Zelda: The Big Recap Thread

[Krail]

Zeta pointed out something to me as he was going over all of the old threads, and this is something I've been noticing quite a bit. There are a lot of important forgotten details lost in the way back when. Sometimes reading the old threads I'm even surprised by stuff I've forgotten. I know other people must have forgotten way more.

So, I'm starting this recap thread to summarize the important stuff from old threads, and to quote some of the more important plot and character moments. (It's always handy to be able to look back and see what your character has said or done before).

This may also function as a sort of reference page and basic status update thread.

I can't promise any sort of speed in getting the summaries up, but it will happen, I swear. (Hmm... if it's ever going to happen, I should try to get it up over summer...)

[Blue Dragon]

Great idea! I'm terrible at remembering plot stuff, and for some of us this game has been going on for quite some time. I did start keeping a log of important details but it got lost when my old computer died. A summery/reminder thread would be awesome!

[ScandiaMaxie]

yeah that would be great....makes it easier for me to remember what brittok and tiran did

[ZetaStriker]

*pokes*

I know I haven't given you any new edits recently, but you could have at least linked what I have done in hear. This is a 6 month idle project now... not that the delay is any worse than SSJBunBun's Rei No Kai webcomic. *still doesn't know what was planned for Koh, and still very much wants to know*

[Krail]

CHARACTERS

(This is only the characters mentioned in the summary posts so far. I'll be updating with more details as I have more time.)

Current Player Characters

Nova - (Ssj Bunbun. Joined in the beginning) Nova is a 16 year old Hylian girl who was orphaned in the war when monsters chased her mother into the woods. She was taken in by the Deku Tree and raised amongst the Kokiri. When Marla touched the Triad and it split, the Triad of courage chose her, and because of this the Deku Tree gave her the Ascendant Sword.
She has some suspicions about who her long-lost family may include...

Gotetsu - (HmizujinEternia. Joined in the beginning) Gotetsu is a runt of a Goron, valued for his ability to get into small spaces, but often overlooked by his brothers. more...

Zarala - (Blue Dragon. Joined in the beginning) Zarala is an adventurous young Zora who enjoys solving puzzles. more...

Brittok - (Scandia_Maxie. Joined in the beginning) A Stalfos general who was banished from the Mt. Keta dungeon for helping an adventurer. His eyes burn with a blue spirit flame, showing that he is different from other stalfos. more...

Tiran - (AChocolateOrange, then Scandia_Maxie. Joined in The Desert Wastelands) Tiran is the spirit of an ancient warrior who, at the time of his death, had his soul bound to animate an Iron Knuckle. He does not remember much about his past, but if he were to remember, he might find he knows some valuable information.

Eto - (Zeta Striker. Joined in The Desert Wastelands) Eto, a Shiekah, the younger of the Tenken brothers. Sent off on a mission to protect the powerful cursed blade, the Asura, from those who would use it. more...

Prince Elruto - (Elruto. Joined at funeral?) Elruto, the Zora king's nephew and closest living relative, and thus the prince of the Zora kingdom. He has lived a somewhat sheltered life, and was raised to be the priest and caretaker of the Great Spirit of the Sea, Lord Jabun. It's common knowledge that he is most likely the sage of water.

Kite - (Pixistick. Joined at funeral?) Kite Renwold appears to be a traveling mage of some sort. He knows a few curious primal magic rituals that are rarely practiced today, and is an expert at illusions. He always seems to wear a smile and tries to lighten the mood. Only a select few have noticed, or have been informed that, he seems to have a some sort of past relationship with Palous.

Inactive or NPC'd player characters

Kiri - (Scygnus DarkHawk. Joined, in the beginning. Player Left .....) Kiri is a Kokiri boy of around 50 years of age. He left the forest due to something that happened at the Forest Temple long ago, and has since been wandering Hyrule. He enjoys any sort of sneaking around and playing pranks on people. He and his fairy Kyoro have a talent for fire magic.

Jokarne - (FearTheMullet. Joined in War in the Desert. Player left...) Black-haired Gerudo general. She was ordered by Ganondorf to seek out and protect the sacred stones before the witches could get ahold of them. Her military experience and her sense of duty have been a great asset to the team.

Kael - (Zeta Striker. Joined in The Desert Wastelands. M.I.A. at The Fire Temple) The elder of the Tenken brothers, the Shiekah Kael and his brother were sent on a mission to protect the powerful cursed weapon, the Asura, from those who would use it. more....
Kael was last seen using the cursed sword to stop Ganon in his tracks, buying his friends valuable time.

Leafsbane - (SssJared. Joined in... Player Left...) An odd little outcast Deku with some impressive magical talent which he has very little control over.

Prince Dyrun - (JamWarrior. Joined in... Player Left...) The crown prince of Hyrule. He's lived a relatively cloistered life. As the events of this game began, he decided on his own that he would try to seek out the sacred items Hyrule's enemies were after and protect them, and ended up running into the party in the woods. He left the group in order to help his father prepare for the coming battles, and to help him deal with the princess' death.



Party NPCs

Roma - Roma is the 20-something apprentice to the Oracle. She is also the Oracle's great niece. She was sent off with the party to help them out and to gather information for the Oracle. Her wisdom and magical talent were highly valued, but things changed suddenly when they ran into their enemies and Roma took part in an evil summoning ritual, bringing forth Ganon. At the same time, she seems to have intentionally provided our heroes' only escape from this situation. It was revealed that she is, in fact, Aiden and Nova's sister, thus adding even more questions to her ultimate motives. Though serving Marla and Ganon, it seems she wishes to protect her family, urging her brother and sister to flee the coming storm.
She has shown some promise in scrying, but her real power seems to lie in fire magic.

Turafa - (First appeared in The Desert Wastelands) Turafa is a mysterious figure who always wears a heavy hooded cloak, leather boots, and leather gloves. He tires to hide every inch of skin because... he doesn't have any. No one knows exactly what he is, and he doesn't look like much. He somehow naturally takes on a somewhat humanoid form, though said form is shadowy and transparent, and often spongy to the touch if he's not concentrating. He seems to have immense magical potential, though overusing his energy sometimes makes his body lose cohesion.
He has also shown the odd ability to possess monsters, though he does not do it often.

Tanari - (First appeared in ...) Tanari is the chief of the Kokiri, and seems to be fifty something years old, about the same age as Kiri. In her time as chief, she has matured far more than other Kokiri, and the Deku Tree has often confided in her, keeping her very well informed. In many ways she was a mother to Nova.

Aiden - (First appeared in ...) Aiden is a doctor from a village a couple day's trip from Hyrule. He claims to be Roma's older brother and, after hearing about Roma's treacherous actions, came to the party asking if he could join in hopes of having a word with his sister. In doing so, it was revealed that he was also Nova's older brother, and the boy who appeared in her dream at the fairy's fountain.

LINK!?- (First appeared in The Legend of Zelda/Surprise Visitors) Nova's counterpart from another Hyrule that has been plagued by Ganon for centuries. With the help of Luda, Liam, and Zelda, he once defeated Ganon in his youth, and possesses the fully powered Master Sword and the Triforce of Courage. Now in his 30's, he is world famous and quite the accomplished adventurer. He does not speak "Ancient Hylian", and thus has trouble communicating with the party. Kicked Ganon's ass three ways to Sunday upon arrival.

ZELDA!?- (First appeared in The Legend of Zelda/Surprise Visitors) She adventured with Link, Luda, and Liam in her youth and helped Link defeat Ganon. Now in her thirties, she is the Queen of Another Hyrule. She possesses the Triforce of Wisdom, and is an accomplished scholar. She has studied Ancient Hylian for much of her life, and is thus capably of communicating with the party.
She is quite an accomplished archer, capable of hitting giant pig demons with light arrows at 500 yards (from horseback!).

Luda - (First appeared in Surprise Visitors) Luda is a Zoran scholar of ancient magics from another Hyrule. Her studies of ancient lore have made her an expert at many dead languages, ancient Hylian foremost among them. She spent much of her life searching for the lost Sacred Stones, and when she found them, their secrets changed her. She now sees the world differently, and has a certain understanding of interplanar travel.

Sir Liam - (First appeared in Surprise Visitors) A Knight from another Hyrule. Liam is a childhood friend of Link and Zelda, and quickly rose up in the ranks of the royal knights. In these times of crisis, he considers it his personal duty to protect Queen Zelda.

Characters left by the wayside

Leren - (Tigris Korianthil. Joined, in the beginning, left in The Desert Wastelands) A naive, enthusiastic, and curious Subrosian girl. She was rather fond of leaving presents for people, but... had some trouble understanding surface dwellers' problems with explosives. You may run into her again.

Shriot - (SssJared. Joined, in the beginning, left in The War in the Desert) A black-feathered Rito who studied magic. Deciding that his skills were no match for the horde of monsters, he flew home to seek help for the Gerudo. You may run into him again.

Solaric - (n8dog. Joined, in the beginning, left in The War in the Desert) Son of the mayor of Keta village. Confronted Brittok at the monster summoning and followed to the desert. He decided to return home after helping the Gerudos battle the monster army. Expect to see him the next time you visit Keta.

Haggis - (SpicyMcHaggis. Joined, in the beginning, left in The War in the Desert) Guard captain at the castle, often pestered by Kiri. He and his squadron returned to the castle after helping the Gerudo and Rito fight off the first monster army. (I think I will rename him)

Talien - (Sluggite Bunbun. Joined, in the beginning, left in The War in the Desert) Adventurer seeking the Triad to wish his dead lover back to life. I don't know what happened to him. You may encounter a heavily reflavored version of him some day.

Lilka - (Daladus. Joined in... Player Left...) Lilka is a high ranking Shiekah who has a particular talent with magical items. She met the party when she was helping Impa to guard the princess under Hyrule Castle.

Harmony - (Leaf. Joined in... Player Left...) Harmony is a Rito, and a traveling priestess? of Farore.

Other NPCs

The Oracle - (First appeared in the beginning. Died...) Widely respected throughout the kingdom for her powers and her great wisdom, the Oracle was the sage of knowledge, and lived in the foothills of Death Mountain, near Lake Hylia. more...
When the Triad split, she received the Triad of Wisdom. When everyone escaped from Ganon, Marla started to hunt her down. Already taken ill, the Oracle could not cope with running. When it seemed everyone was overpowered, the Oracle tapped directly into the Triad's power to put a curse on Marla. With this exertion, the Oracle passed away, and the Triad of Wisdom was split into pieces that spread over the land.

King (name) Hyrule - (First seen in the beginning)

Impa - (First seen in...)

Leo - (First seen in...)

Tauros - (First seen in...)

Professor Theramin - (First seen in...)

Queen Shouku - (First seen in...) Queen of the Rito.

King Ganondorf - (First seen in The Desert Wastelands) The King of the Gerudo, and the only male of their tribe, Ganondorf is renowned for his unbelievable strength which may even match that of a Goron. He is well-liked by the humans of Hyrule for his actions in the war, and he made the military might of the Gerudo feared far and wide. (Come to think of it, the Zora court may still harbor some resentment against him)

Happy Mask Salesman - (First seen in...)

Juliane Ren - (First seen in Consulting the Oracle) A character who may or may not be important soon...

Catherine - (First seen in...) Gotetsu's aunt Catherine is an odd old lady. Legend has it there was once a Goron tribe that tried to live in the icy reaches of the Keta Mountains. One winter there was a horrible week-long ice storm, and everyone in the village froze to death. Catherine was the only survivor, and she wears a cloak to hide the chilling ice that clings to the crags of her back to this very day. She betrayed the group along with Roma, summoning Ganon. She was last seen having killed the Goron Elder to lay a curse upon the fire temple.

Olgeron - (first seen in The Goddess Bow?) A great hero of many years ago who saved the party when they were attacked by Carock. Getting on in years now, he fought with the power of "the Great Fairy's Armor", a powerful spell which is now employed in protecting the part in the form of their "heart shields". Legends say he married one of the great fairies. Can it be true?

Marish -(first seen in The Goddess Bow?) The great fairy of the swamplands, and the one who gave the party their heart shields. The party slept at her fountain after the swamp temple.

Bad Guys

Shia - (First seen in the beginning. Executed in The Fire Temple) The Lightrova, twin sister of Marla. Shia had been visiting the King of Hyrule for some time under the guise of a foreign dignitary. It appears that she was the one who summoned the monster horde to threaten some information out of the king. The group has learned that the strength of her magic is quite impressive, and it appears she is much more active than Marla. She was soundly defeated by Brittok's magical magnet gloves in the fire temple, and after a round of questioning, Kael slit her throat.

Marla - (First seen in... : Old Picture of Shia and Marla. I don't like their face shape, but the rest is okay.) Darkrova, "The Shadow Hag", twin sister of Shia. Marla was the hidden force behind the monster armies in the war 16 years ago. It seems that she prefers to remain hidden, commanding her forces from afar. According to the moblins in the Deku Forest, she uses some sort of brainwashing to control monsters who won't follow her. She is often seen wearing an odd mask which apparently has the power to stop even the unstoppable force of Nova's curse attack, which lashed out at her when she used her dark magic near Nova. The Triad split when she touched it, and the Triad of Power now rests within her. When she was last seen, the Oracle laid a debilitating curse on her.

Danda - (First seen in The Goddess Bow) Danda is an extremely powerful Darknut (W.W. style) and one of Marla's high command. Little is known about him except that he has some measure of intelligence, and his fearsome brute strength far surpasses that of anyone in the party. Despite his clear advantage in strength, he has never outright tried to kill anyone in the party.

Carock - (First seen in Consulting the Oracle: Picture) Carock is a large and powerful wizrobe, and one of Marla's high command. His magical skill seems to be on par with that of Shia and Marla, and he often takes the brunt of major spellcasting duties. He's quite good at summoning other monsters. Depite the wizrobe's natural weakness to physical attacks, he rather relishes melee combat. Not much is known about his motivations, but he has shown himself to be rather ruthless and underhanded.

Palous - (First seen in The Desert Wastelands: Picture. Yeah... I've taken figure drawing since then, and... wow...) First encountered as a mysterious shapeshifter trying to steal the Goron's Ruby, Palous has made himself a major nuisance to the party. He was caught trying to kidnap Prince Dyrun during the war, and was found out to have been working for Marla for some time. He was branded a traitor by the Shiekah and, when he escaped and ran back to Marla, she laid a curse upon him. In the past 16 years he has grown to be quite psychotic and seeks to screw up Marla's plans by any means possible, including murdering the princess. No one is certain where his shapeshifting powers came from, but the Shiekah hope to soon find out by investigating Professor Theramin, who had apparently been looking after him for some time.

Ganon - (First seen in... ) Ganon's fearsome countenance has been haunting the party's nightmares for days. Roma and Catherine summoned him by sacrificing the princess. Roma and Catherine claim that he will obey Marla's orders. He appears to be some sort of massive, pig-faced demon of immense physical and magical power, and he is immune to ordinary weapons. Even the Ascendant Sword barely seemed to hurt him, and Nova's curse attack did nothing to him. When he was last seen he had nearly defeated the party when Link and Zelda arrived to save the day.
According to Zelda's stories, he was once a man named Ganondorf, king of a desert people, who sought the Triforce. Using the power of the gods, his greed and malice have transformed him into a hideous beast that cannot be killed, and he has plagued Another Hyrule for centuries.

Catherine!? - Along with Roma, killed Princess Quaii to summon Ganon. She also worked with Shia to lay a curse upon the fire temple. She's presumably the one who killed the Goron Chief. She appears to have powerful ice magic. She and Roma seem to have some sort of pre-existing relationship.

Roma!? - Along with Catherine, killed Priness Quaii to summon Ganon. She appears to work for Marla. She and Catherine seem to have some sort of pre-existing relationship.

[Krail]

The Legend of Zelda: Broken Trinities

Part 1
A Vie for Power

The Intro Threads

(Posted March 17th, 2003.)
(Takes place May 4th.)

