Under the inn, through the sewer - part 3 of 3

Hey! Make sure you've read parts one and two!

Welcome everyone to the exciting conclusion of my most recent session of Dungeons and Dragons!

After many tense rounds of trying to escape the sewers, our mighty band of adventurers took a moment to enjoy fresh air, grass and an absence of humanoid monsters. The sun rose merrily over the landscape, sparking flashes of light along the dew dropped green blades.

My barbarian and the ranger secured the now-closed manhole cover, first with fire and then with heavy boxes. By happenstance we popped above ground within the castle courtyard, and we could taste the thrill of a mission accomplished (not to mention a warm bed to sleep in)!

Foreboding hand of the DM.

Our party was greeted by an eager stableboy who was quick to provide room and board along with an assurance that after a days' rest we could meet with the high magician. 

The next morning we entered the great hall of the castle and there stood Owren, the high magician whose favor we were bidding. It was sweet victory to have delivered the temporary party members to safety, away from the enemy soldiers and the hideous vomiting rat people.

Owren greeted us warmly and instantly began negotiation talks with the man Gorathos, the main point of our collective protection. He had valuable information that could help end the war happening in the region of Azo, and Owren required cooperation to bring peace once again.

We stood in the great hall observing the exchange, when suddenly time stood still. Within our frozen bodies we could see that Gorathos was still mobile, and his voiced boomed around the hall. He was with the enemy! The hot sting of betrayal ran through us, and we were powerless to help when Gorathos lashed out at Owren with a magical chain, binding him into place.

His assistant, Ellywick, was also on the side of evil; she set to work conjuring a massive stone gorgon, terrifying to behold with three constantly moving faces. Moments before Gorathos's time ran out, he summoned five obedient zombies. They effectively blocked the path between us and him.

Green die = gorgon. White dice = zombies. Terrifying, trust me.

In that moment we rolled for initiative and the real battle began. We effectively hacked and shot our way through the zombies and to Owren while Ellywick began another spell and Gorathos slashed at Owren. Before too long the path was clear, and my bloodthirsty barbarian went straight for Ellywick and the gorgon.

As arrows flew and our sorcerer shot missiles, my magical flaming great axe took down Ellywick with one hit and rendered her unconscious. The party's collective attention turned to Gorathos and the gorgon.

The paladin and I, full of half-orc ferocity, spared no strength in attacking the gorgon. It retaliated with a wide reaching blow that knocked everyone nearby to the ground. As we struggled to our feet to finish the fight our enigmatic ranger nocked an arrow and, with one smooth breath, sent it soaring into Gorathos. Before the filthy betrayer could register what had happened, a second true arrow struck next to the first, and he was dead.

Once back to our feet, the paladin and I readied our weapons to bring down the stoney beast. We didn't have a chance though, because our handy sorcerer cast three well aimed missiles into the creatures head, exploding it on impact.

Thus the battle was done, the wrong-doers brought to justice and Owren freed from the bonds that held him.

What will happen next in the region of Azo?

-MJ

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I think the Water Temple got more confusing

I say this because the added feature of "hint lines" (or whatever they're called) makes me wonder if I'm doing something wrong if I choose to explore somewhere else. I am referring, of course, to Ocarina of Time for 3DS.

Currently my mind is all over the place regarding what I should write about first. My immediate focus is Ocarina for 3DS. My mom shipped my system to California and Andrew was a total sweetie and bought me the game when it came out last month. I impressed upon him the absolute importance of picking up certain AAA Nintendo titles on release day, and this one had even more reason: the 25th anniversary soundtrack CD. I received it in the mail yesterday and mmm it feels good to have. Oh, which reminds me that I achieved platinum status on Club Nintendo so I will be getting the epic button set as a prize! Winner over here.

Keeping in mind my post from a few days ago about Harry Potter, I'd like to share something fun that occurred while my friends and I were waiting in line! So, the five of us sat down at 7pm to wait, and three of us were playing Ocarina of Time on our 3DSes. We amused ourselves with the silliness of it all before realizing that the person waiting next to us was also playing Ocarina of Time :D Excellently fun happenstance.

Snapped this as I left the theatre around 3am. You can see 

my reflection there in the middle! Gryffindor scarf!

I'd like to share some stories in this space, if people would be so kind as to read. They're going to be about Zelda, my experiences with the series and my love of the games. I'm still having a difficult time organizing my thoughts on the matter, but I believe that I'm onto something good here.

The first Zelda game that I ever played was Ocarina of Time shortly after it was released in 1998. However it was not my first experience with the series. When I was much younger, I recalled a game being played at my dad's house over the summers. I remembered a green, brown and blue overworld along with a small green guy and a sword. For years I wondered what the game was because I had found it so interesting to watch. When I finally got around to playing the original Legend of Zelda after I played Ocarina of Time, I was delighted to realize it was the game I remembered from so long ago.

