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.

Impa's Final Message

Waking of Saturday, May 4, 2019

Impa’s Final Message

It was still the waking of Saturday, May 4, 2019, but I was into the morning of May 5, 2019, because that was two years, two months, and two days since this game came out, and DANG IT if I wasn’t gonna get some time in on it today. I wanted to see Impa. And so help me after so much bloody laundry and dryers and other chores and the sucking black hole of the following circuses of self-medicinal YouTube and its inebriating memes and vines for ever I WAS GOING TO FREAKING PLAY THIS BLOODY GAME.

I was already in Kakariko.

It was 8:00 pm.

Paya was polishing the guardian deity statues.

I decked myself out to look presentable. No beast weaponry.

Now. Impa.

I went up the stairs. I went through the door.

I had all Divine Beasts. All memories.

What would she say?

She sat cross-legged on her little tower of pillows.

I spoke to her.

“I sense it... Their presence.

Daruk. Urbosa.

Revali. Mipha.”

Her old face furrowed. “A hundred years ago, I put my life on the line to fight alongside everyone. But...I could not protect them. They died without fulfilling their destinies. I have lived all this time thinking they died in vain.” She looked so downcast, and then, “But this energy I feel from their presence...” she trailed off.

“It seems they have not given up,” she smiled. “I can also sense...that they were all overjoyed to see you again,” she said, still smiling.

Heh, even Revali?

Well.... guess he can’t hide it from Impa.

That’s comforting.

And then suddenly intent! “Now you all serve the same purpose! Now it is time to attack Calamity Ganon, while he is weak! Hurry to the princess! Go, now!”

Oh, my map opened. And there was a new dinger at the castle.

“I believe you will find Calamity Ganon in Hyrule Castle.”

And I came back out of the map now.

“Even with blessings of the Divine Beasts on your side, you must be careful,” Impa went on, “Calamity Ganon will be well protected. Be prepared for anything!”

And then, “By the way... How are you faring thus far?” A bit jarring. And with a dynamic little zoom out in the cinematography, back to my person and then coming in close.... all dramatic.

Ah, on to the other quest, I see.

I gesticulated my response.

“No... All twelve pictures already? You’ve visited every place?!”

Was it really that shocking, Impa, with how long I’ve taken? |D

“Hmm... Then I suppose it’s time.” The camera zoomed in toward her face. The music had changed. An eerie, haunting, mystical version of some Sheikah tune.... “I will reveal the location of the final memory,” she said, and there was another zoom in toward myself.... in such a beautiful shot....

This is what I have been waiting for. I’ve seen the empty place for the last memory. I remember flashes of trailers. I’ve heard the stories from all the people in the land.

But will it be where I think it is?

“Here is what happened.” Impa.... got up off of her cushion!—I’d never seen her move from that spot before—and walked over to... where are we going? I followed.... “Lady Zelda asked me to wait to show you this. She gave me very specific instructions.” Or some such words!??

“This is the final picture.”

What is it....?

I looked....

The painting on the wall.... illuminated by a small standing lamp.

It was a rolling green field full of.... Guardian husks....

I knew it.

The flashing final stand in the rain beneath my hood.

Watching the lurching, gleaming beasts from the highest battlement.

The Valley of Terror.

Garill’s Haunt.

Fort Hateno.

“Does it look familiar?” Impa asked, “From this village, you should be able to get there in a half day’s time. Now go, child. Seek out what Lady Zelda has shown you.”

And the music went back to normal.

Free the Divine Beasts – Complete.

The long, long-awaited banner gleamed across my screen.

....

How did Zelda.... tell Impa.... that it was....?

....

I will go. And regain my final memory.

....

Impa still won’t let me touch the orange orb though.

How....

The Entry With No Shrines

Waking of Friday, May 3, 2019

The Entry With No Shrines

I warped to the Akkala Tower.

Time for more exploring.

