WORLD SHARD LOCATION: At the top of the citadel, inside an old wooden chest.
DREAMER SHARD LOCATION: Advocate aspect. Swallowed by a Gloom Spawn, which lurks the Citadel grounds. The Spawn will have to be defeated to claim it :3
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Akkala Citadel was once the central stronghold of Hyrule's military, constructed on the eastern coast as a means of protecting the kingdom from any sea-faring invaders. But during the Calamity, the final remnants of Hyrule's military retreated to the Citadel in an attempt to flee the monsters and ancient robots that destroyed the castle and the settlements around it. Here, they made a final hopeless stand against Ganon's forces before becoming completely overrun. The fortress still stands in the same place, over 100 years later, like a giant gravestone to all the lives lost. Having fallen into disrepair and still infested with monsters, it is both highly dangerous and brimming with artifacts of a bygone era. (Lots more lore info down in the "More Info" section!! :3)
WHAT TO DO IN THIS WORLD:
Explore the Citadel: Both the Shard of the World and the Shard of the Dreamer are at the very top of the Citadel, which will require visitors to find a way up in order to retrieve either of them. The Citadel is a massive stone fortress that could hold thousands of soldiers at a time; within its crumbling walls are barracks, a mess hall, training grounds, storage for everything from food to weapons, and even a library. Along the outside of the Citadel are old stone stairs, which may provide an alternative method of making it up to the top, albeit with its own challenges... the Citadel is very old and battered, and much of the structure is of questionable safety.
Fight monsters: The Citadel is absolutely infested with monsters, and because this is an AU, you'll come across monsters from both TotK and BotW (which are technically gone by the time TotK happens, but I wanted to include them both, SO WE'RE GETTING BOTH). Full details about the monsters are included below, but they can be found everywhere in and around the Citadel. Some are almost harmless, while others are extremely dangerous.
Manage Gloom: A poisonous miasma permeates the air throughout Hyrule, seeping up from deep underground. Within Akkala Citadel, it is especially concentrated, perhaps due to the poor ventilation of the old stone structure. When exposed to too much Gloom, it saps a person's strength and cause them to feel physically ill. Exposure to sunlight (or light magic/energy) will alleviate its effects, but paradoxically, ingesting food tainted by Gloom can provide temporary protection against the symptoms. Who'd like to try a bite of the evil goop that makes you feel like you're dying? Anyone? Anyone??
Catch a Blupee: Mysterious spirit creatures commonly seen throughout Hyrule, they resemble large, glowing rabbits with the face of an owl and large moth-like antenna. They are associated with a divine spirit known as Satori and are considered symbols of good luck and longevity. Catching one is said to grant immortality to the hunter... but attacking it in any way simply causes it to drop money (for Kenos purposes, this can be whatever your character would recognize as "money"!).
Explore the surrounding area: Located in the Akkala Highlands region of Hyrule, this mountainous area is known for its reddish cliffsides and beautiful trees, which have gold and orange leaves year-round. All kinds of wildlife can be found in the forests, valleys and plains nearby, including deer, boars, bears, ducks, partridges, foxes and wolves. If you're not interested in investigating the spooky ruins or dealing with the horrors that are infesting it, you could always take a stroll through the woods!
Basically, there's an opportunity here for characters to work together to kill monsters or take advantage of the dangerous conditions in the Citadel to attack each other. Either way, what characters will take away from this world is that it's very beautiful, but also hostile and wild. The Citadel itself is the site of a horrible tragedy,.that's still overrun with very dangerous monsters to this day... but also, that the wilderness of the surrounding area is flourishing with life.
A longer, 20 minute video that shows off what the area looks like during Tears of the Kingdom. Features of note: the broken stone bridge leading into the Citadel and the large gorge beneath it, a cave filled with monsters dug into the area below the fortress, and the top of the Citadel where both the Shard of the Dreamer and the Shard of the World are located. (At 8:47, you can see what fighting a Gloom Spawn is like!) https://youtu.be/8Wd0xlbVHyc?si=WUtjOFxvzn6j9X25
Speaking of Gloom Spawn, if you're familiar with BotW or TotK, you're free to assume that any enemy from either of those games is lurking around to try to make the Bearers' lives difficult! But here's a sampling of the major ones: - Gloom Spawn: terrifying monsters born from Gloom that manifest as a half-dozen giant arms, with a large glowing eye set into each hand's palm. If they grab you, they'll slowly sap your life energy. Getting too close causes you to suffer the effects of concentrated Gloom. Although they are very fast and hard to run from, they can't climb vertically. - Guardians: Originally built to be weapons to fight Calamity Ganon, they were taken over by its power and turned against the forces of Hyrule, causing massive destruction. They walk around on six mechanical legs and shoot lasers at anyone they spot with their single blue eye. Easier to run from than Gloom Spawn since their large size makes it hard for them to follow people in small spaces, but much more capable of killing you from a distance. - Lynels: very large, very dangerous centaur-like monsters. They wield large weapons like swords, clubs and spears, and shoot bows that can fire three elemental arrows at once. The smartest out of all the monsters you might come across, they're potentially the most dangerous as they're able to see through traps and attack both at a distance and up close. (practice for fighting Hayame) - Bokoblins, Moblins, Lizalfos... essentially, pigmen, really big pigmen, and lizardmen. But they're all carrying weapons and supplies, including food, so defeating them can be very useful aside from saving your life! - Lesser monsters that pose more minor threats, such as keese (basically bats) and chuchus (slime-like monsters).
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WORLD SHARD LOCATION: At the top of the citadel, inside an old wooden chest.
DREAMER SHARD LOCATION: Advocate aspect. Swallowed by a Gloom Spawn, which lurks the Citadel grounds. The Spawn will have to be defeated to claim it :3
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Akkala Citadel was once the central stronghold of Hyrule's military, constructed on the eastern coast as a means of protecting the kingdom from any sea-faring invaders. But during the Calamity, the final remnants of Hyrule's military retreated to the Citadel in an attempt to flee the monsters and ancient robots that destroyed the castle and the settlements around it. Here, they made a final hopeless stand against Ganon's forces before becoming completely overrun. The fortress still stands in the same place, over 100 years later, like a giant gravestone to all the lives lost. Having fallen into disrepair and still infested with monsters, it is both highly dangerous and brimming with artifacts of a bygone era. (Lots more lore info down in the "More Info" section!! :3)
WHAT TO DO IN THIS WORLD:
Basically, there's an opportunity here for characters to work together to kill monsters or take advantage of the dangerous conditions in the Citadel to attack each other. Either way, what characters will take away from this world is that it's very beautiful, but also hostile and wild. The Citadel itself is the site of a horrible tragedy,.that's still overrun with very dangerous monsters to this day... but also, that the wilderness of the surrounding area is flourishing with life.
More Info—