Forests, Swamps, and Plains: Ah Yes, the Three Genders

I continue looking off into the horizon, still dumbfounded by the sight of the dragon flying across the sky. He doesn’t seem to be coming back, though, so I should probably get moving. I climb down from my perch, once again just outside the Outpost Ruins.

Outpost Ruins

I was pretty thorough with my previous exploration, but I go ahead and give it another once over, taking out the bokoblins that have since respawned under the blood moon. I do the same further up the road with the East Post Ruins, before crossing back over Proxim bridge, past Brigo. Keep up the good work, buddy.

Oh, hey!

I utilize my backtracking trip to stock up on ingredients. I grab some bugs and plants from the fields and forests, fish and snails from the Squabble River, and even do a little bird and fox hunting. I say hello to Giro, and replenish my gemstones when I travel back through Dueling Peaks. By the time I am back at the stable, my pockets are once again full.

I say hi to Fabio, feeding him an apple. Did ya miss me buddy? I stand over near the fire and Sagessa, opening my inventory to take stock. I’ve got a decent amount of just about everything right now. I’m good on food and weapons, though I could stand to find some more arrows. I guess it is time to head towards Hateno Village.

The village is to the east of Dueling Peaks and the stable. I’ll need to go around the Ash Swamp and Blatchery Plain, and through Fort Hateno. I see a path on my map, but of course, we need to explore the area a little first.

Right behind the stable is a massive plain. It’s made up of three distinct areas: First in the northern section is the Ash Swamp. To the south of that is the Bubinga Forest, where I went hunting for my first horses for the contest. And finally in the eastern corner we have Blatchery Plain, presumably a grassland area just outside the fort. And here we go, exploring all of them.

Oh, I did not miss these fuckers at all.

Bubinga Forest

Let’s start where we have already been. Now that I’m not worried about sneaking up on any of these horses, I can enjoy the scenery a little more. Right as soon as I kill this fucking Octorock. This one seems to be of the land variety. It actually seems more like a Deku Scrub from Ocarina of Time but I’m guessing those aren’t in this game.

I wander through the forest, scouring the trees for goodies. I find more ingredients of course, and a few other odds and ends. I find not one but two of the blue rupee rabbits, netting myself some coin. I also find two Koroks! The first is under a rock on top of a very large tree in the center of the forest. I found it as I was searching for bird eggs in the treetops. The second required some balloon popping. On a hilltop, I find another pinwheel on top of a boulder, and taking out my bow, three balloons appear in the air. Shooting them down gets me my 24th Korok seed.

The rest of the forest is clear, just a group of horses peacefully trotting along the riverbank. It’s beautiful.

Party.

Time to go mucking in that swamp.

Ash Swamp

The area lives up to its name, an I see a number of shallow ponds dotting the landscape. Ruins litter that Ash Swamp as far as the eye can see. No full buildings, just parts of walls, columns, all woven throughout the grassy hills and ponds. And of course where there are ruins, there are usually one or two of the no longer functioning guardians. I see multiple herds of horses milling about as well, but no enemies just yet.

There are plenty of bugs and ingredients - my pockets are starting to get full - and I even find a chest containing some more fire arrows. Eventually I do come across the occasional small group of bokoblins, no full fledged camp. I find something odd in the southern part of the swamp. A bunch of swords all stuck in the ground. Traveler’s Claymores, all of them, like some kind of marker. Or a grave. Three bokoblins roam the area, as do some chus. Guarding nearby a chest with a Double Axe. Nothing else though.

Until I move north that is. I don’t recognize the sound at first. It has been so long since I had to worry about being sniped with a laser. They were simpler times… Time before the reappearance of those fucking Decayed Guardians. I wandered a bit to close to one in the swamp, and am now scraping bits of myself off some rocks. Sigh. I mark it’s location on my map, so I know to avoid it now.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck

This game never wants to let me just relax.

