Holiday: Make a wish this New Year’s Eve.

 Holiday: Make a wish this New Year’s Eve.

Shell Boats: My wife’s family has a tradition where each person makes a boat out of a walnut shell and a candle. You light all the boats at the same time and the person with the last boat floating gets a wish.

Happy New Year! 

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wind Waker: A gruesome pike.

 A gruesome pike.

Skull Tower Idol: This gruesome stack of bones is another idol in the decoration trading sequence. Link must trade another idol for this one and it can be traded for an idol or flag. Since this can also be placed on the Joyous pedestals around Windfall Island, this is the best idol to max out the island’s spookiness.

You stand before a fallen keep choked with sand from the encroaching desert. Atop the gate was carved the message, “Look into the faces of those who opposed me and despair for I am eternal.” Amidst the decay, a single pike remained piercing a bleached white skull that could have been a vanquished enemy or a deposed tyrant. 

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This was my inexpertly handled homage to Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Holidays: Break a leg this Christmas.

Holidays: Break a leg this Christmas.

Leg Lamp: Every person harbors safe wishes that they can share and others will support, and darker secret wishes they keep hidden from the world. This is one of those hidden secret wishes, but someone was fool enough to let it out into the world. Brace yourself for the havoc this wish will wreak on the unsuspecting and unprepared.

The infamous leg lamp from A Christmas Story. This is one of my mother’s favorite Christmas movies and I can still remember her howling with laughter when the leg lamp gets unboxed.

My household celebrates Christmas. Merry Christmas if yours does too.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

~Mild NSFW~ Wind Waker: An ancient Venus statute. ~Mild NSFW~

~Mild NSFW~  An ancient Venus statute. ~Mild NSFW~

Wind Waker: A boarding pike.

 A boarding pike.

Hero's Flag: Nearing the end of the decoration trading sequence, Link must offer the Big Sale Flag to receive the Hero’s Flag. With this final flag, Link can obtain one of the statues available in the sequence. This can also be placed in a Joyous Pedestal on Windfall Island.

When the captain of your ship fell to the pirates boarding your small vessel all hope seemed to be lost. You weren’t even thinking when you picked up the pike that slew your captain and led a desperate counterattack that freed your ship. You didn’t know it then, but that was your first step toward becoming a legendary hero of the seas.

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I always want to play a polearm specialist ala the Sand Snakes from Game of Thrones or a Wuxia spear fighter, but I will probably just make them a spear-themed warband or encounter since I’m a forever GM.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wind Waker: Sashimono of the Beetle Clan.

 

Sashimono of the Beetle Clan.

Big Sale Flag: Another flag in the decoration trading sequence, this flag is offered in exchange for one of the idols or the hero’s flag. It can be offered to obtain other decorations or be placed in a Joyous Pedestal on Windfall Island.

When two siblings who could not accept the laws of succession called on their followers to wage a bloody civil war one clan chose to forsake their oaths and instead ensure every person on either side of the war could find food. When the war was decided the Beetle Clan was exiled for cowardice and sent out to die in the wastes. It was in those wastes that the clan’s survivors stumbled upon thriving trade roads and took the first steps in becoming the internationally trusted clan of merchants they are today.

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This was my attempt to give Beedle a wholesome backstory that connects to a larger clan of merchants that sort of explains why there is a Beedle in most of Link’s adventures. Link, Zelda, Gannon, etc. are destined to be reincarnated time and time again but is Beedle core enough to the universe’s grand design to be a member of the ever-incrnated?

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wind Waker: Trident of the Sea Sovereign.

Trident of the Sea Sovereign.

Big Catch Flag: Initially, Link must trade a sickle moon flag with one of the traveling merchants of the Great Sea in exchange for the big catch flag. This is another step in the decoration item trading sequence, so Link can trade this flag for the next flag in the set or place it on a joyous pedestal on Windfall Island.

