Search and Rescue

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 9

Search and Rescue

The Kousok Plateau turned out to be one of the wide mountain shelves overlooking the canyon I had ridden through to get to the Gerudo Canyon Stable.

Now, I had seen, many times, quite plainly, the expansive network of footpath-scaffolds anchored into the sheer rock walls of this canyon—of Gerudo Canyon. I had wondered if they were of Gerudo make.

And you know, maybe they were and maybe they weren’t; I suppose it doesn’t matter.

Because whoever made them, the Bokoblins had them now.

At some point, I ventured off the shelf of Kousok Plateau and down into this wooden tangle. And as soon as I saw who was home, on went the Bokoblin Mask.

It was certainly an interesting plane to explore. I had seen it back in the trailer—Link had backflipped in slow motion out of reach of a monster, and then launched a volley of spear-jabs....

I didn’t suppose I would find myself in that situation now, not with the mask on, and that was fine with me. I had to wrap up soon so I could start the new day.

Don’t stay up all night, kids. @_@

Bokoblins eyed me curiously as I squeezed past them on the narrow walkways, following me and trying to strike up snorting conversations. Islander Hawks circled the sky at my level. I updated my Compendium with a really splendid pictograph of one. ^_^

But I had no more excuses—the insistent, responsible draw of the stable and a stopping point pulled me onward as I dragged my feet through every step I could savor.

And then I noticed a commotion.

Beneath a tented platform at the dead end of one scaffold, two Bokoblins were yammering and stomping and swinging at.... a person.

Why.... that must’ve been one of the people who had gone missing—one of the oily guys!

Deliriously hungry to extend my distractions, I ran in to help—and the oily guy.... was an oily girl. She cried for assistance.

The Bokoblins seemed to debate about what to make of me, until I started hitting them. After that they gave me only a little bit of trouble before I had dispatched them both.

The woman stood panting, and I spoke to her. Her name was Flaxel. She had short brown hair and an attractive face. I asked her if she knew Sesami, and told her that he had asked me to come find his friends.

“You mean Sesami’s been kicking back at the stable this whole time?” she shrieked.

Actually he had seemed really, really worried, but I didn’t get a chance to tell her that.

She did thank me for getting her out of a tight spot, and then huffed off toward the stable, ready to give Sesami a piece of her mind, looked like.

Huh. Well that was one person saved. There had been four....

But maybe.... the rest would be easy to stumble across as well.

And as it turned out.... they rather were.

I found a somewhat heavyset woman called Canolo next, in a similar predicament, and her reaction was much the same as Flaxel’s had been. Her pink overcoat, high, dark pigtails, and pouty face did little to aid any justification she may have tried to display in her outburst.

How could they be so angry? I thought. If it’d been me, I don’t think I’d have room to be angry, for the mountains of relief I would feel.

Then again.... I suppose they are female.

(We can be craaazyyyy....)

I found a man next, lithe and lean-bodied, with dark hair in a ponytail, and steely eyes. He seemed to be standing a little more confidently against his opponents, but he welcomed my help all the same, and a little more graciously at that. His name was Oliff, and he complimented me on my swordsmanship. He was happy to learn what had become of Sesami, and where he could be found, and he set off at a confident stride toward the stable.

One left.

It took some scouting and backtracking, but after a short time I came to one more soul with his back against the wall.

This man had a dark, somewhat unflattering haircut and a pudgy face, and his name was Palme. He did not seem quite as able as Oliff had been, nor was he as waspish as Flaxel or Canolo. He was just a man, and he was simply grateful for my help and information. And he hurried on his way.

I looked at the clock.

I.... kind of had to hurry on my way, too.

The four missing persons were rescued; it was time to head back to the stable.

Wasted in the Wasteland

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 8

Wasted in the Wasteland

It didn’t look as if.... sleep was going to be a big option for me tonight.

I went for the Sheikah Tower. 熬夜！Aoh yeah!

As soon as I saw this tower, I recognized it from something Joseph had described, long, long ago.

This tower stood in a bog, beside an array of tall stone slabs. Fierce winds prevented approach by paraglider. But a few Magnesable metal boxes littered the shore—I could use those to construct a footpath.

In Magnesising—Magnesing?—the first box, I saw that an additional host of other metal boxes lay beneath the bog’s bubbling surface—it seemed it was deeper than I had realized.... and there were also a few chests hidden down there!

In laying the foundations for a step beside the stone slabs, I accidentally knocked them over, thus creating the domino-ramp that would ultimately give me access to the Sheikah Tower.

Huh.... I’d thought Joseph had used a Bomb.

I guessed a flailing metal box could work, too.

