Quest 07 (Open + Closed)

[newmemorywhodis]

i. Making new, wolfy friends [Open]
In the wild areas near Elysium, Link’s been exploring. It’s a common activity for him. There’s mushrooms and flowers to pick, game to hunt, monsters to fight…

…Then one day, while he’s up in a tree collecting some bird’s eggs, he spots a wolf. A big wolf. A really, really big wolf. It’s as big as a horse.

And once he makes that mental connection, Link immediately thinks, I could ride that.

Which naturally means Link now has to find out if he can. He pulls out a Sneaky Elixir, and swiftly swallows it - demeaning the sounds of his movements. Silently uses his paraglider to move from tree to tree, getting closer. And then carefully drops down behind the massive, monstrous wolf.

He crouches down. Creeps forward. Slowly, slowly. Until he’s right behind the beast, so close he could reach out and touch its fur.

And then he leaps up onto its back, and grabs on.

The wolf yelps and snarls - but Link’s got a good position, and he doesn’t let it twist back and bite him. He just directs the beast to run, and keeps a good hold.

What do you know, he can ride it!


ii. A retrieval of memories [locked to Shu]
Shu had spoken to the Admiral. They’d tracked down the Imperial Commander who’d been given Link’s Purah Pad.

And then they’d sneaked onto the Commander’s warship and completely trashed his quarters.

Well, Link had trashed his quarters. Shu was a bit too dignified for such wanton destruction, but Link wasn’t. And he didn’t regret it either, since in the process, he’d found the Pad!

Now, their getaway was nearly complete. Here in a small alleyway in Elysium, they were far from the scene of the crime. The Crimson Portal wasn’t far off.

But Link had to pause. He hadn’t had a chance yet, but - he had to see. Were all of his pictures still on the Purah Pad? Were they safe?

He pulls out the Pad, and turns it on. And turns to the photo gallery.


iii. Link has a slide show and he’s gonna make you watch it [semi-closed]
Later, Link thinks of all the new people he’d met. People who’d helped him grow plants from home, or who’d shown interest in things from his home. Shu wasn't the only one who he knew would like to see his pictures.

Before, he hadn't had any way of sharing these images of his home. But…now he could.

So Link tracks those people down. Says, “Hi,” when he finds them. And then shoves the Purah Pad - with a picture from Hyrule that would interest them on the screen - right in their face.

[[ooc: this prompt is for Nephenee, Ilphyll, Donnie, Maomao and Atom - but could be open to others if there's a reason for Link to decide to share]]


iv. Wildcard!
[[if you'd like something not on her, contact me!]]

Comments

iii. Link has a slide show and he’s gonna make you watch it [semi-closed]

[spacetogrow]

"Hi... what's this?" For whatever reason, the people in Faerun have never turned magic into capturing images in items. So Ilphyl has to take a moment to figure out why Link is shoving something into their face.

[newmemorywhodis]

It is, in fact, a selfie. Link is in front of the camera in what loos like climbing gear, his hand on his chin in a contemplative pose.

A hand that looks...rather odd, actually. It's like his right arm had been dyed a deep black, and there were odd metal geometric shapes encircling his arm. Link's arm doesn't look like that at all anymore - although if Ilphyl's ever seen Link Fuse something, they'll have seen brief Ethereal echoes of it.

More important, however, is the fact that on the background behind him are several sticky lizards.

Link does not answer Ilphyl's question; it's clear that he considers the picture itself explanation enough.

[spacetogrow]

At this point, Ilphyl has started to expect that Link doesn't really do explanations unless asked specific questions, and you just need to accept that is how Link is. They do notice the arm; Link might have noticed that one of Ilphyl's arms has an almost metallic-looking tattoo, albeit one less geometric and more like someone had written elven words in silver ink from wrist to shoulder. That tattoo may or may not persist when Ilphyl is in another shape.

"It's a picture of you. And... did you want to show me the lizards?"

That is really touching.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link had noticed the tattoo. Thought it had looked pretty, wondered what it would be like if Link got a tattoo too. But while Ilphyl's might be able to persist in different shapes, whatever had happened to Link's arm clearly hadn't persisted at all.

In response to the question he nods his head rapidly. Yes, he wanted to show Ilphyl the lizards. And something else, too.

Pulling back the Pad briefly, Link taps away at screen. Until he finds what he's looking for, and twists it around for Ilphyl to see again.

Now, the screen shows what looks to be a small encyclopaedic entry on the Sticky Lizard. There's a small picture, and the words: The suction of its toes allows this lizard to easily cling to walls. It could be an asset for a climber on wet surfaces if it were mixed into an elixir..

[spacetogrow]

"That's amazing. It's like a magic book!" At least. "Do you have any other pictures of animals from your world? Especially ones that don't exist here? Plants are good too."

Like, the other sorts of lizards Link brought would also be neat to see, but Ilphyl likes learning about animals and plants. And since animals like horses clearly exist in many worlds, Ilphyl is especially interested in ones that don't exist here, or on Toril.