I sailed down, moved into the trees and cleaned out the Torin Wetland—that waterlogged version of the Valley of Terror. Aside from all the dead and rusted Guardians in there, there were also two crawling Guardian Stalkers and one stationary Decayed one. I’d wanted to practice my range parrying the Guardians’ attacks; I was doing okay I thought. But it was still easiest to time it when they were right next to me.

When there was nothing awful left to slay I hiked back up the road and cleaned out the Akkala Parade Ground ruins. There was a Hinox in there, and it was good enough to drop some GUTS for me, which brought me up to seven. I could upgrade some clothes with that....

I was exploring around, exploring around, sniffing into all the various corners of the leafy Parade Ground court, when.... I heard someone in trouble.

But there was no one nearby.

But I was deep in the shadow the Akkala Citadel and its bridges, towering above me. The person must have been....

“Revari.... ONEGAI,” I geeked, and the Rito Champion’s spirit took me up in a trice to the bridge ruins where a lone Hylian man was cornered, beset by Bokoblins.

I fought them off, and the man, Neil, thanked me, and gave me an elixir of some kind.

He told me about the Akkala Citadel. Evidently it had acted as a last stronghold of a sort. It was said to be unassailable. But when the Castle fell, the army here, originally meant to protect Akkala, had no royalty to lead them, and the concentrated attack from the out of control Guardians brought it to ruin.

“Hyrule may very well have made its last stand here,” he said, or something like it.

Hm.

I paraglided or galed my way over the broken bridge, over to the Citadel side, to sport with the Flyer making its rounds about the lower level, and took it down after only a few mishaps.

The Flyers were hard, but.... I was getting better, I thought.

Okay. I had enough Hinox guts, and Mija was just over there across the way. I sailed over to see her, keeping my eyes open for shrines all the while, but.... nothing.

Mija upgraded my Barbarian Armor to the max. YES.

From there.... Hhhhhh I considered messing with some Lizalfos down by the Rist Peninsula, but.... ehhh, decided against it.

Instead I warped to Gut Check Rock and traveled thence up and around the volcano to....

That Skeleton.

THE ELDIN GREAT SKELETON.

WHY DOESN’T IT HAVE A SHRINE?

I searched for clues. Anything. Something that could trigger the appearance of a Shrine. I scoured the adjacent ashfalls and cliffsides. I climbed over the nearby rocks. I ran along the skeleton from nose to tail-tip. I crawled in its giant eye-sockets and planted bombs. Nothing.

....

Well it had worked in Ocarina of Time.

....

But I was just having no luck.

Well, different luck—for there was a music and a sudden wind....

Dinraal!

I tried and failed to get another claw from the dragon. Nuts!

Eh I went and killed the Lynel next door. Silver. Did pretty well.

Came back and killed the bad guy camp under the skeleton—

WHY IS THERE NO SHRINE?

....I may never know.

Or it wouldn’t be any time soon at least. Because now.... it was time for sushi.

Hahh, the Eldin Great Skeleton was a hard place to get to, but.... ehhh I would just warp to.... somewhere.... and save.

I’d warp to my house. No. The Deku Tree.

I’d warp to the Deku Tree’s Navel.

And I did.

Sushi.

Ice cream.

Great afternoon with Mom. ^_^ <3

When I picked up the game again I did a little shopping and cooking at the Deku Tree’s Navel, and some more of the same at Rito Village. I just wanted to buy some ingredients that I couldn’t get out in the field, like wheat and sugar cane and butter.

Siara was around, and she’d been interested to see the amusing clothing-upgrade animations. So I warped to the Great Fairy Tera in the desert and set her to work on my long-neglected Climber’s Shirt, which I’d been retaining at low level for just this purpose.

The animations were cute and Siara laughed, from the glitter-blowing to the head-bopping to the face-kissing to.... well, whatever it is they do on the fourth one.

And I finally got the perk for the Climbing Set, dimly registering that my climbing stamina usage was reduced or something to that end.

But my mind was already back on shrines.