The depth of the pool necessitated some precarious stacking and a great deal of guesswork and patience, but at length I had fashioned five somewhat level stepping-stones across the bog. Then it was a shinny up the fallen slabs, a climb up to the top of the tower, and....

I was rewarded with a map of the Wasteland.

The farthest southwestern reaches populated in my Sheikah Slate.

!

There was a Leviathan skeleton down there.... in a place called Dragon’s Exile.... wow....

And that Satan Canyon that had been full of all the Yiga Archers—that part filled in, that singular little canyon, creeping like an encroaching tentacle into the Gerudo territory map.

And there were all those rock-spires at the canyon’s mouth.... and strange, huge archways of stone.... and giant bones littering the emptiness.... and that circle of Colossi I had seen!

And away to the southeast, there was the Devil’s Own Highway, where I had placed those three star-stamps ages ago! Just above Moza’s cooking disaster, at the mouth of the Lynels’ Corridor....

The area was vast, and looked just full of places and things to explore! Oh I wanted to head for that Dragon....

But.... it was so, so late....

I considered, shouldn’t I just close on the activating of the Sheikah Tower? That was a good achievement to stop on.... I’d have to get ready for church soon....

Then I saw on my map the name Kousok Plateau, and remembered—that guy.... that guy back at the stable, the oily guy, Sesami—hadn’t he said that’s where he had lost his friends?

I could just.... head back toward the stable via that.... plateau and then.... and THEN I could call it quits.

A Climb about the Canyon

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 7

A Climb about the Canyon

It was well past midnight, and I really, really did need to get to bed and to sleep.

I wanted to end the session, but.... maybe just one more thing first....

I rode a bit further on from the Gerudo Canyon Stable, and the canyon came to an abrupt end at the edge of a vast and sandy desert scape. I tried Dragmire at the edge of the desert, but he would go no further. There was something of a small ledge that dropped down several feet, and so I tried him again at the high end of a ramp that seemed meant for foot traffic.... but he wasn’t having it.

So I ran him back to the stable and boarded him.

That would be the last thing I did. Maybe.

It didn’t seem like it would hurt just to talk to the stable people first.

Beedle was there—no, I wasn’t going to trade him my Energetic Rhino Beetle; most of his trades seemed like not such great deals anyway. And Kass was there—he said he was impressed with me for having come so far! “Even I, blessed with the gift of flight, had trouble getting here,” he said.

I did not stay to listen to his song, though.

A man named Sesami told me he and his friends had been jumped by some baddies around such-and-such plateau, and they were lost and would I please go help to find them. Their names were Oliff, Flaxel, Canolo and Palme.

What an oily-sounding bunch. XD

And then there was an old man who was in need of Rushrooms. He wanted to gather a bunch of them, but he was too old and frail to climb up to where they grew on the cliff walls.

AND WOULD I PLEASE HELP HIM.

Well that.... didn’t seem like too much work.

Maybe I would just dart up and grab him the Rushrooms—they grew everywhere around here it seemed—and I would make THAT the last thing I did before I went to bed.

It turned out he needed quite a few of them—certainly more than I had on me; I never gather those things....

And so I climbed a few hills, climbed a few cliffs, up the one side of the canyon, the side overhanging the ground where the stable stood.... And then I decided to check out the side across the way, the hilly side that mounted up beyond the Kay Noh Shrine.

I’d been curious about that side. Huge and angular steps of grey stone stood in stark contrast to the beigeruddy, windswept curves of the rest of the canyon. A castle among the cliffs.

No, not a castle—a fortress.

It was hard not to see the old Gerudo’s Fortress in those shapes.

There were no doors in these stones, though. Only a few ladders and pulleys led the way to the top.

Up and up and up I climbed.... losing track of everything. Weird scapes opened up before my eyes. Strange lands and monumental shapes. It was as if I had entered a Land of Goddesses; a ring of Desert Colossi stood ancient and imposing, facing inward together as if in prayer.

Away out in the desert, I saw the Divine Beast stomping around.

And looking up.... there was the Sheikah Tower.

It was quite close.

Should I....?

....

I debated.

.......

The hour was so late....

. . . . . . .

Was that the sun?

A Ride into the Desert

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 6

A Ride into the Desert

Back at the Outskirt Stable I cooked up a loooot of stamina elixirs for a later attempt at the beast of Satori Mountain.

But for now.... it was time to take Dragmire out for a ride. Up the road we went, between the towering hills and across the green fields, past the lumbering pack of Moblins to Digdogg Suspension Bridge. I walked him quietly here, and we sneaked round the side of the slumbering Hinox before plunging on ahead into the sandy desert lands.

