TOTK Messages From An Ancient Era Quest Walkthrough
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom features a sprawling adventure filled with intricate side quests that expand the lore of Hyrule. Among these, the Messages From An Ancient Era quest stands out as an intriguing journey across the skies and surface of the realm. Players must track down ancient stone tablets scattered across floating islands to translate ancient Hyrulean text for Wortsworth in Lookout Landing.
Starting the Quest in Kakariko Village
To initiate this lengthy side adventure, players need to visit Kakariko Village and speak with Wortsworth near the central ring ruin. After examining the fallen stone slab in the village, Wortsworth will move his research operations to Lookout Landing. Visiting him at his new office unlocks the full quest line and allows you to submit photographs of ancient inscriptions.
Finding all twelve stone tablets requires a combination of high skyview tower launches and clever stamina management. Each tablet is situated on a flower-shaped star island hovering high in the sky regions. Utilizing flying Zonai devices or gliding from adjacent sky islands will make reaching these remote locations much easier.
Locating the Star Islands Across Hyrule
The star-shaped islands are distributed evenly across the sky map above major regions including Hebra, Eldin, Faron, and Gerudo. When Link steps onto these islands, the central stone tablet will fall through the sky and crash onto the surface below. Players should follow the falling tablet down to take a clear photograph of the inscription using the Camera Purah Pad ability.
Some tablets land in easily accessible fields, while others fall into deep bodies of water or dark chasms. If a tablet falls into water, Link can use the Recall ability to raise it back up or simply dive down to snap the photo. Ensuring the photo has a red exclamation mark indicator guarantees that Wortsworth will accept it as valid research.
Translating Inscriptions and Earning Rewards
After photographing a tablet, return to Lookout Landing and present the image to Wortsworth in his laboratory. For every photograph successfully deciphered, Wortsworth rewards Link with 100 Silver Rupees, making this quest extremely lucrative. Translating these texts reveals fascinating backstory details regarding King Rauru, Queen Sonia, and daily life during Hyrule's founding era.
Completing the entire set of twelve translations unlocks a unique reward upon delivering the final photograph to Wortsworth. Players receive the Zonai Survey Team Fabric, a special customization item for the paraglider obtained from the Kochi Dye Shop in Hateno Village. This quest provides both substantial monetary compensation and rich historical background for dedicated explorers.
Tips for Efficient Sky Exploration
Completing this quest efficiently relies heavily on expanding Link's stamina wheel and upgrading battery power for Zonai devices. Carrying stamina-restoring meals and building simple steering-stick flying machines will save a significant amount of travel time. Mapping out skyview towers beforehand allows for quick teleportation and high-altitude launches directly toward target islands.