I head up the way to Hyrule Castle like I’m supposed to. Along the way, I find more Hylians, standing around on watch. They’re part of Hoz’s search team, but they seem disorganized and inexperienced, and a bit aimless. They don’t really know what to do, but each of them tells me to continue a bit further onward, to the first gate tower, where I will find Hoz.
One of the guards is blocking a gate deeper into the Castle, and says I’m not allowed in without permission from Hoz. He doesn’t even trust me even though I’m Link.
I eventually do reach Hoz. There’s no combat or challenges to speak of. Hoz is relieved to see that I’m safe and asks me about the Princess. I explain quickly what has transpired, and then we both see Princess Zelda appear on a far tower, some distance away, yet unmistakably her.
She stands there for a brief moment, then turns into light and shoots off into the sky.
Hoz is amazed and we are all baffled. Hoz tells me that I must return to Purah at once to report what we have seen.
Huh? I just came from there. Can’t we just send a messenger? Or doesn’t Purah have another smartphone that we could just call her on??? Oh, OK…
So I head back, talking to the guards on the way, just to see if they have anything new to say.
Lol, and on the way back I realize I could have used the Ultrahand to open the great gate to the castle, instead of climbing over them like I did. Whoops. I forget these powers I have sometimes. But there’s always more than one way to do anything in this game…
On the way back, I talk to the guy who was holding up the sign of Hudson, and this time I figure out that he needs help holding the sign up. So using Ultrahand to grab a nearby piece of material, I use it to prop up the sign so it will not fall if he lets go, and then tell him to try letting go.
This works, he is happy that the sign is standing, and takes a moment to securely fasten it to the ground, and then rewards me with some rupees, and some food, and tells me he’s going to go everywhere and set up more signs. I have a feeling I’m going to end up seeing a lot of him… his name, Addison, seems to be a pun for “Add a Sign”. I think a lot of the names in the game are subtle puns. There was a guy in the search party back at the castle named “Sawtu” or “Saw, too” who also saw Princess Zelda when she appeared briefly.
After finishing with Addison, I return back to Purah’s and without wasting any time, run up and talk to her. She asks to see the Purah Pad, and says that we need to add map data to it, and to do that we need to activate a travel tower, which there happens to be one right here that they are working on completing…
Purah shows me around the town and explains the sleepover spot for resting, and a clothing shop that I can buy better clothes at if I want to, and then says when I’m ready to go up the tower, I can try it.
So I go around the area, which is called Lookout Landing, and I talk to a bunch of people. Everyone’s pretty helpful, in a tutorial kind of way, but also offering me useful information and items here and there that I might find handy later on in my quest.
I learn that the Upheaval is the term they use to describe the event that put the islands in the sky and revealed more of the Zonai technology and artifacts. This caused great rifts in the surface of the world, called chasms, and out of these chasms there is this stuff called Gloom, which is a red glowing smoke, from what I can tell. It reminds me of the Calamity from BOTW, but less oozy and gooey. But exposure to Gloom can make you ill, and there is some kind of yellow plant that can help treat the illness if you get it. There’s also a newspaper operating somewhere in Hyrule, I’m not sure where but it seems a lot of the people here are talking about Hebra, which has gotten even colder than it used to be, which was pretty darn cold as I recall from BOTW.
They are working on constructing a stable where I can board horses, but it’s not finished yet. Oh, and all the weapons in the world have decayed as a result of the Upheaval, I guess as an effect of the Gloom. So wherever I go, weapons are in poor condition, and in short supply.
There’s a royal shelter hidden below Lookout Landing, where there’s a cooking pot, a weapon supply store, and a bed I can rest in, along with a person named Nappin (ha) who can’t get out of bed because he’s so affected by the Gloom from when he went exploring in the Chasms.
I also learn from one of the people in the shelter that Lurelin Village has become dangerous due to pirates in the area.
I think that’s about it. I guess it’s time to return to Purah to do whatever it is we need to do with the Travel Tower so I can get the map activated on the Purah Pad.