I scanned the map, looking for triple-trees. Those anomalous little mini-copses of three trees or bushes or cacti standing in perfect, orderly little lines. Did those point to shrines?

I took stock; most of the things these formations pointed to were easy to find. There, that one pointed to a shrine, which had been hidden.... But that one in the desert pointed to Pocky’s Shrine, which was never hidden. But THERE, on that waterfall.... Where did that point to?

I warped to Faron to check it out, and couldn’t find a shrine. But I did find an ore cache that had been hidden.

Maybe the triple-trees pointed to secrets, and not necessarily just shrines.

Still, that desert one....

Hmm.

Running out of gas I worked my way over to the Highland Stable. I visited Malanya, who reported that I’m good with horses. Cool.

Took out Dragmire from the stable and rode to Kakariko. Didn’t stay at the inn, though. Just.... saved and put it to bed.

Return To The Castle

Waking of Monday, April 22, 2019

Return To The Castle

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

SHRINES.

I am missing some shrines.

Impa is hiding at least one shrine.

And Impa wanted me to regain my memories.

My last memory rests at the castle.

I must go to the castle.

So.... I went.

At least I had a shortcut now.

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

And found I had to change my Mask.

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

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

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

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

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

....

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

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

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

Hhhh but....

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I looked up.

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

Had this Guardian fallen from all the way up there?

What the heck?

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

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

Where was that spot?

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

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

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

Where was it?

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

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

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

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

My options were somewhat limited.

So.... I climbed up.

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

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

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

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

Hahhhh.

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

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

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

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

I was on the east!

....

Well....

There was nothing for it.

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

The Turret did not see me.

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

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

Danger? Am I safe?

....

I thought so, for the moment.

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

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

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

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

Funnily enough, it worked.

I parried him into oblivion.

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

That bridge.

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

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

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

Inside—

Silver Moblin!

I wasn’t wearing my mask.

Oh, he’d seen me....

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

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

Inside. Inside.... Where was I?

What was this room?

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

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

Zelda’s Diary.

Oh my gosh.

The Windy Canyon

Waking of Friday, January 11, 2019

The Windy Canyon

Ahhhh, Rito Village.

I wanted to find a shrine. There must have been another shrine.

I warped to Robbie’s to check that strange jut of land I had seen on my map—the one at the east end of that chasm that separated Hyrule from the north countries. It was just a raised bit of the topo that ran between the chasm and the eastern sea, flat for a good while as it jutted north off the Hyrulean landmass, and then degrading into rugged and more treacherous spiky formations that marched away to the northeast and off the edge of nowhere.

I had to kill a Lynel before I got there—such a daunting thing before—but once I’d made it to the spot, there was nothing to find after all. No hidden alcoves. Just that chime and You can’t go any farther once I came to the end of the flat part.

Filled with a kind of loneliness, I only gazed out into the mist and across the chasm to the towering northlands. Out of reach.

It looked kinda cool, so I took a pictograph.

After a brief warp to the Great Fairy Mija to upgrade my Barbarian Leg Wraps with a giant fairy-kiss to the face.... I consulted my map to see if I could find any other places I’d never tracked out on foot.

Tanagar Canyon. I’d never combed its bottom.

And so it was a warp to the Snowfield Stable and a jog and paraglide down onto the roof of the Forgotten Temple.

I had my work cut out for me here—Tanagar Canyon was huge.

The windy canyon stretched on and on before me, an endless beige track beneath the strip of sky over my head. Ruins and rubbled bits of stonework littered its floor, becoming more sparse as I moved away from the Forgotten Temple. These were hardly replaced by what scanty scrub had been able to take root in the bone-dry earth down here. And there were hecktons of wolves. Lots and lots and lots of wolves.

Dinraal passed overhead twice, but he was far out of reach of any of my bows.

And then my shrine detector went off! :D

I went and found it! It lay secluded in a jagged little corner veering off to the right—the north side—and back behind some large rocks. The Dunba Taag Shrine.

“Build and Release” was the name of the trial inside—it was a DEVILISH Stasis-based Shrine.