Dragmire it seemed, while not able to put out bursts of speed, nevertheless had a tremendous power of strength. David enjoyed demonstrating this for me with his own tamed version of the Dark Horse—plowing over Bokoblins and Lizalfos, stunning or even killing them. He even took several damaging passes at a Lynel before this last creature had evidently had enough, and started pelting him with arrows.

He fled then.

But for myself I tried not to run Dragmire into too many obstacles. Clomp straight through them though he could, I didn’t want to overstrain him if I could help it.

At least, not without good reason and low-risk opportunity—I make no promises to smaller monsters on foot.

I had often been a very slow traveler, cautiously combing over the landscape as I moved, scouting dangers from all angles before proceeding, and generally creeping with the prudence—and speed—of a church mouse.

But here and now on my gargantuan horse.... and maybe.... just maybe feeling the press of time....

I needed to move.

We just.... went for a ride. Into the canyon. Dragmire led the way; he knew to follow the road. And the path went deeper, and the bordering canyon walls became taller, and the sunbaked land glowed dusty gold in the daylight—it was stunning.

I did not even slow down—except when I briefly had to dismount in order to Magnese an obstacle out of the way.

But onward we pressed. And after a time, we came to the Gerudo Canyon Stable.

I met a treasure-seeking Gerudo there named Calisa.

I am beginning to lose track of all the Sav’greetings they hail me with.

Calisa said that among the voe of this stable there didn’t seem to be too much treasure around here. “Well, except maybe for you,” she added.

^_^;;

I locked down the adjacent Kay Noh Shrine up on the hill across the way—and I decided that that was going to be the last thing I did. It was getting pretty late, and I really did need to get to bed.

I wouldn’t go any further tonight.

....

One guess how long my resolution lasted.

Blue Bedlam

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 5

Blue Bedlam

The tack the stable gave me for Dragmire was.... exquisite! Guess they had to make it specially for him, as he was so huge. Heh, bright orange tassels to match his fire-bright mane and tail.... cool.

But there was one more thing left to do that would make his appearance perfect.

I boarded my new giant steed and warped back to the Outskirt Stable. It was Dragmire I would take out past Digdogg Suspension Bridge and into the desert; that was only fitting. But first....

I took Dragmire back out, and walked him over to the girl by the manger.

She was going to give my horse the Mohawk befitting the lineage of his grandsires.

The girl automatically began to ramble off her spiel asking if I’d like her to do up my horse’s mane and tail, but she stopped in mid-sentence.

“Whoa!” she said, looking up, “That’s no pony you have there, is it!”

She remarked on his size, and said she wasn’t sure they had any implements big enough for him, and went on to mention that he didn’t seem like the type to enjoy having his hair messed with anyway.

:c

So....

No Mohawk for Dragmire.

Hhhhhhh.

I looked at some of my other horses.... changed Memory’s braids to a single French braid.... yes that looked good.

I guessed the Dark Horse was too special to mess with.

Well.... that was fine, Nintendo.

I’d still take him out into the desert lands—his desert lands—as I pressed forward in my journey.

....

Or I would, in a little bit, anyway.

Satori Mountain was glowing again.

Back went Dragmire into the stable, and back I warped to the high, cold peak of Satori Mountain.

This time I scrambled all the way to the top of one of the three stones at its crest, giving myself an open view into the high clearing.

I felt like I’d stepped into a Studio Ghibli film.

Blupees pattered around everywhere, taking slow little hops and sniffing the airs, the grasses, each other, their ears perking and twitching. They seemed drawn in toward the center, toward the perfectly round pool beside the cherry tree, but they would not touch or enter the shallow water. The sight of them—twenty at least—ringing the edge of the pool, gleaming like lanterns in the ghostly teal haze.... was striking.

And standing once again in the water.... the blue beast. The Lord of the Mountain.

I paraglided in this time, and landed on its back.

And it dawns on me, the brazen disrespect my avatar must have for these holy mystical creatures.

Unsurprisingly, it began to buck and kick. But to my amazement, the unmistakable Soothe-button icon appeared.

I pressed it. Repeatedly. I patted the creature’s neck and murmured soothing sounds, but my stamina was burning away fast.

And I had no more elixirs to extend it.

The Lord of the Mountain bucked me off and vanished.

The Blupees scattered where I rolled to a halt off the side of the pool. I rose back to my feet, exhausted, wondering if I’d blown another opportunity.

But the teal haze did not dissipate. Before my eyes, the blue beast rematerialized in the pool, standing peacefully as it had before, pawing the pool’s shallow bottom and dipping its strange head.

It was not facing me—otherwise I think it would have bolted. I think it also helped that I stood several paces away from it.

It stood in perfect perpendicular profile to me.

Was it a mount? Or was it game?

Maybe it was remembering how ineffective my previous sword strokes had been that made me draw my strongest bow and nock a Bomb Arrow to the string.

I overestimated the arc, and the arrow just shaved the creature’s back before detonating on the far side of the pool.

There was lantern-blue bedlam on the mountaintop. The blue beast bolted, evaporating into thin air in a heartbeat, while the Blupees darted confusedly in all directions.

And yet, after a moment had passed and the rabbitkabobs had calmed down.... the blue beast appeared yet again.

This time I didn’t miss. But there was little difference to the result—the blue beast, now on fire, turned and ran, disappearing in mid-stride as it had before. The Bomb Arrow had not been able to fell it.

And this time, the ghostly teal haze did evaporate, the night became clear, the Blupees were gone.... and I was alone.

Guess it’s three strikes and you’re out.

Something glimmered on the far side of the pool.

I walked across the shallow water to find.... rupees.

I guessed I’d blown up a few Blupees with that first Bomb Arrow.

I pocketed the money.

....

Is that why it’s spelled Blupees and not Blupies?

The Big Dang Horse

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 4

The Big Dang Horse

What had commandeered my attention after I set my controller down to charge....? Probably just the necessaries of life.

I came back and found that my lonely WiiU had gone to sleep.

Rats! I hadn’t found a proper saving point!

I restarted it all back up....

And I was on Satori Mountain.

The glowing beast wasn’t there. But the Korok I scared up was.... some consolation I suppose.

I went back to the Outskirt Stable. Probably. I let myself play too far and too long without logging—it gets hard to remember—

Suffice it to say that the sirens played havoc in my head again and I was off to the Great Plateau.

They say Hylians have long ears to hear the voices of the Gods.

I think when I play it’s more like hearing the call of attention deficit disorder.

Hm, or since he’s the avatar, and I’m the player, does that make me the God? He does so readily obey my every whim.... though I allow him the moments that must be lived one way and no other.

But let’s not get too meta just here.

The rain was pouring on the Stasis Shrine, but through the din I could still hear the mean, scruffling sounds of stal-creatures clawing up out of the earth and wishing to do me ill.

Not wanting to deal with them I ran toward the first empty edge I could see and jumped off into the cacophonous, blustering night.

I couldn’t see anything for the rain. Just dim looming shapes in the distance—mountains and hills. I had to consult my map to orient myself.

I wanted back in the Lynels’ Corridor.

I had unfinished business there.

Maybe it was that I had finally taken my horses out and showed them a little bit of love. Ah, my sweet babies.... I like to keep them locked up safe and sound—no telling what we might encounter out in the world. I didn’t want anything to happen to them.

Mm but they were still my proud and wonderful beasts, and I still liked to ride the roads with them.

And there had been that Mohawk mane style....

....

There was only one animal in the world for which that style would be so.... singularly and definitively befitting.

I touched down in the grasslands and jogged quickly toward the baobabs—there were wolves about and I didn’t need their attentions right now.

Presently the herd came into view. But.... they all looked the same. Five or six animals, milling around, cropping the grass.... All the same size.

Where was the big one?

Off to my right, right against the western mountain, one more dark horse pawed unconcernedly about. Fine place for it to stand when I was trying to compare them all.

I was sure it was the one from before—deep black body and a flaming orange mane and tail—but I wanted to make extra sure. I headed toward it, scooting round the baobabs in a fine game of ring-around-the-rosie until I was able to cow it back toward its fellows.

It joined up with them smoothly enough, droplets of water cleaving together. But was it all the way into their midst? The screen gave me no depth perception. The dark one still stood out big among the herd, and I was too far away to tell clearly—Was it larger for its size? Or for its nearness?

A littler horse walked in front of it.

Oh yeah, that was the big one.

And now that I had more stamina, I wanted to try it again.

And the slow chase was on.

I crouched down and crept carefully up behind it, freezing when it turned, pausing as long as I needed, closer and closer.... The other horses snorted and cantered away if they saw me, but my only concern was the Dark One.

Careful not to come up directly behind it—didn’t want a kick in the face, not from that one—I came close to its right flank.... and hopped on.

The thing jumped and bucked as I patted and soothed it frantically—my legs were spread wide over its huge barrel trunk—and my stamina began to burn away. I had much more of it this time, but it was going down fast.

But a quick look into my pockets showed me my stock of stamina dishes and elixirs—I used them all—and on the dregs of the very last one....

The Dark Horse stamped itself into a huff, and stood still beneath me.

I’d got it!

What a BEAST he was! Strong, and proud, and beautiful. I walked him back and forth, here and there, patting his neck, trotting him, reassuring him, soothing him and murmuring sweet sounds beneath the baobabs.

Hahhh! When I got this beauty back to a stable I’d—

And then I saw the problem.

