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

iv

[spacetogrow]

Ilphyl was not expecting Link to pull out a live lizard from his pack. Yes, they were familiar with Bags of Holding, but those required tracking air use. A lizard didn't need much air, but they did need some.

"you generally need at least two lizards to get more."

III

[2mao]

"Ah, Link." Maomao is, indeed, present; currently in the process of grinding down something with mortar and pestle. Did you trade names last time? Don't Worry About It. "Did you need something?"

As usual, there isn't much room in her apothecary, but do try not to brush up on any of the drying herbs or knock over any jars, you never know what might be inside.

[newmemorywhodis]

What luck then, because Link immediately pulls out another lizard. Now he has one in each hand!

"I have four fireproof lizards," he says. "Seven hearty. Ten hightail. Forty-two sticky."

He probably didn't actually need more of the sticky lizards, really.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link thinks about it, and nods. Yes, he does need something.

"You know local ingredients?" he says. "I have ones from home. But they're different."

[2mao]

"I am an apothecary, so I know most of the local ingredients. And most of the ingredients found in the Empire as well." After all, her teacher had been an Imperial physician - not that she advertises that bit.

"And I'd love to see the ingredients you have as well."

i

[fish4science]

"What are you making there, some kind of potions?" The footsteps of the approaching girl had been swallowed up by the crowd, but her voice is smokey and raspier than usual. Turning around reveals the reason why-Angelika's face is still messed up from the fight, one eye completely covered by a patch of gauze, ointments and bandages covering her ears and nose, and the entire face pink and swollen like it's been plunged into too-hot water for too long. Which, is basically what happened, after the immediate application of healing, medic's interventions, and drinking five potions. She would swear she can feel it sloshing around inside her stomach right now, but still with one eye swollen shut and her throat still lightly burned, she doesn't look or sound very much like she's on the road to recovery.

Her hair isn't much better either, her bangs singed and cut back to the roots and her side-braid and forelocks significantly burned or trimmed back as well. The short hair is making her skin crawl, but it's not proper dysphoria, not yet, and she has a date with some magical hair tonic if she can find any. But since she earned these wounds in battle alongside Link, showing them to him isn't quite as bad as it would be to anyone else.

[newmemorywhodis]

"I need ingredients for elixirs," he says, with a nod. "Especially fireproof elixirs and electro elixir."

There were other elixirs he could make, of course. But those were the most useful - and the ones he was most limited on in terms of potential supply.

As for his ingredients...well, he could show them. In fact, he reaches into the small leather pack at his waist, and starts pulling out ingredients. A lot of ingredients.

A golden apple. Hydromelon. Spicy pepper. Fleet-lotus seeds. Rushrooms. Muddle buds. Stamella shrooms. Stambulbs. Mighty thistles. Armoranth. Sundelions. And more, and more, and more.

When Link said he had ingredients from home, it turns out he had a lot of ingredients.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link knows all too well how she got those wounds. He's still licking a few of his own, although he hasn't come out quite so worse for wear.

And at this point, he'd already downed a hearty elixir. That had gone a long way to helping him feel better.

To her question though, he nods. And says, "Elixirs," as he drops a lizalfos talon into the pot. He points at a couple of the ones he's already made, sitting in little glass bottles on the counter.

"Electro Elixir. Sneaky. Sticky. Hasty."

II

[relentless_sentinel]

Link finds Nephenee on the boat she lives and works on, hanging off the crow's nest by a rope around her waist, tending to some hanging planters with vines crawling out, a small net slung underneath to catch any wayward veggies.

Spotting him from her perch, she waves with her free hand, the other holding a watering can. "Howdy, Sir Link!"

[fish4science]

A nearby pile of wood for the stove (like any on a ship, it's watched like a hawk and if you let the fire grow too large, woe unto you) serves as a seat as she gently lowers herself onto it.

"Hmmm. Does electro protect against electricity, or add electrical effects to your attacks? And what would sticky do?" She pauses to suck in a breath slowly, and then continues. "I've made a few potions before but...always with a bigger alchemical setup. Retorts and alembics and those glass tubes that swirl around...half the lessons were how to blow a new glass tube if you broke them."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link waves back, showing zero sign of any surprise or incredulity at the setup she's got here. What does he know about farming? If it works, it works.

Naturally, he decides to climb up the mast too, casually hanging off it near where she's working. "Your boat farm is nice," he says.

[newmemorywhodis]

"Protects," Link says, with a nod. "Sticky makes climbing easier. No slipping when it rains."

Link loved sticky elixirs. Getting caught in the rain while trying to climb was just frustrating.

At her talks of bigger alchemical setups though, Link just tilts his head and looks at her, faintly befuddled. He's seen such setups before, of course. Purah and Zelda are quite fond of them. But he's never needed that for making elixirs.

[relentless_sentinel]

He's taking it better than most. Most people give her funny looks, but farmgirls make do.

She's surprised exactly none when he scampers up the mast. Honestly, this is one of the tamer things he's done around her. "Thanks!" She says, beaming. "Gotta make do with the space bein' at a...ah, premium." She thinks that's the word. "An' a bunch o'plants can be grown like this, so, might as well take advantage o'it."

"So, what brings ya 'round?" Looking at their current positions, her smile turns a bit mischievous. "Ya need somethin', or ya jus' lookin' to..." Her emerald eyes twinkle under her wide-brimmed hat, "hang out?"

Who let Nephenee make dad jokes?

