilton didn’t show.

After 2:00 am and with still no Kilton I jumped off the island and swam away for a distance. And then upon turning back—

BOOM! There’s a huge balloon of some kind parked there?? (Seemed I just had to step away so the game could populate it!) All in dark spooky colors in the patchwork of its envelope and the ramshackle tent beneath it.... at first glance it made me think of some Halloween-themed version of the Wizard of Oz!

I swam back!

After scrambling onto the island, I approached the figure moving behind the tent’s tiny counter.... He seemed.... bird-like in appearance—no it was the torn back of a hood—

I got his attention and he turned around and spooked and HOWLED at my appearance! And then he said, “Oh... just a Hylian.”

What.... was he? His face was huge, and grey-skinned. Actually I was reminded of nothing so much as.... oh let me check the spelling.... Ben Quadinaros. The Star Wars podracer whose power coupling failed at the start line. Quadinaros also had a huge face.

Kilton’s face was large, with pronouncedly curly eyebrows and very wide eyes. He asked me what I thought of monsters.

I told him the truth: “I hate them.”

And, looking very much, well, deflated, he cut off the conversation.

Oh dear. I.... kind of pitied his poor timid manner.

So I spoke to him again, and this time claimed, “I like them.”

He asked me how much I liked them.

There were four possible responses, and I only remember the most intense one: I ADORE THEM!

But I chose the lowest response.

Whereupon Kilton jumped into an overbearing pose and screamed, “I LOVE THEM MORE THAN YOU DO!”

o__o;

Guess he was.... anticipating a little bit of contention there. Guy gets excited! ^_^;;

But he apologized and quieted down and introduced himself properly and then rattled off the names of a few villages (some I’d never heard of!) that he might like to do business in in the future—at night.

And then.... he was on his way. Back in his balloon and off into the sky.

And that was Mister Kilton.

Well that encounter was.... shorter than I’d thought it would be. Seemed it was just an introduction, to get to know him.

Guess I’d see him around.

What even is he....? If not a Hylian.... I wonder....

Well, we’d completed our mission of Finding Mister Kilton, and so set about getting into what tomfoolery was readily available. I wandered....

From Skull Lake I wandered into Rok Woods, and quickly discovered it was not named for a giant bird, as I had wondered. I did however get a Korok for my.... heavily concussive troubles. And then I climbed up on one of the jutting rocks above Tempest Gulch. And after grabbing another Korok there, I considered the Blue Lynel prowling down near the aspens....

Under a bit of peer pressure from the ladies, I paraglided down and RODE IT! HAHA!

Wasn’t gonna let David one-up me entirely! ^_^

After it bucked me off, I had a fair tussle with it, too! I employed Stasis most effectively, but.... in the end it proved stronger than I was, and so I warped back to the Zuna Kai Shrine on top of the Skull Lake Spire, and then back to Gut Check Rock.

I showed them the cooking pot up near where Bayge sat, and after consulting my ingredients Alison insisted I should make a Speed Elixir. So I did, and they loved the cute little animation of Link cooking, just as they had loved the animation of him eating to up my hearts before I faced the Lynel. ^_^

But the Lynel had taken just as many hearts back off, and then some, and so it was a paraglide down to the hot spring for a nice, healing soak.

We ran around a bit more until we found.... a BLUE HINOX, snoring out there on the hot rocks. I moved in so they could see the creature up close, and got closer, and closer.... until the Hinox woke up, and then it was a comical run for our lives as it chased after us! XD

Ah it were such a delightful time just romping around on the screen. But....

Well, I was the Hero. And I had followed the breadcrumbs as far as I could. Perhaps not in a direct course, but hey, I was trying. Go see Impa. Go see Purah. Go see Robbie. Murmurs about Kilton.

And I’d found Kilton, and then he’d gone and—

There were no more breadcrumbs.

That was the end of the breadcrumbs.

....

But....

I was here at the Volcano.