"I can't read the text, though, so maybe just the pictures for now." Ilphyl is working on reading Imperial, and they don't object to learning Link's language for a good reason, but... well, it is a lot.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link's about to move away from the entry, and show Ilphyl all of the Compendium - but then they mention that they can't read it. Link pauses.

And then reads out a rough translation of the entry. Maybe Ilphyl can't read it, but he can.

Then he taps at the screen again, and brings up the main page of the Compendium. The screen is filled with small thumbnails, all of which reveal that yes, Link does have other pictures of animals.

Lots of pictures.

[spacetogrow]

Ilphyl looked through the pictures. They do have one question. "Why is the skeleton horse picture with the other animal pictures?"

They would put that one with other undead, even if it was an undead animal, not an undead person.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link thinks about it. Shrugs. He doesn't really know the answer to that. He can only give his best guess.

"There's no skeleton section."

Possibly an oversight on Purah's part. Maybe he should suggest it to her. Someday, when he can return home.

[spacetogrow]

"What sections are there?"

[newmemorywhodis]

"Creatures. Monsters. Materials. Equipment. Treasure."

Link flicks through each section briefly as they name them, each screen displaying an array of thumbnails. It's clear that the Compendium contains quite the wealth of information.

[spacetogrow]

"It's like having a library that doesn't weigh a ton!" Ilphyl noted. Which... they weren't that bookish, but it was still handy to have the option to just look something up, even if you were in the middle of the wilderness.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link thinks about that statement. If Zelda were he, he thinks it's one she'd disagree with vehemently; the Compendium is useful, but it's not the same as books.

Link, however, just shrugs, and doesn't argue.

"You want to see some entries?" he asks instead.

[spacetogrow]

"Yes. If you don't mind reading them to me," Ilphyl said.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nodded. He could read them. Honestly, it was probably the only time when Link didn't mind having to talk more. Maybe because he didn't have to bother to think up any of the words.

"Which ones?" After all, there were a lot to choose from. Was there a particular section that interested Ilphyl most?

[spacetogrow]

"The Creatures one. If that's all right."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods, and opens up the Creatures tab - revealing an array of animals, their pictures arranged in a grid of thumbnails.

It starts off with horses, before moving to creatures. Most of them are the normal, usual animals one might expect to see - although there's a few odd entries. Like that skeleton horse, for one. And a glowing, owl-faced rabbit like creature. And a very odd looking large luminous frog...

Link looks at Ilphyl, head tilted to one side. Which ones does he want to look at?

[spacetogrow]

Ilphyl is willing to be systematic. Given what they know about Link, it makes sense that the horses are the first thing in the book, but they point to the sand seal. 'That's in a desert, not a beach, right?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods. "The Gerudo Desert" he says, before tapping on the Compendium entry. Translating once more, he says:

"Sand seal. These seals use their large flippers to move through the sand as if swimming. They were once wild animals but have since been domesticated by the Gerudo. They rely on their excellent hearing to find their way while submerged in the sand. Their large, distinct tusks look pretty ferocious, but their favorite food is actually fruit."

It's almost certainly more than Ilphyl's ever heard Link say in one go before.

[spacetogrow]

"What are they domesticated for? Companionship or do they carry things? Or do people eat them in the desert?"

Look, reading aloud is different than talking. Link doesn't need to figure out how to put thoughts into words. The words are just there.

[newmemorywhodis]

"Sand seal riding," Link says, before taking a few moments to tap away at the Purah Pad. It takes a minute, but when he shows the screen to Ilphyl again he's shifted back to the main image gallery.

This time, the image shows the desert at sunset, a sand seal swimming through the sand as Link is pulled along behind by a rope.

[spacetogrow]

"That looks like fun." Look, if Ilphyl could learn a wild shape form from pictures alone, they would want this one.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods his head rapidly. It is! And Link totally understands why Ilphyl would want to be one. If Link could transform, he would too.

"The Gerudo have races," he says.

[spacetogrow]

"The Gerudo are desert people?" Ilphyl isn't sure if it's the name for the people who live in that location, or who are a different sort of people. (Ilphyl isn't sure if Link's people are equivalent to elves or something else, but they figure if it's important to Link, it will come up. Link doesn't seem to mind answering questions, but he's not a talker.)

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods. Yes, the Gerudo were a people.

In fact, he taps at the Purah Pad's screen a few times, until he's found a few images in his gallery - there's a picture of Isha outside her shop, another of several Gerudo in the town square at night, and a portrait of Riju.

[spacetogrow]

Ilphyl notices that based on the clothing, the Gerudo apparently have the opposite reaction to Ilphyl does about the sun. Ilphyl can't imagine wandering around in those clothing styles except at night.

(Also, why are they are so good-looking? Is this what humans see when they look at elves?)

"What other animals do they have?" They figure Link might find it easier to just read from the Compendium.