We start with a prelude.... (which I've edited from the original)

Prelude~ Something odd happened that night... The night before it all started. 16 years after the great war, when peace was finally settling, and war was the last thing on everyone's minds. Everyone, perhaps, but those few who knew of the great disaster to come. Those who knew of the greedy few that would do anything to attain power...
Not many noticed it, and it would be debated as to whether or not it really happened, but in the dead of night... for a solid two seconds, all of the sky over Hyrule turned a deep bloody crimson. Somewhere a long dormant portal was split open and then closed again, leaving a shadow in its wake. A shadow that streaked across the night sky, seething with rage, looking for something. Something that had been taken, something that it knew, anything that it could use... What... was it?
_________________________________________

May 4th, we start with 3 concurrent threads in the Castle, Keta Village, and Lake Hylia.

The sun rises on three youths at Lake Hylia.
Nova has dreams of an evil woman she hasn't seen before, and an evil man she's often dreamed of. She is an orphan raised among the Kokiri, but now she has set out on her own. She has come here to speak with the Oracle in the hopes of finding out who her family is.

Zarala is an adventurous young Zora girl who has lived her whole life here at the lake. Sometimes as she explores late at night, she's seen someone, though it's not always the same person, quickly making their way to the lab by the lake's edge. One of these visitors has dropped a small coin purse, and in her curiosity, she's decided to ask the Oracle about who it is and what they've been doing. (We've since discovered that Palous was visiting Professor Theramin at the lake for medication. These "several people" were most likely Palous visiting in different forms)

Gotetsu, a runt of a Goron, had come down from the mountain with other miners to consult the Oracle about their mines. Unfortunately, his buddies seem to have forgotten about him and left. Feeling embarrassed, he decides to tag along and maybe ask the Oracle for some advice about his direction in life.

The three of them meet a woman in a blue dress with curly red hair carrying buckets of water (WHAT!? With her HAIR!?). She's Roma, the Oracle's apprentice. She greets them all and they follow her upstairs.

When they arrive at the Oracle's place, she tells them that there was a bad omen last night, and something bad is going to happen soon. (Originally, apparently the great summoning happened before you guys even got to the Oracle, but I'm rewriting that for dramatic purposes). They're talking to the Oracle when she suddenly seems overcome...
Monsters, she tells them, someone has just summoned an army, at Kakariko, Keta, and the castle. This is bad, but... no... the towns are safe... the monsters... will move to the desert, seeking something.

The Oracle takes their questions (taking the necessary materials for a DNA test from Nova, apparently... some hair and a cheek scraping), and tells them that something big is happening in the desert, and a small group will try to beat the army of monsters to the prize. Our three reckless young heroes all decide that they want to be a part of the action. The Oracle, perhaps sensing some greater fate for these three (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it) and sensing the importance of these events, sends her Roma off with them to provide guidance.

Sophy flutters over everyone's heads, naming Zarala wisdom, Gotetsu power, and Nova courage. They have a laugh and set off for the desert.
(also, you.... get... party favors from the Oracle for some reason.... uh... cheap slide whistles for everyone!?) They set off, secretly following the army of monsters as they leave Kakariko and march to the desert.
__________________________________

I leave you all with an ironic statement from Blue, from back when this game first started. Emphasis mine.
"OOC: sorry if I'm not posting as often as I should be, but being in UK when you guys are active I'm asleep! ^^ You may have to put up with me only posting once or twice a night unfortunately... "
Man, that was a long time ago...

[Krail]

MEANWHILE, IN KETA VILLAGE

Leren- A Subrosian girl that has since mysteriously vanished roams about the village.... Unless her player comes back, I think we can forget about her... Or maybe she'll show up later...
Shriot- A Rito guy who also mysteriously vanished is also there, apparently.

Brittok- the exiled Stalfos rests at his camp just out of sight from the village. The air feels tense, and he feels that something is wrong. It does not take him long to find a considerable force of moblins and lizalfos hidden in the woods, waiting to attack the village.

Meanwhile, Leren goes and visits the smithy while Shriot, the black Rito, heads into the library to study up on magic. He picks up on something odd... a passing presence.

Brittok dashes towards the town with the hope of warning everyone. He comes towards some children, and most of them run away as he is immediately attacked (completely ineffectively) by archers in the watch tower. A few children stay nearby, though. They know Brittok, they know he's safe. He respectfully speaks his intentions to the villagers and to the mayor, but they are reluctant to trust them. The mayor's son, Solaric (also a PC at this point), confronts Birttok directly.

Heeding Brittok's warning, the town guards prepare their defenses just in time to take down the first wave of moblins as they move out of the mountains towards the villagers. They keep firing, but then there's a flash of magic, and all of a sudden... there are monsters everywhere. All kinds of monsters, enough to easily kill everyone in the village, but they just stand there, waiting for something...

While the monsters are simply waiting for some mysterious reason, the mayor orders the townspeople to get ready to fight. Brittok and Solaric continue to fight. Then, just as suddenly as they appeared, the monsters all simply turn and march away. Confused and intrigued by these absurd events, several people decide to follow this small army wherever they may be headed. The townspeople decide that Brittok does not seem dangerous, though they're not quite comfortable with him hanging around the village.

As they all walk south, Leren, with her childlike curiosity, strikes up a conversation with Brittok. The mayor of Keta gets a letter from the castle saying that the monsters are heading to the desert to attack the Gerudo. He decides to send a few soldiers along with his son to go try to help. Shriot flies overhead, taken with curiosity of a more scholarly nature.
Brittok, Leren, and Shriot converse as they walk, while Solaric and his guards keep their distance.

They monsters stop by the entrance to the Gerudo canyon, and a small group breaks off to go taunt Brittok and get their butts kicked.
A carriage arrives. A Hylian woman (Shia/Lightrova) with white hair and a white dress steps out of the carriage and casts some sort of spell, then walks on into the canyon, towards the desert. Our heroes can see two more armies of monsters approaching over the horizon.

[Krail]

MEANWHILE, IN CASTLE TOWN

An adventurer named Tailen, whom may or may not be rewritten out of existence, is there to research local legends about the sacred realm.

Kiri, a fairly old Kokiri who left the forest long ago, traverses the roofs of town and finds that the guards seem to have their attentions divided today, for there is a visitor.

A woman, a foreign dignitary of some sort, by the name of Lady Shia, has been visiting the castle fairly frequently in the past few months. No one knows exactly what she wants except for the King and his closest advisers, but she and the king have been meeting in private for a long time, and rumors have been spreading...

Today is a change of pace, Lady Shia simply requests a formal, public audience in the throne room. Kiri makes his way over to the castle rooftops to eavesdrop, catching some guards in traps as he goes. As Haggis chases Kiri to the castle gardens where the princess plays, he listens from afar through Kyoro's ears. Lady Shia seems to be delivering an odd speech...

As the chase continues, Shia's voice becomes very clear... and... it seems to spread... Slowly, everyone in town hears her voice on the wind. She's beating around the bush, making lots of vaguely threatening statements, hinting at demands.
Kiri finally gets Haggis, the guard falling through a weak overhang and stumbling into the fountain. A Shiekah confronts Kiri on the castle roof and tells him to stop, something bad is about to happen.

The king orders his guards to apprehend her just as she seems to be making her move. Out of nowhere, an army of monsters begins appearing, stopping the guards, protecting Shia, and filling the village. She informs the king that monsters are everywhere, here, Keta, Kakariko, ready to slay hundreds of people on a moment's notice, and asks, "where are they?"
He can only tell her that the one they had was left with the Gerudo after the war.

With that, Shia orders her monsters to leave and head for the desert. Kiri tussles with a Ghoma then goes to check on the princess. He finds her well protected by Impa and some guards, then goes off to follow the monsters. Captain Haggis fights with a few moblins before he is overpowered, and as they leave, he too follows.

As the monsters travel across Hyrule field, the guards try to get close, but are unable to. Meanwhile, Kyoro, Kiri's fairy, is able to get much closer. She finds Shia magically communicating with someone (Marla). They argue about Shia's brash actions (though I seem to have rewritten Marla's character to have been the one who would be brash... hmm...) They refer vaguely to "the sisters" and how these sisters seem to be trying to convince them of something.

On the way to the desert a few of the soldiers with Captain Haggis try to lure off some of the monsters and fight them one on one. They manage to do so, but they hardly make a dent in the army, especially as the three armies converge...

