SNOW DAY 3: WRESTING THE BEST ERE THE QUEST TO THE WEST

Waking of Friday, November 16, 2018

SNOW DAY 3: WRESTING THE BEST ERE THE QUEST TO THE WEST

FOR A TEST PER BEHEST OF THE GODDESS MOST BLESSED.

That’ssss a little carried away.

BECAUSE I DO NOT JEST WHEN I SAY I’M HER GUEST

‘CAUSE THIS WORLD IS ALL MESSED; I’VE KILLED MANY A PEST—

I don’t even like rap, what am I doing—

*AHEM*

I put on all my cold clothes and was ready to go back to Hebra to try out shield surfing and I warped tooooo.... Mount Lanayru.

I sailed down to the Lanayru Road; couldn’t see a thing on the way down for the snowclouds....

But I was gonna get me some hornshard.

It took forever. The dragons never show up when you’re looking for them. I ran around looking for other useful things in the meanwhile, and found the most enormous Korok circle I had ever seen. By which I mean the circle itself was typical, and not extraordinary in shape or pattern. It was just made of BOULDERS. BIG rocks! I grunted and huffed and puffed to roll the one from the center over to the empty spot in the ring.

Whoof.

Well played, Korok. Well played.

I also took the opportunity to kill a Blue Hinox, and that so quickly that it was dead before its music even started! By the time its life bar showed up, only a tenth of it remained, if that. Two more hits with whatever dragon-bone Big Stick I was wielding, and he was down. It’s astonishing what Urbosa’s Fury can accomplish when I wear my Barbarian Armor....

But these my diversions were not without their own frustrations—like HOW does a 300-foot dragon sneak past you? TWICE?

I tried to be more attentive, and was rewarded with some scales, but EVENTUALLY.... I did get a hornshard!

That was two hornshards. I could have upgraded my Champion’s Tunic if I wanted to.

But....

I didn’t.

I just went to the Plateau to pray.

I went all the way to the Temple of Time again, before I remembered that I only had 11 Spirit Orbs and I wanted to wait until I had 12. Just one more....

I went back to Pepp’s. I almost went straight into the Deku Tree’s Navel, but I stopped to actually talk to the Deku Tree first, as it had been a while.

And the Deku Tree told me something most illuminating—he said that the Master Sword glowed when it was near Ganon, or those touched by his Malice.

Well that explained it.

And that meant that.... the Guardians must have had the Malice in them too.... judging by my encounters in Ordorac Quarry.

It was 4:55 in the morning when I went to check in with Pepp, and so I slept five minutes until the morning proper, and then quit for a while.

When I came back, I warped to Hebra again, and continued my Snow Day! :)

I didn’t go shield surfing after all, but continued south from the northwestern corner of the map, where I had climbed low down the cliffs nigh to falling off the edge of the world.

Saw many things along the way! Found a bear and killed it—and it was a much more drawn-out fight than I would have thought! I could see now how David had once been killed by one of these. Found a Hinox and killed it—Urbosa’s Fury in the Barbarian Armor once again brought down the house! Found a Lynel and.... skirted it. They’re all White-Maned now.

I kept meandering southward until I found, hidden deep within the black stony cliffs beside a deadly icy lake brooding with malevolent Octoroks and planked by pointless and rickety boardwalks to nowhere.... the Maka Rah Shrine! Whose resident challenge was called Steady Thy Heart.

DANG.

If Hawa Koth were like the sparky younger cousin of Kaam Ya’Tak.... then this Maka Rah was surely.... like the sadistic older sister who punishes you for intruding on her CLEARLY-boundaried privacy.

That was my one-hundredth shrine.

I was ahead of David now.

Link The Physical

Waking of Saturday, June 2, 2018 ~ 2

Link The Physical

TO BUSINESS....

David’s ahead of me. But I would show him something he’d never done. Something I’d never done either, to be honest, but....

Well, I had faith it was possible.

