Quest 04 (Open + Closed)

[newmemorywhodis]

i. The joy of cooking lizards and frogs [Open]

If there was one thing Link had learned from the battle at Flotsam, it was that he really, really needed to build up his stash of elixirs again.

So not too long after the battle - when Link’s recovered enough to stay on his feet, and limp his way towards one of Flotsam’s communal kitchens - Link gets to work.

It’s a process that involves Link cheerfully humming while he babies a big boiling pot, and some…unusual ingredients. Most notable is the big giant pile of lizalfos talons; large wicked claws that look like they’d come from some kind of large reptilian creature. These talons are an ingredient in every elixir he makes, but the accompanying ingredient varies.

Sometimes, it’s the sort of thing you might expect someone to cook with; fish, vegetables, mushrooms. Sometimes it’s flowers or herbs. And then for some concoctions he tosses in…frogs and lizards?


ii. More ingredients. MORE! [closed to Nephenee, Donnie, Shu]

The trouble with making elixirs is that he can’t just run out and find more ingredients when he needs them; all the recipes he knows best use things from Hyrule.

Which is why Link decides to seek out those people he’d given some of his plants and mushrooms to, in the hope that they might be able to grow more. If he can, he’ll try to find each of them at whatever garden patch or farm they’ve been working in.

And then say, “...Hi.”


iii. A visit to the apothecary, because maybe Link should share sometimes [Closed to Maomao]

It had occurred to Link that the other thing that might help is knowing more about the local fauna and flora - maybe there were ingredients he could find here that he could use as well?

And if there was anyone who can help…well, an apothecary seemed a good place to start. And maybe Maomao might find some of his materials useful too.

So he makes a visit to Elysium, silently slipping in through the door of the apothecary and looking around. Is Maomao in?


iv. These lizards won’t breed themselves [Closed to Ilphyl]

Ilphyl could turn into animals. So…maybe it stood to reason, that they might know how to breed them as well?

So Link tracks Ilphyl down. Reaches into his korok-enchanted pack, and pulls out a fireproof lizard. Despite being carried around in what looks like an ordinary leather bag, it is alive, and wriggling in Link’s hands.

“...I need more lizards,” he says.


v. Bees, bugs and butterflies [Closed to Iren]

The lizards might be sorted - but Link could use someone to help with his butterflies as well. But who could help with them?

Fortunately, while exploring the outskirts of Elysium, he'd run into a few locals who mentioned that someone was keeping bees. Link didn't even know you could keep bees. He'd only ever seen wild bee nests, and no one kept them.

But if someone can keep bees...butterflies shouldn't be a problem. So he makes his way to the location given to him.

When Iren comes out to check up on her bees, she’ll find Link curiously inspecting her bee houses. From a short distance away, that is - Link’s well aware of how bees can sting when angered.

Comments

[singlemilletgrain]

"Spells...?"

Shu sounds vaguely uncertain. She has never considered her abilities to be classified as 'magic' nor any particular effect a 'spell.' A further difficulty was that she had no particular intuition on what a magical accessory might entail.

"Did you get a good look at it at any point? There wasn't an opportunity to force it off physically, was there?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link shrugs. What does he know about spells?

Figuring out how to get the crown off was going to have to be someone else's job, unfortunately.

"Noctis tried," he says. Obviously though, Noctis had been unsuccessful. "Then she ran off."

[singlemilletgrain]

"I believe that girl is a victim of the Empire, too. I hope we can devise a method to free her from that object, whatever the 'spell' may happen to be."

She seemed young. It didn't seem likely she wanted to be a part of this battle at all.

"Or perhaps we can find a time when that armor is unoccupied and destroy it. That would require some tracking and reconnaissance."

She trails off in thought, subconsciously shifting the sack of wheat at her back.

"Ah -- but was this what you wanted to discuss with me? My apologies for the distraction. Did you have business?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods. Yes, whoever she was...they should save her. In that, Link was very much in agreement.

And then shifts, along with the conversation. Because yes - there was something Link wanted to ask!

"Are the plants growing okay?" He asks. And by plants, of course, he means the ones he gave her. The Hyrulean fruits.

[singlemilletgrain]

The plants were clearly growing excellently, as Link can tell from the sacks on her back. But she realizes what he is asking soon enough.

"Ah -- yes, yes. They just began to fruit the other day, though I haven't harvested anything yet. Truth be told, I'm not sure how to judge when they are ripe. Come show me."

Shu hefts the wheat and beckons for Link to follow. Her day's harvest is first set down before she leads Link to a more private field that she has used as a personal garden for the various requests she has received. Most immediately striking is the bare ground and line of 'CAUTION' signs she has placed around four bushes isolated in the middle that are yielding small, deep, flame-red fruits. Less deliberately placed are the gourd-like Splash Fruits and the gently humming Shock Fruits in an equivalent stage of growth.

((I don't exactly remember which ones he asked her to grow, but correct if I'm wrong!))

[newmemorywhodis]

Link brightens. They're growing fruit already?

Eagerly, he follows her to the small field. Ignoring those caution signs completely, Link runs right up to the small bushes. They look just like the ones from home!

He picks one of the fire fruits. Looks at Shu. And beams. These are definitely good to pick!