The northern end of the Lynel’s Corridor is a box canyon. To the north is the towering wall of the Great Plateau. To the west, the red tiers of the Gerudo Highlands. To the east, the lush but steep mountain range bordering the lake.

The only way out of this place was southward, past not one but two Lynels, and a small battalion of mounted Bokoblins.

Touché, Nintendo. Touché.

There was no way I was attempting that on a steed that had anything less than complete trust in me. I couldn’t afford any refusals.

And so I continued trotting the Dark One back and forth, back and forth, round and round, again and again, now stopping, now starting, now sprinting, now stepping, always assuring him with pats to his neck, but not too many too fast, correcting him quickly, rewarding him fairly, and loving him gently.

He was a giant to be sure, but he seemed to have no energy for bursts of speed. His fastest gallop.... was his only gallop. This had me worried for getting past those Lynels, but.... after a long time of learning and bonding and with nothing else for it.... we turned our heads southward, and plunged down the grassland.

The Lynels were actually.... surprisingly easy to slip past! And they did not pursue us once we were out of their prowling grounds. And with a bit of weaving and dodging, the Bokoblins did not pose much of a threat either!

I pressed the Dark One onward down the road—we weren’t going to stop for anything until I could register this beast!

And we came at length to the Highland Stable, and it was once again that terrible conniption of deciding on a fitting name.

I knew whose horse this had to be descended from. It was obvious. The huge size, the soot-black coat, the mane like a raging fire. The proximity to Gerudo lands.

But to name him after anything having to do with such a figure.... it would be like a swear word. ._.

And yet.... how could I choose anything else? It would feel untrue. Unfaithful.

But truth and faithfulness notwithstanding, did such a figure even deserve any such honor?

This was a real pickle.

....

You know, perhaps his name had already gone down in history a thousand times as the darkest curse a man could utter.

But perhaps his surname.... the second name he took from the time he rode the black horse with the flaming mane.... perhaps that name was and had always been a purely Gerudo device.

And he wasn’t a Gerudo. Not really.

Maybe it was a good, proud name once. A strong Gerudo name.

Maybe it could be again.

I spent my twenty rupees at the stable counter, and I called my gargantuan steed....

Dragmire.

The Ultimate Game

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 3

The Ultimate Game

It was strange remembering that there were other climes I loved. There were too many mysteries on the volcano; I wasn’t ready to leave them unsolved.

But at length I paraglided down to the Foothill Stable. There was something I’d seen David do in his game.... maybe it was the only thing that could get me to finally come down, for I wanted to try it, too....

~

David had been at the Outskirt Stable. I had directed him there and told him there was a man named Trott who would buy his Raw Gourmet Meat for a hundred rupees a cut.

And as he visited around with the other people at the stable, he came to that girl by the stalls and manger, and she made the offer to style his horse’s mane and tail.

“They can change the mane and tail design?” David blurted through an open grin.

“Yeah,” I said, and then added wryly, “Man, you really don’t talk to anyone, do you?”

David laughed.

I guess we’re each ahead of the other in our own ways.

I myself hadn’t even looked at the mane designs. But David did then, with.... Shooper I think was that particular horse’s name.

There were so many fun and amazing styles.... XD

~

Now at the Foothill Stable below the volcano, I took out Brown. I knew I could have just warped, but....

I like riding the roads.

I rode Brown aaaall the way to Kakariko Village, by way of the Sahasra Slope, and then aaaall the way to the Outskirt Stable.

But.... I couldn’t bring myself to do up his mane and tail. He just looks so good the way he is!

Thrice, however, I gave a long mane and tail, reminiscent of his wild upbringing.

And Memory? Mmm with his royal tack he did not look out of place wearing braids. Ehhhhhh BECAUSE.

And as long as I had a mount under me, thinking of new lands and new stables.... I decided it was time I took the road out across and beyond Digdogg Suspension Bridge.

And so Memory and I set out toward the desert canyon....

But we hadn’t been traveling for more than five or ten minutes—game minutes no less—before my swiveling view gave me a glance of Satori Mountain.

It was lit up.

The sun wasn’t even down.

I looked at the clock: the time was five pm, and the whole of the night lay ahead of me.

....

I brought Memory to a screaming halt, dashed back to the stable, and boarded him again.

I wanted to try and catch those Blupees at their meeting!

When I warped to Satori Mountain it was raining, and I shivered in the cold, but my Warm Doublet was enough for that.

I hiked up the slippery slope to the three-way crevasse at the mountain’s peak, and creeping forward to the highest split, I once again saw those little blue rabbitkabobs visiting with each other in the ghostly teal haze.

I was able to snap their pictograph this time. Blupees, my Compendium said.

