Scene Listing || Scene Schedule || Scene Schedule RSS
Owner Pose
Revali It's a bit of a journey, going from the warpgate in Central Hyrule to the northwestern areas. The roads are rough and the wildlife is rougher (if it wasn't clear from context, 'wildlife' means monsters).

But here you are. Crossing into the mountainous part of the map, where the flatlands and plains are far behind you. This sub-region is called Hebra, and much of it is uninhabited, at least as far as inhabitants that one might consider friendly (see earlier comment w/r/t context and monsters). The area that is inhabited, a crescent-shaped strip at the border of Hebra, is the nation referred to variously as the Tabantha Frontier, just Tabantha, or by the un-knowledgeable simply as the Rito Lands.

And here at the center of Tabantha, the largest settlement... Tabantha Spire. (Or to those who don't know their geography, 'Rito Village'.)

Tabantha Spire rises up from the ground like a tiered wedding cake, a tall spire of rock sitting in the middle of a tall plateau that itself sits in the middle of a wide canyon. Here the Rito have built up and down the natural formation, anchoring buildings and walkways into the sides of the rocky cliffs. There's a wide gap between the colonized plateau and the far sides of the canyon... an impassible defensive perimeter to any who cannot fly.

Fortunately, though, there's a way in without having to fly or climb up the cliffsides. From the southeast side of the canyon (the direction the group is traveling from) there's a set of solidly built bridges - wide enough to drive a cart across - that connect across a series of smaller plateaus.

At the two-thirds mark on the trek across the bridges there's a medium-sized plateau - a single tier birthday cake instead of the multi-tier centerpiece that makes up the titular Spire - that serves as a sort of checkpoint. There's a single rito in a guard tower that makes a point of ignoring the group, having already looked them over from afar and made the determination that they're not the an invading horde of monsters... and a set of other solid stone buildings, one of which is labeled in both old and modern Hylian as 'POST OFFICE'.

Up ahead is the actual spire, which looks a lot more populated and lively.
Tetra     It's been a hard journey. Things have gotten less and less 'friendly' as the party's gone north. Hebra is the kingdom's least populous province by far, thanks to a combination of climate, terrain, and monster population.

    The latter, of course, hasn't gotten any better in recent years.

    The adventurer known simply as 'Tetra' has functioned as the closest the group has to a guide, being the only local present; even so, she explains, "I've only been out this way once before... never this deep, and it was before the monster presence got worse."

    Eventually, thankfully, Tabantha Spire comes into view. As the party crosses onto the bridges, she breathes a sigh of relief. Literally so.

    She leans forward and pats her horse, smiling. "Good job, Kaya."
Amelris Belthrone      THIS is what adventuring is!

     Roaming the wild, untamed areas, full to the brim with danger and monsters! Treasures to find! Strange, amazing little depots of wonders just to be discovered!

     Amelris Belthrone have been now to TWO remote locations in Hyrule, this is the second one and this certainly have been less harrowing than the first but still harrowing all the same! The Miqo'te Red Mage, wearing a larger red crimson cloak around him to ward against rain and the cold is riding on top of a giant chocolate-feathered fowl, behaving very much like a horse except it chirps instead of making whinnies. He spent most of the time looking around clear on danger, part tourist and part mining prospector, making mental notes to return to certain places to get his diggin' on.

     "My, my, my." Amelris calls out, his ears fluttering as he looks up at the spire, letting out an appreciative whistle. "Excellent job, Tetra all the same. You've brought us here safe and whole."
Strawberry Princess      Despite being dressed remarkably like someone who ought to have heavy-duty magic and/or superpowers, 'Strawberry Princess'- as she's happy to introduce herself- exhibits neither during the trek up to the Rito village. Instead of blasting the local-flavored wildlife when they get pesky, she proves herself adequate with a handgun; instead of flying up to Tabantha Spire, she trudges along the bridges with the other poor landlubbers.

     The monstrosity of magic and nuclear engineering she calls a 'wand' remains patiently strapped to her back throughout, cold and dormant- a promise unfulfilled.

     She's chatty on the journey, in that hoarse and hesitating and painfully earnest way of hers. She asks friendly questions, makes benign comments. No stories or jokes to share, though- those don't seem to be her style, at least not in this sort of company. Oblivious to- or not caring about- the Rito guard's deliberate lack of acknowledgement, she gives them a friendly wave on their way past the post office.

     "They used to have places like this- on Earth," she says, marveling as she cranes her head back. "Not as grand, but... on mesas. People would climb up these narrow staircases, or handholds, to reach the top. Thinking about climbing up something like that just to reach my house- always seemed scary to me, as a kid. I guess they don't have to worry about that."
Revali One of the buildings on the checkpoint plateau looks like a stables. There's a half-dozen enclosures for horses - or other horse-like mounts - though the counter next to it is unmanned. (Unrito'd?)

The group is attracting attention, certainly, but... not nearly as much as someone might expect. The single guard in the tower barely acknowledged them, and while some of the rito on the central spire are looking their way curiously, nobody's approaching them.

Off to one side of the checkpoint plateau, there's a quartet of fledgelings that can't be any older than ten. They're engrossed in some game that seems to involve three of them swinging sticks around dramatically, and the fourth menacing them while wearing an exaggerated monstrous mask.
Staren     It's a bit of a journey, but the passenger compartment of Staren's vehicle has room for at least a couple of extras when people need a break from walking. The 9 1/2 foot-tall walker made primarily of black-and-white-striped wood, but instead of a torso it has something like the cab of a car with no windows or roof.

    Staren for his part is wearing his usual clothes, although his armor is packed inside the vehicle just in case. When wildlife attacks, he's ready with his laser pistol, and the walker's machineguns if that's not enough.

    He listens curiously to Strawberry's tale. "I've seen some winged humanoid d-bees around Lazlo. I wonder if they come from cities like this..."

    He looks for a place to park the walker, and offers a wave and a smile to Revali and the watching ritos.
Revali Q: Where do you park a 9.5 foot tall walker?
A: Not in the stables, it's too big. Also wherever it wants.

Also if Revali's here, nobody can make him out among the many bird people.
Tetra     Tetra grins at Amelris. "Sometimes playing it by ear works," she replies in that pleasant, Received Pronunciation British-adjacent soprano of hers. To Strawberry, she nods. "Yes... it's remarkable, isn't it? They build to suit their capabilities... and the environment, in this case." She nods to the chasm surrounding the spire. "A spire like this is the perfect nesting ground, after all. You see it with the Gorons and the Zora, as well."

    Tetra dismounts her horse as they approach the stables, hitching it and transferring her tube of maps from a saddlebag to her personal pack. Wouldn't do to leave those unattended.

    "I'm not sure what a d-bee is, but if it flies... quite possibly. If you aren't bound to the surface, you can build anywhere you can anchor." She smiles mischeviously. She watches the children playing a moment, then gives a clap of her hands. "Right! Now." The Hylian points to the post office. "We petition to speak with the leadership." Tetra makes her way in that direction, offering no further explanation.
Amelris Belthrone      This is quite a slapdash different traveling group! Amelris is a pleasant companion enough or attempting to be. He talk, he chats, he gives stories and make jokes with confidence. He's done this a lot before, exploring dangerous regions while keeping alert. In fights, he blasts spells and skewers monsters. It's quite a flashy style, actually.

     Amelris leaves his Chocobo at the stables, giving the bird a nice scritch on the neck in reassurance. He leaves the saddlebags along, dusting himself off and straightening his clothes after he dismounted. "I have seen such cliffs as well in Eorzea, mostly from afar. There's a big wall in the way, mostly. There is a species of avian people where I come from as well and they look... quiiiiite different in live in different areas." Amelris comments at Strawberry, nodding at Tetra. He gives also a look at the children, the Miqo'te trying, at least, to not show off sharp fangs. He doubt they are that sensitive but a feline man baring some sharp fangs at bird people might have the wrong impression. Besides, it's simply polite to be measured.

     "Sounds good to me!" Amelris comments, rubbing his hands together.
Strawberry Princess      "Well, it's... it's a tactical and geological thing, isn't it? You can't just decide to build a mesa. But if there's one already, I guess you might as well live on it," she answers Staren. That seems to jostle another thought loose in her head; she looks over at Tetra, the only local in the entourage. "I got the impression that they were- hesitant allies of Hyrule, maybe. Or more that they're so well-defended, they can let the Hylians... absorb most of the losses before risking their own, I think. What's the tactical significance of this location?"

     Rather than immediately follow Tetra to the post office, Strawberry watches the rest of the group go for a moment, then turns and walks towards the kids. She waits for a gap in their game before becoming obtrusive, then smiles down at them with exactly the Variety of Smile that cool older not-quite-adults wear. "Hey," she says gently. "I'm looking for someone who's in on the gossip around here. I doubt you kids have heard anything juicy, but... you know anyone who would know?"

     Implicit in her tone is, of course, the double-dog-daring them to prove her wrong by spilling secrets.
Staren     "Oh, it's slang on my world for nonhumans from other worlds." Staren clarifies. "Short for dimensional being. Spires... lots of species love places high up where it's hard for others to bother them."

    He follows Tetra, "We can just do that?"
Tetra     Tetra lets out a quiet 'ah!" at Strawberry's questions. Before she goes off to the post office, she answers. "Tabantha Frontier, and Hebra as a whole, are... wild is, perhaps, not quite the word for it. The monsters here, and the wildlife at large, are bigger, fiercer, and more dangerous," she explains. "They always have been... we had a fairly easy time of it, luckily. And... relations used to be warmer, but I'm told things soured somewhat under the rule of the last king, Daphnes. I haven't found much on why... which, I suppose, is one of the reasons we're here."
Amelris Belthrone "Well, let's inevestigate and talk, then, shall we?" Amelris clasps, following into the post office. Things will be better there, he hopes.
Revali THE RITO POST OFFICE: Is a grand structure that, much like an iceberg, is bigger than it looks from the outside. A certain miqote might be reminded of the Carline Canopy in Gridania, a structure that you enter at the top floor at the surface level and descend down into the main part of the building, it being built and carved into the side of the plateau.

The bulk of it is a grand hall reminiscent of a lobby, the floor of which has been decorated with tiny hexagonal tiles that form a stylized map of Hyrule, along with markings showing major postal routes in a web connecting the entire region together, along with lines flowing off the map towards its closest neighbors. There's a half dozen counters carved out of rare woods, and a waiting benches with the plushest of padding.

It's all obviously designed to impress and was built with pride and care... and it's also incredibly underutilized. The building looks like it could hold dozens or hundreds, but by the group's count there's only about a dozen of the feathered people moving around, including the single female rito manning one of the six front counters.

The other five have 'CLOSED' placards that are all covered with a thick layer of dust, as if they haven't been moved in a long time.

FLEDGELINGS: "Well... the guy at the bomb-bowling minigame says he knows a lot of things," says one of the fledgelings.

"Yeah, but he *says* a lot of things," says the one wearing the monster mask.
Staren     Staren looks around in surprise. /map/ floors. Fancy furniture. "Why the heck does the Post Office have so much /money/?!"
Strawberry Princess      "The 'guy at the bomb-bowling minigame'," Strawberry repeats, straightening up with a faintly skeptical cast to her features, vaguely prompting them to prove they aren't totally lame. After pausing for a second to give time for a potential reply, she continues: "Well, glad you could point me to someone in-the-know. Have fun."

     After briefly peeking in at the post office and realizing it's thoroughly deserted, she turns around and heads further up into the town proper, looking for... well, anything eyegrabbing really, but mostly the bomb-bowling? It's gotta have a hideously gaudy and obvious sign, doesn't it?
Tetra     Tetra shushes Staren. "Not so loudly! The postal system is... *was*... a cornerstone of Rito society. Before relations soured..." She gestures to the floor. "They served all of Hyrule. The postal service was almost entirely Rito..." She points to the off-map routes. "Tabantha Spire is located quite nicely to serve Holodrum and Labrynna, as well. Which makes me wonder..."

    Tetra steps up to the single open counter. "Excuse me... what, ah... what happened here? Why did the Hyrule post just... die off the way it did?" She looks apologetic as she asks, clearly knowing this is a sore subject.
Amelris Belthrone "Franchising, Staren, franchising." Amelris answers, quietly and simply, looking up and around. The Carline Canopy DO come to mind when he sees this, feeling a certain sense of familiarity with it all. The Miqo'te looks around the place, thinking over things while Tetra asks the difficult questions. He spends some time looking at the maps, behaving like an investigative tourist.
Revali FLEDGELINGS: Behind Strawberry Princess, an argument breaks out over who has to wear the monster mask and guard the treasure next (as opposed to being one of the lucky three who gets stick-swords).

Ahead, the spire awaits. The 'bomb bowling' is easy enough to spot, it's one of the oblong huts with a suitably gaudy bomb sign.

It's also a bit above where she is now... it looks like she'll have to take a full clockwise rotation of the gently sloping and curving wooden path that winds around the whole spire. She can get a look at the general layout of the village as she goes... on both sides of the path, anchored either to the wooden ramp-path or the rock of the spire itself are one room huts, each of which is lacking something fairly important: walls. Some of them have what look like weather curtains ready to pull shut if it starts raining, but none of them are shut right now.

There aren't any doors, either. Just wide-open one-room houses.

POST OFFICE: "Hah, the post office having money, that's a good one," says the red-and-yellow feathered rito at the counter.

She looks over those assembled, takes note of Amelris's ears, and then shrugs.

"Used to be this place was bustling, people running all over routing the mail and trying to keep up with getting everything where it needed to go," she says. "Used to be they were worried we'd built it too *small*, hah."

She leans over the counter, looking down at the mosiac map. "We handled all of Hyrule's post. Through rain and sleet and moon most red, the Rito Post is miles ahead!"

The rito sighs. "And then a couple decades back... the hylians got greedy. No offense, ma'am."
Staren     Ah. 'closed' signs, and ones with dust on them at that. Staren's ears splay a little in shame as he turns to the rito. "They did? What happened? A lot of us are from... much further away indeed."
Strawberry Princess      Strawberry is becoming somewhat irritated by all the montonous walking, and so does not, in fact, deign to take the long way around this time. Instead, she runs, scrabbles, and free-climbs her way up the rocky ascent in remarkably quick time, recalling some bygone training despite her overall physical condition- even unslinging her wand, at one point, to jam its tapered end into a crevice and give her some momentary hold she needs to continue the ascent.

     A few moments later, she plants one triumphant hand on the ground near the bomb shop, hauls herself up over the edge with it, and then rolls onto her back on the flat ground to laugh a little bit and take some deep breaths. She mutters something, quietly, about hostile architecture and the good old days.

     Then she's struggling back up to her feet, knocking on the front door of the Bomb Bowling Minigame Building, and pushing her way inside if it's unlocked.
Amelris Belthrone      Amelris' ears wriggles when they are looked at, the Miqo'te turning around to nod, making his way to the counter.

     "That's quite a shame, this is a lovely post office!" He says. "It is quite a shame when communication dies down like this." The Be-hatted man nods. "Please forgive our questions, we DO come from afar like my compatriot says."

     He tilts his head. "What did happen? Taxes were raised or something?"
Tetra     Tetra blinks once. "Moon most red?" Hm. Odd.

    She nods to the clerk with a bittersweet smile. "None taken. It's quite all right." She glances at Amelris, pausing a moment. Gears are turning in her head. Then, "... I think I can answer that. Say, perhaps, you are a king--or his steward--who needs to balance his realm's budget. You want more money for something that isn't the postal service. Now... the Rito provide what is in all likelihood the highest-quality mail service available, period."

    Tetra starts to pace as she talks, walking in a lazy circle in the vicinity of the desk. For emphasis, she'll pause and gesture meaningfully to her companions now and then. "Buuut... quality has a price. And if you're simply looking at the budget reports, you might come to the conclusion that able-bodied Hylians can be hired to do the same job *acceptably well* at a much lower expense to the kingdom. A perfectly reasonable conclusion, one might think..."

    Then she gestures sweepingly, with both hands, at the near-empty post office. "A conclusion that fails to consider that Hyrule was responsible for a *large* majority of the calling that the Rito built their collective lives around."
Revali PARKOUR: Strawberry gets a couple of curious glances, paired with just as many nods of approval. "About time visitors learned how to get around," she overhears.

"Afternoon," says a male rito in one of the huts she climbs past as he chops vegetables.

The minigame hut is a bit more walled-up than the others, probably to help contain the noise. "Come in, come in!" calls the proprietor, a male rito with a distinctive white-and-black feather pattern and hair. "Twenty rupees a go, win double your money back! Special prize for a perfect game!"

He gestures at the crystal heart piece on the top shelf of the prizes.

POST OFFICE: "Taxes, yeah. They decided they wanted a cut... and they couldn't tax *us*, so the decided they'd get their cut by muscling in on it."

Tetra gives the Hylian view, so she makes sure to get the Rito view aired as well. "Like oh, they left us the hard deliveries, the dangerous stuff, and acted like they were doing us a favor by doing so... and started their own postal service that they gave all the regular everyday stuff to."

The red bird makes a face. "They dropped quality and dropped speed and dropped reliability to undercut us, ran the post office like, like a *business*." She looks like she bit into a sour lemon. "Yeah. You hand off your package to a *Hylian* postman and see how confident you'll be that it'll end up in the right place."

She sighs. "Well... some of them care anyway. We have a few who come up here to get trained by us, the ones who are actually serious about it all."
Staren     Staren listens attentively, ears turned forward. "If they did so badly, why did people keep using them? Unless the people of Hyrule became too poor to afford the Rito post..."
Amelris Belthrone      "Ahhhhhhhhh." Amelris answers quite simply, tapping his lightly beared chin, nodding rapidly. "I see. Economics! We've had a similar crisis at the Weaver Guild some years back, actually." He waves a hand, listening to both views, nodding more firmly this time. "Yes, that seems about right. A competitor that is more adapted, more cheap but more unreliable. We had the Guild solidarity to help us when someone tried to sell real cheap shite -- sorry ma'am -- when we made good, lasting products."

     He looks at Staren, tilting his head with one ear perked up. "It's simple. Because it was more centralized and far /cheaper/ to handle local things, especially if they were the ones using it the most in that way, you can reduce the price of usage and maintenance by quite a lot and that's what they did. A few failures is irrelevent to some high-budget minded people if the ratio of failure is not TOO high."

     He straightens back, tail twitching behind him. "That, and if you get the service /really cheap/ enough, you don't really mind basically making a gamble. 'Oh, it'll be fine, it wont happen to MY package' sort of mentality."
Amelris Belthrone      "Unlike my own profession," Amelris adds, quickly, "Where I could yell at someone undercutting us by fifty percents on the raw market price of a full cotton worker's suit, this is a little more difficult with a postal service and a 'rival' service such as this."

     Someone is still bitter about something, clearly.
Tetra     Tetra makes a face, shoulders slumping. The bright eyes of explaining-a-thing Tetra darken. "... I was really hoping I wouldn't be so close to the mark." She touches a finger to her cheek, murmuring to herself. "... hm. Taxation is a necessary part of the system, of course, and wartime readiness requires increased income, *but*..."

    She looks over at Staren. "The Hyrule postal service is run by the government. Previously, the Rito post was contracted with the government. And 'acceptable' is a good deal lower on the scale than 'top-quality'. When you need money, you are willing to make that sacrifice. And besides submitting complaints, there's little to be done. Private post wouldn't bring in nearly the income, anyway."

    Tetra lets out a sigh. "Thank you, ma'am. I apologize for the trouble, and for... what this has become. For what little that may be worth." Gears are still turning in her head as Tetra half-absently turns and makes her way out, realizing Strawberry is nowhere to be found inside or out. She approaches the young Rito Strawberry had been talking to before. "Excuse me--did you see where the human girl who came here with us went?"
Strawberry Princess      Strawberry gives the friendly Rito a wave, the second she can spare a hand from her ascent. "Oh- afternoon!" It brings a smile to her face- she'd be lying if she said it didn't.

     She takes one look at the bomb minigame, glances down at her own bicep, and decides more or less immediately that she isn't going to be grabbing that high score. Instead, she slides twenty rupees across the table- thank god for pensions and currency traders- and starts trying to chat him up between deafening blasts rather than fully focus on her participation. The explosions don't rattle her as much as they ought to, but beyond that, she's a decidedly mediocre participant- decent aim, bad arm.

     "I'm a- Multiversal tourist, guess you could say. Sorry for not knowing much, but-" BOOM. "Some folks down there were, you know, giving a Hylian acquaintance some chilly looks." BOOM. "I'm sure there's... gotta be a good reason for it. You know anything?" BOOM.

     She flunks the minigame pretty badly, but slides another twenty across the table with an easy smile, signaling she's ready to go again.
Revali POST OFFICE:"You hear stories of them just... *dropping a package in a puddle* and then *lying* about it being delivered," says the postrito, in the tone of someone describing a homicide.

FLEDGELINGS:"Yeah, she went up to the bomb bowling game," says one of the little rito.

The argument about who has to wear the mask (parallel to arguments vis a vis who wore it last time, who's worn it the most times, fledgling b's mom's propensity to make salmon meuniere during sleepovers, and who cheated on whom's test) seems to be ongoing.

MINIGAME: The rito takes the rupees gladly, and resets the game via some mechanism. "Oh, could be a couple of things. People are still sore about the post office, or the Gerudo situation, or the monster attacks."

"The elders decided not to send a representative to the Princess's coronation, even. I think they were trying to make a point, but some of us wonder if they even notice, you know?"
Staren     Staren makes an appropriately scornful scoffing noise. "Horrible. Unconscionable. Is this why the Rito are... colder, towards the Hylians these days?"
Tetra     Tetra ahs! "Thank you. I appreciate it very much." She gives the children a little bow, and looks up the spire, spying the alley on the tier above. "... Hm. Right then." Peeking her head back into the post office, she informs the other two that she's going up to find Strawberry... and then she takes a running leap toward the spire. She hits the rock about a third of the way up, bouncing backward onto a support beam. She perches there for a moment, looking up... then she leaps again, bouncing from the rock to a ledge-grab on the next level. She pulls herself up and dusts herself off, making her way the now much-shorter distance to the bowling alley.

    She peeks her head into the alley in time to hear the tail end of the operator's line. "They probably did." Definitely did. "I hear Prince Sidon of the Zora made an unannounced appearance... being the only ones absent tends to make said absence more conspicuous."

    With a smile, Tetra pulls a red rupee out of her bag, handing it over to the operator. "Do you mind if I take the next game, Strawberry?"
Amelris Belthrone      "Shameful." Amelris says, shaking his head. He's done his share of delivery missions himself. The Miqo'te straightens, giving her a firm nod. "Thanks you very much your time, ma'am. I shall be back later likely for a package to deliver, if all goes well!"

     He gives Staren a nod, then walks out, letting out a soft, jaunty tune. It's time to go up the stairs and start looking at the /shops/. Wanna know how's a place? Check out what they're selling.
Strawberry Princess      Strawberry startles as the door opens behind her- didn't she leave Tetra behind down at the post office? Somebody's awful quick- but relaxes into a chagrined smile as she turns around, dusting her gunpowder-misted hands off on her skirt. "Don't mind at all. I'm not sure... how, exactly, they do it. Almost cleaned my wallet out already." Of course, she's sure the Rito behind the counter doesn't mind taking her money- sometimes being bad is good.

     She leans back against the desk as Tetra lines up, ostensibly to get a less obtrusive line of sight on the alley, but also to pull out one of her earbuds and lean in almost conspiratorially- that other gal is a Hylian, after all. Explosion-induced deafness probably works in secrecy's favor, here.

     "The Gerudo and the monsters. Is it... do most people feel like the Hylians let you down, you know, in holding up their end of the bargain? Or is there something else to that?" After a moment's thought, she adds, less quietly: "Oh! And I ran into a guy- Revali. Said he was some kind of champion. What do you think about him?"
Revali POST OFFICE: "It is shameful," agrees the postrito.

She sits up straight at the mention of the package. "Okay! We'll be here, ready for it to go out post-haste!"

SHOPS: Amelris can find a handful of shops. There's various foodstuffs, tools, hunting equipment, enchanted cold-resistant clothes...

Given a place of prominence in the food shop is a selection of Goron Spices, at a slight markup, and they look to be almost out. At the hunting shop there's bomb arrows in the featured spot...

... As he crosses from one shop to another, Amelris might spot two rito standing in a hut that seems to contain nothing but one large map of the Hebra region, the two moving colored pins around on the map.

MINIGAME: "Well there you go, message receieved, I guess," says the rito, gladly taking Tetra's money.

"The hylians... they take the rest of us for granted, you know?" he says in response to Strawberry's question. "It's all fine and dandy when times are tough and they need us, but then when times are good for them and bad for us the relationship sorta dries up, doesn't it? And they assume they can just snap their fingers and everything's all fine again when we get to the lean times."

"And lady, if you want the general concensus... times are about to get pretty darn lean."

He perks up when Revali is mentioned. "Oh! Oh yeah, the Champion! Man, did you know they had to *ban him* from the archery competition last year because he was too good? After five years of no-one else winning it they kinda had to, to give the rest of us a chance, heh..."

"He's off doing some sorta thing these days, I think. Out in the wider multiverse? Probably has a second fan club out there too already."
Revali "Yeah, it's all the dumb hylian postal service," says the postrito. "If they stopped messing with our sacred institution here there would be zero problems and everything would be okay again!"
Tetra     Tetra fits her complimentary earplugs in and takes her first bomb, rolling it cleanly into the hole. "Hah! Okay, hole 2, let's see..." She frowns, tapping her chin, tilting her head side to side to get a look at the obstacle. She shoots...

    And scores. This goes on apace, with Tetra nailing the targets rather deftly, until the last comes up. She ends up running out her time, and comes back to the counter grumbling. "Another, please." She slides a 20 across the table, an annoyed grin on her face as she looks to Strawberry.
Staren     Staren honestly can't tell if he's being mocked or not. "Well, I really do hope things get better for this world. It was nice meeting you." Staren nods and heads out to... hmm. Where did everyone go?

    Well, there are still those kids. Three with sticks and one's the monster, hmm? "Just what are you playing, anyway?"
Revali "We're playing the three swordsmen and the lynel's treasure!" says one of the fledgelings.

"Well, we *would*, if Pico here would admit it's her turn to be the monster."

"I was the monster yesterday! It's your turn!"
Staren     "The lynel's treasure? Is that a story, or...? Sorry, I'm not from around here." Staren points at one of his ears.
Amelris Belthrone      Amelris is looking mostly for some interesting raw materials that he could pick up! He IS weaver as well as an adventurer. He buys a few stuff, some of the local specialties. The Food Shop DO get some attention, tasting the local, prominent cuisine is also a great thing to do.

     However, the two rito standing in a hut and looking over a large map, moving colored pins around the map do gather his attention. The Miqo'te, at first, merly try to look at it trying to not distract them.

     Then he decides that's not a very Crimson Duelist thing to do.

     "Excuse me!" Amelris says, not entering the hut just yet, his ears wriggling as he gives a polite bow. "Please excuse my interruption. I am a visitor and I was curious. What might you be doing?"
Revali THE BOARD: "We're compiling the info our scouts have gathered, tracking the major threats out there..." says one of the rito as she pushes a pin into the board. "Need to keep tabs on them in case they get too close to our towns or start attacking merchants or such..."

Her companion turns his head and looks Amelris up and down, and decides to make an educated guess. "We have our own monster slayers who deal with the problems, but we also offer bounties to anyone providing outside help...?" he asks, with a hopeful tone.

                             S-RANK HUNTS UNLOCKED                              
Revali PLOT-CRITICAL GROUP OF CHILDREN: "It's a real thing!" says one of the young rito at the same time another says "It's just a story."

It looks like another argument is about to break out. It's forestalled by the third of the group holding up the monster mask towards Staren.

"Hey, Mister... I just had an idea..."
Staren     Staren looks at the mask and sighs. "Were there /four/ swordsmen? I mean there could be, maybe it's like the three musketeers. But if we're doin' this, we're doin' it right. What IS the story of the three swordsmen and the lynel's treasure. Is the monster the lynel? What sort of monster is it? What's it do?"
Strawberry Princess      Strawberry reciprocates the grin- she didn't do half as well as Tetra in the first place, but she still commiserates in the loss. As best she can with only the lower half of an expression like that, anyway. "You'd better get it next time," she teases.

     To the Rito, again, once the next round starts: "They take you for granted... yeah. I could see that. When you're in trouble, they look away. When they're in trouble, they come for help. It's... leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Having to be 'the cavalry'. I know." She makes a sympathetic grimace, though she's still watching Tetra's 'bowling', the periodic explosions reflected as flashes against her visor.

     The subject of Revali gives her a welcome chance to lighten up a little. "Oh, yeah? I- guess you could say I'm a fan, based on what I've seen. He seems... brave. And thoughtful, in a way." She can't truthfully compliment his skill with a bow, having never seen it, but it never hurts to bond over the hometown hero!

     Finally, one last question occurs to her. "Seems like things have been... better, around here, than they are right now. Who's 'in charge', if anybody? How do people feel about their leadership? Whoever it is, are they doing a good job- you know, handling this?"
Amelris Belthrone      Amelris' eyes brightens with comprhension. Ahhhh, that would make sense. They WOULD have some very strong capabilities for scouting, wouldn't they? Amelris takes a step inside to take a look over at the map itself, his tail swaying behind him.

     "We did encounter our share of monsters on the way." He offers a smile, nodding. "What might be the current issues with these monsters, then? I would be willing to give it a look."

     He stops, pauses, then adds, standing a little straighter, tail following in suit. "Amelris Belthrone, Crimson Duelist. I would be happy to give you a hand in this sort of matter."
Revali NOT THE BOMBER KIDS I SWEAR: Staren gets four overlapping, sometimes contradictory explanations about how exactly the story goes.

"... And then they buried the lynel's treasure where the three swords meet," finishes one.

"Oh, oh yeah, that part, I agree with that," says the second. "Though they slew the golden lynel with the terrible whirlwind attack, not the-"

"They snuck in and craftily slew it in its sleep, and then they stashed the treasure where three swords meet," says the third, in a tone that indicates that she's right and everyone else are idiots.

"Honestly, I've been making my part up as I go along," says the fourth.

MINIGAME: Tetra bowls again...

... She does a lot better this time now that she's gotten used to it. In fact, with a little bit of luck, she wins the top prize!

"In charge? You want the elders," says the rito as he hands Tetra the crystal heart piece. "Just keep heading up, you can't miss them."

HUNT BOARD: "All sorts of things. Trying to raid our towns... or supply routes, or our hunting grounds," says the male rito.

It looks like there's a decent crop of targets that Amelris could reach by foot and deal with either on his own or as a group.
Amelris Belthrone      Yes, good, old style monster slaying work. This is the Truest Way to get into the good graces and helping people.

     Amelris takes in the various requests, studying the board and giving it a look. He rubs his lightly beared chin, frowning thoughtfully at it. "Mmmmm...That is a rather well furnished board." He comments, looking at the female Rito. "Is this current state of affair recent?"
Tetra     "I will, you know," Tetra remarks, pointing at her for emphasis while she glances up at the piece of crystal behind the counter. She takes bomb in hand, and...

    She gets it in riiiight under the buzzer. Coming back to the counter for her prize, she's grinning widely. "It's the fuses. I swear, the fuses change the balance, and once I accounted for that..." She trails off as she gets the crystal in hand. She turns it over in her hands, watching the way the light plays off the rosy interior. "... I've seen these before, but I never got a close look. It's beautiful. Uh, thank you." She smiles at the operator, then glances between him and Strawberry. "Ah, want to go see the elders?"

    "Oh, and Strawberry. I didn't get to say this earlier, but... thanks for coming along. I appreciate it."
Staren     "You know, if you slay it in its sleep there's not really any need for someone to play the monster, is there? You may as well just set the mask on the ground and go HA!" If they've let Staren hold the mask he sets it on the ground and then is suddenly stabbing the ground NEAR it with a sword of energy, careful not to actually damage the mask.

    Although the hole quietly smokes as he deactivates the sword and clips it back to his belt.

    Staren shakes his head. "No, no, even if that IS what happened it doesn't make a very good /game/, does it? Okay, so, you get sticks, but it's no fun for one player to just stand there getting hit with sticks! What powers does the Lynel have? It's a cool, fearsome monster, right?"
Revali HUNT BOARD: The female holds up a sheaf of papers in one feather-hand and a feather-handful of pins in the other. "You walked in on us updating it, so it doesn't get any more recent than this."

"I think he means has it always been like this," says the other.

"Ohhhh. Well we've always had a monster problem, but it's gotten more bad recently, yeah."
Revali FOUR KIDS ENTERTAINMENT: "Yeah, it's got, um... a bow!"

"With lightning arrows. Zap!"

"And it breathes fire! And has a huge sword!"

"But like... what fun is it if the heroes don't beat the monster?"
Strawberry Princess      Strawberry laughs and gives a firm thumbs-up at the HEART PIECE GET. "I knew you could, Tetra" she says, in a teasing tone that suggests she didn't really. "And- thank you, sir," she adds, flashing a little smile to the Rito behind the counter too. "It's helped a lot. I hope... someday soon, you don't have to be the cavalry anymore."

     Walking out the door, she stretches her arms above her head, then looks up at the 'peak' of the village. "You're welcome. I've enjoyed... this. Getting to see this world. What you're trying to protect, I think. The elders..." She taps something on the side of her visor, near where the radio microphone slots in, and grimaces for some opaque reason.

     "I think I'll- have to leave you to deal with that. Do you think you could tell me how it went, though?"
Staren     "Well, you make one of you play the monster, don't you? What good is it if THAT kid never gets to have fun? And if noone ever wants to play the monster, you'll be stuck in matchmaking hell." Staren starts to pace. "No, what you need is some kind of rules... some way for the monster to win, even sometimes. Maybe the monster's fire or lightning can knock one of the heroes out, or perhaps only for ten seconds... or maybe it takes ten strikes from the heroes to fell the lynel, but only two of the lynel's massive sword swings to drop the heroes..."

    He passes the mask back to one of the children. "Workshop it a bit and you'll have a fun game that requires thinking, and strategy! If it gets too boring, change the rules! That's the difference between a game and fighting monsters for real, you want to make it FUN. Fighting monsters for real, you just kill them as fast as possible with your strongest attack. If it goes /boringly/" he gestures towards the fledgeling who insisted that the lynel was slain in its sleep, "you've done a good job as a monster hunter but terribly as a game."

    Beat. Staren's adventurer sense has been highlighting that phrase when it kept being repeated. "...Where the three swords meet, huh? Was the treasure ever /found/? Why'd the heroes bury it? Does anyone have any idea where that is? Like, maybe the swords are mountain peaks or something, or there's something else called 'the swords'? Who told the story originally, anyway, was it the monster slayer themself?"

    Staren paces and mutters, "No, why would they go around telling everyone ELSE where the treasure is? Were the heroes hoping to benefit the Rito community?"
Amelris Belthrone      "Hm. You're not the only region with that issue." Amelris confirms, nodding and peering at the papers, his tail swishing left and right behind him. "Alright. Tell me of the most urgent ones and I shall take care of it."

     He lowers a hand to the hilt of his rapier at his side, ears wiggling once. Flapping, even. "As soon I've sent a letter, anyway."