Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori)

Snowpeak Manor Ruins
- Autumn, Guardian of the Lost Woods (2/2/5, Hylian) Reward: Wind Enchantment, -20 Rupees.
- Jayden Darrah, Specialist Guard (4/2/3, Hylian) Reward: Bomb Bag.
- Abigail, of the Western Caves (1/4/3, Hylian) Reward: +40 Rupees.
This Classic Dungeon Thread has background music.

Few people were brave enough to scale Death Mountain, but it was not the only large mountain in Hyrule. On the far Western edge of the mountain range, there was snow year-round, and the tallest mountain covered in snow was known as Snowpeak. On the very top of the mountain, one could barely see Death Mountain due to the icy mist. However, on the southern cliffside, easily reachable by descending from the top, which wasn't an extremely dangerous task, there were the ruins of what had once been a large and imposing manor.

These ruins were what Autumn was looking at. The Guardian of the Lost Woods had wrapped herself in a warm mantle and stood on the mountaintop, her hands resting on an enormous, frozen leaf she had scoured from the tree next to her. Her Hawkeye was fixed firmly in front of her eyes, and she was looking for the way she would have to take towards the ruins. Next to her was her companion Wolfos, sniffing at the ledge they were standing on and that Autumn would drop off of to start her descent to the manor.

Autumn was grateful for her mantle, her hawkeye, and the mysteriously large, frozen leaves that Wolfos had knocked off the tree when he had ran into it. She figured the Wolfos was grateful for its fur, as well. If not for that and the mantle, they would both freeze. Autumn's hand came up and turned a wheel on her Hawkeye to zoom in. She had to hurry and find out the path. The Wolfos had stuck its nose in the air and started running in circles nervously. Storm was brewing.

If she didn't get into the ruins soon, she would be lost.

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

Abigail shivered as she continued her trek up the mountain. Thus far her excitement and her running had kept her blood flowing and dulled the feeling of cold somewhat, but as she approached the peak she began to slow somewhat and the snow and icy winds began to register the sheer lack of heat. Perhaps it would have been wise to equip herself with more aprpopriate clothing before setting out... This elevation gave rise to some truly bitter cold.

Never mind exploring it, if she couldn't get into the ruins simply for shelter, she would end up an icicle. The young adventurer hugged herself in a token attempt to keep at least some heat from escaping her body as she slowly and surely reached the summit.

Upon arrival of the peak, the girl saw a tree, sporting mostly-bare branches, but a few with frozen-over leaves. She wondered idly for a moment how exactly the tree had the ability to sprout leaves if they were covered with ice for the effort, but then reminded herself how utterly cold this situation was and decided to just knock one down. Whether she could find the ruins or not she was getting down off this mountain. A spin attack got her blood flowing a bit and knocked down two frozen leaves in the process.

Only with this accomplished did she notice the other presence here, so occupied had she been with the cold. "Oh, hello," she said brightly, "Are you looking for the ruins too?"

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

Jayden trudged through the snow, this time wiser to bring a parka. Last he'd been in snow, his skin had nearly frozen because his armor became a freezer, containing the cold more. He'd come out here on a mission to investigate creatures that could possibly be in the mountains. It wasn't confirmed as to whether on not they were hostile, but he was to check.

Allegedly they were actually in a manor that was somewhere around. His feet took him far, and as he neared the top of a hill with a tree on it, he hoped he'd be able to see the mansion. Though, he forgot about the mansion for a moment when he saw two people atop the hill. Pulling out Heko Pesaga, he stretched the string, ensuring it wasn't damaged by the weather. Once he knew it was fine, he notched an arrow, staying out of sight, though the blizzard hid him excellently. "Both of you, hands where I can see them. I won't hesitate to shoot." He couldn't tell who they were at all due to the white blurs in the air, and he wasn't taking any chances. They could be murderers or bandits or something.

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

First a young girl showed up, Spin Attacking the tree next to Autumn before even noticing the Guardian. Autumn, fairly sure she had found a way to the ruined manor, turned the Hawkeye back to a normal view and took it off of her face just as the girl talked to her. The Wolfos looked at her, but found it more important to limp around its mistress and whine lightly because the storm was closing in.

"Yes, I am," Autumn answered the girl. "There is something I am looking for. If you wish to reach them, you may follow me." With that, she gave her own leaf a little push so it fell at her feet, and she put one foot on it. Wolfos immediately leapt on it, as well, looking up at her. Then, just before Autumn would kick off and start her descent, she heard a familiar voice behind her saying that he would not hesitate to shoot.

A small smile played on her lips as she pushed her Hawkeye further up. "Jayden Darrah, Specialist Guard of Hyrule Castle Town... that is hardly a way to greet an old ally and a harmless girl."

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

When she was alerted to another presence in the form of an armed guy immediately menacing them with a bow all ready to fire, Abigail started thinking quickly. She had no combat magic, but maybe she could use the spare frozen leaf as a shield. Frozen, it certainly seemed hard enough to withstand a standard arrow or two.

Before she do anything of the sort, though, the other woman mentioned coolly that it was not good manners to act that way towards previous acquaintances. She also mentioned the title of special guard. "Do you two know each other?" And then, remembering the situation she was in, Abigail quickly added, "Oh, and officer, I don't have anything to fight with other than this staff I'm carrying. And I don't have any combat magic."

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

Jayden hesitated for a moment. She knew him? Who... He saw a figure resembling a wolfos. Then he realized who it was. The bow lowered and the arrow was placed back in it's quiver. The other girl had made the appropriate response, indicating that she wasn't hostile. Though she was oddly specific... 

"Autumn? Is that you?" He asked curiously. He looked off the hill, seeing the slope in the distance. He chuckled slightly, walking closer. "Must we always meet in the cold? The snow makes it hard to tell people apart." Upon coming close enough to see the two people and the wolfos clearly, Jayden bowed down on a knee to the other girl. "As you just heard, my name is Jayden Darrah. I apologize for my actions, though in conditions such as these, it can be needed for survival."

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

"We have met," Autumn told the girl, before turning back to the path ahead of her. "Let me introduce myself, girl. I am Autumn, the Guardian of the Lost Woods in the north of Hyrule. I don't think I need to ask why Master Darrah is here..." He was probably after the mythical creature said to live in the manor. "...I only pray he will be so kind not to take the sword to Wolfos here this time." The Wolfos had put its tail between its legs and whined, remembering its first meeting with the guard.

"I normally do not leave the woods, as you know, Master Darrah. However, there is something in that manor that I seek... Now, may I suggest that you grab a leaf and follow me? I would like to be inside for the storm..." With those words, she pushed her foot against the ground to get her leaf moving, before pulling that foot on it. With Wolfos between her legs, she started sliding down the snowy road to the manor.

Slowly at first... the other two had to be given a chance to catch up and be led to the manor, even though these weren't the Lost Woods so it was technically not her responsibility.

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

Abigail blushed a little when the man introducing himself and bowed. She was rather unused to such formalities. Flustered, she managed to say, "Um, no, it's fine. There aren't many people up here, anyway, so it's natural to be suspicious."

Picking up the spare leaf and handing it to Jayden, she properly introduced herself to the duo. "I'm Abigail. I came here to explore the ruins." Of course, before she could get much farther than that Autumn suggested getting inside before the brewing storm made its appearance. "Oh... Right. Let's go!" She, herself started down the slope, leaning forward to gain speed and catch up.

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

Jayden smirked, remembering his first meeting with Autumn and her wolfos. "No, I assure you, that won't happen again." He then looked at the leaf that was covered in ice. "I'm here to investigate the reports of some creatures living around here, and whether or not they're hostile. And... Um... Do we have to ride those?" And they were off. 

Jayden stood blankly for a moment, then took his leaf, running a few steps before stepping onto the leaf and leaving too. Jayden crouched while leaning forward for balance and speed, though when he caught up he stood. "So, any thoughts on how we'll get back?"

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

"That is of minor importance," Autumn replied to Jayden as both companions caught up to her and she crouched lightly to gain speed. "You've undoubtedly seen that the path is not so steep we cannot walk on it... this is merely faster." She bent around a large tree in her way and leapt, Wolfos jumping with her so she could get off the ground, and turned 180 degrees mid-jump so she could put her dominant foot forward to steer better.

She idly noted the rupees on the path, but decided to ignore them. "For now, my main concern is reaching the manor. Even if it is a ruin, it will provide far better shelter from the storm than staying out in the open would." She looked ahead of herself, considering to use her Hawkeye again but deciding against it. "If we do not escape that storm, I don't think we'll have to worry about getting back to our respective homes..."

She looked over her shoulder to see if they were both still following, and when she saw they were, she turned into a bend in the path, next to a pit. "We should be close. We'll be able to see the manor again beyond this bend."

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

Sledding down the path gave Abigail such a rush. The wind howling past her, the clouds of icy mist that came off their makeshift vehicles, the very experience was exhilarating. She noted a few rupees lying on the path, and managed to lean down to pick up a few. But her hands, as numb as they were, combined with the speed of crouching she was getting, could only managed to snatch up a few of the jewels. One time, she got a bit greedy, and got a fistful of snow for her trouble. Ouch, that was cold. She decided that that was enough and contented herself with just the thrill of the ride.

As they neared the ruins, Abigail called over the ambient sounds of their speedy descent, "What's the plan when we get there? Just look around? See what we find?" With one hand, she fumbled through the bag to find the lens that her master had given her. It was easy to tell where it was, since its shape was so distinct. She wasn't sure what use it might have here, but at the very least having it was reassuring.

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

Jayden nodded, agreeing with the plan. "I'd say so. Any signs of life I have to follow though, so that may lead me a different way." Jayden was nervous about moving this fast, especially when all he had as a vehicle was a leaf. 

Noticing a rock sticking up in his way, he veered to the left, unfortunately right off a ramp. He went multiple feet into the air, his heart racing, and when he landed back down, he went into a crouched position. "Ramps? Why ramps!" From the landing tons of snow made its way into his parka, and his armor. His boots were absolutely full. All he could hope was that there would be a torch somewhere in the ruins.

The snow was evil too, it was moving even faster due to the speed they were moving, and it kept hitting his face. He would be soaked when this snow all melted... When they reached the turn before the ruins, Jayden turned to the others. "None too soon. I'll be glad to get anywhere that isn't filling my clothes with snow." He said with a grimace.

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

Autumn chuckled at Jayden's frustration. "I cannot guarantee that the manor will be snow-free entirely, but I guarantee you both that I do have a plan: find a sheltered, intact area where we will be safe from the snow. If we can find a room that has withstood the tooth of time this long, I'm fairly sure it will survive this particular storm." Then once the storm let up a little she could continue her search... that she had found the manor was an enormous step forward.

Once around the bend, Autumn got a visual on the manor as she had predicted. It still stood rather tall and imposing, but was not as grandiose as she imagined it had been in past ages, before it had come to ruin. Fortunately it looked like the great double doors giving access to it were still fully intact...

Her leaf collided with a ridge a few yards in front of the steps leading to the doors, and scattered. Autumn leapt off of it, performing a small front flip as she did so, landing on her feet and bending at the knees to deal with the impact. She waited until the other two had dismounted before she grabbed the door knob. The cold steel almost froze her hand immediately, but she turned the knob and pushed open the door, going in and holding the door open for the others.

Inside, the temperatures were not much better than outside. The main reason for this was that at least half the roof had been knocked off of the manor, so the wind had free reign. As a matter of fact, in the center of the room was a large sheet of ice, however it seemed possible to go around it. At first sight, Autumn spotted no enemies, although her Sense was gnawing at her and Wolfos growled at something. This time, she doubted the enemy was hidden by a snowstorm- there was no snowstorm inside.

The feeling of dread became stronger, and Autumn realized they were dealing with something that was invisible in nature. She took a step back, unsure whether to draw her bow or her sword. Eventually, she settled for her bow and aimed it in the general direction Wolfos was growling at. "Does either of you have a means to see the unseen?"

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

Abigail shared Autumn's discomfort. Something seemed deeply wrong here. The same type of dread she got from being watched crept into her bones. But then Autumn said something that gave her pause. "See the un- oh! I have this!" Abigail drew out the Lens, and cradling it in her palm, whatever obscured the unseen enemy was cleared away from the three explorers' eyes. The resulting sight was rather unsettling.

What hovered before Wolfos was a strange, pale figure that looked vaguely as though it were a puppet, and it hefted a scythe. Bound to its feet was a lantern of some sort carrying in it some unearthly light.

She laid some Jump enchantments on herself and her allies. It was just a small speed boost, but it was better than nothing. That done, Abigail focused some power into her staff. "You know how to spin, right? Let's go, right now! We'll catch it in between them!" Abigail leapt forward, holding her hiking stick ready, and began to spin...

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

Jayden landed into the manor entrance less than gracefully, and with a stumble, he landed in a snow pile. "Jeez... Let's just get inside."

Once inside, Jayden fluffed off his clothes and brushed as much snow as he could off of his hair, pulling down his hood. "Ugh, doesn't help that it's just as cold in here, my pants are soaked..." He then froze, sensing the same thing the others were.

After the poe was revealed to him, Jayden heard Abby suggest that they try to surround and attack it with a spin. He nodded. "Good plan." He dashed forward, sword drawn, trying to get around it. The ghostly creature swept it's arms back, swiping low, though Jayden leapt over it with a dive, coming up with his own spin, covering it from this side with his curved blade.

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

Abigail had a spell or item that revealed the unseen force to belong to a Poe soul, after which she and Jayden both attacked it with a spin attack. The Poe took the hits and hovered upwards, a little dizzy, but as soon as it recovered and raised its unreasonably large scythe, Autumn sprung back into action and released her arrow. It buried itself in the armpit of the abomination and came out the other one, sending the Poe screeching to the ground.

There, Wolfos lunged at it and drove its teeth into the purple-and-red orb in the middle of the thing's chest. The second the canine pulled the orb out, it disappeared in a swirly mist and the Poe shrivelled until it, too, was gone. Wolfos just looked up in confusion. Autumn didn't sense anything else, so she put her bow back away and let go of the arrow she had grabbed hold of.

From the back of the hall, she heard a door creaking. She looked over, but was not yet alarmed. Then, a strange, rather large creature came out of the room behind the door and walked a few steps into the hall. There, it stood still, just looking around as if it was looking for something. It looked to be about as tall as Autumn, but broader, and armless. It had a white fur, with a diamond pattern on a band going across the stomach and back, but in that fur sat a brown face. The Guardian couldn't tell more from this distance.

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

When the tactic worked well, and Wolfos jumped onto the Poe, Jayden knew the creature was done for. He then turned his attention to the other figure that had stepped into the room. He put away his sword, taking out his bow and notching an arrow. He aimed it a bit low, so not quite on the creature. "Who are you? And step no closer." He wasn't sure who this person was, but they could be hostile. He was at the ready, able to bring his bow up and shoot at any given time.

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

The creature jolted in surprise when Jayden pointed his bow at it. Autumn stepped forward and pushed down his arm. "Peace, Jayden. If it had wanted to attack us it would have done so by now..." The Guardian stepped forward, raising her hand in greeting of the strange creature. Above them, the storm started to howl, although that did not seem to bother the creature which, as she came closer, Autumn managed to identify as female.

"Greetings." She bowed slightly. "I am the Guardian of the Lost Woods, to the far North. My name is Autumn. May I ask who you are?"

"Uh..." The creature looked around some more before standing still to look at Autumn. "Storm incoming, uh. Must come inside. Friends, too, uh." Autumn gestured that the other two had to follow. The followed the creature into the room it had come from, and Autumn immediately noticed the increase in temperature. The creature bounced up and down a little near the lit fireplace. "Sit at fire, uh. Warm up."

Autumn did as she had been asked, after which the creature sat down in the armchair. The ceiling to this room was closed off, and that no doubt helped with keeping it warm. The creature spoke again. "Me... Yeta, uh. Husband in kitchen. Why here?"

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

After stunning it with dual spins and dispatching the monster with a few more conventional attacks, the feeling of danger passed, releasing Abigail from the dread. A rather large white form poked out of a doorway, and Jayden's immediate reaction was to get ready for another fight. Abigail, however, was not so sure of the hostility of the creature. She couldn't place a valid reason on this trust, just that she was sure the form looming ahead of them did not give her the same inimitable feeling that the Poe had.

Sure enough, the sight of the bow had startled the poor thing, and Autumn stopped the lone male of the group before he could aim at anywhere. The strange white creature invited them in, and Abigail gratefully warmed her hands by the fire. "Thank you," she said, turning to Yeta, "My name is Abigail. We just thought we'd look around, maybe explore this place a bit. Is that okay with you?"

Re: Snowpeak Ruins (Blonde Panther, Unnamed Dude and Tsubori

Jayden was slightly weary of the woman, but she gave him no real vibes of danger. He joined the girls in sitting down, but kept his weapon right beside him. The hostess revealed her name as Yeta, and said that her husband was in the kitchen. This may have actually been the two that he was sent to investigate…

“So, Yeta, why are you and your husband living here?” He asked quizzically, hoping to get some info.