Sunday, October 14, 2018

I'm not an artist: Five items from Link’s Awakening a demon hunter would carry.

Five items from Link’s Awakening a demon hunter would carry.

Secret Seashell: If Link is able to find enough of the seashells that are hidden throughout Koholint Island, he can have his sword enchanted by the ghost haunting a mansion. I was surprised to find a gather quest in such an early Zelda game. I don’t remember this aspect of the game at all so there is a good chance I missed it playing the game as a kid.

Every demon hunter identifies their quarry differently. Early in her career, Vasilisa discovered a shell that whispered infernal secrets instead of the soft sounds of the ocean. In time she found she could make sense of the daemonic chittering. Somehow this shell was able to listen in on conversations between infernal entities hiding in the mortal world. Vasilisa has made a name successfully hunting creatures that specialize in hiding in plain sight. Sooner or later, someone will realize the secret to her success. What happens if the demons she hunts learn someone is listening to their private conversations?


Level 2 Sword: The magical sword Link receives after giving 20 secret seashells to the Spirit of Seashell Mansion. This is very close to how the sword appears in the game manual. I think it is probably the first time the visual foundation of the Master Sword was really set.

Demon hunters should always carry at least two blades. A steel blade, to dispatch the mundane dangers of the world, and a silvered blade that can bite deeply into the otherworld flesh of infernal creatures. These silver swords, known as fiend slayers to some, are difficult and expensive to make. Often they are passed from one demon hunter to the next. Sometimes the passing of the torch happens when the master demon hunter retires, more often, the inheritance occurs when the teacher falls during a hunt and their apprentice takes up their blades to avenge the fallen.

Sword: Link must have been really shaken up by the storm that stranded him on this mysterious island because he only recognizes his trusty sword since it has his name written on the blade.

Names have power. If one can discover the hidden true name of an infernal being, they are able to extort many things from the bound creature. The traitor’s blade was created by binding the spirit of an infernal librarian into the sword of a pit fiend. The short thick blade is encumbering  and as such is extremely difficult for any normal person to wield. It is known as the traitor’s blade because it can divine the true name of a creature if it can be bathed in enough of the creature’s blood. The spirit inside the blade eventually whispers the true name into the mind of the wielder once the blade’s bloodthirst has been sated. Owners of the blade must learn to cope with the companionship of the blade's spirit. Its incessant whispering has eroded the sanity of more than one of the blade’s previous owners and the blade’s current owner, a brutal warlord that sends troops supported by imps and hellhounds to pillage the borderlands.

Power Bracelet level 2: The improved strength bracelet allows Link to lift even heavier objects like Elephant Statues.

Infernal creatures possess inhuman strength. To combat a creature that can throw boulders like children throw stones, demon hunters must look for a way to level the playing field. This bracelet provides the user superhuman strength and agility for a short burst. This must be timed wisely as the user is left sluggish and weak after the positive effects of the bracelet have worn off. Using this bauble too often can permanently damage a person’s body and mind. Some even claim that the bracelet burns years of a person’s life and that eventually their body will spontaneously and catastrophically fail when the balance of their years spent is due.

Pink Bra: The original Japanese release of Link’s Awakening includes a mermaid’s lost bra as part of the trading sequence. A woman bathing in nature and having her clothes held hostage by an opportunistic voyeur is a problematic tale as old as time. While the mermaid’s bra story isn’t entirely a bathing woman story, it could appear problematic.

The gaze of some creatures is potent enough to turn a person to stone or simply kill them. When a hunter knows they are hunting such a creature, they can bring special blindfolds that ensure they are blind to the deadly eye contact. Cassandra had no reason to think that she was stalking a gorgon when the bodies of tourists were discovered washed up on the pristine beaches outside of Ellysiopolis. It was only when she tracked the creature back to its lair filled with horrific statuary that she realized her error. The fleshy corpses had been bait and a distraction. Cassandra was last seen entering the creature's lair covering her eyes with her swimsuit that she had planned on wearing as she relaxed on a well earned vacation from monster hunting.

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No links today. I will try to go through and update the links this week.

Since I don’t have links in there yet, I will say my primary inspiration for the adventure seeds were the Diablo III demon hunter, the Witcher, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I do this blog so that I know I always have some creative outlet to look forward to. I hope that maybe I inspire another person to start some project that is just for them. With that in mind, feel free to use my work personally however you see fit. Please do not profit from my work without my consent.

And don’t forget, to be excellent to everyone, even people you can’t see.
-Ceph

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