Drewly: Sunder

 Sunder

Sunder: The resonating hammer can draw out and amplify the power of the divine remaining in the heart of a dead god. Be wary, the hammer and the knife must be wielded with the protection of the Wraithguard, or the tools’ power will overwhelm your mortal lifeforce.

Drewly day 2 continues with another of Kagrenac's Tools from The Elder Scrolls. If you want to use them, you will need to wait until tomorrow when I’ll be posting the Wraithguard.

What is Drewly, you ask?

#Drewly is the month-long art challenge for July, where you don’t have to make any new art. Just post art you’ve already made and celebrate all you’ve accomplished.

Rules:

Share art you have already made.

Share as often as you want.

When you share, tag your art with #Drewly and #Drewly2025

I will be posting art every day of Drewly, so check back in tomorrow for something new.

Check out everything I’ve shared for past Drewly’s here: #Drewly #Drewly2022 #Drewly2023 #Drewly2024

Since you’re here, please consider supporting:

Make a one-time donation with Ko-Fi:  https://ko-fi.com/theeasyspeaker

Become a sustaining supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ItemCardswithTheSpeakingSquid 

Buy a sticker: SpeakingSquid.redbubble.com

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Minish Cap: Forge Master’s tools

 Forge Master’s tools

Smith’s Sword: This sword was forged by Link’s grandfather to be the grand prize awarded to the winner of the Picori Festival Tournament. Instead, the sword is given to Link by King Daltus at the outset of Link’s quest to save Princess Zelda from the Dark Sorceror Vaati.

These tools have been used by the Forge Master ever since the people were forced into hiding on the Night of Great Sadness. Even with these new humble tools the Armor forges fine arms and armor for the people to use in their fight for survival. Hopefully, with the help of the master-crafted arms, the people can one day retake their homes and step out from the shadow of extinction.

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This is the freshest of references. I’m just now getting around to watching The Mandalorian and I really enjoy the Armorer as both outfitter and mentor.

This is the beginning of the set of items based on the Minish Cap. The theme for the set was fairy tales, so there are a lot of classical medieval objects connected to stories throughout the set. The various stories of a smith forging or nailing the devil onto something give us the hammer and tongs item you see here.

Since you’re enjoying my work, please consider donating:

Make a one-time donation with Ko-Fi:  https://ko-fi.com/theeasyspeaker

Become a sustaining supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ItemCardswithTheSpeakingSquid 

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Amphora: Six items from my home game

 Six items from my home game

Greenbane Sling: This sling is imbued with a spell of seeking and bane toward plants. Its bullets fly unerringly towards powerful plants and its strike withers any plant material they touch.

Broadswing Hammer: This lucerne hammer allows its wielder to swing in supernaturally wide arcs. Striking a handful of foes is a simple task with this fine hammer.

Orichalcum Cannonball: This cannonball was forged from precious orichalcum, a metal hard as steel and bright as gold with other more wondrous qualities. It has also been enchanted to return after striking, ensuring the investment in such a fine cannonball is not wasted after one shot.

Bone of Wishing: The collarbone of a phoenix is rumored to grant a single wish to whoever wins the bigger half when pulled apart by two informed participants. Legend also states that anyone who lies to another about what sort of bone this is will burst into flames when the bone is cracked.

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These are all items my players have found, earned, or crafted in our ongoing campaign that started before I can even remember at this point. I am pre-writing this, so maybe it will have finally come to its epic conclusion.

Next week I begin our journey through the items in the Minish Cap. I absolutely loved playing the Minish Cap and really enjoyed drawing many of the items to come. 

Since you’re enjoying my work, please consider donating:

Make a one-time donation with Ko-Fi:  https://ko-fi.com/theeasyspeaker

Become a sustaining supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ItemCardswithTheSpeakingSquid 

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Four Swords Adventures: A legendary mallet

A legendary mallet

  

Magic Hammer: The magic hammer of Four Swords Adventures can smash certain obstacles into the ground, bash enemies, and it can even be used with a mighty swing to daze enemies in a short shockwave. Like the various other pedestal items, the hammer must be picked up from a pedestal in exchange for whatever other pedestal item a Link is holding and can only be used in the stage where the item is found.