Huh, from David’s mention of their name I’d thought of it spelled ‘blupies’ in my head.

Ah well.

I edged toward them, wondering how they would react—

There was something else in the clearing beyond.

Big. And glowing.

Crystal-blue like the rabbits.

Was this the Beast that Quince had told me about so long ago?

I snapped this one’s pictograph, too. And—

The Lord of the Mountain, my Compendium called it.

Huh. o.o

This was that beast.

It pawed the ground like a horse, looking about like a nervous deer, and its face.... made me think of an owl for some reason. Strange antlers sprang from its crown.

The ultimate game, I thought.

Wasn’t that what somebody had said?

Satori Mountain was the place to find game.

And this Lord of the Mountain.... wasn’t this the ultimate game?

I nocked an Ice Arrow, took aim, and let fly.

The thing reared and froze and I was paragliding in. The nearby blupees scattered and disappeared. I hit the beast again and again while the ice held, but when it finally broke free—

It vanished.

It was gone.

All the blupees were gone, too.

And the night was clear; the teal haze evaporated, and I could see the stars.

It seemed the mountain wouldn’t light up anymore, if that one got scared off.

Volcano Wanderings

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017 ~ 2

Volcano Wanderings

I wandered on down the road toward a treehouse that looked intriguing. I had it out with the slew of Moblins up top; but pacified as they were by my Moblin Mask, they couldn’t be kept at bay for long once I started throwing punches.

I had almost polished off the last of them when I heard the Blood Moon music.

That wasn’t good.

I quickly ransacked the three treasure chests, headed for the ground floor, and was duking it out with a Lizalfos when midnight struck.

Too late.

When the vision ended I was surrounded by baddies again.

I booked it.

There were Koroks here and there.... another Shrine.... the Qua Raym Shrine? Maybe.

What else was around here....? I knew I’d meant to take a bit more time visiting the South Mine, as the last time I’d seen it I’d come tearing through under the influence of a certain elixir, and was gone before I had seen much of anything. And it had that familiar music I’d wanted to hear more of, too....

But I also remembered one of the Gorons in town having mentioned an Igneo Talus to be defeated at Darunia Lake. My imagination flared up with more cannon shenaniganry.... that sounded like FUN....

And so I ran back to the lake at the North Mine with its cannons and had a grand old time blowing up the resident baddies.... but could not find a Talus to shoot anywhere.

Wasn’t this a quest? I checked my sidequest log. Yes it was a quest.

I selected it, dropping a location marker for this particular quest to show up on my map.

And show up it did. Right over there. Across the lake and on the shore.

Out of range of the cannons.

No cannon shenaniganry this time. :c

It looked like I’d just have to kill it the old fashioned way.

So I did—after finding a perch low enough to keep its attention but still high enough to protect me. (Don’t go for the extra-high cliff; he’ll pelt you before you can climb out of reach.)

The quest log updated, and I went back to report to whatever Goron it was that had set me to it. I remembered. It was the apprentice of that—

Ah.

Hhhhh.

The apprentice of that Master Rohan.

I remembered. Or rather, I didn’t remember. For most of the points of this particular sidequest had sailed in one ear and out the other due to the fact that my mind had jammed like a printer on that name:

Master Rohan.

And I wondered where my friend had gone.

It’s been nearly three years.

....

Seemed this Goron Master Rohan too was an artisan. His apprentice—Fugo was his name—thanked me with some reward or other, probably rupees. But Master Rohan himself was.... a bit grumpy as I recall. Brooding and gloomy and crotchety.

Guess that’s a nut to crack some other day.

I don’t even remember what their whole deal was anyway. Fugo wanted some kind of acknowledgement or something from his master....?

Hhhh. Master Rohan.

I wandered on, eventually coming to a place called Gorko’s Tunnel. It was fairly short, and dead-ended, and there was a single Goron inside, swinging a pick at the tumble of rocks at the far end.

None of my implements could speed the work.

I gathered that the tunnel seemed to lead to somewhere or something special, but I couldn’t get out of the Goron what that could have been.

I couldn’t get it out of David either. He was infuriating.

.... though I don’t suppose I’d have it any other wayyyyy maybe.

So many dead ends just leave you so confounded.

Where do people go?

A Walk with Yunobo

Waking of Saturday, October 28, 2017

A Walk with Yunobo

David’s been kind. He stayed away from the volcano’s Divine Beast until I’d had a go at it. But now he felt free to plunge right up Death Mountain, and I watched him for some of the time.

He cleverly defeated those first Moblins at Eldin Bridge by climbing up a nearby crag and bombing the living daylights out of them. And as the second one finally died, he jumped off the rock to float down and collect its spoils.

But the cinematic started before he could deploy his paraglider.