Actualy.... I knew it was possible!

I’d become quite practiced at avoiding spoilerish images on the internet, but.... I recalled catching it in one YouTube thumbnail I had seen.... it had been pretty striking....

Also I’d heard tell from my Compendium that it was a thing that you could do.

As I ran from the Wetland Stable toward the Honeydell (and saved Leekah again), I felt appropriate in rather recreating what I had glimpsed in that thumbnail, and started stripping off my clothes. I left a rugged-looking spear on my back, though. And so, looking a proper barbarian, I came to the edge of the dell and peered down. The rain made it difficult to see, but there were unmistakably two bears down there.

That.... could complicate matters. I was hardly sure I could handle one bear—how could I be sure the other wouldn’t attack me while I was at it?

As I hemmed and hawed, shirtless Link did something I’d never seen him do before—seemed the programmers had added a new stance dance move....

Suddenly I saw his arms rise slowly up from his sides, straight out—I swung the camera around him to see what he was on about....

And then flex! He regarded one bicep, and then with a slight shift in posture turned his head to admire the other.

Oh my gosh! XD Oh I laughed so much at that.... XD XD XD

Well, eventually one bear ran off, but the remaining one wouldn’t come out of the cave. I couldn’t deal with it like that....

And then that one suddenly ran off too, and I was bearless.

Eh, as it was night, I returned to the Wetland Stable and rested until the morning. Whereupon I gave Honeydell another go, but there were no bears.

Hmph.

So I tried Shadow Pass. I’d seen a bear in there before. And my Compendium said they could be found in the Akkala Highlands. But when I got there all I found was a wolf.

I bounced between the two for a while, Honeydell and Shadow Pass, but with no luck—just a really bad encounter with an electric Keese in the rain—NEVER AGAIN—

And.... David had stepped out again anyway, so.... I decided to hunt some more Guardians in the meanwhile.

Back to Lomei Labyrinth. I killed the Crawler. I killed the maze-lurker. And then.... it was time to revisit the dread basement.

When I floated down this time.... they all could see me coming! I sailed quickly behind the giant pillar by the entrance....

Four Decayed Guardians in the room. That’s how many lasers there had been. I peeked round the pillar’s edge until one of them saw me.

Hoo. I could do this.

I stepped out again, its laser found me, the Piano got restless, and I had to time my parry very carefully this time—the Guardians’ laserbolts were fast, but they still took time to traverse the yards between us. A very short time....

But I whacked it back across the room nonetheless, and that Guardian exploded. Excellent!

On to the next!

I killed the four Decayed ones that way, peeping round the pillar. But there were two Stalkers left. And for those ones all I could do was . . . . well walk up to them as surely as I might, until they came to life.

Sparks and embers rained from the ceiling where the lightning struck on the maze’s rainy surface.

I almost had to come right up between the splay of their spider legs before they’d finally wake up.

Ughuhuh.

But I did it. Twice. And the swell of Strings carried me through the maniacal Piano, and presently every threat was eliminated, and I....

I HAD CLEANED THE BASEMENT.

And its yield brought me up to twenty-three gears! ^_^

HUH! After this, that thing I wanted to show David would surely pose no problem at all!

I warped back to the Wetland, and luck was on my side: the day was fair, and only one bear prowled in the Honeydell, and that well away from the cave.

David wasn’t there, but.... I knew he would be shortly.

Switching once again to my Nature Boy outfit, I leapt off the edge as silently as I could, and paraglided down in a calculated sail toward the bear . . . it was so big up close.

It sensed me just before I landed on its back, and then started jumping and rearing, trying to throw me off....

My stamina is greater than it has been—two full wheels.

And with it I was able to hold on.... and soothe the bear.

After only a moment it stood still, and only rocked in its lumbering animal stance dance beneath me.

Oh my gosh I tamed a bear! XD

And I got it to walk! :D I headed toward the road....

I’d seen David ride a deer at a walk before, but when he had tried to give it a spur it had bucked him off.

Could I get the bear to go faster than a walk? Safely at least?

But I was content to just go lumbering forward for the moment. It was such a big animal—and its tail was quite as fluffy as a rabbit’s!

As I neared the way out of the dell, the bear roared and tried to throw me off again, but I was able to soothe it once more.

It was around this time that David entered the room.

“....Why are you riding a bear?” he said flatly.

“Well that’s not the reaction I was hoping for!” I said, “Have you ever ridden a bear?”

“No,” he laughed.

But I was glad that I seemed to have thoroughly captured his attentions with the spectacle for the moment. ^_^

Spectacled.... Spectacled bear.

LOL.

I asked him about spurring his deer before, and then.... decided to try it on the bear. I hit A—

And the bear started into a great burly lope! It ran down the road! With me on its back! Oh my gosh! XD XD

At whiles it would get tired of me and grunt and roar, but I was able to get it all the way back to the Wetland Stable.

And I wondered....

The more attentive denizens of the stable all cowered and whimpered at my approach—even Kass siffened and looked at me with some pause, his accordion momentarily forgotten. But Lawdon (whom I’d been giving a lot of business to lately) said automatically when I rode up, “Well, looks like you’ve caught yourself a new steed! Would you like to register it?”

“Yes, please!”

“Understoo— Uh...”

And then he looked at my big new mount.

“Oh for the love of Hylia... That’s not a horse!”

XD XD XD XD

“We only board horses here, no exceptions,” he told me.

XD XD XD XD XD XD XD

Oh that was PRECIOUS! ^_^

Ah!

Delightful. > u <

Agh well I figured I’d dealt with the poor bear for long enough at that point. But when I thought about dismounting.... I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t go savaging all the people standing around.

So I rode him back home.

It was rather terrifying and alarming every time he tried to buck me off. And I wondered if, when I let him go.... he’d turn on me and I’d have to kill him.

I equipped something a bit stronger than my scary-looking Nature Boy spear, just in case. But when I got off, we just ran our separate ways from each other.

Heh. Cool.

I rode a bear! ^_^

Procrastination

Waking of Saturday, July 29, 2017

Procrastination

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rocks for those kinds of Korok puzzles never run out.

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

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

....

Yeah, I used one of those.

Yes, it was a chore.

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

Turned out I didn’t need them anyway.

NO I’M NOT TELLING.

ANYWAY!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Maybe they can’t walk on water.

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

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

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

I also ran into a bear.

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

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

But the bear was already running out of sight.

Maybe we scared each other.

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

I saw Karsh again. “Sav’saaba!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Huh.

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

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

Huh.

....

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

....

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

Eh.

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

That.... was a pleasant ride.

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

Zelda’s Lullaby.

The Legend of Zelda.

Beautiful themes.

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

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

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

He is willful, and wild.

And he is mine.

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

Voe....?

....

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

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

Hmm.

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

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

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

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

But....

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

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

I didn’t want to do it right now.

I backed out.

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

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

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

And I wound up back at the entrance.

....

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

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

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

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

What was I doing, anyway?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I wanted to find it....

Fight For Your Honey!

Waking of Friday, April 14, 2017 ~ 5

Fight For Your Honey!

Now I could set out for the Woodland Stable. There seemed to be a spread of low mountains between me and Thims Bridge. And the path like a stream of water wound through the lowest parts....

Well I didn’t like that at all—I climbed up into the hills on the right side where I could keep a better eye on things, and I found some very craggy land indeed! There was an especially deep little sunken dell in the ground where it looked like there might be a Korok hiding—and which had two bears in it, skulking around the entrance of a small cave.

I stayed up top and gave them a wide berth for the time being—I’d heard things from David. I think he said a bear killed him once.

Besides, there was a big nasty treehouse up ahead that I wanted to clear out.

It held no bokoblins or moblins, though. Just a few large stray blue chuchus. I dispatched them and looted what was worth looting, and then came back to the Korok in the dell.

A few bombs scared off the bears, but I made sure to scout out a quick escape-route if they should come back while I was flushing out that Korok....

But they never came back.

I found some honey in their cave—swarming with bees, but a bomb took care of that, too. Useful tactic for later, I think.

There was a flat way out of Honeydell—mm, yes that fits—which led straight back to the road, but I climbed back out by going straight up the cliff. I didn’t want to run into those bears!

Only a little more trekking, a little more sniping, another treasure chest inside a big mossy skull-rock.... and I had arrived at Thims Bridge. I knew it! I knew they connected. :)

The rain started to come down as I crossed to the other side of the river, and I saw a man sheltering beneath a little half-tent beside a fire.

I’d never yet seen a Yiga with a campfire, so I talked to him. I can’t remember if his name was Fin or Russ, but he and his buddy, whose name was also either Fin or Russ, were in the business of selling shields.

I’ll say Fin was at the tent. His buddy Russ was up on a hill just to the south, beneath a large and prominent tree. All their wares were up there, because aside from selling shields, they were also teaching people how to shield-surf, which was most effective when going downhill.

David told me he’d done this! I remembered!

Like friggin’ Legolas at Helm’s Deep! 8D

Well.... movie Legolas. ^_~

I didn’t buy from them, but I learned the trick! And then continued on my way.

Another blue bokoblin was ruckusing around up ahead—chasing somebody it looked like.

I ran to get closer, and it was.... Leekah again?

I cut down her assailant, and she stopped and stood shivering in the rain, her poor familiar hunch making her look pitiful and vulnerable. When I spoke to her, she thanked me again for rescuing her, and gave me some honey.

Huh, I briefly wondered if she must have frequented that little Honeydell I’d visited!

This time, she continued down the road at a jog toward the Woodland Stable—just the place I’d wanted to go as well. I escorted her.

It was beginning to thunder.... I had to switch to non-conductive weaponry and equipment. The sky was already dark from the brooding rainclouds, but the sun must have gone down behind them, because only a short while later, no fewer than three stalizalfos popped up out of the earth in front of us.

Leekah shrieked and fled while I charged in, trying to draw their attention. The trouble with these blasted stal-creatures was that they just went all to pieces when you hit them.... but you had to find and finish off their heads or else they would eventually locate their members and put themselves back together again.

In a mad, rattling fray of bones, I took down at least two of them, chasing down their bouncing skulls—did one of them come so conveniently flying my way? Did Leekah punt it over for me to finish off? I could have sworn....

My blade put an end to their mischief. But as I turned to confront the last one—they’re usually so easy—so easy to dodge....

I took a bad arrow-hit.

Ugh, that hurt.... so many hearts....

A few bites of simmered fruit from my pocket, and a final charge, and I cut him down as well, before returning to Leekah in the new pouring stillness.

“We have got to stop meeting like this,” I told her.

She once again expressed her profound gratitude to me.... and gave me more honey.

She really is a sweet girl.

No pun intended.

On our final jog over the last few dozen yards to the stable, we passed another person just jogging out, heading southward, the way we had come. Tall, dark-skinned, ruddy-haired, and wearing poofy pink harem pants. A woman....

I caught her attention and we splashed to a halt beside each other on the road. “Sav’saaba!” she hailed. She introduced herself as Karsh of the Gerudo. “Remember it!” she said, and remarked further on how probably the only people capable of matching her own endurance were the Gorons....

We continued on our separate ways beneath the raging storm.

I’d never seen a Gerudo before.... at least not in present memory.

Now there went a damsel who looked hard put to be put in distress.

[[Fanart should have Link putting his cloak around her poor shivering figure as he helps to steady her in the pouring rain. But I was wearing the Zora ensemble + bandana at the time.]] - [[originally withheld from the blog; added from the log 2018-09-17 per entry of Wednesday, June 20, 2018 ~ 6: Unsaved Again]]