As the party recuperated at Riverside Stable and made plans on where to go next, a sudden earthquake made their plans for them: Death Mountain was trembling! It seemed extremely likely that Vah Rudania was acting up and aggravating the volcano, so the party knew they needed to head there sooner than later. They discussed stopping by the Zora domain, but eventually decided that would be too much of a detour.

They had to fight to clear a bridge to progress, and then decided to stop by the Lanayru tower on their way east. Rather than have the whole party schelp across the river and up the cliff face to the tower, they decided Dinah would go alone with Lah. They almost regretted that decision when Dinah found a horde of monsters at the top.

The rest of the party gave her support from a distance, but she was largely on her own. Bo provided a crucial bomb arrow from a distance that blew away the two ice wizzrobes there, and Dinah finished the fight by throwing a moblin off the cliff. Lah activated the tower and synced with it, and the party continued north to Goron territory.

The group decided it was a good idea to activate any Sheikah towers along the way to the Lost Woods, but they were also curious about an old coliseum they were passing by, and decided to check it out.

The coliseum was inhabited by several monsters, including a lynel, which proved to be a devastating foe which forced them to retreat with serious injuries. They took some time to lick their wounds, and then headed to the closest tower. The tower's location was defended by several decayed guardians, which the party picked off one-by-one before Lah activated the tower. Dinah was exhausted from all of the fighting and barely made the climb, but Grik was able to catch her when she leapt from the tower's top after Lah had synced with it.

Newly equipped with horses, the party made great time on their way back to the Great Plateau. They knew the climb was going to be strenuous, so they had Lah Rudania summon a rope, then sent Grik up ahead of the rest of the group to tie it off at the top. Once there, though, Grik saw several bokoblins and a moblin, and was forced to Vanish into a hiding place.

The sound of the bokoblins' alert warned the rest of the group that they needed to hurry, so even though Grik wasn't able to tie the rope off well, they began the climb anyway. Eventually the bokoblins were able to find Grik, but he fought them off long enough for the rest of the group to arrive, and thanks to some mighty Din's Fire by Ignatius, the party was victorious.

They then went to find the Sheikah Tower, and though they struggled to activate it at first, managed to get it up and running, and to have Lah Rudania sync with it - if he could ever figure out how to get his teleportation rune running again, they would be able to skip the long climb back.

Finally, they sought the Shrine of Resurrection, but found it locked tight, and felt certain that opening it now would only be detrimental to its occupant.

With nothing left to do on the Plateau, they climbed down - another exhausting affair, especially for Ignatius - and prepared to make their way either to Vah Rudania, or perhaps the Lost Woods.

The party introduced themselves and explained their unique situation to Impa. Impa was thrilled, viewing their arrival as a plan of the ancient Sheikah - for Hyrule surely needed their help now. Princess Zelda, who had been containing Calamity Ganon for the past several decades, seemed to be weakening - Ganon's strength was growing, Blood Moons were becoming more frequent, and Impa feared for Zelda's life. She had originally gone to Hyrule Castle to attempt to gauge her strength and learn how to help her, but with no luck.

She was also able to answer some more of their questions about the current state of the world. Link, the Hero Who Wields the Sword that Seals the Darkness, had been mortally wounded in the Great Calamity - Zelda had sent Impa to carry him to the Shrine of Resurrection, which was working even now to return him to life. (The party theorized they could take a look at the Shrine and see if there was a way to optimize it, to help him recover faster.) She also told them the Master Sword was deep within the Korok Forest.

The party escorted Impa back to Kakariko Village, where they strategized their next move. They hoped they could purge Ganon's presence from the Divine Beasts, which would enable the Beasts to help contain Calamity Ganon at the castle, relieving some of the Princess's burden. They set out for the Great Plateau to reactivate the Great Plateau tower and check on Link before they would double back and go to Vah Rudania.

As they left, though, they were ambushed by several flame-wielding Wizzrobes - while they couldn't conclusively identify them, Ignatius was forced to consider the possibility that these Wizzrobes were at least associated with the Cult of Dinraal that had been hunting him for his unique powers, 10,000 years ago. The Wizzrobes fled when pressed, leaving the party frustrated with an empty victory.

They made their way to the Wetland Stable and purchased horses to speed up their travel time, and then kept heading towards the Great Plateau.

The party fought and destroyed the Guardian Skywatcher that spotted them, gaining a sense of confidence in the process - they were going to be able to handle this! Grik, having used a Weightless Jutsu, leapt easily over the castle gate and barely managed to open the gate - but in the process was spotted by some decayed guardians, unable to move, but still able to shoot.

The party rushed into the fight, but when they moved up to attack the guardians, they kept seeing more and more - soon, they were outnumbered and very much outgunned, and forced into a fighting retreat. Dinah tried to carry a wounded and targeted Grik over her shoulder, but a guardian laser blew her into the water and Grik was forced to flee on his own. The rest of the party beat a hasty retreat back over the bridge and to the relative safety of the castle town.

There, they caught their breath and regrouped, trying to decide what to do next. They needed to somehow draw Impa's attention, without drawing the attention of the guardians. They could send up a flare and then run and hide - but if they hid from the guardians, they'd be hiding from Impa, too.

Lah Rudania summoned some fireworks and the party went for it, risking Impa not being able to find them before they'd risk fighting off guardians - they fired the fireworks from a distance and then hid nearby. They waited several hours, but right when they were ready to give up, they saw Impa arrive among them!

The party went to visit the Sheikah elder Impa, but found her son, Eori, instead. Eori told them that Impa was absent at the moment - she had left for Hyrule Castle only a few weeks earlier after getting the sense that something there was wrong, and had yet to return.

Given that she wasn't expected to be back for a few more days, the party spent some time in Kakariko getting the lay of the land. Eori happily shared the town's maps with the party, and was astonished to learn that they had activated one of the ancient Sheikah towers. He encouraged them to visit Purah in Hateno Village and to talk to her about the towers - she would be thrilled to hear about them.

For now, though, after Impa was late in returning, the party decided their priority should be walking the path to Hyrule Castle, hopefully bumping into Impa on the way, and finding her at the castle if not. They left Kakariko through the mountain pass and started the dangerous trek through Hyrule Field.

They fought one fort of lizalfos and bokoblins and found the closer they got to Hyrule Castle, the more dangerous they were - and as such, decided to circumvent the next fort they came across. They also had to sneak past (and run away from) a few guardians, though their numbers grew thicker the closer they got to the castle.

At the castle, the front gates were solid steel and locked shut - getting them open was likely to be a challenge. But before they could even get in, they would have to deal with a guardian skywatcher that noticed their presence!

The party built a raft using wood they harvested from nearby, as well as materials summoned by Lah Rudania's Sheikah Slate. The river was rough at parts, but they managed to push through without injury - though the raft wasn't going to be usable again.

They made land near a stable, and were able to finally meet some of the citizens of this new Hyrule and get some perspective on the situation. The people at the stable had a hard life, but an acceptable one - though in recent months, since monsters had taken over their old location, trade was hard to come by. They offered the party some horses if they could rid the highway of monsters, but Dinah, noble knight that she was, refused payment; it was their duty, she said, to help the people of Hyrule.

And with that, the party went north to the bridge that had been occupied by monsters - mostly bokoblins and some moblins. The fighting was fierce, and Ignatius was forced to fall back lest he take a lasting injury, but eventually the party overcame the beasts and cleared the path north to Kakariko, where they were able to find rest - and in the morning, went looking for the Sheikah elder Impa.

After taking another night to camp and hunt, Bo prepared some victuals for the group before they set out towards Kakariko. They traveled much of the way blessedly unmolested, though they also encountered no other travelers or signs of civilization - clearly, the Hyrule of this era was troubled. Lah began taking pictures for his memory banks to attempt to catalogue the current state of the land, which would also make it easier to track down any specific supplies they may need in the future.