[Krail]

Chapter 1: The Goron's Ruby

War in the Desert

(Began April 12th, 2002)
The army of monsters makes its way into the desert, and our three groups of heroes meet for the first time. The other groups seem a bit startled to find a Stalfos just standing there not being attacked or attacking anyone. Leren is quick to make friends, and Brittok explains himself, and the others quickly come to trust him. Solaric's party finally approaches the rest of them as well, and he introduces himself. The lot of them converse for some time, introducing themselves. Kiri and Nova have heard of each other through a mutual friend at the forest, Marelene. Brittok speaks a little on his background (erm.. I'm not so sure stalfos of any sort have mothers...)

Everyone hears explosions in the canyon. There is some argument about how to split up their forces. They can all see rocks from the canyon walls falling and crushing monsters, and the sounds of battle ring out. As they approach the horde they find themselves pestered by miniblins, and everyone ends up rushing in to help. A few larger monsters break off to go attack, and Roma spots a path wide enough for one person leading up the wall of the canyon. A few Gerudo guards seem to be carefully scrutinizing the players.

After fighting for a while, some Gerudo come down from the cliffs and start helping to clear the monsters. At some point Brittok disarms a Darknut and takes his sword (which he still wields to this day). A Gerudo general comes down and orders everyone to follow her to the top of the canyon. They're rigging explosives to crush the monsters with rocks.

The party runs along the clifftops to the fortress, and decide to run by the fortress to see if their services could be of use, taking out a few Ghomas in the process. When they get to the main fortress a few soldiers tell them to seek a commander for instructions. Meanwhile, they are attacked by ghosts. As they get down to the last poe, someone new arrives.

Jokarne - A Gerudo general, unusual amongst her people for having black hair. She wears silver armor and fights with a longsword. (Note, she was originally more aggressive than I remembered.)

Jokarne arrives and demands that the newcomers identify themselves. Everyone explains themselves. Roma eventually makes her way down from the cliffs and vouches for everyone. Jokarne informs them they have had all day to prepare for this battle, which is enough, but that King Ganondorf went out into the desert wastelands earlier to consult the spirit mystics (I hadn't made up the spirit mystics at this point, but I was thinking something along those lines, so, why not.) He has been gone for too long, though, and she asks the other players' help in finding him. Solaric and his Ketan guards stay behind to help at the fortress.

They head out into the desert, and after a few minutes of walking they come across six stone columns circling a stone dais. On this dais, glowing in the moonlight, stands Shia, casting some sort of spell. Before they can come near her, the players are confronted by some iron knuckles.

[Krail]

Chapter 1: The Goron's Ruby

The Desert Wastelands
(Posted May 4th, 2003)

The group continues to battle the iron knuckles that attacked them, eventually defeating them while sustaining minor injuries. Shia, standing out on the stone dais casting her spell takes notice of their victory. She taunts them, and proceeds to summon a very, very large lanmola, then magically levitates off into the desert.

Everyone fearing this massive beast's power, Nova reveals something new. Twisted vines and a crimson aura erupt from the bandages on her arm. She has some sort of magical attack, and asks the others to buy her some time. Zarala and Kiri attack its eye, and it hits the ground, throwing everyone off their feet. In the distance they hear voices and and horses charging forward. Six Gerudo on horseback ride past and try to draw the monster's attention.

Nova looks ready to fire her mysterious magic attack, but she is distracted by some other powerful magic. Sophy takes this opportunity to put Nova to sleep, preventing her from using the attack which will hurt herself. As our heroes try to fight the lanmola, some magic the Gerudo were casting is launched at the beast's face. As it falls to the ground after this hit, King Ganondorf rides past and removes his sword from the thing's head. He begins canting another spell, helped along by two Gerudo mages. As the lanmola recovers and lunges for this new threat, Ganondorf strikes it with a mighty, magical slice from his sword, blowing the thing's head in two. As the monster burns to nothingness, he falls to his knees and motions for Jokarne to come closer.

The group tends to their wounds and introduce themselves to Ganondorf. Nova, waking from her sleep, seems to think that she recognizes him from a nightmare, but... as her head clears she decides she is mistaken. Ganondorf learns of the monsters and heads back to the fortress to lead his army. He orders Jokarne to take her new friends to retrieve and protect the Sacred Stones before their enemies could get to them.

Also, Roma seems disturbed by Nova's mysterious tattoo and inquires about it. No one knows where it came from. A great fairy revealed to Nova that it contains a great deal of power and opened its flow of energy so that the power would not build up and hurt Nova. However, this also allowed Nova do discharge the built up energy all at once, and in her first attempt to do so, she severely injured her arm. It has not fully healed in 4 years.

The group picks up and starts traveling further west. Just as the Colossus comes into view, they turn and, instead, head along the cliffs to where the Goron's Ruby is being protected.
(As they near the place, a new character appears. He was a guy who didn't really fit in the setting at all, didn't even last one thread, and had absolutely no effect on the storyline, so I'm barely even going to mention him here)

As they enter the... storage facility? They find a large room with a sandy floor, and two young lanmolas are thrashing around. Before the monsters can even do anything, an Iron Knuckle steps forward and slays them. Jokarne recognizes the monster as a servant of the Gerudo, and commands it. They learn that it is called Tiran, and under Jokarne's orders, it tags along with them. They proceed to solve dungeon puzzles.

Room 1, they pussyfoot around a Beamos. Eventually Nova uses a bit of gymnastics to slip past it and reach a hook on the ceiling. Pulling the hook down makes the beamos sink into the floor and reveals a small leever statue.
(Also, apparently important characters love to just sorta wander around in the desert a lot because) suddenly a man walks in through the door. He is tall and pretty solidly built, and completely shrouded under a cloak so that you can't see a single inch of skin. He seems totally disoriented. He has a hard time talking, and he even seems to have a hard time remembering his name, and eventually settles on Turafa. Roma seems very interested in him, suggests that he has amnesia, and says that he should see the Oracle.

They eventually proceed through the entryway to another room where two massive moblins shake the ground with their clubs, and there are numerous recesses in the walls that may hide special items. A magical bridge is activated, and others go to attack the moblins. A series of switches open successive alcoves. Tiran is heavy enough to press tough switches and Zarala finds that she rather enjoys treasure hunting. Turafa feels like he recognizes the place. Kiri explores a tunnel and finds a green tree figurine. Jokarne and Tiran find a statue of a blue woman praying.

Exploring an unbarred door, they find recently killed skultulla and moblins with no wounds on them. Their bodies have yet to burn away, and Roma detects an odd presence. Sounds of a battle come from the other side of the door. Meanwhile, Kiri tries to take the figurine and triggers a deadly sand trap that... doesn't work...

They enter the room to find a large Goron pinning a nearly broken Iron Knuckle to the ground. With a sickening crackle, the Goron morphs into an Iron Knuckle itself and turns to face the group. The IK he had pinned remains completely motionless. The shapeshifter, upon realizing how many enemies he faces here, morphs again into a freakish IK-Goron hybrid and attacks.
(OOC: The injured Iron Knuckle was moving here, but I've retroactively decided that Palous had drained the life from it, so... it was just lying there.)

Meanwhile, two young Shiekah, Eto and Kael, find their way into the dungeon and, following their footprints, end up in the room our heroes just left, finding Turafa standing around looking lost. Kael questions Turafa while Eto heads off towards the sounds of battle (surprising Roma and almost getting a fireball to the face) The battle continues, and the inert Iron Knuckle eventually bursts into flames and vanishes, causing a chest to appear. The shapeshifter takes the contents of the chest and barrels past everyone, heading for the entryway and magically sealing the door behind him. (Cheap potion spell, according to Roma) Sophy follows him through, but the shapeshifter knocks her out.

The group talks while Roma works on unsealing the door. Turafa reveals some magical power, healing an injury of Tiran's. Eto and Kael introduce themselves and are secretive about why they're here (Eto does the obligatory "Holycrap it's a stalfos" to Brittok). They talk about what's been going on and the monsters' attack on the Gerudo.

Roma unseals the door and lets everyone through. They find that the shapeshifter has unlocked the door to the boss room. Nova searches for Sophy while everyone else prepares for hidden attackers. After Roma introduces herself, Kael asks her privately about the mysterious wrapped up sword he's carrying. The brothers decide to stay with the group in hopes of meeting with the Oracle.