And as the camera centered on the bewildered Yunobo, looking around to see if the coast was clear, David and I watched a dark shape swip down right in front of him and off the screen out of sight.

“Was that Link?” we both wondered, laughing incredulously at each other.

The cinematic ended, and the camera pulled back a gentle distance, and there was Link, on the ground.

Which was just . . . . great. XD

With a little more effort than I had taken the time for, David was able to destroy the Sentries using Yunobo as a projectile.

I didn’t know you could do that!! D8 ??

But I did feel a little clever in that I had thought to Stasis them, when this did not occur to David.

He also ran right past the first cannon without firing at Rudania. He was wearing full Flamebreaker Armor, and I wanted to see what would happen if he climbed up near Rudania’s big flaming right hind foot.

David was kind to oblige. XD

And the result was that he burst into flame. ÓuÒ;;

Maybe Vah Rudania was just too hot, even for the Flamebreaker Armor. Or maybe David hadn’t upgraded his armor to be fireproof yet.

After a bit either I told him or he figured it out that he should use the cannon on the Divine Beast, and he progressed on his way.

I watched him all the way up the mountain (he never once was spotted by a Sentry) and into the volcano until.... the trapdoor clamped down behind him and locked him in the darkness.

And on that grinning bombshell, I left to go attend to some other things.

When I came back some time later, he was about to face off against Fireblight Ganon, but he first left to regain full hearts by sleeping at his house.

Which I told him was LAME. And like some crotchety old geezer I told him that back when I did the Divine Beast I did the whole thing at half hearts, and I never warped away or even ate any of my meals!

But he went to rest at his house anyway.

I don’t have a house yet.

It was fun watching him defeat Fireblight Ganon. He was quite stumped for a while, but he was brave and kept psyching himself up to venture out from behind the posterior structure to try a new tactic . . . .

I stepped out for his ending cinematics. It was his fourth beast, and we suspected there might be something extra, and I didn’t want to be spoiled.

And there was something extra, he said.

But I did watch the part with the ghostly Daruk.

And after a little more time, David insisted that I play.

He really does want me to catch up.

And I believe he wants to talk about more of the game with people. And I know that feeling.

Hah. Welcome to my life, David.

I played from the activation of Vah Rudania when I started. Because I wanted to see it again. And.... I was still logging, and I wanted a refresher for the scene.

Sometimes I go through the game faster than I intend, and.... I lose some of the finer details.

Dang this log.

The bright, gold-tinged light that had borne me off the beast brought me down into Goron City.

I can never bring myself to make the avatar run, after things like that. I just can’t.

It just feels so.... uncalled-for.

Being thrust back into normalcy after the brutally insane places I’ve been?

It’s like being on another planet.

It’s a kind of dazedness, a kind of triumph, a kind of relief, a kind of sorrow, which for me will forever require a walking pace.

Yunobo told me the Boss had summoned me, and that that kind of thing couldn’t be refused.

And he rolled away.

I walked after him, toward the Boss’s house.

Bludo said Yunobo had told him everything. And he was amazed and grateful that we had subdued the Divine Beast.

“But did you have to wait until my back finally felt better?” he griped, pressing that now I was making him look like big fibber!

In the end he rewarded me with a gift he said I could find in his house: a blade once wielded by the legendary Daruk himself.

“Take it. Keep it. It’s yours,” he said.

I couldn’t fit it in my inventory.

So I left it there.

Which was just as well, I figured; one block of my weapon inventory was already taken up by Mipha’s spear, which I dared not use any further lest it break.

Made me think of getting that house again. Maybe weapons could be stored in houses....

Why hadn’t I gotten that house yet? Well.... I had my reasoning. Although to be honest I’d since been “spoiled” on that point—I knew by then that it was—

Mm but maybe you don’t.

....

In which case I’ll just say....

....

I just wanted to wait until I had seen all the land first, before choosing a place for me to live.

I was wandering around Goron City, still at a walk.

I saw Yunobo. He was walking too.

I went to speak with him.

“I’m going for a walk today,” he smiled, “Want to come?”

And that was all he said.

And he continued in his slow and easy NPC pace.

Well, he wasn’t like that tour guide back in Hateno, huffing and puffing and making me jog. He was just.... walking. Slow as Uli from Twilight Princess.

But he had invited me, so I followed him.

After a very brief climb, he came to a stop in the middle of a short bridge over the thoroughfare below, and turned toward the volcano.

I spoke to him again.

“Welcome to my secret hideout,” he grinned to me, “This is the best place to get a good view of Vah Rudania.”

We both looked at it, perched way up there at the mountain’s top, lasering toward the castle.

“To think we actually fought that thing...” Yunobo continued. “I’ve never been afraid of it... until just now.”

