[1989: pp. 100–103]
[2003: pp. 104–107]
20. HOLY LOLY MOUNTAIN
- 1,013 m Above Sea Level (about 3,323.5 ft.)
- Avg. Temp. on Summit: 8℃ (46.4℉)
[Photo: A mountain peak under a cloudy sky. This may be Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.¹ Caption below:]▲Holy things have something about them that won't easily let people near. At times that takes the form of the severity of nature.
[Jump links coming soon.]
Holy Loly Mountain
Climbing Holy Loly Mountain
Holy Loly Mountain Map
The Holy Loly Lake
The Fabled Workshop
Approaching the Summit
Thoughts from Shinbou Minami
EVENT CHECK POINT
Holy Loly Mountain
A holy mountain with many legends
handed down about it
Let's get this out of the way first: Holy Loly Mountain has never been a tourist spot. Hardly anyone ever goes near it apart from the occasional daredevil rock-climber out to attempt it. With sheer cliffs approaching a 90-degree angle all around, this mountain looks like it rejects visitors. But the biggest reason it won't let people near it is probably due to the dignity held by a sacred peak with the name Holy Loly Mountain. It's not really that high above sea level, so what kind of mental image do people have of it? The two stories we'll now introduce should tell you.
One is the Legend of the Holy Loly Angel. The whole sky could be clouded over, yet there'd be no worrying about rain. On days that cloudy, kids and adults alike can't help but turn their minds to the skies above Holy Loly Mountain. What if right over the mountain, and nowhere else, the clouds were to gape open and the blue sky peep through? ... Holy cow! Who could think of studying at a time like that! School teachers would cancel lessons and rush home where their own kids would be waiting. The children would skip their way home singing in chorus, "An angel came down!" Mother would be bustling like mad around the kitchen, baking a cake and cooling the wine. This would be a day to commemorate, the day an angel came out of a rift in the cloud and descended upon Holy Loly Mountain. To everyone, this is a sign of good luck, and that's how the people in the towns surrounding the Great Peak have celebrated it, for a long time. When it happens a lot, they'll celebrate up to three times in the same month!
The other story is the Legend of the Devil. In the early 1900s, a mysterious black cloud covered the summit of Holy Loly Mountain for several continuous weeks. Teddy bears and thermoses flew around the inside of homes, and pets attacked their masters. And there were posters all over town for missing persons. ... Everyone cursed the black cloud. Everyone believed without a doubt that the Devil had settled on the mountain. Before long, the cloud disappeared, peace returned to the towns, and the people stowed the nightmare away deep within their hearts. ...
And now, in 1988, the legend has seen a return, along with horrible monsters and evil robots, who seem not to be servants of the Angel, but minions of the Devil. ...
[Photo: Extremely rocky terrain.]▲Perhaps the real adventure begins after you ditch your vehicle.
Climbing Holy Loly Mountain
'Course, it's never been a mountain
meant to be climbed by people. ...
Relying solely on the mountaineering ropes thought to have been left by rock climbers, it's not impossible to scale the sheer cliffs of Holy Loly. But if you guys do tackle them, don't look down. Naturally this goes for those with a fear of heights, but even those without it should keep facing upward, even if you're dying to avert your eyes from the ghastly black cloud looming overhead.
The first person you'll have come across in a while is in the hut about three-tenths² of the way up. His dislike of human society led him to a reclusive life here, but engulfed in boredom, he taught himself Healing. And he passes each day waiting for some tired body to come wandering along so he can put his powers to the test. It's a place you want to reach before you use up your vitality or your stamina.
Also, the time here passes in such a way you can enjoy a moment of peace with your friends. It's also times like this when a girl feels like disclosing the feelings she's kept locked up inside of her... perhaps. But you'd better not think you're completely safe here. For you see, the Devil's minions who hang about Holy Loly probably won't take kindly to the music that'll be coming out of the hut.
[Photo: Basalt columns at Calcite Springs Overlook in Yellowstone National Park.³]▲There are times you'll fall for an optical illusion and think the precipice before your eyes seems to reach clear up to Heaven.
[Photo: The rooftop of a forest house, possibly a cabin.]▲The mountain hut is the first man-made thing you've seen in a while.
[Photo: An antique stove inside a log cabin.]▲The quiet music playing in the mountain hut almost seems to invite lovers to a ball.
HOLY LOLY MOUNTAIN MAPCave ExitMountain Hut
The Holy Loly Lake
It didn't take long for the hollow made
by fault activity to become a lake
It isn't very well-known that there's a lake about halfway up Holy Loly Mountain. At a circumference of about 1 km [about 3,280' 10"], it's a small one, but its depth is reportedly worth considering. Fish like the black bass inhabit it, but it's never been featured in Fishing Mania Journal⁴.
Even so, this lake, which you'd think would be unexplored territory, has a pier, unimpressive though it may be. It's on the east side. The motorboat moored there, with its broken-down engine, appears to belong to the owner of the mountain hut, but the wooden pier, which is missing a plank here and there, was made a pretty long time ago. Who on Earth made it, and for what purpose...? If a pleasure boat was in regular service here once, this is hardly the location for it.
And there's another strange thing at the lake. Sometimes there's oil on the surface. There's too much of it for it to be a leak from the motorboat. Maybe there's some secret on the lakebed. There's no way you could get your hands on a submarine, but exploring the lake surface with the motorboat is feasible. That is, of course, if somebody who's a good mechanic could get the engine running (and if you were to pull it off, you'd have to be careful of the whirlpools that sometimes appear on the lake).
[Photo: A lake with a tree in the foreground.]▲When you're sick of the brown of the fault, feast your eyes on the blue lake water.
[Photo: What appears to be a waterfall surrounded by pine trees and spire-like rocks.]▲Within the unexplored is more of the unexplored.
The Fabled Workshop
A workshop on the verge of
legend, hidden on Holy Loly
"Somewhere on Holy Loly is a secret workshop. There sleeps a robot named EVE. And one day, when the Legend of the Devil sees a return, EVE will awaken."
There was once a time when people showed an interest in that kind of hearsay.
This would have been around the middle of the 1900s. Where did the rumor come from? Does it have any basis to it?
Never minding that, people went crazy guessing where this place could be. There were actually some climbing the mountain looking for the fabled workshop. But there was just one spot not even a single person considered: the bottom of the lake.
... If the rumors really are true, EVE should be awakening soon. Setting aside the question of whether it's an enemy or an ally...
Approaching the Summit
For those of you right smack in the middle
of the black cloud of mystery
If it weren't all covered by black cloud, the view from here would be incredible. Valentine, where you brawled with Teddy. Snowman, where you met Ana. Thanksgiving, which you brought Lloyd out of. And the town where your little sisters and pet dog Mick, as well as your mother, await. You guessed it: Mother's Day.
You're nearly to the summit. Take heart. The key words are Courage and Friendship, not to mention the Melody of Love⁵.
- Matsuo Haizen
松尾ハイゼン
[Photo: A desert landscape with a slightly otherworldly look to it.]▲I wonder why I feel at one with the cosmos...?
Props to Those Who are Good at Famicom Games
Shinbou Minami
南伸坊
Illustrator
Props to those who are good at Famicom games. That's effort and conviction. It takes patience and passion and self-confidence, and I'm just no good at those things. Mr. Itoi, now, he not only keeps those earnest qualities ready at hand, he's able to have fun with them. He's a good man.
EVENT CHECK POINT
Your first task here is to find EVE in the workshop. Without EVE you can't defeat R-7038XX, and won't be able to get any farther.
Also, if you've collected all the melodies thus far, a shocker of an event just might unfold the moment you learn EVE's melody.
Area's Main Enemies:
Last Starman, Star Miner, etc.
❏ Did you find EVE in the lakebed workshop?
❏ Did you CHECK EVE's remains and learn her melody?
The Encounter with EVE
[Screenshot dialogue box and caption:]... the robot sprang tolife.MY NAME IS EVE.I HAVE BEEN WAITING FORYOU.▲They say EVE is waiting for the hero's party. Proceed farther into the mountain with her.
EVE's Melody
[Screenshot dialogue box and caption:]Music began to emanatefrom EVE's chest area.Ninten learned the melody.▲After EVE is destroyed in the battle with R-7038XX, CHECK her and you'll get a melody.
¹ According to speculation from Biozilla.
² Another possible translation is "the hut near the third station", in reference to the stations (and possibly also the huts) placed around the trails of Mt. Fuji.
³ Identified by Biozilla.
⁴ The wording here, あのフィシングマニア誌, leads me to believe this is a reference to a specific, real-life fishing magazine, probably one Itoi had something to do with. He is a bass fishing enthusiast, and we all know about the Bass Fishing No. 1 games. There's more research to do here, I think.
⁵ "Melody of Love": I got a little creative with this translation. What's actually going on here is, the kanji here is the one for "love", but the furigana above it reads "melody". In other words, they're conflating the two concepts as one and the same, in what I think is a brilliant, subtle hint toward the very end of the game. If anyone has any ideas for a closer English equivalent, please let me know.
No comments:
Post a Comment