....

Maybe it was time to see whether I could....

DO THE VOLCANO?

D8

I proposed a new quest to my companions: find, reach, and activate the local Sheikah Tower!

They were all in as I scrambled up the craggy stones and ashfalls, occasionally bursting into flame....

Good friends.... really are wonderful.

Somehow the house became quite the hot spot that night. John and Siara were there, had been there since about the time my friends and I got back from In-N-Out. They gave me a sweet birthday card, too. :3 <3 ^_^ And later Ben and Cami showed up! What kind of party was this?

Spontaneous, I guess.

Alison, Jenenne and Jenny didn’t see me reach the tower; it was getting late and they bowed out before then. I thanked them for the birthday visit, and they departed.

But once I got very close to the structure, I asked Ben if he’d like to see, and he did.

It was nice to find a tower that wasn’t swamped in a bog, covered in briars or surrounded by Guardians. There were just a few Bokoblins in the way on the hill just below, and they were easy enough to dispatch.

The Eldin Region map was.... TREMENDOUSLY INTERESTING. OuO I studied it for quite a long time, noting the places I’d already been, like the Eldin Great Skeleton.

As it turned out, there were a few more GIANT RIBCAGES smattering the sides of the volcano. Perhaps not as complete or grandiose as the Great Skeleton, but.... my gosh, still....

WHAT IS WITH ALL THESE GIANT BONES? o__o;

But then I saw something that truly made my insides shrivel up and die in horror just a little bit....

There was a giant ribcage in a pool of lava.... and just about where the head would have been was.... one of those Bokoblinish skull-dens?

The ones shaped like enormous skulls?? O___O

WAIT, wait.... I mean I’d figured the Bokoblins just liked to carve them that way, but.... then again I’d also seen weird squished mossy ones that looked.... a little more disturbingly organic than that. Or like they fell out of a Studio Ghibli film.

Were they actual skulls?

But I thought of the Eldin Giant Skeleton—THAT one.... that one had not been humanoid, as the skull-dens seemed to be. That one DEFINITELY was probably.... something more like a Dodongo. It had the long tail and everything.

Actually that was the only long tail I’d seen accompanying those ribcages. I mean I’d seen the ribcages everywhere: Lanayru, the desert, distant mountains I’d not yet climbed.... and now here in Eldin.

But maybe the long tails just didn’t survive in any of those other skeletons—and I didn’t see any other bones either, no femurs or pelvises or phalangies how do you spell that—just.... ribcages and vertebrae.

And those skull-dens everywhere.

And a massively boggling thought entered my mind.

Dodongos are native to Eldin; they’re native to the volcanic region. And Dodongos can grow to great size. And judging by the Eldin Great Skeleton, it could have been that giant Dodongos once ranged all over Hyrule.

But....

I remembered one other creature native to Eldin that I had also seen reach enormous sizes—and this creature.... was humanoid—

The Gorons.

The Gorons themselves.

Oh my gosh.

Were those Giant Goron skulls dotting the land all over?

Was there some tempestuous age of Giant Dodongos and Giant Gorons rumbling all over the land in titanic clashes of dominance?

DUDE? D8

Well, Ben and I had fun surveying the landscape from the top of the Eldin Tower. But soon I wanted to move. I tried paragliding down onto where my map said there was a road, but.... a few seconds after leaping off the tower, the wooden club on my back burst into flame with a little woof!

So I warped back onto the tower.

Ben, unfamiliar with the HUD, wanted to see the temperature gauge.

So I jumped off again.

There was something kind of hilarious about sailing quietly and serenely through the air and then woof!—bursting into flame.

I warped back to the tower again.

Ben said even the gauge itself burst into flame!

“Really?” :D I’d never seen that!

So I jumped off again.

Woof! There went the temperature gauge.

I warped back again.