[He gave her all the 'fruits'! Fire fruit, Ice fruit, Shock fruit, Splash fruit and Dazzlefruit]

[singlemilletgrain]

Shu has had more than one nightmare about those bushes bursting into flame and destroying all of the vegetation in the Vault in one fell swoop. She gives a slight twitch as Link completely ignores her various safeguards, but of course, he would probably know better about correct agricultural techniques here.

"They are ready?"

She approaches one of the ice fruit bushes and plucks one carefully, feeling its intense chill in her hands.

"You know, as far as magic goes, these are certainly a marvel. I assume they aren't meant for consumption."

[newmemorywhodis]

What? It was fine. Link had grabbed hundreds of these, and not once had he ever accidentally harmed himself with them.

(Bomb flowers, however...were another story.)

"You can cook them," he says, correcting her assumption. He holds up the fire fruit. "More damage in hot weather. Cold weather for Ice fruit."

[singlemilletgrain]

"Eh?"

She blinks at Link in faint surprise. His laconic nature does not usually hinder communication, but she has a difficult time understanding exactly what he is saying right now.

"More damage?" More damage to what? One's internal organs?

[newmemorywhodis]

"To enemies," Link explains. Huh, guess that wasn't as clear as he thought it would be, was it?

To emphasize this, he takes his sword of his back, and makes a few attacks towards an invisible enemy as demonstration. See? Eat something cooked with Fire or Ice Fruit, be in hot or cold weather, do more damage.

Hyrulean cooking works in weird ways, sometimes.

[singlemilletgrain]

"More damage... to enemies?"

Shu's internal monologue is currently filled with the sounds 'huh? eh? wha? as her external face assumes an expression that would look most natural underneath a cloud of animated confusion swirls.

"But -- "

She doesn't even quite know how to voice her concern. But it's fruit. But that doesn't make sense. But why would eating a food increase your damage. But how is weather remotely related to any of this?

"Mmm..." She blinks hard for a moment. "I... see." She doesn't. "It is truly a magical artifact indeed."

Really, though, it doesn't matter, because the more important question -- and the train of thought that causes her expression to clear -- is, "Well, you must show me sometime how to cook these! I am sure it would be fascinating."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods, head bobbing up and down in short, quick little nods. That's exactly it!

Though, it's not really something he regards as magical. It's just...cooking. A plant that grows naturally. He thinks of it as more like the kind of science practiced by people like Purah.

"They're good with mushrooms!" he says. "Or simmered."

[singlemilletgrain]

Do the mushrooms increase damage when you're underground. There are so many questions about Hyrulean cooking now. What if she combines all the fruits together, mixes them into an energy drink, and feeds the entire army of the Corsairs so that they have increased damage in all weather, hot, cold, and indifferent.

Unconscious that she's spin-off-ing into a whole new genre of video games (cooking simulators), Shu falls into silence as she imagines the possibilities.

"......................Oh! Right. Well, let's harvest them. I'll keep a few to separate the seeds for the next crop. It will probably be another month."

[newmemorywhodis]

Really, Link would be happy to answer any questions about Hyrulean cooking. Or just show her more recipes. If there was one topic that was Link's favourite, it was food.

For now, though, he nods - and starts moving from bush to bush, collecting all of the fruits that he could. It's an easy, practiced movement, that has them all swiftly disappearing into Link's bag.

Afterwards, he approaches Shi. Now that the bushes have grown, they’ll continue to fruit. But surely Shu wants some for herself, so he asks: “How many do you want?”

[singlemilletgrain]

"Do I want?"

She seems surprised at the offer.

"Are these not useful tools from your home world? Do not be courteous - I grew these so that you might replenish your stock without fear of running low." A short pause. "If you are of a mind to cook, though, I would be interested in watching you work."

[newmemorywhodis]

"You helped." And when you help people, you give them things. (Although usually, Link tends to be on the other side of things. But he does still know how it's all supposed to work.)

But if Shu preferred a meal to the actual fruits themselves...well, that worked too. So he nods. Yes, he can cook her something.

He holds up one of the fire fruits, head tilted to one side in an unspoken question. Would she like him to cook something with one of these?

[singlemilletgrain]

"Yes. That one."

The mysteries of a fruit that sets things on fire are too much to bear.

"Well. If we do end up with some extra after a few months. I would be so very interested in experimentation..."

There is going to come a time when Shu starts sneaking strange meals into the dining hall of the Corsairs with terrible and unusual effects, and it will be 100% Link's fault.

Shall we wrap up around here?

[newmemorywhodis]

Really, Shu doesn't need to sneak in strange meals to the Corsairs if she wants to experiment. She could just ask Link, and he'd happily eat whatever strange cuisine she'd made.

That's how he learned most of what he knows, after all.

But she hasn't asked that yet. So for now, he'll just follow her to the kitchen and start showing her how to cook up a smorgasbord of Fire Fruit meals.

All of which do in fact inexplicably make someone more deadly in hot weather after consumption.

sounds good!

[singlemilletgrain]

Tragically, it is late fall and there are no handy desert biomes to test this hypothesis. Nor would she know exactly how to test it, given she doesn't usually make murder a casual habit. Still, this will be filed away carefully for next summer.