The group moves on through the remaining door, and finds a room full of spear traps. Kael does some awesome acrobatics past the traps, gaining some slight injuries on the way, and hits a switch that opens the next door. Meanwhile Kiri and Jokarne go back to retrieve the praying woman figurine, where the traps are slightly more effective. They make it out and return to the others.
(I don't know if these figurines ever actually came to anything....)
Brittok, Eto, and Nova take a more brute force route and simply break all of the spears, making the way safe. Next room is the boss room, and the boss is....

A lanmola! The group fights the Lanmola, doing nothing particularly of note that I can find. The monster dies and a door opens up, revealing a bright red glow within. Inside the room is a Triad crest. The power triangle is plated in gold, and the Goron's Ruby floats above it. Nova also finds the Mystical Pendant of Courage there. Roma notices an odd smell.

(Palous, having turned himself invisible with a potion, attempts a hilariously brazen maneuver and) The Goron Ruby starts gliding "on its own" out of the room. Roma and Turafa talk for a moment about the various kinds of potions that might generate the odd scent in the air and, Roma being the brazen one, decides to wave her arm under the ruby, poking the invisible shapeshifter. She readies a fire spell and starts to threaten him when she is attacked. She hits him with fire as he runs and he "drops" the Ruby, which floats back to the center of the room. They all soon learn of the powerful and unexpected tricks of the witches as Shia, while somehow being completely out of their sight, summons the spirit of the lanmola they just killed. It wraps itself around the crystal and vanishes with it.

The invisible shapeshifter curses and makes a break for it, and everyone sets after him. A fire spell from Kiri seems to weaken his invisibility, and they all get a glimpse at his true form, a wiry many in ragged clothing. Zarala thinks she can recognize him. He morphs into the form of a hawk and escapes into the night. Nova and Brittok make a futile attempt to chase after it.

Everyone heads back to the entrance to discuss their next course of action.

[Krail]

Chapter 2: The Zora's Sapphire

The New Quest
(Posted August 1st, 2003)
(Takes place, Morning of May 5th)

The group leave the Storage Facility minus one giant magical ruby, and gather just outside to talk about their next course of action. Roma wants to continue trying to find and protect the sacred stones, and Jokarne has orders from her king to that effect. Kael wants to meet the Oracle, and they all decide that she's the best bet for finding the other two stones.
(Also, Gotetsu apparently found the bag of bombchu lying in the sand)

On their way back to Hyrule field, they head to the Gerudo fortress. While they walk, Brittok explains his story, an adventurer in his dungeon found and used Brittok's conscience to escape unscathed, and Brittok was ostracized for this. In turn Roma explains her story (where she does, in fact, mention having a brother! So, retroactively, one or two of your might have remembered this detail upon meeting Aiden) explaining about her family, her parents' deaths in the war, and The Oracle, her great aunt, took the children in. She'd shown promise, and was likely to apprentice to the Oracle anyway.

Upon seeing that the Gerudo Fortress is still under siege, Roma suggests an alternate way back to Hyrule proper. On the way, they also decide they should ask the Rito to aid the Gerudo. Having decided on this course of action, they head south to the cliffs. They scuffle with a few tektites, easily vanquishing them, and a Rito guard finds them in the commotion. They speak of their request, and Roma asks to speak with their queen personally.

It does not take much to convince Queen Zoku to send her forces off to the Gerudo's aid, and the party takes their leave. Roma leads the group off to a small mesa top where they might camp for the day, catching up on the sleep they missed trying to secure the Ruby. Eto goes off wandering, while Kiri and Nova shop at the Rito village. The campers find a small rock with a cloak on it, and are shocked to discover that it is, in fact, Gotetsu's great aunt Catherine. Her stature is surprisingly small for a Goron, rather like her nephew, and she keeps herself very well covered-up. (Also, she's a lot more of an awesome ol' kook than I'd remembered).

Eto finds himself falling into a hole in the ground. He happens upon a tattered old map that seems to point out the location of the legendary Goddess Bow, then makes his way back to camp.

Catherine seems interested in Nova's history (and also takes notice of her bandaged arm), just as Roma and Kiri return from shopping. Everyone settles down to eat and sleep. Kiri plays a tune on his guitar, and some of the others dance. Eto shows the map to Kiri while everyone nods off.
(incidentally, while everyone else sleeps, Roma and Catherine discuss their dastardly plans.)

At sunset, Roma comes around and wakes everyone. As they head off back to the fields, Eto brings of the map he found, and they all discuss which way they should go, and this sparks a conversation on the ancient war of the weapons.

As they past "Hyrule Post Outpost #4", a Rito comes by and delivers a message to Roma. The letter reveals that the Oracle has come nearby to see a customer (and also reveals that Nova is, in fact, Roma's sister, though she does a very good job at hiding any reaction to this information) Also (I completely forgot to write the part where), Roma dismisses herself for a moment to go write another letter (to Malon, explaining about Nova).

They eventually decide to split up. Roma, Nova, Gotetsu, Zarala, Eto, and Kael go south to a small village to meet up with the Oracle.
Kiri, Brittok, Tiran, and Jokarne head east to find the bow.


(In this thread I claim that I'd have to punch myself in the face if I ever put treasure box mimics in this game. Glad to see I've stuck to that.)

[Krail]

Chapter 2: The Zora's Sapphire

Consulting the Oracle and The Goddess Bow?
(Posted Sept 3rd, 2003)
(Takes place, Night of May 5th)

Eto, Kael, Nova, Zarala, Roma, Gotetsu, and Turafa make their way south to a small seaside town near the cliffs to meet with the Oracle. Said town appears to be more like a pit stop, consisting of about four buildings.

While everyone marvels at the ocean, Roma goes off to a boathouse to find the oracle. In the meantime, a sailor walks past and gives Kael, obviously dressed as a shiekah, a nervous glance before moving on. Gotetsu samples the local cuisine, while Zarala goes for a swim.

Eto and Kael check a nearby gossip stone whose magic recording mechanisms seem to be damaged. An aristorcratic-seeming woman, with strongly Gerudo features, emerges from the nearby house and accosts them. She claims her name is Juliane Ren, wife of the owner of the port. She is quite prepared to make everyone feel quite unwelcome when Roma returns and explains.

Roma leads everyone west from the town a ways to a seaside cavern, wherein the Oracle is preparing a potion. Nova asks about a dream she had, and learns about the quest to obtain the three pendants to earn the Ascendant Sword. Kael takes the Oracles aside and asks her about the cursed sword he carries, and tells him that to meddle with its curse would be extremely dangerous. The Oracle returns the coin pouch Zarala found and informs her it seems to belong to a man who is often masked, and that is all she can determine at the time. The group makes the connection to the mysterious shapeshifter.

Whatever potion the Oracle was making is nearly finished. Apparently it was for scrying the location of the next of the sacred stones, which Roma can help with now that she has seen the Ruby. Looking into the cauldron, some see a clear image, while for others it is blurry (it is clearest for Zarala). They see the Zora's Sapphire, and get an impression of a place, which Roma recognizes.

While they make plans, the Oracle scrutinizes Turafa. She realizes something that startles her (the fact that he is a disembodied spirit of the sort she has not seen before), and gives him a magical ring to stabilize his form. (In a manner which is much less bizarrely sudden and ill-conceived as what actually happened in the original thread), The Oracles tells Roma to keep an eye on Turafa, then they use Farore's Wind to send the group to an important crossroads at Hyrule field, much closer to the swamplands in the east. The party debates about if and how they should notify the other members of the party about their change in destination. They see a camp of random travelers, but decide against speaking with them. As they head to leave, Turafa surprises everyone by suddenly casting a contingent message spell, which he claims will alert the other members of their party if they pass this way.

Meanwhile, rewinding to the evening twilight, Kiri, Brittok, Tiran, and Jokarne head northeast to where Eto's map showed the bow. After a few minutes of walking, they spy something in the distance. It is a man running away from four wolves and some stalchildren. He is calling for help until he gets closer and sees Brittok and Tiran. The party defeats the monsters handily, and the wolves run when they are overpowered rather than fighting to the death.

