Wind Waker: Flags of the high seas.

 Flags of the high seas.

Sickle Moon Flag: This is the first of the flags available to Link in the decorations trading sequence of Wind Waker. I totally, Link must trade either an exotic flower or pinwheel to one of the traveling merchants to obtain this flag. Link can trade this flag for the next flag in the series or a fountain idol. These flags are also decorations that can adorn joyous pedestals on Windfall Island. 

Sailing among the countless islands of the Archipelago means visiting a thousand countries and countless more holds, parishes, counties, and clans. Pride ensures each of these petty fiefs has their own unique flag. This means sailors must have an encyclopedic knowledge of flags, standards, and banners if they don’t want to accidentally steer too close to a rival ship.

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Banner items can be a fun way to incentivize your players to gather tightly in an otherwise inadvisable way. You could also have each of these flags be a trophy, or just invite someone to make their own flag on one of the blanks.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wind Waker: A delightful pinwheel.

 A delightful pinwheel.

Pinwheel: With an exotic flower in hand, Link can travel around until finding a merchant that is willing to trade a pinwheel for his flower. Link can either trade with a pinwheel to get a flag or place a pinwheel on a joyous pedestal on Windfall Island.

Most pinwheels entertain children by catching the wind to spin. Some rare few pinwheels actually make the wind instead. Spinning this pinwheel changes the direction of the wind, which makes it a horribly irresponsible toy to give children.

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Here’s an animated GIF of the pinwheel spinning.

This was a surprisingly difficult animation to pull off. Made me respect animators even more for the work they do.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wind Waker: A rare black lotus.

A rare black lotus.

Exotic Flower: Link must trade a sea flower for this exotic flower. The exotic flower can be traded for a pinwheel or a sickle flag depending on which merchant Link offers this flower to. In addition to trading the flowers, Link can place these flowers on joyous pedestals around Windfall Island.

Mana, the energy that fuels magic, is around us always. This rare black-petaled lotus concentrates mana so that anyone can have enough power to conjure a significant spell just by picking a flower. There are no limits on what one can do with this power making these flowers extremely valuable.

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I don’t play Magic: The Gathering anymore but I’ve always loved everything fantasy so the serious worldbuilding and art talent that went, and maybe still goes, into creating those cool little cardboard rectangles really sparks my imagination. I generally keep up with what is going on with Magic and maybe someday I’ll go out there and buy another booster or dust off my beat-up card binder. Until then, get inspiration wherever you can.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wind Waker: A carnivorous pitcher plant.

 A carnivorous pitcher plant.

Sea Flower: Link trades up from a mundane town flower to this sea flower with either the merchants of Bomb Island or Mother and Child Island. With the sea flower in his pouch, Link can trade it for an exotic Flower to the merchant of the Greatfiah Isle. Link can also place sea flowers on the joyous pedestals of Windfall Island.

Mundane pitcher plants use fragrant nectars to lure bugs inside the bell of the flower which is lined with slippery secretions that trap their prey in a pool of digestive acid at the bottom of the bell to be dissolved and absorbed by the plant. Giant pitcher plants are very similar except that are able to lure larger animals such as birds, rats, and monkeys. Maneater pitcher plants are massive plants that mimic human screams to lure others into their acid-filled bells while searching for wounded friends.

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If you were walking in the jungle and heard an unfamiliar scream, would you run and try to help?

Carnivorous plants fact: Venus fly traps, with all their exotic mystique, are only native to the Carolinas on the east coast of the United States. Not necessarily a place famed for its exotic mystique.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph