Holiday: Cheers to the end of this year!

Let’s raise a glass to putting 2020 behind us and trying to have a better year in 2021.

Wine of forgetfulness: Drinking large quantities of this wine erases the drinker’s recent memory.

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Happy New Year’s Eve!

2020 has been a very hard year for many, myself included. Some great things happen in my life, including getting married, but this year was a dumpster fire that I wouldn’t want to live through again if you gave me a one time payment of $600. All jokes aside, this year sucked. Let’s do better with the next one.

I hope you have a wonderful New Year’s Eve and I wish you all a healthy and happy new year.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Fan art: Open the door to adventure

 The Portal, ajar

The Portal: When activated, the portal opens a gateway between the Boiling Isles and the mortal realm. It would be disastrous if the magical beings of the Boiling Isles had free access to the mortal realm. Sometimes a magical creature sneaks through to our world, which explains dragons, unicorns, and giraffes, but a visit from a coven of witches could change the mortal realm irreprably.

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Well, that is it for The Owl House right now. I absolutely loved the first season of The Owl House and wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone. I will post the collected file of the nine item cards soon so that you can print them if you wish.

2020 was pretty sucky, here's to a better 2021.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Fan art: A portal to go

The Portal, case form

 

The Portal: When not in use, the portal resembles a relatively ordinary briefcase, at least by Boiling Isles standards. This could also be a novelty weapon for a very business-like devil or contain some great evil that has slowly corrupted the physical vessel that imprisons its great spirit.

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Just one more item card inspired by my binging of the first season of The Owl House. See you tomorrow, when we step through the threshold...

COVID isn't going to leave like magic now that there are effective vaccines. Wear a mask, stay distant, be ready to get vaccinated. All of this is being excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Fan art: The start of another short week of Owl House items

The Portal Key

Portal Key: This key opens Eda's magical portal that connects the Boiling isles to the mortal realm. Just touching it opens or closes the portal.

After I did the six staves, I was still feeling inspired by The Owl House and I wanted a nice round nine cards so that I could make a three by three collected sheet. This is the first of three portal related item cards that, at least according to me, make a nice set.

Get inspired, stay safe, wear a mask, and be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Not an artist: Four instruments from Oracle of Seasons that summon spirits.

 Four instruments from Oracle of Seasons that summon spirits.

Strange Flute: The strange flute in Oracle of Seasons functions the same as it does in Oracle of Ages. At first, it does nothing, but it will eventually gain the power to summon Link’s animal companion, after he gains an animal companion of course. How Link obtains the flute determines which of the animal companions he will eventually bond with on his adventure through Holodrum. All strange flutes become available to find after Link explores through the Snake’s Remains dungeon.

Music can lure all sorts of different spirits to interfere with mortal affairs. A particularly annoying and unloved trickster spirit can be summoned to torment others by playing a special tune on the slide flute under a full moon. The spirit will run rampant through a community visiting vile pranks on all but the summoner until sent away by playing the same tune on the summoning flute.

Holiday: Have a holly day

May this sprig of holly keep you safe from malevolent forces.

Holly sprig: Druids wear sprigs of holly in their hair as they claim it keeps malign spirits at bay. Other naturalists claim that the juice of these berries allows one to survive off eating only plants. They even claim that they can eat trees in desperate times.

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I fully intended to not post this on Christmas as I am not much of a Christmas person, but then winter solstice got away from me and here we are.

I'm thankful for all the brilliant minds that went into developing the COIV vaccines and I am eagerly awaiting my chance to participate in the emergency deployment of the vaccine. I hope none of you lost anyone this year, and I hope you are all thankful for those you still have.

Send love to those in your heart, and be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Fan art week: Final day of fan art with a fantastic focus.

The staff of Azura the Good Witch

Azura’s Staff: Azura is the main character of a fantasy book series that the main character of the Owl House loves. It is a very unsubtle nod to the impact YA fantasy series have had on use fantasy nerds.

The Owl House was an absolutely delightful watch that really inspired me out of an art slump, so I am hopeful that you all give it a chance.

If you are just running in this weekend, I have been posting a week of fan art of shows that helped me get excited about making item cards again. Next week, we will be back with more items from Oracle of Seasons. They won’t even be movie or video game references like the last few posts.

COVID is a serious concern and inaction and willful ignorance is not going to help anyone. Please, wear masks, avoid gatherings, and social distance. Your actions can help save lives.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Fan art week: A staff fit for an emperor.

Emperor Belos’ atypical staff of power.

Emperor’s Power Staff: Emperor Belos is the masked antagonist of The Owl House. They are a mysterious figure that rules from the shadows using their eponymous coven as their hands and eyes out in the Boiling Isles.

If you liked The Lich from Adventure Time as a main antagonist, I think you will enjoy rooting against the Emperor. They also have a similar feel as Bill from Gravity Falls, but that isn’t surprising since the creator of The Owl House worked on Gravity Falls. Both are excellent.

Next week is the end of this fan art week. I hope you are enjoying the ride.

Fight COVID. Save lives. Wear masks.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Fan art week: Raven Staff in ascendancy

Lilith’s Raven Staff channeling her immense power.

Raven Staff+: When using the Raven Staff as a magical focus, Lilith’s power creates a luminous cyan aura surrounding the staff. While we know that witches staves are also their familiars, we never see Lilith’s palmiliar leave her staff.

We have two more magical staves from the Owl House to explore before the end of fan art week. I hope you all have been enjoying my diversion from our normal Zelda related programming. I definitely needed to just follow what was sparking my creativity in this energy sapping time.

Use your power to help fight COVID. Wear masks and avoid social gatherings.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Fan art week: Lilith’s Raven Staff from the highly esteemed Owl House

On the fourth day of fan art week, I gave to me, Lilith’s white Raven Staff

Raven Staff: This alabaster staff belongs to Lilith, the head of the Emperor’s Coven. She is one of the most talented witches of the Boiling Isles and seeks to capture Eda the wild witch and bring her before Emperor Belos.

This isn’t my favorite staff, but it is done and done is better than perfect every time.

The fight scenes and action sequences in Owl House are very well animated and bring a lot of energy into the story. Even though the action is very well executed, the show is at its best when exploring the characters’ feelings and motivations. This is true of most stories.

COVID isn’t going away like magic. We need to wear masks, social distance, and limit our contacts.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Fan art week: An empowered Owlbert Staff to celebrate how much I enjoyed The Owl House

An empowered Owl Staff.

Empowered Owl Staff: The art for the Owl Staff+ as it is labeled in my files is based on the absolutely amazing art for Eda the Owl Lady’s wanted poster. Really all the 2d in world art that is in the show is wonderful and really sparks my imagination.

More fan art from The Owl house all this week.

Wear masks, socially distance, be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Fan art week: The Owl House is wonderful.

Eda the Owl Lady’s perfect magical staff.

Owlbert, the Owl Staff: On the Boiling Isles, witches staves and familiars are combined into magically a magically animate staff the reflects their truer natures. Eda the Owl Lady’s staff is carved from the bough of an ancient tree and worked into the shape of a perching owl. This owl can detach and become a sassy owl familiar named Owlbert.

This system, while being silly, is also perfect for any rpg. I love mages with staves and familiars and players love unique loot. Let them start their character with a magical focus that doubles as a familiar and ensures that you never have to deal with the question of what happens to the animal companions when the players are doing crazy things like underwater diving or swashbuckling spelljammers in space. Plus it makes them want to protect their magical focus and invest time in improving it instead of just replacing it. And if they just replace it, the forgotten familiar can become a wronged ex out for revenge.

Expect 5 more days of fan art. The rest of this set is all staves from the Owl House, so be aware I’m going to be pushing everyone to go watch it all week.

COVID hasn’t gone away, and we need to work together to limit the spread.

Wear a mask, be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Fan art week: Hilda season 2 comes out today!

Have a sword wielded by the brave adventurer Hilda in celebration of season 2 of her delightful showing dropping today on Netflix.

Hilda’s Sword: I have no idea what the deal with this sword is. I saw it in the teaser trailer for season 2 of Hilda and was inspired to draw it. Her chopping away at a dangerous plant kind of goes in the face of her “friend to all” moniker, but who am I to judge.

If you haven’t watched Hilda and you like heart warming fantastical l tales that are a really just about growing up you should drop everything and watch Hilda seasons 1 and 2 now. It is a wonderful story for all ages and I can’t recommend it enough.

This is also kicking off a week of fan art that I have been inspired to draw lately by heartwarming animated fantasy shows for children that all should enjoy. 

In a much more somber note, people are dying in record numbers from COVID as infections are growing in many places across the world. Save a life, fight the spread, wear masks, socially distance, and avoid large gatherings.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Not an artist: Five totems from Oracle of Seasons channeling the power of the elements.

Five totems from Oracle of Seasons channeling the power of the elements.

Those who seek to harness the energy to the elemental spirits must first commune with the spirits and earn their respect. Novices are sent to a lonely boulder on the edge of the wilderness to make contact with an affable spirit of the earth residing in the great stone. To meet with the spirit, novices must imbibe a sour potion that opens their eyes so they might see the spirits of nature and hopefully convince them to lend their power when called.

Not an artist: Three items from Oracle of Seasons you can find at different stages of a revolution.

Three items from Oracle of Seasons you can find at different stages of a revolution.

Molotov cocktails often appear at the early stages of a revolution. Revolutionaries use such improvised firebombs to destroy property in the most visible way possible.

Fan Art: Gorehowl, The Hellscream family axe from Warcraft near the release of World of WarCraft: Shadowlands

Have a Gorehowl to celebrate the release of Shadowlands.

Gorehowl: The legendary axe of the Hellscream clan, weilded by the multifaceted, but ultimately honorable, Grom Hellscream to defeat Mannoroth the Destructor, and by Garrosh Hellscream to dishonorably slay Cairne Bloodhoof tarnishing the honor of the Horde. 

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I completely forgot I drew this a while back. I think my plan was to draw an iconic item from each of the Warcraft Orc Clans, but that plan sort of feel apart. I may eventually get back to it, but I can at least set Gorehowl free from the endless purgatory of my archives.

Wear a mask, get tested, keep distant, be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Not an artist: Five items from Oracle of Seasons needed to save the universe.

Five items from Oracle of Seasons needed to save the universe.

Ember Seed: Mystical seeds fill the place of the useful magical consumable. Each type of seed is unavailable to Link until he harvests them from a mystical tree for the first time. Ember Trees can be found in Horon Village, but only fruit during the Winter. Link cannot harvest the ember seeds until he has the seed satchel.

Ember seeds burst into an intense flame when cracked open. They can be used to light torches, clear brush, harm enemies, and burn the wrappings of mummies to reveal their skeletal forms. 

Each of the stones represents a different fundamental essence. This stone represents the essence of fire, and its true power can only be unleashed by touching it with flame. The powers of all stones must be unleashed together to stop the coming of the great calamity.

Holiday: Listen to me give thanks to all the healthcare workers

I’m celebrating American Thanksgiving with a stethoscope to honor the healthcare workers who have given so much of themselves this year.

Stethoscope: Use this to listen to heart sounds, breathing, or the tumblers in a safe.

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I am very uncomfortable with the candy coated narrative given for the U.S.’s first Thanksgiving. Only focusing on the picture perfect narrative of that day ignores the subsequent violence and trauma visited on Indigenous peoples by colonial powers. In an effort to distance my celebration from the problematic history, I chose to eschew the standard imagery and instead focus on what I am truly thankful for.

This year I am thankful for all the healthcare workers who are fighting to keep our world going.

We are in the middle of a global pandemic. The U.S. has not handled it well and it is putting a great strain on our healthcare system. Our healthcare workers are doing their best to pick up the slack for the increased load and deeply flawed system, but they can only do so much. I hope everyone can take great care to stall the spread of the virus so that our health care workers can eventually take a well deserved break. 

What are you thankful for?

Give the healthcare workers a break. Wear a mask, avoid gatherings, and see sacrifices as a way of taking care of the people you love.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Not an artist: Four items from Oracle of Seasons carried by rival assassins.

Four items from Oracle of Seasons carried by rival assassins.

Slingshot: Link uses the slingshot to fling mystical seeds at enemies and triggers. Like the seed shooter in Labrynna, the slingshot uses different seeds to different effects, such as ember seeds being used for incendiary ammunition. Link finds the slingshot in the Dancing Dragon Dungeon atop the heights of Mt.Cucco. 

The freelance assassin known only as Svarta favors a set of short-range crossbows that can fire a volley of bolts in mere moments. Svarta has been hired to acquire the package by any means necessary. They have also been informed that other operatives have been contracted by rival agencies to acquire the same package, meaning the competition will be deadly.

Not an artist: Four items from Oracle of Seasons used to escape.

Four items from Oracle of Seasons used to escape.

Roc’s feather: Roc’s feather allows Link to leap incredible heights and over dangerous gaps. Link can obtain the feather in the Poison Moth’s Lair, the third dungeon he visits during his adventures through Holodrum.

Sharp eyes will notice the numbers on the two geta images are not sequential. I like to make various versions of items so that I have different options that are various levels of wondrous. As I was putting the final touches on the Oracle of Seasons items, I realized I only had winged sandals, so I quickly made a non-winged version for more mundane or non-flight related items.

These winged geta were made by a cobbler while they were imprisoned by a local lord for being the sibling of a great thief. The cobbler’s great skill and steadfast loyalty to their family so impressed the wind spirits that flitted about the cobbler’s tower prison that the spirits enchanted the sandals to walk on air as easily as a flat road. With their magic geta, the cobbler escaped the lord’s tower and took up a life of robbing the lord to punish them for their unjust treatment of the cobbler.

Holiday: A charm of amplify voice for the US presidential election

Charm of Amplify Voice

I Voted Sticker: Donning this charm increases the power of the wearer’s voice. This increase is multiplied by the number of allies who have also donned the charm recently.

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 So back in 2016 the USA goofed hard when a minority of voters elected an entirely underprepared braggart to the presidency. This weekend, the majority of people said that we couldn’t stand another four years of inflammatory whining. While I believe Biden/Harris has secured the election, I must wait until it is all finalized to “celebrate.” There is also a lot of work left to do in this country as millions of people think he was doing a fine job and that many systemic issues within the foundation of the USA aren’t actually problems.

The fight for good and change is not over. Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Not an artist: Six items from Oracle of Seasons getting the full color treatment.

Six items from Oracle of Seasons getting the full-color treatment.

The Hammer of the Naaru has been imbued with the light and power of the enigmatic and beneficent Naaru. In the hands of the Vindicator Maraad, the hammer struck down innumerable denizens of the demonic Burning Legion.

Not an artist: Six swords from Oracle of Seasons that channel the power of the elemental sovereigns.

Six swords from Oracle of Seasons that channel the power of the elemental sovereigns.

Magical Boomerang: The magical boomerang is recovered from the Ancient Ruins, the sixth dungeon Link explores during his adventures around and under Holodrum. The magic of the boomerang allows Link to control its path after throwing as well as making it fly longer strike harder than the mundane boomerang.

While the magic boomerang is obviously a magical wind weapon, I was struggling to come up with an evocative item to draw. I had already drawn Trueflame and didn’t want to exclude its sister weapon Hopesfire. Since Hopesfire has a shock damage enchantment, I decided to channel the wind theme from the Elemental Fury dragon shout or the Windfury totem. Since I had already drawn two elements at that point, I decided to just finish out the rest of the elemental damage types. I also just included a blank ebony scimitar for good measure.

Given only to the most trusted and skilled warriors in service to the elemental forces, these scimitars are able to channel the powers of the elemental sovereigns the warriors serve. The power of each sovereign manifests differently on the blade, but they all clearly show the bearer's allegiance. The connection to the elemental power is instantly severed if the warrior is slain or if they lose their master’s favor. 

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Brace yourself, election day is coming. 

Please vote.

Voter turnout sucks in the U.S. I feel like a lot of that is to do with the fact that so much is done to make voting hard, but it is so important that you use your power and vote. Take the country's future in your hand. Help guide the ship to better waters.

I don’t want to tell you how to vote, but again, I implore you to remember that all people deserve equal rights and dignity. We should also all have the chance to lead full and healthy lives.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Holidays: A candy bucket for the scariest Halloween ever

Happy Halloween

Candy Bucket: This hundred year old candy bucket enjoyed ninety nine years of bountiful Halloweens in a row. On its 100th year, its spirit awoke to find itself filled with only dust and disappointment. Soured by the offensive offering, the spirit of the bucket became bitter. Now it makes anything put inside disappear, lost completely in a land of ghosts and shadows.

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Hope everyone is having a good Halloween. COVID has really put the breaks on any big Halloween celebrations I was going to have, and I hope it has also made your plans a little more intimate. A lot of people may be disappointed by a “missed” Halloween, but I think working to limit the spread of a pandemic is worth missing out on a fun holiday.

If you are eligible to vote in the United States, and you haven’t already, please go vote. Elections are important, especially in the state and local spheres. Too much is at stake for this election for people to stay silent.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Not an artist: Five items from Oracle of Seasons used by the oracle.

Five items from Oracle of Seasons used by the oracle.

Rod of Seasons: This rod is the core item of the Oracle of Seasons. This rod allows Link to change the season in the nearby region. Unfortunately, when Link is given the rod in the Temple of Seasons, its power is mostly sealed. Link begins with the power to call winter and must struggle and earn each additional season. The spirits of the seasons are trapped in other parts of the temple inaccessible to Link until he has obtained specific items. Eventually, Link gains total control of the seasons and can call in whatever season is convenient from atop the tree stumps that dot all of Holodrum.

The oracle’s duty is to maintain nature’s balance and to ensure the regular progression of the seasons. The rod of seasons is passed from one oracle to the next, given to the inheritor in the winter of the last oracle’s life. This powerful artifact has the ability to force the seasons to change, but no oracle would ever use the rod’s great power unless the balance of nature had been upended.