They then inquire after the man who was being chased. He likes to go for runs at midnight, and claims to have picked up an interesting flower from a grave when he was attacked by the wolves (an idea for a sort of sidequest that I think I've since abandoned). They all then continue on their way.

They eventally come to a wall that is built against a hillside, and Brittok's eyes catch a well-crafted illusion covering a hole in a portion of said wall. There is a heavy steel door behind it. As they try to open it, Kiri hears horses in the distance. Jokarne stands guard while the others go in the door, crawling down a small corridor to another door. Jokarne and Tiran sit just inside the doorway, beyond the illusion, as two riders approach. As fate would have it, one of the riders is Shia, the woman who summoned the monsters, and who they met in the desert. The other rider is a beast of a man in full armor, riding on a huge warhorse (said man is Danda, the darknut general). They closely survey their surroundings, missing the illusion in the wall, before conversing.

They speak of the battle at the desert, and Shia informs him they have the ruby. The armored rider mentions that Marla and Carock are divining the location of the Sapphire, while he has been searching for the emerald, and have found it is in the swamps to the southeast. Shia tells him that some of their agents have found something interesting (Unbeknownst to you all, said agents being Catherine and Roma), mentioning Nova by name as some sort of prophesied child, and also the shapeshifter that has been causing problems. Finished talking, the two of them ride off into the night.

The party continues into the magma-filled mini-dungeon beyond the next door. They try out some forking paths, defeat a few fire slugs and a few adult Mothula monsters, while solving some simple switch puzzles. They discover two special torch-levers that open a secret door near the entrance. Beyond they find an empty treasure chest and the remnants of a battle. Specifically there are three corpses in this room that look like they've been dead for a few years. One of them is pinned to the wall by what appears to be a Gerudo style scimitar. (Also, for some reason one of the corpses was magically preserved at the point of death by a magic needle that left a skeleton behind when pulled. No idea where I was going with that....) There's also a snippet of music carved into the wall.

Having gone on a wild goose chase, the group reassembles and heads on their way. Heading south for a ways, they see a campsite in the distance, and are startled by the appearance of Turafa's contingent message. Trusting the message along the way to their agreed rendezvous point, and since it agrees with what they heard Danda say, they decide to head that way, but someone from the campsite greets them first. (it is a random character that seemed like I intended to use him again later, but I think I'll just go ahead and completely rewrite his identity here. Just remember that you met some mercenary guy who'd been hired to protect a merchant caravan. Zan... maybe a reference to one of Himi's old RP characters?) He mentions having seen the rest of the party pass this way a couple hours ago.

Here the group also meets the Happy Mask Salesman. A very odd and very unsettling fellow with certain indescribably movement quirks. He attempts to make a sale.... and... apparently Jokarne bought the Bremen's Mask. I'll have to remember that... They then follow the path to catch up with the others.


Speaking of which... The other group is heading for the swamp, but takes a brief detour, in classic Zelda fashion, to check out a hidden cavern behind a pile of rocks. In a reaction to some keese, Zarala discovers some latent magical talent and fries them. They find a treasure chest containing a magical crystal shard, which Zarala keeps, and Gotetsu discovers a glass bottle on a ledge. They then leave this totally unnecessary diversion and head for the swamp.

On arriving at the swamp, they see a column of smoke not too far away. They come running to check out the fire and see if there's anything they can do, and run right into a group of monsters. (Lot of monsters here I haven't used since... Mud creatures... a Daira...). They defeat the monsters, and Gotetsu takes the Daira's axe for himself. After fighting, they continue closer to the fire, and find that some poes are burning away underbrush. Kael sneaks ahead and sees a large, floating, cloaked figure, flanked by a human and a rito. Apparently not all of Marla's soldiers are monsters... They are apparently searching for the entrance to an ancient temple, the wizrobe (who is Carock, by the way) is sensing the Sapphire's location.

Roma apparently knows the area (from a time when a Riza shaman came to the Oracle with a special request, in case you were wondering) and leads the party to the temple entrance, which is indeed barely visible under the aggressive plant growth of the swamp. They solve a switch puzzle - in which Turafa shows off more magical power preventing a large heavy stone from falling and alerting the monsters - which opens the door to the ruined temple.


As they deal with the temple's challenges, the rest of the party follows the other group's path to the swamp. (Along the way encountering a stupid red herring that I will now erase from existence). As they near the swamp, they can see a glow from the fires the monsters were setting. The fires have spread to a dangerous degree; it's a good thing it looks like rain. Nearer to the flames, they see two darknuts doing battle with several Riza warriors, and Kiri encounters a huge wizrobe who is summoning more monsters and creating golems from the mud. The party quickly gets involved in the battle, and the wizrobe first attempts to overwhelm them with powerful monsters, then, in very unwizrobelike fashion, summons up an immense scythe and enters into melee combat. They fight well, but take some potentially serious wounds.

Suddenly, a man in marsh green armor, apparently an expert swordsman, appears to defend them. A golden fairy, who Kyoro senses is the Great Fairy of the marshes, is apparently the swordsman's partner, and leads the party away from the battle. She leads them to an old cabin disguised by an illusion spell, then flies back to help the swordsman. They enter to find a well-kept that looks as if someone left it in a hurry, with teakettle whistling over a fire. After a few minutes the man in armor returns with the fairy, and introduces himself as Olgeron, a name that would have been familiar to those who know a lot about the war, and the fairy as Marish. He says the Oracle had sent him a letter a couple days ago, knowing that he might stand guard over one of the spiritual stones. The group fill the two in on what they know, while a secret passage is revealed in the floor of the cabin, leading down to the Great Fairy's Fountain.

Olgeron's armor turns out to be a part of Marish' power, while Olgeron himself is actually somewhat old and frail-looking underneath it. Marish heals everyone's wounds, then reveals a secret passage in her fountain leading to the Swamp Temple where the Sapphire is held. The group heads down the secret passage. They encounter some skulltullas, then continue on their way into the swamp temple.


(that's not the end of the thread, but I'll leave it there for now)

[Krail]

Chapter 2: The Zora's Sapphire

The Swamp Temple
(Posted Oct 19th, 2003)
(Takes place, Night of May 5th)


Meanwhile, Eto, Kael, Nova, Zarala, Roma, Gotetsu, and Turafa come into the Swamp Temple through the main entrance. The first room has a wide pit with a platforming hanging over it, out of reach for jumping, and a door to either side. They head in the unlocked door and encounter a simple switch puzzle and a Zol (original Zelda blob monster. splits into smaller ones when you kill it.) Killing the monster reveals a map (easiest dungeon map ever..). The switch has to be held down to keep the next door open, and Turafa opts to stay behind. In the next room they do battle with some fire keese, each bat apparently tied to a torch in the room. Once all the keese are dead and the torches lit, a key falls out.

They return to a locked door in the main room. In the next room they encounter a monster with the body of a man, the head of a horse, and wings (a take on the first boss of Zelda II). They have a fairly interesting fight with lots of going for weak spots and disarm attempts, Nova trying out new magic, and Roma using Gotetsu's bombchu to set the thing's wings on fire. Nova ends the fight with a spectacular spin attack using a sword already lodged in the monster's neck. It leaves behind a chest with a pair of pegasus boots, which they decide to give to Kael.

Roma, Sophy, and Turafa sense the dueling magical energies of Olgeron and Carock above, but decide to continue on their quest here in the dungeon. With the magic boots, Kael can make a running jump for the hanging platform, and crosses the pit. On the other side, he hits a switch that causes the platform to move, easily ferrying the group across... until Gotetsu tries to ride. The mechanism in the ceiling breaks, dropping Gotetsu, Zarala, and Turafa to a semi-flooded room down below to take a nice moss and algae bath. Nova decides to join them and takes the plunge. They can see on a map that their two paths match up, and decide to go their separate ways, while Sophy remains up top to keep up communications.