And that made 28 Spirit Orbs.

I must pray now, I thought.

But I am so tired.

I kept going, down to the south end of Tanagar Canyon—it curved that way—until I found a Goron who ran.... the Boom Bam Golf! Course.

The Boom Bam Golf! Course was a long, raised strip of the lower bedrock with some minor lateral angling to it, which connected to a large mound at one end with a sizeable depression in its middle. And a very tall flagpole.

Like any good Goron, this one, Modar, huffed and puffed and groared and whooped about the sheer and raw amazingness of his game and how awesome one would be to play it. He actually asked me, “if ya got the stones to strut your stuff in a game of BOOM BAM GOLF!”

Oh wow I can’t believe a Zelda game just said that! XD

So I played it. It was fun.

I didn’t like wearing down my weapons unnecessarily just to whack around the big Stasised golf ball, but....

It was fun.

I kept going. And toward the very last southern end of Tanagar Canyon, as the ground began to rise again.... brreep-brreep! went my shrine detector!

The canyon floor came gently up, curled around to the right and back northward, and it was there that I found the Kah Okeo Shrine, buried in a hole in the ground under a giant slab.

OH MY GOSH WIND GUIDE—THIS TRIAL—

THIS SHRINE WAS DISGUSTING.

But as soon as I had beaten it—Oh, I saw.

I guess that’s 29 Spirit Orbs now. Oops.

I was out of gas. I wandered north. The impassable chasm gaped stark and dusty to my left. Seas to the east and south, chasms and deserts to the north and west.... I wondered what the lands beyond were like....

Wandered north over the same beige rock.

Found a Gisa Crater with a Talus sleeping in the middle of it.

Pass.

This western coast of the country was long. And I was tired.

I called it a day, went to Pepp’s, and slept.

I guess I have 29 Spirit Orbs now. But I’ll pray next time anyway.

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.

BIG BOYS

Waking of Friday, December 7, 2018

BIG BOYS

In studying the network of bright blue shrine markers on my map, I could still see a few empty spaces between them, too-broad empty spaces with conspicuous geography that looked.... likely....

I warped to the Qukah Nata Shrine high above Faron’s waterfalls, and wandered into the wetlands—the Rabella Wetlands these were called. I could see a spot on my map that looked like somewhere I’d seen David visit before....

And I found it. In the middle of a leafy, dappled plateau, an enormous ribcage jutted into the air, points to the sky. And in the middle of that ribcage, snoring grotesquely away.... a big Black Hinox. I remembered seeing David throwing Bombs at this one from one of the ribs....

The Hinox was surrounded by lesser meanies, just Bokoblins, and these I drew away one by one with my Mask, dispatching them each privily in a manner that did not make me feel proud.

But when it was just me and the big guy, I was able to get closer, and I saw that it had.... an orb?

On went my Barbarian Armor and I killed it then and there! With Urbosa’s help. I was just briefly bewildered during the short time its life-meter was visible. For this one wasn’t just a “Hinox”, but it bore the secondary title of “Eldest Kin”.

Oh yeah, I remembered, It had said that when David was fighting it.

What was this some kinda Super-Hinox?

Well if it had been before, it wasn’t now.

I looted the spoils. Now where the heck did this orb go....?

I looked around, and.... there! There seemed to be some ruins of a sort just a bowshot away. I hefted the orb over the grass and drew nearer to the ruins and—

What the—? Three pedestals??

I set the orb in the pedestal nearest to where I had come from, and approached a small stone marker. The inscription on it said something about orbs guarded by three giants....

And the shrine quest banner flashed across my screen: The Three Giant Brothers.

Heh, it sounded like a kind of fairy tale. ^_^

Well then! Two to go, I supposed! :D

So I had killed the Eldest Kin in the Rabella Wetlands. I spread out and searched now in the directions indicated by the remaining two pedestals....

