Entering the village at night gives Link a chance to round up some skulltulas. There’s one in the tree near the entrance, and then one on the skulltula house. Now with ten skulltulas killed, this is a perfect opportunity for Link to go back and visit. One of the kids had his curse break, and awards Link with a wallet upgrade, allowing him to carry 200 rupees. There are three more skulltulas hidden on walls around the village, and then it’s into the graveyard for a little more fun there.
Early at night, Dampé, the groundskeeper, wanders around the graveyard. For 10 rupees, he’ll dig up a spot in the graveyard, and I know what that means: One of those spots is a heart piece or other important item. So Link follows him around, paying him to dig up half the graveyard and eventually is rewarded for his patience when Dampé uncovers a heart piece. There’s a couple skulltulas here: One’s way up and Link could hit it with his slingshot, but would have no way of getting the token, so he’ll let that one be for now. The second needs to be lured out with a bug from a bottle.
One last trip to Hyrule Castle to refill rupees after spending them all paying Dampé, and swinging by Lon Lon Ranch to fill up on milk, and I’m officially out of delaying tactics. It’s time to go up Death Mountain.
The guard at the gate to the Death Mountain trail laughs at Link for wanting to go up, and laughs even harder when presented with Zelda’s letter. But he trusts Zelda enough to let Link go up, but not without some advice: Link’s going to want a real (Hylian) shield on the mountain. He says the shop owner in the castle market will give Link a discount with a referral, but I don’t think Link’s very keen. He’s already got one, you see. But he says something else, a request: his son wants a mask from the shop in the market, but he can’t leave his post, so… yes! New
Paper Faces on Parade
Okay, the mask shop is a strange little business. The idea here seems to be check out the mask, find someone somewhere in the world who’d want it, and come back and pay for the mask once it’s sold. So it’s more like… a mask wholesaler. Right, then. The first mask is a Keaton mask; I have no idea what a Keaton is, but it looks kind of like Pikachu. We know who wants this one: the guard at the entrance to Death Mountain. He pays 15 rupees for it, although Link’s wallet is already full, so oops.
The second mask is a skull mask, which makes me think of the skull kids in the forest. Link takes the mask and goes to visit Saria in her secret spot, and she confirms what I was thinking. So, it’s time to find someone in the forest to sell it to. First, falling down a hidden hole in a dead-end, Link finds a bunch of Deku scrubs who gather round him if he’s wearing the mask and reward him by further increasing his Deku stick capacity. Then it turns out the person who’d want the skull mask is the skull kid who Link befriended earlier with Saria’s Song. He only pays 10 rupees for the 20 rupee mask, which would upset me except I lost 10 rupees on the first one when I should have made a profit, so meh.
Mask #3 is a spooky mask. Earlier, the kid who pretends to be Dampé during the day complained that no one takes him seriously because of his face. The mask is a nice scary upgrade for him, so he pays the full price of the mask and happily goes about his business. The fourth mask is a bunny hood... which, um, I have no idea, so maybe chasing this sidequest was a bit premature. Anyway, after a quick stop at the guardhouse to smash pots and refill the 30 rupees I’ve lost, it’s time to go up Death Mountain.
Next: Death Mountain. For real this time.
