This cache is NOT at the posted coordinates, nor is there anything pursuant to the cache that location!
This cache is part of the Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask series! The Legend of Zelda is, by many accounts, the most popular and beloved video game franchise of all time. Many of its entries have revolutionized the way people create and experience video games, with some particularly noteworthy examples being Ocarina of Time, Link to the Past, Breath of the Wild, and of course the 1986 classic that started it all.
While Ocarina of Time is considered by many to be the best video game of all time, Majora’s Mask, its immediate successor, gets comparatively less attention. Some of this is understandable: Nintendo rushed the game out only one year after the groundbreaking Ocarina of Time and recycled many of the character models and items from this game to make Majora’s Mask, leading some to think of it as little more than an appendix is a much more famous title. Yet Majora’s Mask departed from the Zelda formula in so many ways and had so many innovations of its own that it is undoubtedly worth a look.
The two most drastic differences between Majora’s Mask and Ocarina of Time are the ways in which they be contrasted thematically and structurally. Ocarina of Time is the prototypical adventure game: you start the game as a small child, answer the call of the Great Deku Tree to save the land of Hyrule, gradually hone your skills and increase your weaponry until you are able to defeat Ganon himself. It features wide open field filled with quirky and lovable characters, from the dimwitted but earnest Gorons, to the good-natured but narcoleptic Talon, to the feisty (if petulant) Princess Ruto. Majora’s Mask, by contrast, is a creepy carnival of horrors, in many ways. You are greeted in the opening moments of the game by a malevolent being who possesses a child, curses you into the form of a monster, then turns the very moon into a demonic creature intent on destroying the world of Termina within three days. Where Ganon sought to conquer, Majora just wants to destroy.
Despite how unnerving the game can be at times, it integrates you into the lives of its characters in a way that few other games have: if you choose, you can help two lovers reunite for their wedding, lift the curse on a young girl’s father who has been turned into a monster, play a lullaby for a young child whose father is lost in the snow, and help out two sisters whose ranch has been ravaged by both jealous neighbors and invaders from another world. The stories you experience will stick with you for years to come!
I hope you’ll take the time to solve the puzzles and find the caches in this series, and maybe even try the classic video game for yourself! As for the cache series, there are six standalone mystery caches, each loosely based on the events of the game and the Zelda series in general, and one final cache. To check out the final, click on the link below. Each cache has a clue (trust me, you will need ALL SIX to locate the final), and three of them have an additional hint to help you figure out how to get the final coordinates from the clues. Good luck!
LoZ:MMs - FINAL - The Moon
Now for the puzzle....
Anyone with any experience with the Zelda games knows about the Triforce. It is a sacred relic that grants its possessor what basically amounts to omnipotence-- think of it as Hyrule's Infinity Gauntlet. Whereas there were six Infinity gems, though, there are only three pieces of the Triforce: the Triforce of Power, the Triforce of Wisdom, and the Triforce of Courage. Admittedly, it is a bit confusing that the three constituent pieces of the Triforce are also called Triforces. The plots of Zelda games typically revolve around the evil wizard Ganon trying to unit the pieces of the Triforce (or, more technically, the Triforces of the Triforce) in order to take over the world.
Many Zelda fans have noted that the Triforce, when fully constituted as shown above, seems to be missing a piece in the middle. This led some to speculate that there is actually a FOURTH Triforce piece, and when all four are united, there will be a sort of Tetraforce. There are various hints that this might be the case: namely, Zelda assumes the form of a pirate named Tetra in Wind Waker, and while the number three plays a prominent role in many Zelda games (such as in Ocarina of Time, where there are three Spiritual Stones and six Sages, six being a multiple of three), the number four figures prominently in games such a Majora's Mask, where there are four masks that Link must collect in four different dungeons, and four guardian deities of Termina. Perhaps the most compelling clue was that on the Hylian shield in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, there is clearly a fourth golden triangle distinct from the three golden triangles of the Triforce (see below). As you can see on the shield, the three golden triangles appear to be ascending toward the heavens atop a crimson bird, while the missing fourth piece remains on the ground. Alas, Nintendo has officially denied the existence of any such Tetraforce, but one can always speculate....
More interesting is the fact that this sacred relic, which amounts to the preferred MacGuffin of the Zelda series, though, is conspicuously absent from Majora's Mask. It appears on a few of the items that Link brings to Termina from Hyrule but it otherwise completely absent in the realm of Termina, with ONE notable exception that has led to an enormous amount of fan speculation. Specifically, it appears to the East of Clock Town, in the Ikana Canyon and the Stone Tower, on a few statues. It is so subtle that it is very easy to miss, but it is indeed there.
So why would the makers of the game go to such lengths to remove the Triforce completely from the game, with the exception of a few obscure locations? There is some speculation that the residents of Ikana, in ages past, built the Stone Tower as a sort of Tower of Babel, in order to defy the three golden goddesses of Hyrulean mythology who created the Triforce. Indeed, some of the statues in Stone Tower seem to depict naked figures profaning the Triforce with a very specific item. Knowing what that item is (one word) may help with the puzzle, but where do you go with that information? Knowing where to go with that information may very well be key to solving the puzzle....
The thought of Terminan people rejecting the goddesses and constructing their own Tower of Babel certainly has Biblical overtones, and gives Zelda mythology a depth that can't be found in most other games. Why would the people of Termina have such hubris as to reject the deities of their land? I don't want to dally too long in the philosophical weeds, but it would seem that they wagered poorly: if God does not exist, then there is nothing to be lost in believing in Him, nor anything to be gained in disbelief. But if God does exist, there is everything to be gained in belief, and everything to be lost in skepticism. What a gamble they made!
Enough of my rambling, though. Below is the puzzle that will give you seven-digit latitude and longitude coordinates. The dungeons of the Zelda series are labyrinths that will require all your wits (and occasionally some keys and bombs) to navigate. Your challenge is to solve the maze below, knowing that you may not retrace your steps at any point. With any Zelda dungeon, there are two crucial tasks to complete: finding the treasure, and getting back out alive. Once you find the treasure, you have reached a checkpoint of sorts, as even if you die at that point, you still have the treasure. Choose your path carefully. One last question to consider: does a journey consist merely in its destination, or is the sum of each step you took to get there? Good luck!
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.