Sunday, March 24, 2019

I'm not an artist: Five items from Ocarina of Time that can be found at the Temple of the Contemplative Yak.

Five items from Ocarina of Time that can be found at the Temple of the Contemplative Yak.

Bug: These blue beetles love to burrow in the ground and particularly enjoy the patches of soft soil that Link can find in his travels. Since Gold Skultulas often make their home in these patches of soil, beetles burrowing in the soil forces the skultulas out of their burrows so Link can slay the monster and release its cursed soul. 

Bullhorn beetles get their name from their large single horn and their extremely aggressive behavior. Mostly active during dawn and dusk, Bullhorn beetles see anything that is not a mountain yak as a threat, attacking with a ferocity unfitting of their size. Even though they cause the monks of the temple great annoyance, the monks see the beetles as a boon since they guard the yak herds against threats natural and supernatural and regularly turn over the soil with their daily burrowing. 


Blue Potion: Usually, the blue potion restores health and magical energy. Since it combines the effects of the red and green potions, one might assume that the potion would be the resulting color of one combined red and green. One would be wrong. Depending on what color theory is in place, combining red and green results in either brown or yellow. Getting yellow is counter-intuitive but interesting to watch.

The Temple of the Contemplative Yak was built on top of the entrance to caves where nomadic shepherds used to wait out the rains that keep the mountain valley lush. The caverns run deep into the mountains, and in some of the deepest caverns captured winds and frigid waters combine to ensure there is ice even in the hottest summer months. As part of their training, neophytes must descend into the caverns to make yak’s milk ice cream as a treat for the pilgrims visiting the temple during the warm season. 

Lon Lon Milk: Hearty fresh milk that Link can drink to recover some lost health. This is one of the few bottles items that aren’t entirely consumed in a single-use. Link drinks the milk in two swigs, each recovering five hearts of health. Link can by milk by the bottle full or, if he is short in rupees, Link can serenade a cow on his Ocarina for a bottle of milk for free. 

Yak milk is a staple part of the diet in the mountain valley surrounding the Temple of the Contemplative Yak. Milk, cheese, butter, and even an alcoholic fermented milk drink are all consumed daily by the monks and citizens of the valley. The monk tended herds are so prosperous that the temple often has more dairy than they could possibly use or store. The monks deliver much of the excess to the needy, saying all are part of the herd and all are deserving of care.

Fairy: In Ocarina of Time, Link is joined on his adventures by the fairy Navi. Navi gives Link clues and advice about all sorts of things and helps Link really focus in on targets and weak points of his enemies. In addition to his traveling companion, Link can keep fairies in a bottle to make sure that if he falters in his adventures, the fairy can pop out and restore his health. I have always wondered if the fairies, being intelligent creatures, are bothered by Link keeping them in a bottle for when he is in a real bind.

Summer is a time of festivals and pilgrims in the Holy Path Mountains. At the Temple of the Contemplative Yak, no festival is more beloved than the March of the Fireflies. During the warmest nights of midsummer, people from far and wide gather to watch migratory fireflies dance above the rivers and streams that crisscross the high mountain pastures. Every year, a competition is held in which storytellers compete to tell the most compelling tale to explain where the fireflies are going. 

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No links this week. I have been feeling under the weather lately. 

Use my work personally however you see fit, but do not profit off my efforts without my consent. 

Be excellent to everyone.
-Ceph

Edit: updated some typos and added links.

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