Gallagher the Hammer fought in the great vine wars when the forest guardians turned their ire on the foul kingdom that had been despoiling their borders. He earned fame by single-handedly holding back waves of leshy warriors besieging Fort Liberty. Even though the forest’s reclamation ultimately destroyed the kingdom, the tales of Gallagher laying waste with his great maul live on. 

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This post was of course inspired by the prop comedy stylings of Gallagher, aka the comedian who smashed watermelons with a big hammer.

Also, no matter how jokey a character might start, you can always find something compelling in a story. A forest successfully reclaiming a kingdom and then veteran spending the rest of their life smashing melons as a rebellious display is a bit reasonable and a bit epic.

If you enjoy my work, please consider donating:

Make a one-time donation with Ko-Fi:  https://ko-fi.com/theeasyspeaker

Become a sustaining supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ItemCardswithTheSpeakingSquid 

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Drewly: Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros

 Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros

Sulfuras: This mighty flaming warhammer is the personal weapon of the Elemental Lord of Flame. With the mighty warhammer in hand, the Firelord sought to take over the mortal plane, expanding their empire and upending the delicate balance of the elemental powers once and for all.

Drewly 25th has another vanilla WoW staple legendary. This hammer was a slough to get, not in the least bit because the materials needed to craft it were dropped in a 40-person raid. The fact that there was ever a time when 40 people could get on the same schedule and coordinate themselves to accomplish something in a video game stretches believability.

What is Drewly?

Drewly is a month-long art challenge for July where you post art you have already made. No new art just for Drewly.

There are three rules:

-Only post art you have already made.

-Post as much or as little as you are comfortable with.

-Tag your posts with #drewly and #drewly2024

If you enjoy my work, please consider donating:

Make a one-time donation with Ko-Fi:  https://ko-fi.com/theeasyspeaker

Become a sustaining supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ItemCardswithTheSpeakingSquid 

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Drewly 2023: A simple runed hammer

 A simple runed hammer

Runeforged Sledge: The runes on this hammer glow with a pale blue light. Anything struck by the maul is chilled as if blasted by arctic winds.

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This was an item I pre-drew for my players to find but they ended up not chasing it down. Maybe they will find it or maybe another group of adventurers will stumble on it first.

This week's bonus posts theme is items from my home game. Lost of random stuff with very little cohesion. I hope you enjoy.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

#Drewly: The Doomhammer

The Doomhammer

Doomhammer: A portent of doom for its foes, the Doomhammer was passed down from father to son between chieftains of the Blackrock Clan. The hammer left the Blackrock Clan and reached its true potential when it was given to Thrall, son of Durotan, first warchief of the restored Horde.

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Drewly is all about posting art that you have already made. Post as often or as little as you’d like. It is a “challenge” to let you celebrate what you have already done. If you post for Drewly don’t forget the tag #Drewly.

See you tomorrow for more Drewly posts. 

If you appreciate my effort, consider a donation at my ko-fi.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wind Waker: A ghastly weapon

A ghastly weapon

Skull Hammer: This hammer strikes with such violent force that it can crack armor and drive down beams into the earth. Link earns the hammer by defeating Phantom Gannon in the Forsaken Fortress. With the hammer in hand, Link can press down the switches that block his way or flatten the enemies that seek to stop him.

Crafted from the head of a wizard and the leg of a master smith. The two had conspired to craft a weapon capable of killing the God-King. Learning of their plot, the God-King let them finish their creation but killed them before they could use it. Now the God-King has a weapon capable of slaying their enemies and created a weapon embodying their total domination of the city state.

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This is one of my favorite item cards I have ever drawn. It isn’t perfect, but it came out just like I imagined it.