I guessed it was all hitting him at once.

“It’s strange, but ever since we defeated Vah Rudania, I’ve felt like my ancestor Daruk is somehow with me all the time.”

He turned to me.

“Link, I did good, didn’t I?”

“You did your best!” I said, and this seemed to give him a little more confidence.

“Yeah, I did, didn’t I.”

Or some such words.

“And with Daruk’s Protection I know my ancestor will never let me down.”

Or some such words.

Or some such words.

Sometimes I forget the exact things people say.

Sometimes I prefer not to go back and check.

Sometimes I just try to do my best, too.

Dang this log.

Daruk's Protection

Waking of Friday, October 13, 2017 ~ 4

Daruk’s Protection

With the demonic apparition defeated, I was finally able to activate the main control unit on Vah Rudania’s back. And when I did—

“Great work, little guy!”

I turned and there stood the spirit of Daruk, all ghostly teal.... but grinning hugely and with his arms spread wide.

Similar to what Lady Mipha had said, but in much gruffer terms, he explained to me that since I had slain the monster that got the best of him, his spirit was finally free. “Sorry that my resting with the rubble caused so much trouble for you...” he added, “But now Vah Rudania is back under our control!” He pounded fist into palm with palpable force and I daresay a small shockwave.

Man, I bet even Goron ghosts could knock you out if they tried.

Daruk went on to say that he wanted to give me something.... a power he had, called “Daruk’s Protection” . . . .

Oh yeah, I knew.

It wouldn’t do him any good as a spirit, he said, but maybe it could help me.

“Ready? Here it comes!”

These Gorons don’t do anything small. ._.

With a strenuous roar he seemed to summon a ball of energy between his giant palms, and with a “Hah!”, clapped in my direction—

And his power plunged into my chest and I was surrounded with a burning, powerful light, my feet again momentarily losing contact with the ground on which I’d stood as I closed my eyes and took it all in.

And when I was myself again I tried it—I planted my feet and rammed the knuckles of my fists together—feeling all the more impressive being ironclad in the FlameBreaker Armor—and the shimmering, lava-colored dodecahedron flared into being around my person.

I was invincible.

And I let go of it and flexed my gloved fingers....

Daruk continued, “I’m gonna take this thing down the mountain where I’ll have a clear shot at Calamity Ganon. And when you get inside the castle . . . we’re gonna light that place up!”

Or some such words he said....

Hadn’t Mipha said something about.... draining Ganon’s power?

What did he mean ‘light it up’?

And there were parting words—more encouragement I am sure.

I like Daruk’s temperament.

But I remember the very last thing he said before the light swallowed me up to transport me away—

“And.... Give my regards to the Princess,” he said with a grin.

Vah Rudania, lit a purer blue this time between its joints, instead of the corrupted red, clawstomped its powerful way out of the crater and perched atop an impressive crag. Its head moved, lizard-like, getting a fix on the castle I assumed—for the six segments from nose to neck then shuddered apart, splitting the whole of it wide open like a flower. And inside, a great bronzy barrel telescoped out into menacing life, charged with a mighty whirring, and let loose the enormous red beam. Straight into the calamitous clouds about the castle.

Little halos of the same energy ringed in and out of being along its length....

“Well, that about does it!” Daruk spoke to the Divine Beast or maybe a bit to himself. Or maybe to the player. “All we have to do now is wait for the perfect shot.”

Perfect shot?

Hadn’t Mipha said something about sapping Ganon’s power?

What were these beams, anyway? Wouldn’t they just work to weaken—

Red circles.

A red imploding circle on the target. Repeatedly shrinking to the center and then reappearing.

It . . . . was familiar . . . . ?

Oh my Hylia.

The Divine Beasts were Sheikah technology.

Like the Guardians.

THAT LASER . . . . IS A LASER OH MY GOSH WAT THIS I CAN’T—

Daruk took in the landscape.

“Hyrule looks good even after a hundred years,” he said, “The old rollin’ grounds sure are a sight for sore eyes.”

His eyes and his tone fell a bit.

“I wonder how the Gorons.... fared after the Great Calamity. I hope they’re still going strong even after every—”

But the camera had angled behind the figure of Yunobo, on a crag further down the cone, as he gazed up at the Divine Beast, and the ghostly teal figure on top of it.

Daruk had seen him too.

Yunobo gasped in wonder.

“Well would you look at that . . .” Daruk mused, “Still going strong indeed!”

With a manly grunt, he thrust his huge right fist straight up into the air in a rugged salutation.

And with that kind of delight you only feel when you know you are the sole partaker of the rarest of gifts.... Yunobo shouted and waved his hand vigorously back, laughing his exultation to the morning sky . . . .