Wind Waker: The greatsword of a tyrant’s ghost.

 Wind Waker: The greatsword of a tyrant’s ghost.

Phantom Ganon Sword: We covered Phantom Ganon’s Sword last week. Info about the sword can be found in that post. 

Ghosts don't need to slash or cut to harm the living, they need only touch living flesh to corrupt it with the chill of the grave. Knowing this, the mad king commissioned a massive club-like blade to be interred with him upon his death. No one could imagine that he had planned all along to return as a vengeful ghost to rule his kingdom for eternity with an ethereal fist. 

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I just didn’t feel right not drawing the sword from the game, so even though I already have two item cards for Phantom Ganon’s Sword, here is a third one showing the in-game sword for anyone who wants to use such a strange-shaped weapon in their games.

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Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wind Waker: Nifo’oti from the thousand isles of the Master Navigators.

 Wind Waker: Nifo’oti from the thousand isles of the Master Navigators.

Phantom Ganon's Sword: Phantom Ganon is the first manifestation of Gannondorf’s power that Link must face in his adventure. When Link is ready to face the ultimate evil threatening the Great Sea, he must defeat Phantom Ganon repeatedly to find his way through a maze. At the end of the maze, Link must take up the vanquished phantom’s sword and shatter a barrier blocking his way.

In the Isles of the Master Navigators, there is little enough metal to make tools and too much wet salt air to keep metal tools safe from rust. Instead, the craftspeople of the islands turn to wood, stone, shells, and teeth for their tools. With tools and weapons that exist in harmony with the seas, the Master Navigators have successfully beaten back the self-important metal-clad invaders for generations.

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Nifo'oti are real Polynesian cane knives made in various forms by the many different Polynesian peoples. The Pacific Islands were first discovered and settled by humans using navigational techniques that include knowing what types of clouds form near or far from land and how birds behave near and far from land. The Polynesian explorers accomplished incredible feats earning their status as master navigators.  

Trying to unlearn the "colonialism is a good thing" lessons I was taught as a kid is hard work. Taming an “undiscovered” land of savages is often a default plot that still bubbles up, but there are some cool inversions of that story that show the experience from the indigenous people’s perspective.

A cool world concept and art project that would be a great game setting is the Orken World from SixMoreVodka that shows the various tribes of orcs uniting to resist the colonial expansion of pale-faced humans that are the most thinly veiled reference to actual colonial invaders. 

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Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wind Waker: An anchor.

Wind Waker: An anchor.

Stalfos Club: Stalfos wield these bulky spiked iron clubs recklessly in their lifeless attacks. Link wields the clubs with only marginally more skill as their incredible weight forces him to make slow and ponderous swipes. The clubs are heavy enough to shatter stone pillars just like Darknut Swords.

A sea giant extorting tolls from any ship that passes through its domain uses a massive anchor to menace the passing ships. The anchor has scuttled the handful of ships that rejected the giant’s demand, leaving just enough survivors to tell the tale. Ships have begun to avoid the prime shipping lane, but this has only emboldened the giant to strike out farther and farther from their home.

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The Warcraft 3 sea giants with their whale skin cloaks wielding massive anchors were the direct inspiration for this drawing. I loved that when the sea giants entered the water they just looked like swimming whales and not dangerous giants bent on destroying your fledgling navy.

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Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wind Waker: A halfling’s walking stick.

 Wind Waker: A halfling’s walking stick.

Boko Stick: The first of Wind Waker’s retrievable oversized enemy weapons, the Boko stick is used by many Bokoblins that Link encounters in the Great Sea. Link can wield these large wooden sticks as clubs or use them as a torch if there is a flame to light them. The entire stick is flammable, so boko sticks that are lit eventually burn away.

Halflings of the Glade are as famous for their short stature as they are for their tall walking sticks. A good long walking stick is helpful in all sorts of situations, especially when you are too short to grab fruit from trees or reach high shelves. A stout walking stick also helps out when fools try to ambush happy little halflings, thinking them defenseless, only to get a swift knock to the skull.

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The boko stick could be anything from a simple walking stick to an ancient staff of primal power. I also tacked a sling on the stick to make sure I had the ever-included, but seldom-used halfling sling staff in my back catalog.

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Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph