"Come. Let me show you something."

The old man walks to a nearby swell of rock, overlooking a small body of water separating the two of you from the strange glowing structure not too far away. You follow him and take a closer look at the water; it looks like more of a crater filled with rainwater than a natural pond, filled with chunks of rubble from whatever structure used to stand there. Next to you, the old man points across the water.

"Do you see that structure there? The one shining with a strange light? It began glowing at the exact moment those towers rose up from the ground." He pauses for a moment. "I would think such a place might house some sort of treasure, wouldn't you?"

You don't answer, but he turns toward you with a coy look in his eyes.

"Treasure for the paraglider. A fair exchange, I believe."

And then, smiling to himself, he turns and walks back the way he had come, toward the campfire. You watch his receding figure for a moment, considering his offer. It isn't ideal, but where else would you be able to find a paraglider like his, and safely make it off this plateau? How else would you approach the strange voice from the castle? You make up your mind and turn back to look at the water, and find another rusted machine by the shore. Seeing the machine sitting next to the crumbled ruins, half-buried in water, a foreboding feeling settles in your stomach.

You decide the fastest way around the water-filled crater would be to cross directly to the old fort wall bordering the plateau and walk across that. On your way around the crater you pass by what appears to be a camp, ringed with defensive panels, which seem to be ramshackle planks of wood bound together with rope. In the centre is a campfire hosting a party of bokoblins; off to the right is a raised platform made of wood, bone, rope and cloth, with another bokoblin atop it, seemingly scouting the surrounding area from its vantage point. To the left, just beyond the campfire, is another raised platform identical to the first, but sitting atop this one is what appears to be a chest embellished with a monster face. The monsters seem to be guarding it.

You creep up behind the panel closest to the bokoblin scout and take aim with your boko bow, the motion surprisingly natural, and centre the monster's head in your line of sight before you release. The arrow sails off and hits its target, and the creature falls from the platform with a shriek, dissipating once it hits the ground and dropping a few things where it fell. The bokoblins around the campfire hear the shriek and wheel around, catching sight of you as you sprint across to the raised platform to snatch up the fallen materials.

The three monsters come at you all at once and you manage to dispatch one, but your weapon splinters under the pressure and cracks, and another bokoblin takes the chance to land a blow with its club. Body smarting where it hit, your attacks have weakened, but you fight on and quickly defeat the offending creature.

It drops a boko shield—a piece of tree bark attached hurriedly to a handhold. It's shoddy and weak, but you can still use it for now, so you snatch it up and hold it in front of you as you accost the last bokoblin, managing to shield yourself from a couple of hits before you send the creature flying with one last shriek. When its body dissipates, there's a flash from the corner of your eye and you turn towards the previously-guarded platform. The carved monster eyes on the chest, previously glowing purple, have now turned yellow.

Before investigating the chest, you notice a number of large wooden crates dotted around the camp. Considering the weapons currently in your pitiful stash, you doubt any of them could so much as put a splinter in the heavy wood. You turn back to the campfire and get an idea.

You take out your torch, light it with the campfire, and return to set the crates ablaze. They grow raging flames surprisingly fast and within a couple of minutes they completely burn through, leaving the items inside sitting in the embers. You collect three baked apples and what seems to be a roasted nut of some sort.

As you examine it, you realise it's an acorn; commonly found in the trees around Hyrule, its smell is strong after having been exposed to the flame, and you pocket it for later. Next you climb the platform and open the chest and, to your surprise, find a genuine forged weapon inside—a traveller's sword—even if the blade is a little battered and scratched. You add it to your stash and jump down from the platform to approach the high wall surrounding the Plateau.

It's quite an impressive structure, standing even at the height of the Plateau at least three times your height. You scale the carved stone to find expertly-crafted winged statues dotted along the wall, facing out over the lower lands.

It's easy to run along the surprisingly well-kept wall and drop down beside the structure the old man pointed out to you, close as it is. The Sheikah Slate buzzes against your hip and you unclip it to find it has automatically sensed and registered the structure—the "Oman Au Shrine". Looking around, you find that the shrine is settled besides a shallow lake (another crater, perhaps?), strange metal crates left scattered and abandoned around the edges. You decide to approach the shrine first.

The first thing you notice is the pedestal by the door—you hold the Sheikah Slate up to it and as predicted, it flashes blue, cuing the patterns on the entire bottom half of shrine to blue as well, though the eye symbol at the top still glows orange. You hear a sound behind you and turn to find a new glowing blue emblem on the edge of the shrine's platform, and then the horizontal pillared door opens to reveal another rounded emblem on the floor inside. Following intuition, you gingerly step onto it—and startle when it begins sinking beneath you. The descent is controlled however, so you steel yourself and let it bring you to whatever lies below.

The modified platform descends deep underground inside a blue tunnel of light-like matter—you touch it, but find it's somehow solid, acting as a protective barrier lest you lose your balance. When it finally touches down, however, the barrier dissipates as if it were never there, and you take the chance to look around at the room you find yourself in.

Though the room itself is comparatively narrow, the ceiling is incredibly tall, much like the ceiling of the room you awoke in. The floors are made of smooth, tan-coloured stone, and the walls of glossy, oversized black bricks—pure granite, perhaps?

You take your first step off the platform, and immediately a ghostly voice echoes throughout the space.

"To you who sets foot in this shrine. . . I am Oman Au. In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I offer this trial: Magnesis."

You stand still for a moment longer, listening, but the voice has faded. It's markedly different from the voice you were hearing before—whereas the voice from before was light and young, the voice from this room is deep, measured. It's also decidedly anchored in this room, or at least in this area; the warm voice from before felt almost like it came from somewhere inside you.

Before you lay two large metal slabs, carved with intricate patterns, and another pedestal off to the side. Hanging over the pedestal is another pyramidal slab like the one hanging from the tower. You can also see a path forward, but it's blocked by tall metal gates, that you notice don't have any handles or hinges. You're sure you can climb them, but you decide to approach the pedestal first.

"Sheikah Slate authenticated. Distilling rune. . ."

Similar to before, the robotic voice cues the lines of blue text across the stone, which accumulates at the eye symbol at the bottom, and then drips down onto the slate, splashing whorls of light. You see the Slate screen light up and another menu open, this one with six empty boxes. As you watch, the symbol of a magnet appears in the third box, with an accompanying description:

Magnesis
Manipulate metallic objects using magnetism.
Grab on to metallic objects using the magnetic energy that pours forth from the Magnesis rune. Objects held in the magnetic snare can be lifted up and moved freely.

Once the new information has loaded, you take the Sheikah Slate back and approach the metal slabs—is this, you suppose, where you are supposed to test the rune? Tapping the appropriate option on the screen, a beam of light shoots out of the Slate, fading in the middle to pink and the far end to blue, and immediately gravitates to the closest metal slab. You confirm the target on the Slate and use the rune, to your amazement, to pick up and move one of the substantial slabs, revealing a sunken chamber beneath.

The chamber contains a bridge-like path on the left, clear water flowing on the right, and a simple ladder leading down onto the path. You bypass the ladder entirely and drop down onto the bridge, following it to the stairs at the far end. When you emerge, you look back through metal grates to find you're on the other side.

Your way is now blocked by a wall of large cubic stones—except one isn't stone. Using Magnesis, you target and then manoeuvre the single metal cube out from the wall and topple the other cubes, leaving you a way through.

You're surprised by a small mechanical creature on the other side, shaped like a fat disc with a rounded head on top, and a single blue eye. When you presumably cross its field of sight, it lifts itself up on three spidery legs and moves towards you. There's a flash of blue light from its eye—the projectile grazes your arm and leaves a searing burning sensation.

Unwilling to get hit a second time, you pull out your rusted sword, run forward and bash the creature, and with a few well directed hits it bursts with a blue light and collapses, shell cracking and some of its insides toppling out. You inspect them to find them the same as pickings from the large rusted things outside—perhaps they share the same maker?

Beyond where the creature used to sit is another metal slab lying in front of a gap in the floor. Though it's by no means a deadly fall with a shallow pool of water beneath, the gap between platforms is still too wide for you to jump, and you spy set of tall doors ahead, so you assume you should still press forward.

You easily lift the slab using the rune and position it across the gap like a bridge, allowing you to run across to the large metal doors. They are engraved with the same carvings as slabs, and with no handles and too heavy to push open, so you once again use your rune to pull them open to reveal what looks like a shrine of worship beyond them, shining with that same blue light-matter from your descent. You spy the symbol of an eye at the apex of the structure.

You climb the two small sets of stairs leading up to it, and an enlarged eye symbol appears on the light-matter— on instinct, you reach out and touch it. You startle as the blue force bursts apart in shards and dissipates, revealing what's within—a wizened, mummified figure sitting cross-legged on the central platform, with long white hair and dressed in traditional garb. The white painted eye on its forehead makes for an especially stark contrast with the darkened, almost grey, preserved skin.

"You have proven to possess the resolve of a true hero," comes the ghostly voice, and you squint, but the figure seems not to have moved, its lips still closed.

"I am Oman Au, the creator of this trial," it still continues. "I am a humble monk, blessed with the sight of Goddess Hylia and dedicated to helping those who seek to defeat Lord English. With your arrival, my duty is now fulfilled."

Your arrival? Duty fulfilled? But the monk is still not finished.

"In the name of the Goddess Hylia, allow me to bestow this gift upon you. . . Please accept this Spirit Orb."

From the monk's steepled hands, thumbs touching below and fingers forming the point of a triangle above, a ghostly (you're really running out of adjectives here) orb floats and beelines directly towards you. You freeze in place, unsure of what to do, and the orb sinks straight into your chest, infusing you with a cold burst of energy. You touch your chest where the orb was in disbelief, but the skin is still warm, impervious to the otherworldly intrusion.

"This is a symbol of courage given to those who have overcome the challenges of a shrine," the monk recites, and then, almost with a smile in his voice: "May the Goddess smile upon you."

And the monk simply. . . disintegrates in front of you, into specks of greenish-blue light, which float up onto the air and then themselves disappear. Still barely processing, you feel your body become light and look down to find yourself glowing blue, swirling with whorls of pattern, and then beginning to disintegrate, your feet leaving you, then your legs, then your torso and arms—

You close your eyes and feel yourself gliding up into the air. When you feel yourself become whole again, feel a solid surface beneath your feet, you open your eyes to find yourself standing, completely whole and unharmed, upon the outermost platform of the shrine. You let out a breath you didn't know you had been holding.

And it is of course at that moment that you hear shout and turn to find the old man once again paragliding down to you, and then landing gracefully in front of you and miraculously conjuring his staff. Looking up at you from beneath his hood, he grins up at you.

"It seems you managed to get your hands on a Spirit Orb. Well done!"

You stare at him blankly, struggling to keep your face neutral. The Spirit Orb? How did he—

"How did I know?" the old man prompts, and chuckles. "CLAIRVOYANCE! Ohoho, or perhaps something similar. As one gets older, it can become more difficult to see what is right before one's own eyes. . . However, that which was once hidden from view can often be crystal clear."

His tone grows softer, perhaps more wistful, and he trails off, falling silent for a second. Then he seems to remember your presence and his eyes snap back to you, sparkling. "But perhaps that is not true for everyone! Oho ho!"

You stay silent, simply regarding him, waiting for him to speak, or to perhaps impart further wisdom. His smile falters a little at your lack of reaction, and he clears his throat. "At any rate. . . The appearance of those towers and the awakening of this shrine—it is all connected to that Sheikah Slate you carry on your hip there."

You quirk an eyebrow at him, and he chuckles.

