"Yup. I mean, or somebody else's ghost who's lying, but it seems the conservative explanation that it's him."

He sighs.

"It has always felt like he was watching over us. It seems I may have been more right than I thought. But the timing... bad portents. What matter of being are you? Did he give you a message, or some sort of token or instruction to pass on?"

"I am from another universe and he wants me to kill Calamity Ganon."

"Well. That is rather extraordinary, if true. If you can kill Calamity Ganon, you would be doing all of Hyrule a favor that cannot be repaid. One hundred years ago, the efforts of Master Revali and the other Champions proved less than sufficient, and today, if Ganon truly returns... we are far less prepared."

"Yeah, I got that impression. I'm planning to hit up the Sheikah to see if they can fix a slate if I give them one, and generally confirm with people I encounter that if I can locate a physical form belonging to Ganon it should explode without further ado."

"You have found a Sheikah Slate? The legends are unclear whether he does—the stories of the sword that seals the darkness and the divine light of a princess suggests it is not as simple as cutting him down with sword and arrowfire—but if there is such a physical form to destroy, you certainly should. Perhaps an end to Calamity Ganon will free Vah Medoh of its madness.

"Does Master Revali hold the Divine Beast back from a greater rampage? Is his spirit waning; is that why it now turns upon us? No, the state of Hyrule Castle and the return of the Guardians bodes otherwise. Is he well, do you know?"

"I just made the Slate. And then left it up there, because I can just make another one. He didn't say anything about a rampage and he doesn't seem to happy but I left him with something that will hopefully stave off boredom."

If anything, Kaneli seems even more taken back by that.

"You speak of it so casually! The Hylians worked for years to unlock the powers of the Slate." He shakes his head. "Don't tell me. It's not my place to guard their secrets.

"If Master Revali did not mention a danger, that reassures me much. Perhaps it will convince Teba to calm down. If there is anything we can do to release his spirit, say it and we will see to it... perhaps after the current crisis is over. It has been one hundred years."

His expression grows more troubled. He strokes his... beard? Tufts of facial plumage woven into a thick chin-braid. It's unclear how that works.

"You seek the Sheikah, then, as the next step on your quest?"

"That's the plan."

"How do you plan to seek them out?"

"...fly in that direction for a while. If you have a better idea I'm all ears."

"If you intend to head for Kakariko Village, it... may not be the best course."

"Okay, how come?"

"The situation with the Sheikah is complicated. They themselves prefer not to speak of their affairs to outsiders, but we know enough from the legends. Their history with the people of Hyrule, with their wondrous workings, and even with their own, is... fractious.

"Eighty years ago, their Lady Kotomi chose to turn away from their past and closed Kakariko Village to pilgrims. She did not speak on her reasoning, but knowing the part their dabblings played in the Great Calamity... the announcement did not surprise many. The masters of their ancient technology were sent away to the corners of Hyrule, where some of them chose to continue their study alone, but the Sheikah village retreated into itself. Kakariko eschewed the things of their distant ancestors and hasn't looked back. Visitors report now it's a quaint and peaceful settlement, with trades in fabrics and produce, and the occasional blade of masterful make.

"If you appear with a Sheikah Slate and wild claims of Ganon and the Divine Beasts... likely, not much will come of it. Many uninformed travelers have made the journey, intending to seek insight on ancient artifacts they dug out of ruins, and most we hear, they were simply turned away. At the same time... there's a saying in the old tongue: cheat not the shadow folk, for their grudges run deep and strike sudden."

"Oh, I'm not really worried about them stabbing me or whatever, I'm indestructible. I guess I should test that against magic stuff in case that's different."

"I doubt they will draw blade on you," says Kaneli, "but not all forms of retribution—or all forms of overzealous caution—take the form of direct violence. A largely intact Sheikah Slate is not an odd-looking arrowhead from an old temple. And if you have the power to create more... a warrior long retired can startle easy."

"Some stories say that ten thousand years ago, when the ancient court of Hyrule purged the Sheikah from their confidence and their lands, it was not the King's men that buried away the Sheikah's greatest works, but the Sheikah themselves, refusing to allow their creations to fall into untrusted hands. In other tales, factions of their people delved farther in the path of vengeance—curses, assassinations, sabotage. Today, the Yiga clan pulls strings unseen, and whatever anyone says, they are cut from the same cloth as their kinder cousins. In times in legend when the Sheikah twined their paths with the Hylian royals, they were said to be the blade that cut infection to the root: clean, but deep, and not often discriminate."

"But more to the point, Kakariko Village simply is unlikely to have the tools to assist you. There you will find not answers, but suspicion, fear, and perhaps enemies. It is the nature of Hylians to see monsters in shadows, after all, and this age... is full of both."

He shakes his head.

"Maybe I am growing paranoid in my old age. The Sheikah of today are a pleasant people, those rare ones who leave their visit to village once every many years. Stories are stories. It has been a hundred years, a thousand. Nonetheless, if you seek a solution for ancient technology, there is a simpler way."

"And what is the simpler way?"

"I mentioned the masters of technology exiled from Kakariko Village seventy years ago. Exiled is a strong word, perhaps: I understand they were not forbidden from continuing their work, merely to bring it no place near the ancestral lands. And I have heard rumors, in more recent decades, that Kakariko Village still receives rare reports from those remote laboratories. When travelers have curiosities they wish inspected, or ancient parts to sell, I hear it is those expatriated researchers they go to."

He tugs open a map rolled up by the ceiling and frowns at it.

"By what I remember, the main locations they congregated at are in Akkala, Hateno and Yarna." He clears his throat. "Allow me a moment to confer..."

Kaneli cranes over his chair and past the open side of the hut, and lets out a series of sharp trills and caws. Similar sounds echo back from below, voices crossing over in cacophony. Cam will recognize the form of the language from his summoner's tongue, but barely any of the vocabulary is familiar—there are bits relating to location and specific names. It's something between a poll and a manual sort of search engine over open air.

Once the birdsong harmonizes to concordance and peters out, Kaneli turns back and jabs at the map.

"The lab in Yarna Valley is defunct. The Akkala and Hateno labs are still operating, here and here. Their original founders from the time of the Calamity were still alive two years ago, Lotto says, good for them—I actually met Robbie once when I was a fledgling, you know?—so they will be able to help you, most probably."

"Great, thanks, I'll go that way first."

"Rito Village isn't in good straits itself at the moment, but if you need anything from us, you can ask. You'll need to head out to Strock's Lake or farther to get in the air."

And Kaneli can give him some more pointers on flight paths to get the best winds, and safe approach distances for Hyrule Castle and different types of Guardians.

"Do you need any material objects? Like if you normally rely on imports that the downdraft is complicating or the crops aren't doing great or whatever."

"It's no particular thing. It just takes a lot more time to go out and hunt, and we've had to set up a scheduling system for leaving and entering the village so the bridge doesn't get clogged up, and the children can't get their flight practice in, and tourism isn't doing great, though I'm not sure that's even the Divine Beast's fault."

Kaneli scratches his head.

"We're getting by, don't worry about us. We'll always have plenty of seed from the traders, if nothing else. If you can get Vah Medoh back to normal, that's the best thing we can ask for."