In a place called Uten Marsh, as the sun was going down, I found the Youngest Kin, a Red Hinox. He was just a little bit down the grassy hill, and so was very easy to get to with my paraglider. So easy, in fact, that I took my flight just a little bit farther than I’d ever gone, and landed right on his big sleeping chest!

He didn’t wake, but only continued to snore.

Link meanwhile adopted the broad-stanced, bent-kneed posture he took on whenever danger was near, and glared with ready eyes down at the beast. But at every heaving breath from the monster beneath his feet, his arms would windmill just slightly, and he would have to twine his torso aright with a little jerk to keep from losing his balance.

“David, look at this!” I choked in a whisper.

“Oh my gosh, what are you doing?” He didn’t sound shocked or impressed, just.... resigned. :|

I stole the orb right off the Hinox’s necklace, turned, and stepped off the side of his big red belly....

I hit the grass with the expected clomp of my boots and little gasp from my lips after the drop.... but the Hinox didn’t wake up.

The orb was still in my hands, still held high over my head. I’d been afraid I would lose my grip on it in the little freefall and it would clonk loudly against the ground, or strike the Hinox. But nothing had happened.

And so I started walking softly away through the darkness, back toward the hill.

Well this was going to be cake! I thought. ^_^ I could just walk off with it!

But I stopped when the ground began to incline, and remembered.

I still needed Hinox guts.

I set the orb down in a place where it wouldn’t roll, and.... I actually felt a little bit sad, when I went back, and just.... killed the thing.

Red ones don’t especially drop a lot of good stuff anyway, but it never hurts to check.

And when I came to Hanu Pond and found the Middle Kin Blue Hinox.... I wasted no time there either, but killed him right away too.

And when I went back to the ruin and placed the last orb in the last pedestal, the Tawa Jinn Shrine appeared. It was a Blessing.

That was 105 shrines for me. David was still at 109? Maybe....?

I continued to wander all over the wetlands. I thought about going up to that one high plateau to kill the Lynel, but.... eh, I held off.

Wandered.... wandered.... I meandered looking for Koroks and new things to explore until I came back to whatever peak that was—the Peak of Awakening? Mount Floria? It was Mount Floria. The Peak of Awakening was above the Lanayru Road.

Mount Floria was the name of the mount between the provinces. The one above Misko’s Treasure Cache, and the Twin Bridges. The peak from which you could see both the Valley of Terror spread before the Dueling Peaks Stable, and the jungled plateaus of the Faron Province.

It was the crest from which I had first seen that Lynel-haunted plateau. The Lynel had been Blue that first time—the kind I’d always wanted to fight, but had never gotten the chance to.

Tougher Lynels kept showing up all the time.

I had a look at the Lynel down there now. Looked like another White-Maned one. I scoped in for a better view, not knowing what in the world possessed me to use my Pictobox zoom instead of the regular scope....

And as the reticle passed over the Lynel, the targeting box briefly flashed, but it was.... orange? What in the heck—The box only ever turned orange if the subject hadn’t yet been logged in the Compendium. I thought I’d already pictographed a White Lynel....

I steadied the Pictobox, and looked again. Lined up the reticle.

And the Sheikah Slate identified it as....

A SILVER LYNEL?

THE HECK.

....

.__.

....

WELL.

I’D JUST HAVE TO FLY DOWN THERE AND GET IT THEN.

I donned my Lynel Mask, and laughed as Link puffed out his chest and cast back his arms in muscular majesty. Forgot about that one. XD

I paraglided in, and could see the subtle differences now. It was still striped like a monstrous Zebra, but it was not so much black-and-white as purple-and-white. Like the other silver creatures, Moblins and Bokoblins and Lizalfos, pale with purple markings.

The thing had 5000 HIT POINTS.

DANG.

....

SO I GOT TO IT UNTIL IT WAS DEAD.

....

Hey I needed the Lynel bits.

After that I kept wandering, just finding a whole lotta Koroks. And finally a claw from the dragon Farosh as well.

More wandering, more wandering, more wandering in the Wetlands.... That would make a good title. Wandering in the Wetlands. Or Wetland Wanderings....