I did this no less than four times, and we laughed every time. XD

Ahhhh.... X-)

Presently I tried jumping the other way—downhill over the face of the volcano—and started making my way toward a shrine I had marked long ago from the heights of Upland Zorana. I’d forgotten all about it. And it was a little tricky to find because my detector was still set to find Decayed Guardians.

Mmm makes me wonder if there are any shrines on the north face of the volcano.... I hadn’t been detecting shrines there either....

I came to the Tah Muhl Shrine, and completed it, and saved.... and went to bed.

Good friends really are wonderful.

And so are good family.

It was a good evening.

Just.... nice.

Nice to sit back and do something simple and fun the night before my doctor would infuse my blood with ketamine. What kind of person would I be after that?

I didn’t know.

Maybe I ought not to panic next time.

I remembered games.

I used to play them all the time, with other people. Lots of other people. And I liked it.

Why hadn’t I even been able to remember Apples to Apples?

It’s a good one.

Maybe next time.... I’ll invite the girls to play Apples to Apples.

And we can make cookies just for good measure.

The Lynels' Corridor

Waking of Saturday, June 10, 2017

The Lynels’ Corridor

Well, what started out as a plan to go get hornshards from Farosh.... ended up as a wandering exploration of the Faron region.... disguised as a giant Korok hunt. I climbed all over the hills above Malanya’s spring, meandered around the seashore, found some more Guardians—I’ve been marking them on my map. It’s creepy when the normal, healthy ones with working legs just sit there.... unmoving.... like enormous spiders....

My wanderings brought me westward, through a great mess of mounted bokoblins, and toward a place David had said he’d really liked. On the west side of Faron were some grasslands running north to south between a green ridge on the east side and some bare beige tiered mountains on the west side, part of the Gerudo Highlands I think. Maybe.

These grasslands had a name, but I do not remember it.

I simply called it.... The Lynels’ Corridor.

For there were two of them in there.

I started at the south end, and stayed on the east side, atop the green ridge. The first Lynel I saw I tried casting bombs at, but he soon got wise to my presence—over such a distance—and started shooting Shock Arrows back at me. At first they sailed over my head and away into the countryside, but then.... mm he must have pulled some different tactic.... lightning came bolting out of the sky....

I ran away—remembering to go back and grab the Korok Leaf I’d dropped when I got zapped!—until he finally lost interest.

Further north along the Corridor, there was another Lynel.

For this one, I situated myself on a little shelf of rock where I could not be seen from the valley floor—and commenced another game of Bomb-Golf.

It took some doing I tell you what but after a great many bombs over a few days and nights—I had slain the northern Lynel.

Evening was coming on, and lest there was a Blood Moon coming I paraglided down and quickly scooped up his remains—a Lynel hoof, a Lynel horn, a Lynel Spear, a Lynel BOW. Among other things I’m sure.

Craving the high ground once again, I climbed round a single tall butte and up into the stony Gerudo Highlands on the west side this time. I didn’t fancy being on the valley floor if there were any more Lynels about.

I thought to go farther north to continue my bird’s eye sweep of the Corridor, but there was a Guardian in the way. It was on a lower shelf of the mountains than where I was, but I didn’t care for the lively patrol it kept of that area.

So I climbed up to the next shelf, looking for a bypass....

As it turned out there were quite a few things in the way up here! More Guardians—thank you, pictobox feature—wolves, electric keese....

Just too many hassles that I didn’t want to bother with. And so every time I encountered one.... I just kept climbing up to the next shelf.

I came to one place where a Decayed Guardian sat in a wide, bare expanse of sandy stone, and at something of a risk to my general wellbeing I paraglided onto a nearby overhang to flush up a Korok. (There were a few Koroks up here, too.)

And as I stood on that tall, tall outcropping of stone, I looked into the low clouds on the other side of these Highlands, to the west.... and I saw it.

It was an island—and it was moving.

Strange movements. Rotational and sharp, as if it were timed for something, as if you had to paraglide from those crags to the north to get onto it properly. What in....?