[fish4science]

"Slipping when it rains? Hmmm, wet surfaces. I guess I can see the use." She kicks a few times idily, thinking about underwater projects, clinging to a ship or rigging in a storm as the ship tossed about. "Those could be useful, for sure."

feeling his gaze, she is momentarily thankful the burns conceal her redness in the face. "You want to know why? Bigger yield, better control. Don't need to use ingredients quite as soaking in raw ether."

[newmemorywhodis]

At first, Neph gets a blank look in response to her odd emphasis. Imperial isn't Link's native language; he's not going to be able to pick up on puns as easily as he would with Hylian. But then he thinks on it, and realises...oh!

Link grins. She made a pun!

If only he could make one in reply...but alas, Link's mastery of the language is not that advanced. He'll have to just appreciate her puns.

As for why he's here...

"Have you grown..." he says, looking around. Trying to see if he can spot an oh-so familiar white and blue flower...

[newmemorywhodis]

"Soaking in...raw?" Link says, another faint furrow of his eyebrows. It's not a term he's familiar with; maybe because he doesn't know the concept, or maybe because his grasp of Imperial doesn't quite cover it.

The one for her, obviously

[ordainedbarkeep]

Today was a day to check the hives. Summer was over and she had to make sure they were good and healthy enough to make it through the winter. She knew some beekeepers who were so confident in being well known by their hives that they didn't bother with netting, but she wasn't one of them. She had on the full veil and suit, so as to not get stung.

So now she was running into a problem: There was someone else checking out her bees, and she only had the one veil.

"You probably shouldn't get any closer!" She called out, with concern. "The hives don't know you!"

[relentless_sentinel]

Congratulations, Link, you're the first one here to hear her make one. Honestly, it says how comfortable she is around him that she does so in the first place. Though if he needs help learning the language, she'll be happy to give him pointers or whatever he needs. Though, half of it is just listening carefully...the other half is a lot of reading in what little free time she has.

Happy he caught it, she nods. "Yep, couple different things comin' in. Not up here, though. Ah gotta spot I'm able to grow some stuff on the...uh..."

Now it's her turn to not remember the local term for something, partially because there's a few different ones, and neither make sense to her. She usually just says "deck" but that's not helpful here.

"...Ugh, can't remember the term in Imperial. Think back home it's {fo’cs’le} or {forecastle} or somethin' like that? Or maybe it was {bowsprit}? The deck area near the front o'the ship, in front o'the mast up there." She waves a hand towards the bow of the ship. She admittedly didn't spend much time around ships before here, but she vaguely remembered some weird terms that stuck in her head specifically because they sounded odd.

"Anyways," She climbs the rope holding her up, speaking a bit louder so she can be heard as she climbs over the rail into the crow's nest, "over yonder's where Ah got stuff growin' that can't be up here. Like them pumpkins, too heavy."

II

[purplexing]

Donnie had fallen behind in a lot of the tasks he'd meant to do. Personal upgrades to his weapons and armor had taken a complete backseat in favor of finishing up preparations at the mines, but at least he now has the materials that he needed so that he can work on them now that there's time.

Plants however always take precedence when there's something along those lines to tend to. They are alive and even seeds have a timeframe that they must be used. At least Link's magical bag seems to somehow keep things preserved, and Donnie had figured it was better to start small than not at all, see if he could get some results before putting time into something larger. At least most of the species that Link had provided seemed to be found in a similar environment.

After obtaining permission to expand his little garden area into the wall itself, Donnie had worked to carefully widen an alcove into a small cave-cubby. He tried a couple of each of the samples Link had given him, taking care to spray a little water within to keep things slightly moist. Covered the hole with cloth like a curtain, and then...he'd forgotten about it for a bit. To be fair, the past month had been a busy one, after all.

Now with a chance to breathe and tend to his plants, Donnie also checks on the progress within his little experiment. He'd purposely made the opening away from where the ether lights shine, but all the same he keeps the curtain over him as he peeks in.

[newmemorywhodis]

Fortunately, Link isn't one to disregard her warning. He just nods, and keeps his distance.

And says, "...Hi." A pause, and then he adds - even though it's obvious - "You raise the bees?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Alas, that same curtain keeps Link from being able to peek in as well. So even though he's standing on the tips of his toes, trying to look over Donnie's shoulder...he can't see any.

So instead, he has to ask: "...Are they growing?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link hasn't spent much time around ships either. As far as he's concerned, that part of the ship is just 'the front'.

But he glances over in that direction as he climbs up into the crows nest with her.

"...The silent princesses?" he says. Were they growing there? Not that he didn't care about the other things Neph was growing, but...really, it was Zelda's favourites that Link was most concerned with.

He'd taken a few out in his dorm room. Put them in vases by his bed, so he could look at them as he went to sleep. But they were still flowers, and eventually they died. Unless Neph could grow more, he wouldn't be able to keep doing that.

I

[upupatomway]

Atom doesn't really know his way around a kitchen, and he had heard of people eating frog legs in other countries. But Link's lineup of exotic looking ingredients doesn't match anything he had seen in a kitchen before. The scene he stumbles upon, with Link stirring a bubbling pot, almost looks like a fairy tale illustration.

"Is... Is that a kind of witch's brew?" Atom asks.

[fish4science]

"Ether, you know, magic?" She waves her hand through the air, shedding sparkles and then swirling them up in a casual display of her own reserves. "It is in the water, the air, inside every living thing, and it crystalizes underground. But it can also be in plants and animals and I'll bet that your um, ingredients are rich in it as well."

[ordainedbarkeep]

Iren decided to talk to this guy first and wandered over. The bees could wait a bit.

"They mostly raise themselves. I just make sure they're comfortable so they don't leave."