Five items from Oracle of Seasons you can find on a long voyage
Master Sword: Just like in Oracle of Ages, the master sword can only be obtained by passing a secret in a linked game. Link’s sword is upgraded upon passing the secret from King Zora of Labrynna to the Zora in the Hero’s Cave in Holodrum. If Link has not yet obtained the noble sword, he receives that and then sets up the finding of the master sword in the hazy lost woods at the conclusion of the trading quest.
I should note that this is obviously not a sword, and isn’t very reminiscent of the master sword in any obvious way. My inspiration was that the weapon’s sprite was blue and blue is often associated with water. With that in mind, I drew the first water weapon that occurred to me.
This harpoon belonged to the captain of a whaling ship that had become obsessed with slaying the greatest whale in the seas. The captain’s obsession doomed the ship and all of its crew, save one sole survivor. The harpoon was last seen buried in the flank of the behemoth whale as it pulled the captain and their ship down into the inky depths of the ocean.
Wooden Shield: Link’s basic shield. This wooden bulwark offers limited protection against the many threats Link faces in his adventures. He can obtain this by buying it from the Horon Village Shop or one of the many business scrubs coincidentally found in areas where a shield is absolutely necessary to continue.
I also feel the need to explain this drawing as it doesn’t seem very basic at all. The fact that the wooden shield is wood and that the sprite is green gave me the clue to have this be an earth themed shield. There is an image of a dwarf with a stone tower shield floating around the fantasy art space that inspired me to create a stone, elemental earth, shield. The tower motifs were just a bit of wordplay with a tower shield being covered in towers.
No foreigner has ever been allowed into the city of spires. Those that have tried to enter have always found their way blocked by the city’s guards, clad in shining armor, and carrying the infamous tower shield made from stone. In pursuit of the rare stone, merchants and travelers are forced to do business in the fields surrounding the city, always in sight of the corpses of those who foolishly attempted to sneak past the great walls.
Iron Shield: In Oracle of Seasons, Link must travel to the subterranean world of Subrosia to obtain the iron shield. Link must tactfully commission the iron shield by supplying a wooden shield and an ingot of hard ore to the Subrosian smithy. This upgraded shield offers greater protection than the wooden version and is the stoutest shield available unless one is playing through a linked game.
You may have figured out the routine here. The sprite was red, and iron has to be smelted with fire, so I figured fire elemental shield. When I think fire shield, I think the cloak of flames from Warcraft 3. I loved the icon and the concept of that item and love to use similar ideas in my game. Also, Morrowind had a series of elemental shield spells that had an interesting visual effect. I love Morrowind more than Warcraft, but a physical cloak on fire is easier to draw than a bubble of energy.
Members of the Thalassic order of Erasmus can be identified by the woolen cloaks the color of stormy skies worn by all members. The sea cult’s devotees are all skilled sailors, but choose to remain isolated from the rest of the crew. During storms, the disciples’ iconic cloaks crackle and shimmer with an eerie ghost flame.
Mirror Shield: Much like the master sword, the mirror shield is the final upgrade to the shield and is only available in a linked game. Link must pass a secret from a Subrosian traveling in Labrynna to the Subrosian smithy to have the opportunity to have his shield reforged for a second and final time.
You probably have caught on by now. The sprite for the shield was blue, so I went with water. I had a lot of ideas for a water shield. Maybe something like the defenses water benders draw up in Avatar, but I am still not super confident drawing water effects. Especially when they are moving in an unnatural manner. My next thought was a bit more mundane, but a good old turtle shell shield is a fantasy staple. I remember eagerly looting one in Wailing Caverns during my first ever instance run in World of Warcraft.
On an isolated archipelago, a species of giant tortoise with nearly invulnerable shells steadily roam the grasslands that cover most of the islands. The archipelago’s native fauna and flora are remarkably aggressive toward interlopers, which has ensured no permanent settlement has been successfully founded. Brave or foolish adventurers can risk life and limb to recover even a single giant tortoise shell, as they fetch a small fortune to the right buyers.
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I know many of these items are loosely linked to the items they are supposed to represent, but I go where my inspiration leads me and that is more and more taking me to places that aren’t an exact one-to-one representation of items in the games.
I am writing this as Trump has just tested positive with COVID. I’m not going to wish him and his family ill, but I do hope this teaches him and his supporters a valuable lesson about the serious nature of COVID. I also hope it helps convince people to mask up and take precautions. Remember, wearing a mask can save lives.
If all goes well, I will have gotten married, yesterday. I am, of course, pre-writing this post so that I don’t have to stress out about keeping up with the blog while also trying to execute a wedding.
The world is a very tumultuous place. It is the one thing that we all share, so why not try to make it the best place it can be for everyone in it.
Be excellent to everyone.
-Ceph
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