It turned, machine-like, swiveling under the single pine tree at its crest—no there were two islands, one had been behind—

No.... not islands....

“That’s a Divine Beast,” I said, eyes wide in awe.

No one was in the room with me.

Two great humps with strange spires on top of them, the curving neck with the weird head....

That was a Divine Beast.

I remembered the name Vah Naboris from Impa’s tale. Was this that beast? It sounded like Nabooru, a Gerudo name.... and this seemed to be Gerudo territory.... though admittedly I hadn’t seen any Gerudo since Karsh, long, long ago at the rainy Woodland Stable.

And that one in my memory at the Sacred Ground.

I was curious about the northern part of that Corridor, but.... with so many Guardians and other things in the way.... the route I was on wasn’t exactly ideal.

I headed south again.

And of course there in my way again were—

“Wolves,” I growled, “we don’t need their scum.” XD

I climbed up to the next shelf and kept heading south, getting quite far this time.... back down south along the Corridor....

I had seen a pillar of black smoke somewhere down there, on a high ledge near the southern mouth of the Corridor. I may even have seen it from as far away as the Highland Stable and the Ka’o Makagh Shrine. In my experience, black smoke meant bad guys. White smoke meant good guys I think. But all smoke.... had a kind of interesting draw to it.... Agh, like a moth to a flame, I just wanna see what’s going on!

I could see the smoke ahead of me now, south along the shelves of the Highlands. It had come in and out of view, disappearing and reappearing.... But now as I was higher up about its level, I kind of wanted to go find its source.

Before I got there however, I came across a huge saddle in the mountain: a vast, bare stretch of grit and gravel cut east to west through the Highlands like the devil’s own highway. It looked.... somehow contrived. Not natural. In my mind’s eye I could see the massive Vah Naboris treading along it....

My but I wondered what could be that way.... the bending of the ground brought the tempting horizon much too close....

Hmmm but I was getting tired. I really felt like I should just find a shrine and stop or something; it was my bedtime.

I marked the Devil’s Own Highway with a little line of stars on my map (it was in an empty blue region I had not yet downloaded into my Slate), and turned back to the east. There below me was the southern mouth of the Lynel’s Corridor. I could just jog on across it and back to the green ridge on the east side, and then go north. Maybe I’d finally reach the northern end....

When 說曹操曹操到！ My shrine-locator started beeping.

And there was the smokestack! Right there! Just a few shelves downhill.

Hmm, seemed like the shrine signal and the smoke were coming from near the same spot! How interesting....

As I approached—scaring up two Koroks very close by—I could see a lot of messy piles of bones and things around the Shrine.... looked like a bad guy camp. But I couldn’t see any Bokoblins around....

I climbed up over the rock, dropped down into a little shallow bit where most of the garbage was, and found.... a woman, brandishing a ladle at a giant hunk of gourmet meat in a wok over a fire.

It was black.

“Who are you?” she said.

“Who are YOU?” I replied.

Her name was Moza, and for the sake of becoming a better cook, she was training in isolation.

“Your smoke signal?” I asked.

“Smoke signal?” she said, puzzled, “Oh you mean the dish I’m making?” or something like that.

“It’s burning,” I said, “Badly.”

And that ruffed her feathers all right.

She taught me some.... recipes of her own design. Lavish Meat Dish: meat and ore. Ancient Meat Dish: meat and ancient parts. Ultimate Survival Dish: straight up monster parts.

“That sounds gross,” I said.

“HEY!” she yelled back at me, “If you want to be an ultimate survivor then you’ve got to be willing to eat anything!”

I don’t think.... there was any helping her.

I left her to it.

And approached the shrine. The surrounding garbage piles were.... multitudinous. Flies buzzed loudly and nastily. Ugh. What a horrible place for a shrine.

The Ishto Soh Shrine – Bravery’s Grasp the trial inside was called.

I still have no idea what to do with that moving platform on the floor.

