Day 6: Earth Temple and Lanayru Mine
Today I tackled the Earth Temple (which is a fire dungeon, don't let the name fool you) and I had planned for that to be all I did, but there was a severe lack of post-temple cleanup - sidequests, Goddess Treasure, upgrading, etc - so I went ahead and started the Lanayru province. But I'll get to that.
The Earth Temple is your standard fire dungeon, but with more lava than most. As in, there's practically no floor and you have to roll around a ball (that you can fall off of if you're too zealous). But just like the Skyview Temple, it looks like an actual temple that's in ruins, and I'm always a fan of that. Weird point of interest, though: at various places in the temple, there are statues of elephants. Elephants! Since when are there elephants in Hyrule? I mean, they're probably not *called* elephants, just like chickens are called cuccos and bats are called keese, but still. Elephants!
Anyway, since this is a pretty standard dungeon, there's not much to say about it. I ended up getting a Bomb Bag (a Mogma I had met earlier asked me to find his, and then he let me keep it once I helped him find his friend), which is a shame because I really wanted whatever wind-blowy thing I'll be getting. A cool thing about the bomb bag in this game is that you can refill it at any time by picking up bomb flowers. Because there aren't actually any bombs in this game; they haven't been invented yet. That won't stop Rupin in the Skyloft Bazaar from trying to sell them to you, but just know: if there's a place you'll need bombs, there will be bomb flowers somewhere nearby. So don't waste your money. The Boss Key this time was a Serpent Sculpture, which fits the decor of the temple more than the Skyview Temple's key did, and the boss is annoying, but pretty easy once you figure out what to do. The boss, by the way, is summoned by Ghirahim (who shows up again, obviously), which is more believable than usual, and Ghirahim mentioned a master, so it looks like he's not the Big Bad after all and is just the Big Bad's Dragon. My mistake. Nevertheless, beating the boss will let you go the next room, where you see Zelda and some hot Shiekah girl (who I briefly saw yesterday but forgot to mention). Zelda is being cleansed in the waterfall of this room, whatever that means, and is then whisked away by this anonymous Shiekah woman (who I assume is Impa, but she isn't necessarily) who admonishes Link for basically sucking and taking too long to get there...which, to be fair, I totally took my sweet time getting there, so she has a point. Then she goes so far as to say that perhaps the Goddess chose the wrong person to be the Hero, which I find a little blasphemous but whatever.
After that, I brought the map piece I got back to Skyloft so I can open the portal to Lanayru, and then I ran an errand for the Lumpy Pumpkin. I didn't have anything else to do after that, though, so I headed down to Lanayru. Lanayru, as it happens, is a desolate desert and, except for a Goddess Cube (which gave me a silver rupee when I opened the corresponding chest) and some ancient ruins, there's not much there. That is, until you hit the giant crystal you come upon, which turns out to be a Timeshift Stone, which is possibly one of the best mechanics in any Zelda game. The timeshift stone sends out a ring of energy which turns the present into the past. So the arid desert you're in turns into a lush oasis, the ruins become working (and high tech) mining equipment, etc. But like I said, it only happens in a small vicinity around the stone, so you know...good for puzzles. I also met the region's (former) inhabitants, the Ancient Robots, whi are advanced robots that mine the area for timeshift stones, because that's where they get their energy from. They are all about work, so they're kind of mean.
Anyhoo, I got through the Lanayru Mining Facility and stopped at the Desert Entrance, so tomorrow I'll cover the Lanayru Desert and maybe whatever temple is there? Maybe? I guess we'll find out!
Day 7: Lanayru Desert (Part 1) and Upgrades!
Today was a short day for playing because my batteries were low, but I still got a decent amount accomplished. Firstly, I explored the first part of the Lanayru Desert, and although there wasn't much to see (it IS a desert, after all), I was able to collect a good number of tumbleweeds (a new type of treasure, although I don't know who would consider tumbleweeds treasure), find a Goddess Cube that gave me a Heart Medal (which makes it more likely for me to find hearts, but which I'm not using because I feel like it may give me hearts at the expense of rupees), and save an Ancient Robot who repaid me by upgrading my Beetle. As it turns out, the Beetle is a Lanayru artifact; I don't know what it was doing in Faron or how it was kept in such good condition, but here we are. Anyway, this new Beetle has pincers so it grab things, and it comes in handy quite well. There's another Goddess Cube in the desert that I can't get to yet, and another three I can't get to yet in Faron that I found while looking for rupees and Hornet Larvae, and it makes me mad. I want those treasures!
Speaking of things I know I need to do but can't do yet, let's talk about grabitude crackles for a minute. I know I need to buy a stamina potion for my peer Fledge. I know I need to deliver a letter to Pipit from Karane, and that I also need to free up the bathroom so Karane can wash up. And I know I need to clean Pipit's house for his mom (who I suspect has the hots for Link, but I can't say for sure). But I can't do any of those yet. I did happen to find a crackle in my room, but that's little comfort. Hopefully these things will become available after I beat the desert temple. [Side note: Pipit's mom may or may not have the hots for Link, but Peatrice - the item check girl - TOTALLY has the hots for Link. It's kind of funny, and a little sad. Maybe they'll get together by the end of the game? I guess we'll find out!] [Side side note: just how did Link get to Skyloft in the first place? He doesn't seem to be related to anyone there, but surely he must be. I suppose he's the son of one or two of the mysterious Skyloft Knights that don't get names or houses, but I guess we'll never know for certain.]
By the time I finished with Lanayru Desert (Part 1), I had enough money to buy the last Additional Pouch. So I did. And after taking the time to collect some more money and a couple treasures that I needed, I was also able to upgrade my Banded Shield to a Braced Shield, my Bug-Catching Net to a Big Net, and my grabby Beetle to a Speed Beetle. I also bought a Small Bomb Bag, even though I didn't really need it. Other upgrades that I can technically get, but don't have the payment for them yet: Slingshot > Scattershot, Speed Beetle > Stamina Beetle, Seed Satchel > Large Seed Satchel, and Reinforced Iron Shield > the best iron shield, whatever it's called.
Next time: More Lanayru Desert and a temple, probably! (For real this time!)
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