Is Blue Fire Hot or Cold? Asking for a Friend

I leave the...happy family at the farm as I hike even further up into the mountains. There are seemingly no further points of interest between here and there, save for what appears to be a path down to the beach (and the sheep rustlers). Almost there!

Shouldn't you be in school?

But it turns out I’m still not actually alone. As I near the final bends in the path to the lab, I see two small children, each posted at different spots, looking up at the tech lab. Ah, so this is where a lot of the rumors in town are coming from. Azu and Sefaro, between talking to each other, both tell me of the young girl seen coming in and out of the lab. Does seriously no one ever go up there just to say hi? You’re neighbors! Nosy ass children…

I pass through a field, and I can see the path fork to the southeast, leading to the beach, or north, up a winding cliff to the lab. The beach can wait. As I make my way up the cliff, I take a moment to read the many signs placed on the approach. No solicitors, mind the lanterns, and enter at my own risk. Got it. Also, it’s good to know those tan structures I saw all around town are lanterns.

Hateno Ancient Tech Lab

I finally approach the building itself and see the name pop up on the screen. It only took me what, two months of writing to get to this point? I don’t waste any more time and enter the building.

This place is...nice?

Inside is...a mess. Seriously, a disaster area. Or a college student’s dorm. There are books and papers everywhere, strewn all over the floor, stacked against the walls, falling off tables. It’s giving me anxiety just looking at it.

Other than the hoarder-levels of documents everywhere, I also see what looks like a Sheikah pedestal in one corner of the room. The same kind that granted me the four Runes, unlocks shrines, and fills in my map at the top of the Sheikah Towers. There are also two people in Sheikah robes, presumably hard at work as neither has noticed my entrance.

I approach the first person, a young girl - obviously the young girl who is the talk of the town. Wow, they really weren’t kidding. I thought young just meant like, a teenager and it was a bunch of older dues being weird. But no she looks like she’s ten, tops. Purah, hearing that I wish to speak with the director of the lab, points me to the other individual in the room, standing against the back wall. They are very busy however, and she asks that I keep my talk with him brief. Thanks!

I head back to speak with the lab’s director, Symin. He tells me that they've gathered all of the book in Hyrule that are about ancient civilizations. Then he notices my Sheikah Slate, and asks to see the Runes. He says I’m missing the Basic Runes. I’m totally down with more powers!

He introduces himself, and let's me know he already knows who I am - Impa has already spoken to him. ...How? I know I took a few detours but I still basically went from there to here. Carrier pigeon? Sheikah magic? Whatever. Then he introduces me to the director. Huh? Purah is? The fuck? I turn back around to see a laughing Purah.

I love a good joke...
but you know we're trying to save the world, right?

Okay she’s pretty adorable. But why is she a kid? Symin says it’s her story to tell, so I go and ask. We talk. And there's a lot to talk about. Purah is the person who put me/Link to sleep in the Shrine of Restoration after I was almost killed in Ganon’s attack. She seems surprised by my memory loss, and takes down some notes to that effect.

As for why she looks like a ten year old, all she’ll tell me is that it is the result of a failed experiment and that if I want to know more I can read her journal on the subject. There are more pressing matters at hand: restoring all the functions of my Sheikah Slate so that I can rescue Zelda!

She needs me to run an errand first, of course. I need to bring a Blue Flame up from the Ancient Furnace in town, to light their own furnace up here. I’m guessing this was the glowing blue object I saw earlier in the distance. Once I light the furnace up here, Purah can use the Guidance Stone (Finally know what those are called) to restore my missing runes.

I grab a torch on the floor before heading back outside. I pull out my scope and get my eyes on the furnace. It looks like it's a clear shot from here to there on my glider. I jump from the cliff and begin my descent, the hills and cliffs passing under me. I land right in front of the furnace, just outside of the town's borders near a small pond.

Zelkoa Pond

It’s definitely sheikah. It looks like a set of blue bombs, or even bag, all larger than Link. Made of stone or metal, they are covered in the intricate designs that line the walls of the shrines and towers. At the front of them is a smaller pedestal with a blue flame pouring forth. My target.

...Why didn't they just build the tech lab next to the furnace?

I pull out my torch and light the flame with a whoosh. That was easy enough. I make my way back into town, torch in hand. Starting from the town entrance, I light each torch as I come across them, leaving a trail of flicker blue light in my wake. There are quite a few of the, I wonder if anything happens if I light them all?

Most of the torches are easy to find, out in the open in obvious spots in town. But a few are more tucked away, out on the far edge of a field or across a river I can only get to from a certain angle. The further into town I go, the trickier they are to spot, but I finally think I have them all once I am back on the final ramp up the the tech lab. I light what I believe the be the final torch on the way to the top, finally ending by lighting the lab’s furnace. This activates both the Guidance Stone inside and the Travel Gate outside - I’ve got a second warp in to Hateno.

I didn’t see anything else triggered by the torches - maybe I missed one. I check around, maybe they’re just decoration - so I head inside to speak with Purah. She thanks me and points out the Guidance Stone not that it’s been activated. She instructs me to insert my slate and get the repairs started.

*BWOHM*

The stone informs me that I am missing the Camera, Hyrule Compendium, and some album files. It starts the repair...which is the same thing as when I get a new map or got the original runes, a drop of glowing water hitting the slate. I see the final rune square after Cryonis has been filled in, now known as the camera. Then I see a set of pictures that have already been taken, and then what I presume is the empty compendium.

Once the repairs are complete, Purah is speaking to me again. Going over the new runes, she first walks me through using the Camera, first by taking a picture of herself. Simple enough. I show it to her when I’m done, and she explains to me that the images already in the album must have been taken by Zelda 100 years ago.

She thinks that if I were to go to each of these locations, it might help restore some of my lost memories! She’s sending me back to Impa in Kakariko, she knew Zelda best and will be able to help me further. She also would like me to gather some ancient materials and bring them back, either to her or to Robbie at the Akkala Tech Lab. That’s the second mention of Akkala now, and I’m pretty sure I heard someone mention Robbie in Kakariko.

What's that? You want me to try and destroy giant Hylian
hunting robots for their scraps? Sure no problem.

 Slated for Upgrades

That actually triggers not one but two quests! In the first, I can upgrade my Stasis or Remote Bomb runes, or the Sheikah Sensor that helps me locate shrines. Stasis will cost me three Ancient Cores, Remote Bombs are three Ancient Shafts, and the sensor requires three Ancient Screws. Ha! Except for the Cores, I already have enough to upgrade Stasis and the Bombs.

 Robbie’s Research

This quest is less obvious. I know Robbie is another Sheikah researcher, with a lab based in the Akkala region. I’ve got another quest in that area, that’s where Bolson sent Hudson after they finished work on my house. The map has both quest markers far to the north, so I don’t think I’ll be completing these anytime soon, but at least I’ll be able to take care of them together. For now though, there’s still plenty to do before I even head back to Kakariko.

Let’s see what other messes I can clean up around here.

---

Heart Containers: 5
Shrines Completed: 11
Koroks Found: 36
Children: Nosy
Blue Flame: Flaming?
Purah: TBD