Roma, Eto, Kael, and Sophy, proceed north to find a long hall with lots of dark pits and precarious platforms. They head left, first, to an obvious door, where they are immediately attacked by two Goriyas (those rat-wolf dudes with boomerangs). Eto and Kael fight, while Roma and Sophy figure out how to synch up their magic and set the boomerangs on fire even in this dank place.
Meanwhile, Kiri, Jokarne, Tiran, and Brittok enter from the secret passage in the fairy fountain and, after exploring a couple dead ends, walk right in on the battle. The team easily finishes the monsters, and a treasure chest appears, with a boomerang inside, and Kiri takes it. The two groups catch up on what happened while they were apart.

The basement crew heads north to find a room where water extends off down a curved hallway, with some solid ground and a door on one side. A few odd throwaway monsters occupy the channel. They go through the door and find a room with teeming with octorocks, and also a five crystals puzzle. Nova's tatoo (probably over)reacts to the nearby Great Fairy flexing her magic... The three young adventurers have some fun taking out octorocks in creative ways. They discover their first heart leaf (an idea I had to explain health hearts that was later made cannon in Skyward Sword!) and finish activating all the switches. Once hit, the switches magically reveal some kind of strange rotating fan object and a pod full of magic beans.

The now-larger upper level crew goes back out into the long hall full of dark pits and spies platforms hanging from ropes in the ceiling. With a few deft throws of his new boomerang, Kiri cuts the ropes, dropping platforms to complete the walkway. They cross and head down to a more complicated room with that requires them to jump around on top of columns over the swamp water. There are some daring pegasus-boots jumps by Kael. Kiri and Roma knock more planks down from the ceiling to make bridges, and a couple tough-to-kill keese pester the party by trying to steal one of the planks.

By pushing a couple statues on the central column, they can rotate the room's platforms around, letting them get around more easily. Once pushed into a new position, the statues turn out to be Armos, and attack. They throw one armos off the column and into the water before it can attack. The second lands a few hits with its stone sword before the party rallies and pushes it over the edge. Activating some switches releases more keese with wooden planks out into the room. Another switch activates a sort of elevator in one corner. With some careful keese attacking, the party uses the wooden planks to allow everyone to cross.

The basement party heads out into the next room. There they find a deeper pool of water with strange plant creatures swimming in it. The odd creatures seem hungry for the magic beans, which cause them to grow into a giant lily pad big enough for the four of them to stand on. The strange contraption they found appears to be a magical outboard motor made to attach to this lily pad. Zarala chooses to swim behind the bizarre motorboat as they go off down a long corridor. Soon they find themselves chased by an enormous angry octorock.

The upstairs party descends to the final floor and hears the octorock chase coming from a nearby waterway. They rush to help just as the motorboat lilypad catches up with them and hits a ramp up to the room where the rest of the party is. The party gets to a ring of land in the center of the room to fight the bigocto. Brittok tries to deflect its rocks with his sword while the party gangs up on it, landing hits but taking damage from its thrashing. As the bigocto retreats and attacks at range, even the fairies join the fight with their magic. Tiran wades out into the water and finishes the beast from below.

A door is opened, and the octorock drops the boss key and a strange bit of black stone that looks like it was broken off of a statue. The party discusses magic for a bit, then moves on to fight the boss. They discover a room full of vines. From a pool in the center of the room emerges a bizarre plant creature called Manhandla. It has a large round body of slimy algae and four giant claws/heads full of teeth, one facing each direction. It slides about the room, chomping at people and shooting fireballs.

The fighters of the party move in to attack, but their swords prove ineffective. The beast uses its fireballs to control vines hanging from the ceiling, which grapple some and lift them up off the ground. Brittok jumps at the manhandla, hurting its neck, but losing one of his feet in the process. Kiri tries to get the vines to attack the monster, but it seems it controls them. The party tries to distract and attack it, but it four heads block attacks and throw everyone around.

Kiri tries throwing his boomerang, getting the monster on the neck. It falls, exposing the necks, while the other three heads spew a stream of flames. Nova removes a head while Brittok attacks another from above. Once they know how to disable it, the monster quickly loses three heads. The ceiling vines go nuts and try to make off with Brittok. Down to one head, the Manhandla freaks out and zooms across the room. The party dodges until its own random flailing leaves it too injured to move fast anymore.

The beast dies and goes up in blue flames, as to the vines in the ceiling. The party discovers their first heart container, and a door in the back of the room opens revealing the Zora's Sapphire and the Pendant of Power. Roma takes the sapphire and puts it in her pack, while Nova takes the pendant.

Rather than go out the main entrance and face Carock and his monsters, everyone decides to use the secret exit to the Great Fairy's Fountain. The Great Fairy, Marish, heals everyone and invites the party to sleep the night in the safety and comfort of her fountain. Nova approaches to ask about the pendants and the curse that she bears on her arm. Marish is quite startled and closely inspects both Nova and the curse, then says she needs to have a word with her later.

She creates a veil of privacy to speak with Kael for a bit about the cursed sword he and Eto were chosen to guard. Kael says that she could remove the curse, but asks that it instead be used in the coming war. She inspects the sword and informs him that the Sage of Shadow may be able to wield it safely. Kael leaves and joins the others for dinner.

Marish then creates a veil to speak with Nova. Marish informs Nova that the curse she bears was created by another of the Great Fairies. She is quite surprised to hear that Nova can use its pent up energies against her enemies. Marish tells Nova of a prophecy that was received (and I think I need to do some rewriting here to make sense of this...) some time ago, of a child that was to be born with the power of the order of witches that Shia and Marla belong to, and that this child would bring disaster. One of the great fairies, herself the subject of a great curse, tried to identify the family and created a curse to counteract the witches' power. The cursed fairy sent her curse to the wrong child, however. (Hindsight-hint: Huge foreshadowing about the whole Roma-sister thing here, though you'd have to put the pieces together after finding out Roma's a witch)

The fairy also confirms for the first time that Nova is a Hylian, then tells her about the Ascendant Sword (this world's version of the Master Sword), and says that the pendants Nova has been collecting are the key to finding it, suggesting that Nova is one of the few who may wield it's true power.

Nova and Sophy commune for a bit, and Nova chooses to get rid of the bandages she'd used to hide the cursed rose tattoo.

Marish then speaks with Kiri. Kiri asks about an experience he once had with the Kokiri's Emerald before leaving the forest, and Marish informs him that the three sacred stones are the key to the Sacred Realm. She tells him he should return to the Forest Temple some day.

Some of the party travels upstairs to Olgeron's cabin for a very late dinner. (it occurs to me retroactively that Jokarne and Olgeron may have known each other from the battlefield back in the war). Everyone goes to sleep. The sustaining magic of the fairy's fountain ensures a restful sleep, and the holy magic gives them unusual dreams....

[Krail]

Chapter 2: The Zora's Sapphire

A brief Interlude
(Takes place, Night of May 5th)

The magic of the fairy fountain means odd dreams for our party, which means lots of opportunities for mysterious, heavy-handed foreshadowing! I was really trying to make the players aware that Palous was going to be a thing soon, and trying to make the players aware of Ganon. Dream sequences were individually RPed via AIM.
(I'm not sure how important these dreams really are to remember, but I thought I should include them. Note, Zarala's dream will be the most relevant to the rest of the story)

||~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~||
Gotetsu dreams that he's racing around Death mountain, and ends up releasing a dragon. While being chased, he falls through a hole in the ground and ends up in a room with four doors, each representing one of the sages of power, Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire. He is able to open the fire door and finds an ancient sacred weapon of the Gorons used to fight dragons, and also sees a vision of the sage of fire in the flames.
He emerges from the mountain and takes on the dragon, then sees Marla and Shia, followed by the shadowy impression of a greater beast (who we now know is Ganon).

The world fades away and he is now floating amongst misty clouds (The world pre-creation as seen in Ocarina, when the Deku Tree tells the story of creation). A mysterious voice asks about his fears and motivations. He answers that he has been swept away in this adventure and is not sure where he is being led. He sees the first step of creation, the creation of the rocky earth in a blast of divine fire, and sees Brittok and tiran carving out a path.

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Nova is hanging out in the woods and sees a fire in the distance. She follows the smoke to a burning village. She sees the shadowy obviously-a-reference-to-Ganondorf figure from her earlier dreams, and he seems sad and pleading. He is being cast as the shadow of a greater beast who-is-obviously-a-reference-to-Ganon. Both her hands begin to hurt. She sees Shia with Sophy trapped in a cage. She summons monsters and vanishes. Nova then sees a thin, sickly man (Who you guys wouldn't have known was Palous yet, and he's acting a bit odd for Palous, too) holding a shining silver sword.

Nova unleashes her curse and is thrown from her body. She sees a vision of her dying mother leaving her, as a baby, before the Deku Tree. Palous continues to taunt her.
Nova now sees an image of a pair of kids back at the village. A little girl is crying in her big brother's arms, saying over and over that it's her fault that Nova and their mother will never come back. (and we have since learned that she may very well be true)

Nova finds herself in the formless misty clouds of pre-creation while a mysterious voice quizzes her on her fears and motivations. Nova wants to know her family. She fears not being able to protect those that she loves. She seeks the Ascendant Sword, with which to protect said things. She sees an abreviated creation of the world. Kiri and Jokarne stand beside a path leading to the horizon.
(If I'd made some decisions about the sages, she might also have found herself in a room with four doors representing Truth, Forest, Spirit, and Life).

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Zarala is drifting in Lake Hylia and sees somethign she's seen late at night before. Palous (who we've met when he tried to steal the Ruby, but have not been formally introduced to by this point) is sneaking off to the lakeside lab. Marla appears, and she and Palous get into a destructive battle. This is also the first time we hear Palous' name. The lake floods and Zarala is carried out to sea.

She drifts ashore on Kohilint Island and meets Marin, who brings her home to see if her grandpa can help Zarala. She runs out to find him while Zarala discovers a mysterious doorway in the wall. She finds a room with four doors. Some of the sages they represent are a bit abstract and not readily obvious (I later rearranged which sages belonged with which part of the triad, but at this point it should be Light, Shadow, Knowledge, and Song.) She goes through a glassy door and sees many different skies (I'm not even sure which sage this was. I think it was something I later replaced with Truth?) and finds a fancy ornamental recurve bow with no bowstring.

She emerges back into the house and Marin shows up saying a tanuki has played a trick on her grandpa. She and Zarala go to see the local witch for help, and they buy a bag of magic powder and some fancy magic crystals. Before they can go anywhere else, Zarala finds herself back home, looking at a dried up, ruined Lake Hylia.

Zarala falls through a hole and finds herself in the pre-creation clouds. The voice asks about her fears and motivations. Zarala fears the visions she's just seen. She wants to help her friends and stop the evil in the world. She sees Din's and Nayru's steps of creation, and the Hylian prince and the Shiekah brothers standing beside a path.

(Special spoiler note! Zarala's dream is the most important because it not only contains blunt foreshadowing and ill portents, but it has real, concrete effects on the world. She awakens to find an actual, functioning bow next to her, as well as the magic crystals. She would/will also visit Kohilint in later dreams and discover that it seems to be some sort of actual place she is visiting rather than simply a dream)
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Kiri is alone in the woods, cooking dinner. He discovers a musical skull kid in a clearing full of instruments. He takes a weird guitar and they play a little music game, which seems to summon a mysterious green wolfos to Kiri's side. He hears a commotion and rushes to the Deku tree, followed by the apparently friendly wolfos. A new kid has appeared, but she doesn't have a fairy and the Deku Tree has sent the others looking for one.

Kiri sees a mysterious man (maybe Palous?) with a shining silver sword leap from the trees and ponder the new kid. Kiri moves to protect her, and the other Kokiri seem to change shape and now wear masks. The man morphs into a strange monster with one eye and a giant mace for an arm (Final form of The Shadow Nightmare, the final boss from Lin's Awakening), and moblins move into the clearing. Kiri fights fiercely, but is overwhelmed.

He floats now in the pre-creation clouds, and the voice asks after his motivations. He fears what he has just seen, and he feras being trapped. He does not know where he's going. He suddenly finds himself at the inner sanctum of the Forest Temple, and there is a door. (there's also something here with a watch. I have no idea where I was going with that). He touches the door, and the dream ends.

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Eto is inside some kind of training/test dungeon for Shiekah. He deals with some illusion puzzles and finds a man in Shiekah clothes sleeping in the corner who tries to attack him with a knife when Eto tries to see if he's okay. He is hit on the head and has a brief image of the pre-creation clouds before "waking up" bound to a tree.

Before long, Impa shows up to fight our mystery man and identifies him as a traitorous Shiekah Eto has heard of. He breaks free and gets his weapons, but suddenly finds himself outside Kakariko. A huge beast, Shia, and Marla seem to be leading an attack. Marla wears an odd mask.

Eto goes on the offensive, but is blasted back by the witches' magic. He sees Impa slain, and feels an odd energy welling up inside himself. He fades to darkness, and then to the misty clouds, and the mysterious voice is asking him questions. Eto isn't fond of all this questioning and asks who the voice is.
He finds himself in a room decorated with pictures of skeletons and death. Zarala and Dyrun are there, looking at a door in the floor. The voice advises him that he faces something deadly as an evil shadow rises from the door.

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Kael is in a red canyon with Eto and the Oracle. They are looking for the shadow from the game's intro. They find Turafa stuck in a strange blue panel in the ground. Turafa is split into multiple forms, two vanish and one is thrown free as Kael is sucked into the blue panel. He is pulled through and finds himself in an indescribable place, and a voice asks what he believes in. He believes in the people of this world.

He ends up in a similar landscape, but the red canyon is grassy, and the sky is golden. A golden light in the distance shudders, and Kael feels like his spirit is split into two parts. He finds himself in a similar place again, but now the sky is red and there's a great pyramid in the distance. He spies another blue panel and jumps in.

The voice asks what he fears, and he fears he isn't strong enough to protect everyone. He finds himself in a circle of flowers. There's a mountain with a tower in the distance. He spots a huge monster behind him. Kael questions his fate, and the monster asks who he is talking to. As Kael tries to attack, the monster shows it can teleport through its shadow as well as attack with powerful magic.

The Asura is reacting and Kael drops it before it can hurt him. When the monster goes for the cursed weapon, Kael weilds it instead, but ultimately can't handle the pain, and drops it. He sees a final vision of a small globe surrounded by mirros. Each mirror shows a different sky.

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Brittok stands circled by a crowd of Stalfos. They ask what he stands for, and he replies Equality and Acceptance. They laugh at him, and say times are changing. He should side with Darkrova while he still can. Brittok argues that ultimately no one will benefit from her rule.

The other stalfos go away, and Brittok is surrounded by fire. Shia, Marla, and a great shadowy monster are looming over Hyrule Castle Village as it burns. Tiran and Gotetsu show up, ready to fight. They are all struck by the witches' magic. The drawbridge breaks and Brittok falls through the moat.

He now floats in the misty clouds, and the voice asks him questions. He will not answer about his fear, and says he only wishes to set things right. He sees the world created and lands on Keta mountain. He sees Death Mountain in the distance. He hopes to find the person who started his troubles there, the man that he helped out of Keta dungeon.

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Jokarne is at the fortress with Ganondorf. A hint of bad things to come is on the wind. Ganondorf asks what she values, and she says Loyalty and Strength. She spies Roma, Nova, Kiri, and Turafa wandering in the desert being pursued by a woman in black.

Jokarne is now in the desert, giving chase. She confronts Marla, who wears an odd mask and attacks with shadow magic. The woman vanishes in a sword swing, and a large beast rises from the shadows. Jokarne engages it directly, seeing that it has black blood. It overpowers her, and she suddenly finds herself in some moldy ruins. She sees Nova injured and goes to help.

She is now in the misty clouds. She says to the voice that she fears the fall of her kingdom, but does not fear death. She is back in the ruins now. Nova has lost her resolve, and Roma tells them desperately to just run away. She sees the fortress on fire and the ground trembles and breaks beneath her feet.

Back in the misty clouds again, she sees the world created beneath her. She meets a girl she vaguely recognizes who talks about how life must have a strong and courageous spirit to live in the desert and face this adversity. Together the two of them visit a large octagonal chamber immersed in orange light.

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(Leafsbane also had a dream where he talked at some length with The Oracle, saw a great purple dragon eaten by a giant two-headed hawk... but he's since left the game and I've kinda picked another character to be the sage of knowledge...)