Legends of Hyrule - A Summary and Retelling of the Legend

The Tale of the Twili

When all was chaos, the goddesses descended and gave order and life to the world. They granted power equally to all who dwelt in the light, and then returned to the heavens. The lands where the goddesses descended came to be known as the Sacred Realm. For ages, the people lived at ease, content in mind and body... But soon, word of the Sacred Realm spread through the world, and a great battle ensued... Among those living in the light, interlopers who excelled at magic appeared. Wielding powerful sorcery, they tried to establish dominion over the Sacred Realm. It was then that the goddesses ordered us three light spirits to intervene. We sealed away the great magic those individuals had mastered.

The Twili were once a tribe of people who came from across the great sea, and lived in the desert continent of Glamis. They were called the Zuna (ALttP's Agahnim is possibly a Zuna), and founded the city of Tula. The Zuna were a peaceful and friendly tribe who dwelled in steadfastly built reed buildings that were topped with the giant flowers which grew amidst the sand. Their comfortable existence in the desert was aided by the exceptional sorcery which they had developed, and slowly as the centuries ticked by, their magics began to be used for more than just their own development.

The Zuna's civilization grew to encompass much of the desert, and their buildings evolved from reed huts into towering and elaborate stone structures. They had founded multiple cities in the desert, though Tula remained their capitol. Tula was the home to their magical council, as well as the central hub of all political, academic, and religious activity. Those who practiced sorcery had reached a peak in their abilities, and had begun to plateau. This frustrated them, and so they began to probe with their magic, experimenting with offensive techniques, and clarevoyance. The desert, with it's uncontrollable sands and hot climate, became unfitting. The Zuna began to feel the draw of imperialism, their populace welcoming the idea of conquest. Through their many experimental magics they descovered the existance of the Triforce, and the wheels of time were set in motion.

Hyrule, with it's vast rivers, deep forests, and rolling plains, could serve as a perfect location for a new settlement. The plan was set into motion, and their civilization in the desert was abandoned by all those who wished to journey across the sea to a new life. Only a few remained behind, and after many years of the absence of magic, much of Tula was burried by sand. With this new ambition, they settled the unclaimed territory to the north of Hyrule, founding it under the name of Ildilay.

In Ildilay, the Zuna began the building of their new city, and around the countryside small hamlets and villages began to pop up. With the help of sorcery, Ildilay established itself in less than half a century, and plans for war against Hyrule were formulated.

At that time, Hyrule was not a united kingdom. This was a time before the races were united, and each race kept to it's own territory. The Hylians, said then to be the closest beings to the goddesses, made in their image, were unsuspecting of the Zuna's plans.

The preparations for war were finally complete, and in the winter of that year, the Zuna attacked from the north, decimating the Hylian mountain villages that were nestled there. However a messenger was able to flee the massacre and make way to the Castletown to inform the king. The Hylian's appealed to their neighboring races; amongst them the Zora lead by their King, the Gerudo lead by Ganondorf Dragmire, and lastly the Gorons of Death Mountain lead by Darunia. In a combined effort, the unified races of Hyrule were able to mount a resistance to hold back the dark sorcery of the Zuna and protect Hyrule Castletown for the time being.

After a month of losses, the Zuna broke through the Hyrulian defense and laid seige to the Castletown, the place where the Temple of Time stood. They were merciless in their assault, setting fire to all that they passed and slaughtering those who fled in their path. The Hyrulian Resistance did all that it could to protect the Hylian's, but the city fell, and the Temple of Time stood helpless to the ambitions of the Zuna. However, what they found there was not the Triforce, but retribution instead. As the Castletown had fallen, the Queen of Hyrule, Zelda, had placed herself within the sacred chamber of the Master Sword and prayed with her Council of Ten Seers for the three goddesses to aid them. Her prayers were answered, for when the sorcerous Zuna warriors broke into the temple and prepared to dispatch the queen and her council, the three goddesses appeared in a flash of light.

You who have desecrated these lands...

You who have attempted to establish dominion over the Sacred Realm by means of darkness...
You shall be punished.

There is no salvation for those who bring suffering upon this land!

The goddesses punished the Zuna for their transgressions, tearing them from the world of the light and sending them to dwell in eternal darkness. The realm was known as the twilight, and it was there that they would remain forever, forced to exist in the shadow of the light. They would become the emptiness of the world, hidden so that they would never repeat such an act again.

Amongst the ten seers who had protected the queen and prayed with her, four were selected to become divine. Lanaryu, who's name was a derivative of Nayru, Faron and Ordona, twins named in honor of Farore, and Eldin, who's namesake was Din. These four were amongst the most powerful of the council of ten seers, and so they were chosen by the goddesses to become eternal. Light spirits; they would watch over Hyrule in assigned quadrants. They would guard four vials of light, making sure that the light would forever prevail over the twilight.

Ocarina of Time

After the Zuna were imprisoned in the Twilight Realm--becoming the Twili, the rest of Ildilay soon collapsed with the absence of it's magical warriors. It became a region of unrest, thievery, and instability. It was no longer a threat to the Kingdom of Hyrule , or the world around it, so the goddesses left it to its own devices. The princess of Hyrule had been a year old at that time, and it was during the seige of Hyrule Castletown that the Hero of Time's mother had fled with her newborn son.

Now, ten and seven years later, the events of Ocarina of Time occured. Ganondorf Dragmire had been there to defend the Triforce, aiding the Hylian's, but it's power became the subject of obsession for him. Ganondorf now coveted the Triforce, and used the good will he earned in aiding the Hylian's to play them into his hand.

What Ganondorf did not expect was that his would be opposed by Nabooru the Exalted, his betrothed; that she and six other sages would rise up behind the Hero of Time to thwart him. Ganondorf was defeated, sealed by the Sages and the Hero into the sacred realm. The triforce, now split into three parts, remained fragmented despite all of this.

The Cracked Seal

Princess Zelda had pondered her mistakes, though made the decision that the Hero of Time would always be needed to defend their land. Ganondorf's last curse before he was sealed away into the Sacred Realm was a warning that she did not want to see become truth in her time. Link remained in his present form, and together with the Princess Zelda they began a new era of Rebirth. The Castletown was rebuilt, and the Hylian people began to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. Hyrule had seen much destruction in the last two decades, and it was finally time for them to move on and be at peace now that all threat had been removed from their world.

Two years of peace reigned in Hyrule. Zelda was a fair and just ruler, and she found herself incredibly occupied in that time. Talk of her marriage became the gossip of Hyrule, though the young princess had shown no signs of interest in any of her suitors. She was far too concerned with rebuilding her Kingdom to pay any heed to personal affairs. Link on the other hand, had disappeared in the two years that had passed, and it was assumed by the people of Hyrule that he had gone on a journey of self reflection. The absence of the Hero of Time did not bother the Hylian's as much as Zelda would have thought, and for this she was grateful.

However, elsewhere all was not well. Since Ganondorf was gone, Nabooru had risen up to be the leader of the Gerudo. She was their strongest warrior, with an unbreakable will and wild unbridled personality. However, the betrayal of her lover had taken a heavy toll on her heart. Now the Spirit Sage, she was charged with guarding the temple required of her station. But Nabooru had second thoughts about all that had transpired. She and Ganondorf had shared a love that she had once considered infallible, but he had chosen his conquest of Hyrule and his quest for the Triforce over her. This had damaged her pride and sullied their union, and so she had chosen to betray him as he had betrayed her, siding with the sages and sealing him away.

Now, in this time of peace, her regrets were beginning to haunt her. Convinced that she could change him, make him see the path of good, Nabooru abandoned her sagely duties. With the support of her ever faithful tribe, she kidnapped three of her comrads; Ruto, Impa, and Darunia. Forcing Impa to comply, Nabooru combined her powers of Spirit with the Sheikah's powers of Shadow in order to bring back the spirits of Koume and Kotake. Once the witch Twinrova, Ganondorf's surrogate mother, had been revived, Nabooru then began a process of forcing the three sages to relinquish their seals on the Sacred Realm, making it weak enough for Ganondorf to break free.

What followed next was a true hell on earth. With Nabooru now as his general, Ganondorf attacked Hyrule, choosing the night of the Hylian Royal Ball to bring about it's climactic end. Ganondorf had corrupted the power of the Sacred Realm in the two years he had stayed there, and from the cracked seal he sent it's power to flood Hyrule, twisting and gnarling all that it touched. Link, while present at the ball, could do nothing but protect his friends and the princess. The people of Hyrule were left to the mercy of Ganondorf, and all that the Hero of Time and Princess of Destiny could do was flee the Kingdom with their loved ones shielded from the dark power by the power of the triforce.

Hyrule fell to the Dark World, and all of it's inhabitants were transformed into hideous bestial mockeries of their former selves. Link and his companions searched far and wide to find a way to steal back into their Kingdom without likewise being transformed. Their efforts were finally rewarded with the shards of the Moon Pearl, a fragmented stone that had the power to retain it's wearers true form. With this they returned to Hyrule, and waged war against Ganondorf's new dark realm.

Link and his friends discovered a small encampment of ragtag survivors of Hyrule's fall in a resistance camp hidden away in the Gerudo desert. The desert had been spared of the fate that Hyrule was dealt, and it was here that they had banded together for hopeless survival. Upon arriving, the Hero and Princess discovered that the council of ten Seers which served Zelda had been kidnapped and taken to the Desert Colossus for execution. Among the seers was the head of the council, Eldrani, who was a childhood friend of Zelda and secretly the man which she held most dear. Zelda felt that the rescue of the seers, as well as the sages who were still kept in the temple, was their most urgent task.

The plan was set into motion, and the resistance would fake an assault on the front of the collassus, while Link and his friends, Fern, Saria, Kamaro, Zelda, and Malon snuck into belly the temple by way of a secret tunnel uncovered by the Gorons. Their plan worked, for they were able to rescue the sages from imprisonment. However, the process of executing the seers was already underway. Ganondorf had sensed their presence long before, and waited until the precise moment to dispatch the strongest and final seer, Eldrani.

In front of Zelda, Eldrani was executed, and the reasoning behind Ganondorf's actions became known. He had taken the sword of the King of Hyrule, and with the blood of the ten seers, created a sword that could dominate the Master Sword, which Link wielded. In a futile battle, the group attacked him, but he focused his efforts on Link, displaying the newly acquired power of his sword. Link fought bravely, but was beaten to the point of nearly collapsing. It was the cries of Malon at the sight of her lover being decimated that alerted Ganondorf that Zelda was not the only one who had given her heart away. Ganondorf took Malon from the group, escaping with her to Hyrule Castle, which was now his fortress.
br> Link and his companions were forced to escape from the Collosus, now in utter despair at having failed to save Eldrani and protect Malon.

After weeks of recovery and battle, Link and his friends arrived to Ganondorf's fortress. They attacked Hyrule Castletown with their full force, and in the end met the King of Evil face to face. This time Link was triumphant, and this time he would finish what he did not finish years before. He struck at Ganondorf to kill, though it was not Ganondorf he killed, but Nabooru instead. She had thrown herself in the way, sacrificed her life so that perhaps he would see what it was that he had buried--his heart.

Ganondorf's realization of what he had lost came too late, however, for she was now gone. In despair he threw himself at Link, in one final effort to seek what he considered his revenge. However the reunited powers of the sages stopped him, and he once more was bound by their energies, suspended within their control.

Subdued and brought to justice, Ganondorf was taken back to the desert, chained to a stone block where he would be executed on the blade of his own evil sword. He allowed himself this, broken by the death of Nabooru, but when the sword penetrated him, a fragment of his rage was rejuvenated. Perhaps it was for her, or perhaps it was his own anger which fueled it, but Ganondorf called upon his last ounce of strength to attack, breaking the chains and attempts to kill his executioners.

Unable to slay him, the sages used at last what the goddesses had left them. They activated the Mirror of Twilight, and finally sent him into a place where they were sure he would never emerge again.

The Rebirth

In that moment of triumph, the Goddesses for a second time in that century, and for the last time, descended to Hyrule. The Hylian people and Hyrulian races had suffered irreplaceable losses, and this could only be rectified in one way. With their divinity, Din, Farore, and Nayru, restored all that was good within Hyrule. The brown dead grass returned to a rich lively green, gnarled misshapen trees were healed of their hideous appearance, and all those who had been transformed into odious monsters were restored to their proper forms. The Kindom was cleansed... but the most important task had yet to be done. Those who had lost there lives would be revived. All about Hyrule the gift of life was given once again.

Among those to be revived was Eldrani, who was happily reunited with a tearful Zelda. With the goddesses departure, the Kingdom began it's rebirth. Zelda wedded Eldrani, and the two were crowned the new King and Queen of Hyrule. Link married Malon, and settled down on the ranch, and Fern and Kamaro, restless as they were, soon departed for the open seas. The kingdom entered into possibly it's most glorious era in history, and for over two centuries it saw nothing but harmony.

Written by Adella, edited by Mandy