Four Swords: The titular blade from Four Swords.

The titular blade from Four Swords.

Four Sword: Held in the shrine at the heart of the Four Sword Sanctuary, the Four Sword acts as the lynchpin for the seal that contains the great darkness of Vaati. Over time, the seal weakened allowing the wind sorcerer to escape and kidnap Princess Zelda. With the seal broken and Zelda in peril, Link pulled the Four Sword from the pedestal and was split into four palette-swapped copies of himself. The four-that-are-one then set out to fight the forces of darkness, storm the palace, defeat the wind sorcerer Vaati, and rescue Princess Zelda. 

The true instrument of a hero isn’t replaced instantly upon finding a novel or more storied artifact. A tool truly worthy of a hero grows and strengthens just as the hero advances through their journey. This blade grows in power and prestige with each worthy challenge the hero overcomes, regardless of however the hero bests the challenge, be it steel, song, or stealth.

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I like the idea of heirlooms, artifacts, or iconic items. I think it is kind of sad when a character replaces the item their ancestors had passed down through the generations with an item an enemy randomly dropped because the bonus is higher. Some games have actioned this discomfort with some version of heirlooms and artifacts that grow while other games include rules that don’t expect a constantly increasing set of magical equipment. I usually allow iconic items to mature with the hero so that the items become characters in the story equal to the characters.

Be excellent to each other.

-Ceph