Somehow I made it up those stairs and to the monk.

Oh I would dearly love to see David attempt that one....

Might just do it again. To save my bow.

Dead End at Digdogg

Waking of Saturday, April 22, 2017 ~ 3

Dead End at Digdogg

“Where are you going, anyway?” David had asked before, “Where the heck are you?”

“I’m looking for someone,” I kept saying in Luke Skywalker’s voice.

“Who?”

“Her—”

“Princess Zelda?”

“Noooo—”

The right fork of the river twined away between massive, towering cliffs. I saw a rickety old bridge spanning between them on a higher ledge.... seemed like a great nest for baddies to hide out....

But per David’s suggestion, following the left fork, which followed the map line, did seem like a sound plan....

Surely the river that led to this Lake Hylia would be important enough to have map-boundaries drawn along it....

And so the left fork it was.

I still didn’t let on much about my plan to David, though.

The water was flowing roughly southward now, and I was still on the outside—the west side now. The dangerous lands of the castle were on the east.

My path took me along a high ledge on a great beige cliff face. It had been raining—maybe that thunderhead from before had finally caught up and swept across my path. But as I skirted over the living stone, the rain began to thin to just a few spitty drops, and the sun began to shine through....

And it became so bright....

The mist left over from the rain was blinding!

“It’s SO—BRIGHT,” I exclaimed to David, who could see this quite clearly.

“WHY IS IT SO BRIGHT?”

“I don’t know,” he said.

I turned this way and that. The cliff face reflected the sun’s light like a solar oven panel, bouncing it into the lingering moisture—

“WHY IS IT SO BRIGHT?” I yammered again.

“I don’t know!” David shouted, laughing.

I was getting low on sleep.

Utterly bewildered, I ran ahead through the impossible brightness....

I did stop briefly to search out another ruin—this one on the castleward side of the river, though it appeared safe enough to have a look....

The ruin was flooded, up to the depth of about my knees. Watergrass and floating leaves parted at my passing.

There were a few things to loot, guarded only by a couple of near-sighted lizalfos. The first one went down like a charm, but the second one gave me a fright when he pulled back on a nocked Shock Arrow.

But my blade cut him down before he could let fly.

And after looting the whole place—I COMMANDEERED A CONVENIENT RAFT AND FINALLY USED MY KOROK LEAF TO GO BOATING DOWN THE RIVER!

I might have accidentally killed some ducks with my boat.

I will eat them later with much gratitude.

I rafted and rafted until I came to a little bokoblin camp, grounded my boat and promptly slaughtered the lot of them.

But the river split again!

This time I took the right fork; it seemed deeper, a heavier flow.... But owing to some obstacles in the way, I had to leave my raft behind.

I passed a Gleeok Bridge.

I hoped there wouldn’t be any nearby. o__o

And then I passed a Manhala Bridge.

My goodness, or any of those either! Spelling notwithstanding.

And after a little waterfall, I finally came to a Digdogg Suspension Bridge!

There was a Hinox sleeping on it.

Well.... on a small landmass in its midst, anyway.

There didn’t seem to be any Gleeoks or Manhandlas or Digdoggs about.... but I was certainly enjoying these lovely bridge names.

My Shrine-detector had been beeping at me—and I saw the culprit structure far below me at the water’s level beneath Digdogg Suspension Bridge.

It was a long way down, but, after considering and finding myself with nothing much left to do on the cliff-face, I leapt off the edge, floated laterally to just about where the shrine was, and—at David’s insistence—HALO jumped down to it.

I completed it, collected a Spirit Orb, came out, and was delighted to find another boat available to use. And I did use it, for a while, all around the expansive sort of little lake beneath where the Hinox slumbered.

But....

BUT....

This waterway....

This waterway had come to an end.

I boated around beneath the suspension bridge, but....

There was nowhere else to go.

This was not Lake Hylia.

The little right fork had been a dead end.