It's safe to say that Ocarina of Time (hereon referred to as 'Oot') is my favorite of all the Zelda games. Wind Waker and Minish Cap tie for second place. I have played OoT from start to finish many times, I still have my original file on my 64 cartridge, and up until recently I still used to pop into the game and try to find a few more Golden Skulltulas.

My bonus CD! :D

Now, speaking of Golden Skulltuals, I have an admission to make: in spite of my intense love of the series, there is so much I don't know about the games. I go back and forth trying to decide whether or not I think this is a shameful place for me to be. I'm supposed to be a fan, right? A dedicated fan. I've played all the games (excluding CD-i but who even counts those?), I have a mini excited heart attack whenever anyone mentions OoT, and my best friend and I (another fellow Zelda lover) got triforce tattoos together.

And yet! And yet. It was brought to my attention just on Saturday, this last Saturday, that all of these long thirteen years of Zelda love, I have been pronouncing Skulltula wrong. It's one of those situations where the spelling is strange, the word is 'fake', and I never had need to say it out loud, so I breezed past the word and decided that it was pronounced 'skull-ita'. Picture this: three friends, all long time Zelda fans, all repeat offenders for OoT, all playing together on our 3DSes. I make a comment about needing to find more 'skullitas'. They both stop and look at me, before one of them goes, "What?" and the other goes, "... it's pronounced 'Skull-tula'".

Cue me feeling incredibly embarrassed. Even though the two people mentioned are my best friends, I still experienced a stab of shame and doubt, wondering if they were thinking me a sham of a fan. Of course I immediately realize that this is ridiculous, I thank them for correcting my silly thirteen year long error, and I go back to Golden Skulltula hunting so that I can receive my Giant's Wallet.

Ridiculous, right? I'm bothered that those thoughts even crossed my mind. It is perfectly acceptable for a real fan to not know everything, to even make silly mistakes. I know this because I am a real fan, and I most certainly do not know everything. I don't even like all of the games! I'll say it right now: I don't like Adventure of Link, Majora's Mask, Phantom Hourglass or Spirit Tracks. And I'm not ashamed of that.

There are such epic discussions that wind through the internet based around the best Zelda game of them all. Many people dislike Majora's Mask, and just as many fans believe it to be the best in the series. Wind Waker almost overtakes OoT as my favorite, and yet (in my opinion) there are far too many people that completely dismiss Wind Waker because of its simple, cel-shaded graphics. This fact blows my mind. Wind Waker is an absolutely amazing game with gorgeous graphics, fun enemies and an unbelievable story that contributes excitingly to the over-arcing timeline.

I remember buying the Majora's Mask guide the same time as

the game. It didn't make the game any easier. Damn those dungeons!

But I digress, I think. I wanted to share more things that I didn't know.

My lovely best friend pointed out to me (a few years ago now) that Hylian is pronounced 'high-lian" and not "heal-ian". Don't even ask me why I thought it was pronounced "heal-ian" because I pronounced Hyrule correctly, so logically why would I say Hylian wrong? It'll forever be a mystery.

More embarrassing things! I did not know that the Sun's Song froze the zombies. As my bff for life said, "No wonder you hated them so much!" I believe a facepalm is deserved in there somewhere. Also? While playing through the Fire Temple just the other day it occurred to me that Farore's Wind is so. helpful. Fun fact: I had never used it before.

Want to hear some things that I completely forgot but that I did know at some point? Let's see... the magic beans? Totally spaced that you need to put bugs in the plots of dirt before you plan the beans in order to find all of the Golden Skulltulas. Very glad that my friends reminded me! Also, that the guy who buys the bunny ears off of you will fill your entire wallet so you had BETTER get the Giant's Wallet before you complete that task!

It is extremely likely that there are many more things that I never knew, and things that I once knew that I've since forgotten. These facts, while embarrassing when pointed out in front of multiple people, do not hamper my enjoyment whatsoever. If anything I'm glad for them. I like getting to learn more about my favorite game. It's actually really great that I get to continue to discover a game that I've been playing for so many years. How often do people have a chance to keep discovering? I know that I'm far from knowing all of the intricacies of the entire series. I've only played a few of them more than once, and I haven't played all of them through to completion either! I continue to feel excitement toward the series, and I am eager to eventually finish all of them; even the iterations that I don't particularly care for.

On a closing note I would like to reveal what really sparked this concerned train of thought: it was the guy next to us in line at the movies. He was also a fan of Zelda, evident not just because of the fact that he too was playing OoT, but more because of the large (and very well done) Lens of Truth tattoo on the back of his calf. I could see him out of my peripheral vision, watching us play and listening to us talk. Most likely I was paranoid and imagining things, but I couldn't help fear that he doubted my Zelda love because my friends and I were loudly discussing the things that I didn't know about the game.

How could I have let a total stranger concern me so much? Who cares if someone thinks I'm not a good enough fan? I know where I stand, and I am so excited to be able to freeze those horrible zombies now. Although I just remembered that I should have used Farore's Wind before I shut off my 3DS the other night, because now I have to figure out where I left off in the Water Temple. Sigh.

-MJ

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