Just a few more Koroks, just a few more Koroks.... I was up to seventeen; if I could just get to twenty, Hestu could fill my last shield slot, and then.... I could find out what would happen next. Just a few more.... Huh, I wonder what color the southern Corridor Lynel is....

I warped to Ishto Soh to check.

It was Silver.

Just my luck.

I didn’t bother with it.

Any more Koroks....?

Hhhhhh.

Running out of juice, I warped to Tera and upgraded a few clothes. Soldier’s Armor all up to level three.... Barbarian Leg Wraps up from level one to level two.... which meant there might be a perk....

And there was! My charge-attack stamina was.... up? Or something? Did that mean.... I could charge up a spin-attack without wearing out so fast? Like how in the Zora Suit I could swim harder and faster without wearing out?

I dunno I’m tired.

PEPP’S AND BED.

GOOD NIGHT.

SNOW DAY

Waking of Thursday, November 15, 2018

SNOW DAY

So David and I.... we’d kind of been one-upping each other the entire game. He had more shrines, but I had more Koroks seeds. And we would poke fun at each other for being so behind in one area or another....

But lately.... David’s been seeing my shrine number go up, and so that sped him up, which made me want to get more....

And I’d seen him combing this cold, cold snowy region....

....It was my turn now!

Out from the Snowfield Stable and I was goin’ for the mountains! Looking for Koroks and Shrines!

OH it was a hard and fast snow day for me! I found my first shrine in the Pikida Stonegrove—which would have seemed a friendlier place if not for the everpresent snowy haze in the air! That and the incessant Lizalfos and Frost Pebblits made it rather foreboding. Great stone columns in a slanting valley, bearing up a canopy of flat-topped rock on top—which was as good as another snowfield in and of itself! Rok Uwog was the name of the Shrine there.

The second shrine I found in the Kopeeki Drifts! That was a fun one to get to, rolling giant snowballs down criss-crossing grooves in the snow! Trying to guess which one would lead to the giant stone doors at the bottom and SMASH them open! The Gee Ha’rah Shrine was inside.

I followed my shrine locator just up the hill to the west, and proceeded to chase it in circles around a large, snow-covered mound, beneath which ran an icy stream. I was dang near tripping over the Koroks, but for the life of me I could find no way to access the inside of this mound.... Well, no safe way. For the water was frigid, and would sap my hearts.

There were two small, tunnel-like openings into the mound where the stream entered and exited it; the only other opening to the interior was a low, wide cave-mouth on the side, where the icy water licked at a tiny shore like a miniature beach. I could see the shrine’s orange glow if I crouched. It looked like it was on its own tiny island in there.... with some Lizalfos, aw crap heck....

I rather found that.... there was nothing for it. I swam for it in my Zora Gear! And lost half my hearts. This was the Lanno Kooh Shrine, and thankfully it simply offered a Blessing for my efforts. Hahh, I could see why....

Made me want to draw Link shivering getting back into warm clothes once he got up onto the shrine-rock. Hoohoohooo brrrrr....

I don’t like interrupting the line of my travels when I can help it, but I did not want to swim back out of that place. Though the Spirit Orb had replenished my hearts, I really would rather have warped, and so went back to the Hebra Tower. That would be close enough.

The day was clearer than it had been when I touched down. And looking back at the mountains and studying my map, it was only then that I realized.... oh my goodness....

There is a mountain. A mountain I have seen many times. And it is the most oddly-shaped thing.... There is a hole blasted right through it. Well, not strictly; it did not form a tunnel.

When you looked at it from other places all over Hyrule, you saw the triangle of the peak, and then just high on the left side of the silhouette, somewhat overlapping the edge, there was just a big circle missing. Like a leaf-cutter bee had come and just snipped it out.

I had long been very curious about what must be up in that hole....

And looking back at the mountains and studying my map, I now realized....

I HAD BEEN ON TOP OF THAT MOUNTAIN.

The very one! It was the tallest peak! I’d climbed up there in my mad snow day wanderings and already said hello to the Korok! That giant hole had been right beneath me!

I wanted back up there!

So I went! I climbed and climbed and climbed, cresting hills and paragliding over ravines until I came to THE HOLE.

It gaped above me like a monstrous cave. “Oh my gosh IT’S HUGE,” I marveled. And the inside was all.... one texture? .... Eaten away, blasted out. Burned up.

Wow.

The shrine signal was strong here. I followed it to about the middle of the cut—for though the hole seemed crisp and shallow by far away silhouette, it was actually quite long, spearing lengthwise through the mighty ridge.

Around the middle, nestled in the inward wall against the heart of the mountain, there was a shrine behind some huge chunks of ice. I could see the orange glow through a high gap. There seemed to be plenty of room to access it from above, but when I tried to climb up to it, I slipped down the bluish-grey surface.

“OH MY GOSH, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?”

“What is it, ice?” asked Mom, who was in the room.

“It’s.... glass,” I said.

The mountain had been burned right through. I knew it.

What could do this?

Had it been a Divine Beast?

I got busy laying fires, and decided to clear away all of the ice, even the block containing a frozen Moblin. It came to life well enough once it was free, but I killed it with a little help from Daruk. Another chunk of ice contained a hidden treasure chest, and that was neat.... but most of the rest of it was merely ice.

The multitude of campires I had laid was a striking sight against the cold, dark blue, so I backed up and took a pictograph of them gleaming along with the warm light of the shrine.... JUST before a Blood Moon put them all out and brought that Black Moblin back to life! He hit me again this time without Daruk impeding him. Ouch my Warm Doublet had such a low defense....

I was suddenly regretting freeing the monster from the ice.... Would it forever spawn in this location now? Dang it....

This FOURTH SHRINE that I had found today was called the Goma Asaagh Shrine. And it contained a Major Test of Strength. Easy peazy lemon squeezy.

Upon completing the trial and exiting the shrine, I stepped back into the hole in the mountain to discover.... MORE SHRINE SIGNAL?

I continued up through the hole! Northwest and at a slight incline. Maybe whatever blast made this hole had come from the lower direction of the castle....

After getting rid of an Ice Wizzrobe in my way and going just a bit further I saw some smoke in the distance! And following this, I saw there was.... there was a cabin!

Selmie’s Spot, this was called?

Well at least it sounded like there would be people around.

I went in.

Selmie was.... a girl. Out here alone?

She had a lot of shields mounted high on her walls. Some of them I recognized, some of them I didn’t.

“Huh... Welcome to the middle of nowhere,” she said, “Population: us.”

Hah. XD

Her music was so soothing and pleasant after the rigours of the mountain.

I set the controller in its cradle to recharge (the light was red), just with the screen on that first line of dialogue. And when I came back from MADLY JOTTING ALL THESE NOTES FOR THIS ENTRY.... I just felt like sitting and listening to it. Just the sound of the music at Selmie’s Spot.

So soothing and pleasant after the rigours of the mountain....

Just the sound of it.... and the fire crackling.... and the wind blowing.... I just wished I could have it.... playing. Just for sound in the house. Or in my room. I could fall asleep to this. “Wouldn’t this make a beautiful lullaby?”

Mom agreed. <3

I was so utterly content and happy.

But wait it gets worse.

I was just listening to the slow, downward progression of the notes, the chords.... broken chords rolling upward in little changes.... when OH MY GOSH WHAT NO THIS WHAT YOU CAN’T THAT’S—

I TENSED UPON THE COUCH....

Got up. Still rather crouching. Padded softly closer to the TV.

Listened.

And listened more.

The progression was slow....

But no.... It was.... unmistakable.

Selmie’s music....

WAS THE HOUSE MUSIC FROM OCARINA OF TIME.

OH MY GOOOOSSSSSHHHHHH—

Augh.

It was so beautiful....

I love meeting old friends in new skins and new attire.