Lah Rudania wanted to deviate slightly from their path to stop by a location where a Sheikah Tower should be, after not finding the one on the Great Plateau either. To get to it, though, they would have to cross a river blocking their path - not a particularly fast one, but still deep enough to make the crossing difficult.

Bo was able to use his hookshot to get across, and Dinah forced her way through even in all of her heavy armor, but once the party was thoroughly split on either side, the Lizalfos that had been camouflaged among the rolling hillocks attacked! Not only that, but some Octoroks had been in the river as well, and they, too, attacked the group!

Dinah drew the lizalfos' attention, leaving openings for the others, as Bo did his best to snipe the Octoroks when they popped up to spit. Grik used a Sheikah jutsu to skip across the surface of the water, swiping at the Octoroks as he passed them, as Ignatius fired at everyone from a distance and Lah Rudania locked enemies in stasis and continued to catalogue them.

They managed to defeat the enemies with no significant injuries, and Dinah dragged Ignatius across the river by rope, and Bo hookshotted Lah Rudania across. They then investigated the Sheikah Tower's location.

Lah Rudania could sense the tower lurking beneath the earth, and managed to ping it and activate it - it rushed out from beneath the shallow marsh, and Lah and Dinah managed to grab onto it and pull their ways up with it, skipping an arduous climb. At the top, Lah Rudania was able to sync with the tower, revealing information about their surroundings (including a stable nearby). They descended the tower, and the group as a whole decided they would build a raft to ride the river to the stable, and go from there to Kakariko.

Now that they had a better idea of how little they knew about their situation, they knew there was nothing to do but make camp, rest up, and try to sort things out in the morning. They set up a watch rotation, which notably did not include Bo - though the farmer wanted to do his part, they knew he was the most worn down of the group, and Ignatius volunteered to take his watch instead so Bo could get plenty of rest, even if that meant Ignatius himself didn't get enough sleep.

In the morning, as Bo prepared a meal for the group, they were startled by a kingly figure standing among them. He bore the sigil of the Royal Family of Hyrule, immediately commanding respect, and asked the group who they were. He was startled when they answered, and though their answers confused him as much as his questions confused them, everyone eventually managed to work out that they had come here from ten thousand years in the past.

The King - King Rhoam - was indeed sorry for their predicament, but expressed that their timing could not be better - Hyrule was in desperate need of champions, and he could not leave his current post watching over the apparently injured Hero who wields the Sword that Seals the Darkness. He told them to seek out Impa at Kakariko Village, who could tell them how best to be of help, and also who stood the most chance of being of any help to them.

Then, he faded away - he was, apparently, a ghost, holding an unending vigil even in death.

The Great Plateau, though, had high cliffs on all sides and was difficult to descend. It took them the better part of a day to figure out a good way down, and a few of them took some lumps as they fell part of the way.

At the bottom, they encountered a guardian stalker - once weapons of defense against Calamity Ganon, now possessed by the very same to wreak destruction against agents of goodness and justice. It was a difficult fight to take it down, and this one wasn't in great repair - what would they do against the veritable army of guardians Ganon had control over?

The four Pilots awoke on stone beds in an isolated chamber, with Lah Rudania awakening on a plinth beside them. None of them could quite remember where they were or how they had gotten there - the last thing most of them remembered was joining the fight against Calamity Ganon, though Dinah was fairly certain they'd successfully vanquished the monstrosity.

Bo was frightened and angry and wanted to go home; as soon as he saw the only door in the room wouldn't open, he angrily fired a powerful Arrow of Light at it, successfully cracking it; but before he could do any more damage, Lah Rudania shared its power core with the door to enable it to open.