"It has been quite some time since I have seen that Sheikah Slate, but I am quite certain. You see, long ago, a highly advanced tribe known as the Sheikah inhabited these lands." His gaze drifts up and fixes on something above you. "The great power of their wisdom has saved this kingdom time and time again."

You turn to follow his line of sight and land on the stylised eye at the apex of the shrine, now glowing blue instead of orange. A marker of completion.

"Their ancient technology disappeared long ago. . . Or so it has been said." The old man chuckles again. "Clearly, they have not disappeared, only hidden. This shrine, and those towers, are an example of that ancient technology."

You turn back to regard him, and he smiles wide. "These shrines are tucked away in numerous places all across this land. On this plateau alone, in fact, there are still three more!" His eyes glint with something akin to mischief. "Bring me the treasure from each of those shrines . . . and I will give you my paraglider."

You frown. That wasn't the deal.

The old man notices your expression and chuckles. "Ohoho, sorry young man. . . I suppose I changed my mind. But I'm sure that won't be a problem for a young go-getter like you!"

You ball your fists in frustration. Three more shrines? What is this man trying to do, trap you on the suspended Plateau?

The man notices this too and grins. "I am feeling quite generous today, so I will also teach you a trick for finding shrines." There's something chiding, something playful in his tone. "It's always best to survey the area from a high point. Let's see here. . . I'd say that tower seems like a suitable survey point, wouldn't you?"

Your stony expression must greatly amuse him, because he breaks out into a rich, deep laugh. "Oho hohoho! Son, you make it far too easy for me to pull you leg. You need not climb all the way up there, you know. Take a look at the map on your Sheikah Slate."

Facing down this jester, you unclip the Slate and open the map, raising an unimpressed eyebrow in his direction.

The man seems completely unfazed. Slightly tickled, even. "See those blue icons? You should recognise the cave where you woke, the shrine you came from, and the tower. You can travel instantly to any of those places with the Sheikah Slate—or so I heard quite some time ago. . . I do not know if it still possesses such capabilities." He shrugs, then winks. "I'll meet you up there, son."

And then he turns around and saunters off.

You feel absolutely no inclination to prioritise this prankster's suggestions, so first you investigate the metal crates around the shrine, so conveniently placed. You smash them open with your Magnesis rune and gather the materials inside—a handful of fruit and some loose arrows.

Having packed your loot into your bag, you select the tower icon on the map and like before, become light, become blue, and dissipate—and reappear on the tower, whole and unharmed, on a blue circular icon. So these are teleportation pads?

The old man is standing right there, perhaps a foot away from the pad. "Oho ho! I'm surprised it took you so long to catch up with an old man like me!"

You feel you really shouldn't be surprised at this point, but you do find yourself wondering just how he got up here. Perhaps he. . . flew? You eye the folded paraglider strapped to his back. He notices your gaze and laughs.

"Oho ho! Leave an old man his secrets, no? Now then. . . I wanted you to join me up here so you could use this as a vantage point to search for shrines. I'm sure you don't need further help from me. Go ahead."

First of all, you remove the pin from the shrine you just activated, and then use the magnifying scope on the Slate to survey the landscape. You do manage to find and pinpoint the other three shrines on the Plateau, just as the old man had said, but you also find and mark any number of other shrines in the lower lands, as well as any towers you can see. You have a feeling that more maps will make whatever you're going to be doing a lot easier.

Conducting a final sweep with the scope, you pan up over mountains in the distance, searching for anything of interest, before you blanch at a huge shadow in the sky. Is that a. . . bird?

You lower the scope and squint with your own eyes from the top of the tower. It can't be a bird—it's simply too massive. How massive exactly, you can't quite tell, since the distance and the smaller mountains behind skew your perception. . . But what could it be? A machine—a flying machine? How is that possible?

You turn to the old man, perhaps seeking some words of wisdom, but to your surprise, he is nowhere to be seen. You are alone on the top of the tower, in the slowly chilling breeze, under the darkening sky.