After I respawn, I make sure to give a wide bearth to the guardian, and head north, along the path that would normally take me to Kakariko. It forks just before the Kakariko Bridge, and leads east through Fort Hateno. The path is actually fairly quiet. A river that ends in Lake Siela runs to my left before some more mountains begin to crop up. Once I see that I’ve passed most of the swamp, I head off the path to the south.

Blatchery Plain

The area lives up to its name: a lot of plains. It also seems to be full of bokoblins. As I walk the path, I find a few bokoblins on the path waiting to ambush me. Then I see a full fledged bokoblin camp, just outside the Ash Swamp. Time to clean it out!

It looks like a big one. It’s hard to get an exact headcount, the tall grass reaching up to the bokoblin’s heads. I think there are around 8 of them. I see three separate watchtowers, two manned by ‘blins and the third housing the camp’s chest. There are no easy vantage points and everything is very spread out. Here we go.

I try to utilize the tall grass to my advantage, crouching and sneaking as close as I can to the first watchtower. Taking at least one of these out is the priority, then we can see about the second one or take care of a few on the ground. I do manage to take him out, but not before alerting the rest of his compatriots. Time for a brawl.

I'm getting pretty good at this.

I switch to a two handed weapon, a Boko Bat I stole earlier, so that I can fling a few of the enemies away. The main issue right now is their numbers. I see one of the dark skinned variety among the red ones, I’ll leave him for last if I can help it.

I manage to kill a few of the red guys with a few sword swings, even flinging the stronger 'blin away with their corpses. But still, they manage to get a few licks on me. That asshole on the watchtower has terrible aim at least. I try to kill a few more of the reds before taking him out with two arrows to the chest. That just leaves one remaining red guy, and the black one. I gather up all of the fangs, horns, and guts I can once the dust has cleared.

The chest I get to open for all my troubles? An Opal. Fuck you.

I scour the rest of the southern plain, though I largely find it devoid of anything terribly interesting. More ingredients, a few stray bokoblins. There’s a raft in the river that runs between the plains and Fort Hateno’s wall. Time to look north. I begin exploring along the mountainside, eventually finding a tunnel. After killing some keese within, I approach the exit cautiously, the damned decayed guardians causing me to second guess things. But it’s a good thing I did.

I see someone, or something, bouncing around the sky. As if they were walking or skipping across an invisible platform in the sky. I can’t get a good view from this angle though, it keeps moving out of my view and I don’t want it to see me before I know what it is. Time for some climbing.

I head back out the entrance to the tunnel and proceed to climb up the mountain and over it. Then once I can walk, I carefully creep down the other side, towards the weird bouncing creature. I pull out my scope to get a better look.

I’m...still not sure what this is exactly. But going based on it’s coloring, it's fire based. There is also a burned out building behind it, so that's a clue too. The weapon it’s holding also seems to be glowing with energy, so I’m guessing it’s got fire powers as well. I’ve got some ice arrows, but not many so I’d like to hang onto those for now. Let’s just see if we can get a few licks in with some Remote Bombs and arrows first.

Just call me Wile E. Coyote.

Pulling out the round bombs, I wait until the creature is close enough, and toss it down the side of the mountain. As it rolls and and bounces, it gets the attention of my fire friend. Once his curiosity draws him close enough, I pull the trigger, sending him flying.

He doesn’t notice me.

So, I continue to cheese my way through this fight, eventually defeating the whatever it was. I climb down the mountain to collect my spoils. Oddly, the creature doesn’t seem to have left anything behind except it’s weapon - a Fire Rod! Fucking awesome!!! I equip it, watching the way the flames animate up the hilt, igniting the tip. So cool.

I exit the riverside alcove through the tunnel, back out onto the plains. Time to finish exploring! I head east, towards the fort aaaaaaaand....

Fucking lasers. Just fuck you.

I’m going to the fort.

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Heart Containers: 5
Shrines Completed: 8
Koroks Found: 24
Sword Graveyard: Creepy
Ash Swamp: Swampy
Laser Shooting Robots: Every-fucking-where