On the other side was a pitch-black cave; what little they could see into it seemed to be the result of a substantial cave-in, with serious rubble and debris making the path through treacherous. Ignatius summoned a torch around his hand, and Dinah drew the Sword of the Six Sages whose light could pierce the darkness; with this, they were able to navigate through to the other side safely.

They emerged from the cave onto a mountain top, with a piercing cold that rattled the bones; they did their best to keep themselves warm through it, with Bo navigating them to temporary shelters and Ignatius's fire keeping them warm, but their outfits rendered them unprepared for such chill, and Bo in particular was frozen half to death.

Once they finally descended the mountain to relative warmth, they tried to get their bearings; they couldn't recognize much in particular, but with the few ideas of what they could see, Lah Rudania was able to determine that they were somewhere on the Great Plateau, and that the mountain they had been on was Mount Hylia.

As he was unable to speak, though, he rushed ahead to lead the others to the edge of the Plateau so they could see for themselves - though when they did reach the edge, he stumbled right into a Bokoblin camp!

While the group was able to make short work of the Bokoblins, it was still troubling to see such creatures on the Plateau; this was supposed to be a safe place, a holy place. Dinah and Bo rushed ahead to the Temple of Time, which had partially collapsed, had been seriously worn down, and was currently inhabited by more Blins and a Wizzrobe!

These enemies, too, the party fought and vanquished, though Ignatius accidentally burned down some more of the temple that had survived thus far (oops!). But once they had a moment of peace in the temple, they started to worry and panic even more. Clearly a tremendous amount of time had passed - not only was the temple seriously ravaged by time and the elements, it had obviously been remodeled somewhat since they had last seen it; it had been decades at a minimum, potentially centuries, since they had fought Calamity Ganon.

Everyone struggled to take this in. Bo in particular couldn't accept that he was unlikely to ever see his family again, and walked off to get some time by himself.

10,100 years before the events of Breath of the Wild, Ganon broke free of the seals restraining him, and with the energy of Malice became Calamity Ganon. The people of Hyrule utilized their advanced level of magic and technology to aid the Hero chosen by the Sword that Seals the Darkness, as well as the Princess blessed with Sacred Power.

As part of their efforts, they created the Divine Beasts, massive magical constructions endowed with tremendous power, each piloted by a champion of Hyrule. The four champions had each been blessed by the Goddess Din in some way; it was this connection with the Triforce of Power that enabled them to turn some of Ganon's own power against him, using the Divine Beasts to restrain him.

Vah Rudania was piloted by Dinah, a Hylian knight blessed by Din. Dinah's sacred mission was to restore the honor of the Goddess of Power, whose Triforce had been so misused by Ganon. In her pursuit of power quite literally for Power's own sake, though, she struggled with the same subtle seductions that turned Ganon itself to evil.

Vah Rudania's primary AI core, Lah Rudania, was somewhat temperamental and prone to glitches, for some reason. While each of the Divine Beasts' brains were capable of separating in a pinch, Lah Rudania was particularly independent, and had actually sought out Dinah when the Sheikah technicians took too long to find her themselves.

Vah Naboris was piloted by Ignatius, a Hylian who had been blessed - or cursed - as a conduit of Din's great fire. He struggled to understand the source of this unique power - as did the Cult of Dinraal, a secretive order of Wizzrobes who wanted nothing more than to capture him and steal his power.

Vah Medoh was piloted by Grik, a Sheikah survivor of a lost dungeon. He had gotten trapped in the dungeon while being sought as a pilot for the Beasts, and while the monsters inhabiting the dungeon took his left arm, he found at the core of the dungeon an ancient sword of the Royal Family, which seemed to choose him as its wielder.

Vah Ruta was piloted by Bo, a farmer who stubbornly refused to accept the title of "Hero" - "I'll help you out just the once, but afterwards I'm going back home to my family, thank you very much." While he sometimes struggled to make full use of the advanced magic and technology at his fingertips, the other champions knew him as a true hero who would help them through thick and thin… even if he'd grumble about it the entire time.