MOBLINS AND BOKOBLINS

Contrary to popular belief, moblins and bokoblins are actually the same species (which we'll call 'blins' for ease of speaking). Blins have a kind of rudimentary semi-eusociality. Bokoblins are the younger reproductive members of the species. Once they're old enough females go through a kind of pupation, in which they go into a coma and eventually shed their old bodies in favor of bigger, stronger moblin ones.

Bokoblins are sapient, but not very intelligent. They can make/use basic tools, understand Hylian speech, and have opinions and such. However, they lack the ability to plan ahead more than a few days (tops) or make complex leaps of logic. But they're hard workers with keen senses; they just need some leadership and direction. Bokoblins look the most similar in design to their BOTW versions, except they have floppy ears and mostly wear dresses and loose pants.

Moblins are infertile, but have greater strength and intelligence, and are thus the leaders of the settlement. There are comparitively fewer moblins than bokoblins, as not all older women become moblins, but only older women can do so in the first place. The strongest moblin leads the village like a queen, Queen Moblin, and the other moblins lead their own smaller groups of bokoblins. Moblins mostly look like the traditional pig-like moblins, but their clothes are much better quality, and often richly embroidered.

The biggest group of blins live in what was once a Hyrulean military outpost, which has been patched up, modified, and repurposed for their own purposes. Despite initial clashes, they've had friendly relations with the nearby humans for some two or three human generations now. The oldest moblins remember how this began, as moblins can get much older than humans, even though bokoblins have shorter lifespans.

According to them, a human hero reached out with a solid peace treaty after learning moblins could speak Hylian, meaning they could communicate and be reasoned with. The treaty specified territorial lines and non-violence agreements, but over time trade relations have developed. It's not unusual to see bokoblins and even moblins running errands in the human village, or humans running errands in the moblin fort.

Blins often build their villages in abandoned human forts. This is tradition partly rooted in their religion. Ganon's religion values power and displays of it, as well as strength and cunning. Claiming enemy forts and building your lives around these symbols of hostility fits right in with that. Bokoblins live communally and have little concept of privacy, but moblins prefer to have their own quarters adjacent to the bokoblins.

Unusual for blin villages, our Death Mountain blins use rupees for currency and have weekly markets. While bokoblins can get territorial, their communal living means they traditionally have few personal posessions (though they are visciously protective of the one or two things they consider theirs). Moblins are often more materialistic, but don't exactly trade woth humans, and there's no real reason to formalize trade between their own kind.

However, since humans value these formalized trade rules, markets have caught on. Most vendors are bokoblins, who mostly sell their hunted and butchered meat. Blins are much better hunters than humans, and much better butchers as well; blin meat is always prime quality, and as such it's the main thing they sell. But some sell handmade weapons, furniture, and even some jewelry. Full meals can be bought as well; bokoblins are excellent cooks.

In return, bokoblins will go to the human village to buy all kinds of stuff. Clothing is their primary 'import', as human textile and tailoring is of much better quality than blins', and humans have one art blins don't traditionally practice: embroidery. Embroidered clothes have become all the rage in the moblin fort, and some bokoblins have even picked it up as a hobby themselves. It's a bit difficult with their claws, but bokoblins work together with some human friends to find ways to adapt embroidery techniques for them, and a modest but proud art of bokoblin embroidery has begun to form. Other than clothes, bokoblins like buying little trinkets from the village kids, who have their own 'stalls' at the weekly market.

The biggest source of tension between the humans and blins is the fact that the blins worship Ganon. He is not quite a god, not quite a mortal, but a savior for monsterkind, who will one day rise again and lead them to glory and claim the world for them. This glory, of course, traditionally involves many dead humans. Opinions are split among the blins on how to deal with the contradiction this causes with their friendly relationship with the local humans. But arguments on the topic have always been hypothetical; Ganon is a figure of myth, and his eventual return just as fantastical an idea as the rapture. It wasn't a thing to seriously plan for. Until now, of course.

A figure that may be Ganon has been spotted near death mountain, a hulking monster with a hundred pig heads, it is said. There is a real chance their 'rapture' is here, and the blins are conflicted, unwilling to abandon their religion for the sake of a species they've been at war with for as long as time remembers, but not exactly keen on wholesale slaughtering the humans that have become their friends.

But moblins are going missing. Their leaderless bokoblins are raiding the human village with regularity, forcing the humans to defend themselves. No casualties so far, but some wounds on both sides have been severe. Humans are behind the disappearances, undoubtedly. Some bokoblins have even fought them, but the humans of the village swear it wasn't them, and they don't know where the culprits are. Opinion is divided on whether to believe them, as Death Mountain is a hostile place, and this village is the only known human settlement. It's hard to believe the village is truly ignorant and uninvolved; where are the perpetrators getting supplies if not there?

The humans are growing afraid, angry, and bitter. Some vocally declare this was only a matter of time, other argue fiercely for increased efforts in investigating the moblin disappearances, hoping to restore the peace. Queen Moblin is as of yet unwilling to declare war, not with the fort torn on how to handle the situation, but as the blin's leadership thins out, she'll be forced into action sooner rather than later. And regardless of their guilt, seizing the humans' resources and pacifying the vengeful bokoblins at the same time is a tempting strategy.

Zelda arrives in this heated atmosphere, and immediately insists on involving herself in a situation she knows little about. Her attempts at diplomacy are clumsy at best, but Queen Moblin is impressed by her audacity and agrees to a compromise: solve the moblin disappearances within a week, and she'll sit around the table with the human mayor to discuss a renewed peace treaty. Zelda accepts, and this is how Ralph finds her: in over her head.

LYNELS

Lynels are perhaps the monsters most feared by Hylians, and not without reason. These centaurs are exceptionally tall, with even the shortest of them standing at 2+ meters and the tallest clocking in at 3+ meters. With their massive, imposing horns, great strength, fire breath, and ever-present weaponry, they make formidable foes for even the most experienced of knights. And on top of all that, they are fiercely territorial and known to attack on sight.

All of this is true, but if you asked a Lynel (unthinkable, of course), the weaponry is a necessary defense against both wild animals and glory-hungry Hylians aiming to kill them for sport. They are territorial by nature, yes, but much of their immediate and extreme aggression is more logic than instinct. Hylians are among the very, very few species able to go toe to toe with a lynel, rivalled only by the fiercest of moblins and lizalfos. And other lynels, of course. Getting rid of humans with prejudice is only reasonable. Lynels do not fault Hylians for doing the same, but being hunted for sport does piss them off.

There is not much of a 'lynel society'; there's generally agreed upon codes of conduct and a vague sense of solidarity between lynels, but that's mostly it. Lynels are solitary by nature; though capable of forming friendships or living in groups, they typically do not feel a need for company and have limited social instincts. Lynels with adjacent territories usually meet at a neutral location once a year to reaffirm territorial boundaries and foal, using the safety of a herd to help newborns through their wobbly first weeks. Once the children are strong enough to travel, they go on their way again.

During these meetings, however, the lynels craft their weapons, teach their children, swap recipies, and hold sport competitions. They are exceptional weapon smiths, not much for decoration, but in their simplicity there's generations of efficiency on display. It is considered a kind of art for them, and the best weapon smiths are subjects of envy much the same way painting masters are for Hylians. Lynels also have a variety of single person sports, and many enjoy testing their strength against each other when they have the opportunity.

Lynels run hot, literally. Their bodies are always at a near-scalding temperature for humans, and they can breathe fire on command. As such, lynels usually avoid dry or hot areas, easily overheating or accidentally setting dry vegetation on fire. They tend to live in cooler areas, though a few have decided to settle in hot-but-wet climates like rainforests. The lynels of Death Mountain live mostly in the mid-mountain snowy areas, away from the bustle of the humans and moblins or the warmth of the crater.

Few know this, but Lynels are actually obligate herbivores. They can ingest small amounts of meat, but do not gain meaningful nutrition from it. Their diet consists of local fruits, vegetables, and plants inedible to humans, such as grass. They often maintain their territory in such a way as to promote plant growth, creating 'food forests' (or food meadows, you get the idea). Lynels often enjoy cooking, and swap recipies at their annual meetings, creating a thriving food culture that connects them despite their solitary nature.

The Death Mountain lynels, who live in perpetual snow, don't quite have this option. Instead, they clear land from snow with their fire breath and keep it warm by their general presence, leading a more sedentary lifestyle and thus having a smaller territory than most of their kind. They go down the mountain for seeds (if they cannot harvest their own), and once in a blue moon have even traded with the Hylians for them.

The Death Mountain lynels have limited contact with the other sapient species living on the mountain, but generally feel neutral to positive about them. They are left alone and leave others alone in return, and that is how they like it.

But recently, lynels have been found dead on the mountain, their horns harvested as Hylians are prone to. Weirder, they appear to have been dissected, and the organs responsible for their fire have been removed. There are less than two dozen lynels on the mountain, and five have been found dead so far. Lynels are easily tracked as their hooves melt the snow away, and the fact that this mystery opponent is clearly capable of taking them out makes this dangerous. Most lynels have congregated at the annual meeting point early, unsure how to face this threat. They are not used to being powerless.

However, not all lynels have sought the safety of a herd. Zelda and Ralph stumble upon a lynel corpse, and a living lynel inspecting it. Zelda, of course, insists on getting involved, giving Ralph little choice but to follow her lead.

LIZALFOS

Lizalfos are extremophiles with a number of subspecies adapted for different environments. The Lizalfos of Death Mountain are semi-aquatic fire lizalfos, which have a natural resistance to cold and an immunity to heat. Their diet mainly consists of fish, insects, and reptiles that live in and near the lake. Due to a lack of vegitation, spices are difficilt to acquire and rarely used, though they certainly love their salt.

The lizalfos have a complicated family-clan system where each clan functions more or less autonomously, with their own rules and customs. Clan Chieftains are chosen by right of combat, and collectively, these Chieftains form a council that governs the wider lizalfos settlement.

This council is coordinated (though notably not lead) by the Overseer, the only clanless lizalfos, who gave up clan affiliation so as to be impartial in the job. As a result, they have no permanent home, but are pseudo-adopted by all the clans, and regularly move between them.

Death Mountain is rich in gems and precious metals. The gems are mostly found deeper in the mountain, but the lizalfos are able to mine the crater itself for gold and other metals, as well as plain stone.

Lizalfos buildings and structures are made from stone and built over water through an impressive foundation of supports. Clans live communally in large buildings. Social areas are almost universally open-air.

Metalworking and jewelry crafting are the lizalfos' pride and joy, each clan having their own unique methods and styles. Lizalfos are often adorned in heavy jewelry, which is also their main export. They also make weapons, though hard iron is more difficult to find and thus very precious.

Lizalfos have cannibalistic funeral practices. It's tradition to cook and eat your fallen clan members in an abundant feast. Lizalfos will write the recipes they want their bodies to be prepared with the same way Hylians leave instructions for their burial or cremation. This practice started due to a variety of factors ranging from plain practicality (not many places to bury and very little wood to use for cremation) to a way to protect their dead from desecration, as Hylians frequently harvest lizalfos corpses for a variety of body parts.

The Zora and Lizalfos maintain close relations, as the Zora trade them gems and food/spices from the lower reaches of the mountain in exchange for jewelry. On occassion, Zora sorcerers and Lizalfos metalworkers will collaborate to forge enchanted jewelry or weapons. However, since the Zora Queen can't stop her territorial subjects from attacking them if they venture into the tunnels, there are regular clashes between the two groups. This is fine and was accounted for in the trade negotiations. The lizalfos enjoy a good fight. Fatalities or serious injuries are rare due to both legal consequences and mutual respect between the groups.

In appearance they look very similar to the Skyward Sword lizalfos, including their arm guards. However, rather than cloth and leather clothes (both materials extraordinarily difficult for the lizalfos to acquire), they are draped in jewelry (think BOTW Zora).

When it's made clear Ralph and Zelda wish to help and may have information relevant to them, they are granted access to the Lizalfos village. However, the lizalfos are wary of and hostile to them, especially Zelda. They distrust Hylian science, which has been a major source of corpse desecration for them. Zelda has to reckon with the immoral ways many of her sources acquired their information, and learn to accept that pursuit of knowledge should have its limits.

The lizalfos are in posession of armbands called the Golden Scales, jewelry that allows you to swim and breathe under water as a zora. Ralph and Zelda are granted these after they attempt to help the lizalfos in their fight against the human invaders, allowing them to progress through the flooded tunnels and reach the Zora Domain.

ZORA

Though Sea Zora have long since been reclassified, the River Zora are still considered monsters, which is one of the obvious contradictions that spurred Zelda into action.