Legends speak of a great island nation that dominated the seas using god-like magics and wondrous machines. This wonder of the world was swallowed up by the seas they believed they commanded for the hubris and corruption of their sovereigns. While the sea mercilessly crushed the sovereign, the regular people of the island were each given a small fraction of the power held in the Sea Soverign’s Fork so that they might breathe water as well as air and rebuild their nation in cooperation with the sea instead of in domination of it.

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That is a socialist revolution retelling of Atlantis. Imagine searching for the lost city to claim its god-like artifact only to find the fork a powerless token of a failed social order.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

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

Happy Halloween!

 Happy Halloween!

Have a spooktacular night! 

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Halloween: All hallows Eve Eve.

All Hallow's Eve Eve.

A lollipop of terror used by the specter of Halloween to enforce the unspoken rules of the night.

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If you haven’t seen Trick r treat and enjoy horror movies you should make it your Halloween movie watch this year. 

See you tomorrow for a spooky Halloween treat. 

Be excellent to everyone. 

-Ceph

Wind Waker: An enchanted rose.

 An enchanted rose.

Town Flower: Zunari, Windfall Island merchant, will ask Link to take a local flower and trade it for something more interesting with the other merchants of the Great Sea. The town flower can be traded to one of a few merchants for a more interesting sea flower. With this first exchange, Link has begun the trading quest for Wind Waker. Link can also place town flowers on the Joyous Pedestals waiting for decoration around Windfall Island.

The lord of this land once denied the right of hospitality to a wandering woman who came to his door during a terrible storm. This woman was secretly a great enchantress traveling in disguise and in her rage at being denied hospitality she cursed the lord, his lands, and all who dwelt upon them with strange and terrible forms. As all curses must have a flaw, this curse can be broken if the lord, in his hideous form, could find true love before the wilting of the last petal of the last rose in all his lands.

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It’s Beauty and the Beast. I’m not trying to be coy or subtle, This is the Beast’s flower that is slowly wilting in a tall tower of his castle. You could use this straight and have a lord cursed with a monstrous form, but I chose to give it to my players as a consumable baleful polymorph item to be used at the least opportune time.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wind Waker: The black spot.

 Wind Waker: The black spot.

Moblin's Letter: Moe the Moblin is so moved by Maggie’s letter that he sends a heartfelt reply that cannot be delivered due to Maggie’s father’s prejudice. Link must deliver the letter directly to Maggie who reads the letter as a heartfelt marriage proposal and thanks Link by giving him a piece of heart. There may be a reading of the letter where Moe literally wants to eat Maggie, rather than figuratively wanting to eat her, but that is lost on Maggie.

Being given the spot is being given a warning, surrender yourself to the will of the crew or see your blood spilled. Some deposed captains are held in the brig to be turned ashore at the next civilized port of call, others are left marooned on a deserted island, and the unluckiest are put adrift in the open sea with a jug of water and a pistol with one shot. Only the bravest, slyest. or the most foolish captains ever try to resist the inevitable fall signaled by the delivery of the dread black spot.

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Based on my reading Robert Louis Stevenson created the idea of the black spot, and other classic pirate tropes, entirely for his novel Treasure Island. Makes you question how you know what you think you know.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wind Waker: A love letter for the princess.

 A love letter for the princess.

Maggie's Letter: Maggie was another citizen of Windfall Island who was captured and held prisoner in the Forsaken Fortress. When Link travels to the fortress to free his sister he also frees Maggie who returns home with a valuable Skull necklace. The necklace was a gift from a friendly moblin named Moe and it was so valuable it elevated Maggie and her father out of poverty. Maggie wants to thank Moe for his generosity, so she asks Link ti send Moe this thank you letter. 

Her beauty is beyond compare, her wit is as sharp as a tack, and her laugh is like an angel’s song. It is risky to send your love letters through back channels, but you simply must tell the princess how you feel. Just hope that no one intercepts your message before it can reach the princess, otherwise, her father the king will ensure you never have another moment with the princess again.

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Love Letter is a great small quick game that even works well with just two players. I wholeheartedly recommend trying out the little bag packed with big fun.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph