BOTW #21 – The Giant Horse & Loone

While exploring near Mount Lanayru, the Sheika Sensor started beeping to let me know a shrine was nearby. I tracked it down and bombed a wall to find the shrine. Surprisingly, that completed the “Secret of the Cedars” shrine quest! I wasn’t even looking for it, I just happened to stumble right into it.

At Mapla Point nearby, I caught another gorgeous sunrise. The reflection of the sun on the water was just stunning.

A beautiful sunrise at Mapla Point in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for Nintendo Switch.
I can see my mummy’s house from here!

North of Lindor’s Brow, my Sheikah Sensor was beeping again. I remember being here before, but I couldn’t get into the shrine because a cave on the cliff was blocked with stones. At the time, throwing bombs wasn’t working because of the position of the cave. And I didn’t have bomb arrows that first time, but now I did. That made it much easier to enter the cave and complete the shrine.

For a side quest, I went to Skull Lake to take a picture of Kilton. He’s the owner of the Fang and Bone shop…even though the shop wasn’t open for business just yet. He’s going to travel around Hyrule, stopping off at various villages at night. I’m sure I’ll run into him again. Lucky me.

Kilton: I LOVE MONSTERS MORE THAN YOU DO!
So you love yourself? Good for you.

Far away, at the Mounted Archery Camp, a guy named Straia asked me to catch a giant horse for him! He told me to look for it around the Taobab Grassland, so I headed there immediately. I paraglided down from above, and landed right on the giant horse! I tried to soothe it, but it threw me off.

Once my stamina recovered, I climbed a tree and tried again. This time, I was able to tame the giant horse. I rode it back to camp, and Straia was a happy… camper.

Straia, to Link on a giant horse: That horse... It's huge...
He was hung up on the size of it.

He took a good look at it and gave me 100 rupees; that completed a side quest. But the best part was that I was still on the horse! I rode it to Highland Stable and registered it. It’s mine now! I named it Big Red.

Link rides Big Red, the giant horse in Zelda BOTW.

As I explored, I found what I thought was a fairy fountain. But it was actually Malanya, the horse god! He’s kinda creepy…

Malanya, the horse god: Shall I make you my meal?!
Hay, don’t eat me! Why don’t you eat some thorough bread?

He can revive dead horses…but only if you’ve registered them with a stable, apparently. I didn’t have any dead horses like that, so he couldn’t really do anything for me. Other than threaten to eat me. 😛

Breath of the Wild has some really odd characters that don’t seem very…sane. There was the crazy flower lady Magda on the Floret Sandbar, the crazy cooking lady Moza on Mount Granajh, and now I’ve met another. On Puffer Beach, I met the appropriately named Loone. She was in love…with an ancient orb. She was stroking it, talking to it, and she even named it Roscoe.

Loone, to an orb: Your skin is so smooth and gorgeous, my little Roscoe...
She was having a ball.

I needed the orb to activate a shrine, but she refused to give him up…unless I could show her pictures of three types of guardians: a small one, a walking one, and a flying one. So I kept that in mind as I continued my journey.

I completed a shrine on Tingel Island, and then went to Tarrey Town. I traded in four spirit orbs for a stamina vessel, and then I spotted Kilton once night fell. His Fang and Bone shop was now open for business. But he only accepts a currency called mon (as in monster money).

He buys monster parts with mon, and then I can use the mon to buy new weapons, monster masks, and other equipment. The monster masks allow you to blend in with that species of monster. They apparently won’t attack you…at least until you start fighting them. 😛

Link wears a Bokoblin mask.
Does this hat make my ears look big?

In the Crenel Hills area, I found another shrine. It was a combat trial, and I took a picture of the Guardian Scout inside to meet the “small guardian” requirement for Loone’s shrine quest. The other two guardian pictures were easy to find, so I took them and returned to Loone.

I showed her the pictures, and she was overwhelmed by her newfound attraction fascination with guardians. Despite her claims of loyalty towards “Roscoe” (and how obsessed she was with him), she sure discarded him quickly once she found something new. Something’s wrong with that girl.

A close-up look at Loone's face in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

I then took Roscoe…I mean the orb…to the altar and activated the shrine. After completing it, I (eventually) made my way back to Hateno Village. I hired Bolson and Karson repeatedly to completely finish off my house. This completed the “Hylian Homeowner” side quest, but also, they gave me some free furniture!

My house in Zelda: BOTW, now complete with furniture.
Yeah, but why can’t I customize it?

I figured this was a good stopping point for now. Here’s my latest progress update:

  • Completion percentage: 33.82%
  • Shrines: 94/120
  • Korok seeds: 170/900
  • Shrine quests: 25/42
  • Side quests: 48/77
  • Hyrule Compendium: 334/385

And last but not least, I have a new video! Here is Breath of the Wild FAILS #2!