Unlike most Zora, the Zora of Death Mountain are fully aquatic and cannot survive outside of water for long. In fact, the Death Mountain Zora have diverged from other Zora in numerous ways. They have the basic build of River Zora, but they have external gills and different coloration. The only light in the tunnels of Death Mountain is red, the glow of Goron mechanics still functioning, and the Zora have become red and white for cameoflage as a result.

Permanent life is sparse in the flooded volcano. Small passageways connect to larger underground rivers, and schools of fish use this fact to shelter in the volcano when they aren't looking for food. These fish form the Zora's main source of food, but they also harvest the crabs and tube worms clustered around heat vents. Zora also use these vents alongside modified Goron heating syatems to cool their food. Most of their diet is raw, though, comparable to dishes like sushi and sashimi.

The closer you get to the bottom, the hotter the water gets. Your eyes will play tricks on you; differences in chemical composition make it so that the water 'layers', which means that periodically, it'll start to look like there's a layer of air, when in fact it's only a different type of water. Zora have used this fact to make 'brine pools, which seem like underwater lakes, which are used decoratively in their domain.

The Zora Domain is built on the former Goron City. As such, there's an eclectic mix of architecture, combining the simple yet elegant style of the Gorons with the baroque-like preferences of the Zora. Goron design mostly focuses on functionality and works with the rock, carving many rooms directly into the volcano's walls. However, as skilled sculptors the Gorons asses flourishes to their designs, mostly involving complicated geometric motifs rather than drawn-to-life illustrations. The Zora, by contrast, value realism in their art. As far as they're concerned, the more, the better. Elaborate sculptures and carvings of various underwater life have been added to the former Goron City.

The palace of the Zora Queen is almost entirely Zora-make, built around the very heart of the mountain, the Goron Fortress. The palace is ostentatious and freely accessible to all. Meals are typically communal affairs, where everyone will some together in the dining hall of the castle. The population of Death Mountain Zora is small but proud and tight-knit. While they maintain traditional Zora monarchal structures, rules of propriety have largely eroded away and decisions are often made by everyone rather than the monarch, direct democracy style.

The job of the Zora Queen is therefore less to lead, and more to protect and safeguard the community. The Goron mechanics and systems, robust though they may be, require maintenance of both the mechanical and magical kind. Although nearly all Death Mountain Zora are talented magic users, the royal family are the only ones trained in the workings of the most complex Goron mechanics. As such, they are the only ones capable of accessing the Fortress and doing maintenance on the delicate mechanics that power the volcano's heating system, which is vital for the ecosystem's continued survival. The Zora have adapted to the hot water of the volcano; a sudden drop in temperature would not only kill off their heat vent farms, but leave them sluggish and shivering. The sudden absense of light would leave them unable to hunt even if rhey can get their bodies to move. Sooner or later, cold or starvation would kill them.

The system used to be fully powered by the Triforce of Power. Although therezare plenty of rumors about a treasure in the heart of Death Mountain, its exact nature has long been forgotten. The Gorons used their piece of the Triforce as an effectively infinite, sustainable energy source. The Zora have modified this; the water tunnels that connect rivers to the volcano have exceptionally strong currents around their entrances, and the Zora have harnessed this, using it to generate electricity, which now powers the grid. The Zora were worried about the Triforce's fickle nature; what would happen if a royal couldn't resist using it, or if it latched onto someone, or if it were stolen? They have more faith in the continued existance of natural phenomena such as river currents. Now, the city's mechanics do not rely solely on the Triforce for power, but partially on the water-generated electricity as well. However, the Zora have not yet figured out how to fully separate the Triforce from the system, so it is still partially reliant on it.

However, this has backfired with the recent problems with the waterways. Poison has been floating in rather than fish, and with the reliance on the electricity created by the passages sealing them off is not an option. But the choice was made for them; something has blocked the passageways, stopping the influx of poison, but trapping the poison already there inside the volcano and depriving the vital Goron systems from an energy source. Time is rapidly running out, and the Queen is desperate to solve the crisis somehow. She thinks she might have found it in the arrival of the Hero and Princess of Hyrule, who are known to bear the Triforce of Courage and Wisdom respectively. If she can assemble the full Triforce, she can save her people.

One obvious problem: the Hero isn't actually there, and neither is the Triforce of Courage.