We are still in Drewly. Drewly is all about posting art that you have already made. Post as often or as little as you’d like. It is a “challenge” to let you celebrate what you have already done. If you post for Drewly don’t forget the tag #Drewly.

See you tomorrow for more Drewly posts. 

If you appreciate my effort, consider a donation at my ko-fi.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

#Drewly: An ancient stone hammer

 An ancient stone hammer

Mignolaverse Mjollnir: Thor’s hammer was discovered by archaeologists at a dig site in Sweden. No member of the dig team could lift the hammer, so they called in the aid of the B.P.R.D.

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Drewly is all about posting art that you have already made. Post as often or as little as you’d like. It is a “challenge” to let you celebrate what you have already done. If you post for Drewly don’t forget the tag #Drewly.

See you tomorrow for a normally scheduled post of items from Wind Waker, which is also a Drewly post.

If you appreciate my effort, consider a donation at my ko-fi. 

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Celebrating my 200th post this Thursday with Thor’s Hammer Mjolnir

Enjoy your very own Mjolnir as a gift for checking out my 200th post.

Mjolnir: Thor’s infamous hammer Mjolnir, pronounced myohl-NEER, is both a weapon of mass destruction and a symbol of divine protection. The hammer strikes unerringly and will never become lost when thrown. 

You'll notice my take on the hammer doesn't have a triquetra or some other norse adjacent symbol. This ommision is for two reasons, drawing geometric symbols in perspective is some real challenging technical drawing that my skills are not up to yet, and white supremacists really love norse symbols so I'm hesitant to include them in my art when I don't necessarily have to. White supremacy and white supremacists suck.

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I didn’t really have a plan for what to do for my 200th post. I’ve been sort of off-book lately, but I do more drawing on projects that aren’t the Zelda items project for various reasons these days. The least of which being that I need a new computer that boots faster than my current photoshop machine.

I took this hammer as a great time to experiment with screen tones. I need to personally get good with the fact that I don’t have to build absolutely everything from scratch and can use some technical brushes or texture overlays for effect.

Making art I appreciate and think is worth sharing is about using all my tools to the best of my ability rather than arbitrarily saying that something isn’t how real drawings are made. 

I am upset and not at all surprised that Trump wasn’t convicted during his second impeachment trial. I am very worried that the USA is experiencing the first steps toward a new civil war or regime change like Hitler and the Nazis coming to power in Germany. 

Stay vigilant and critical. Wear a mask. Get the vaccine as soon as your able. 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: The first six items from Oracle of Seasons wielded by zealots and crusaders.

The first six items from Oracle of Seasons wielded by zealots and crusaders.

Wooden Sword: In Oracle of Seasons, Link finds the wooden sword in the depths of the Hero’s Cave in the Western Coast of Holodrum. This means that the wooden sword is technically the first dungeon item in Oracle of Seasons. In a linked game where Link has already fought through the dangers threatening Labrynna, Link begins the game with the wooden sword and the Hero’s Cave becomes optional.

The theme I worked within for the items from Oracle of Seasons was the elements. I usually stuck with the four classical elements from western mysticism, but I didn’t follow that for every item in the set. With that in mind, the wooden sword was an earth element weapon, so I drew one of my favorite weapons from all of fantasy as it technically had a stone head.

The Hammers of the Bright Path are a rigid militaristic order founded to protect all from the influences of beings they refer to only as the Fallen Guides. The Hammers believe that once a being or place has been tainted by the Fallen Guides, it is irredeemable. With their crystal weapons channeling the light of the Bright Path, the Hammers utterly destroy anything they deem beyond saving.

Not an artist: Five more items from my campaign

Five more items from my home campaign.

Disturbance of the Peace

This +1 thundering warhammer can greatly amplify its wielder's voice. This can potentially increase the effective range for sound-based effects.

Oddly enough, my players dodged the whole encounter where this was supposed to come up. They have never seen it, but it seems like it could still come up in their adventures on the high seas.

I’m not an artist: Celebrate Labor Day with both hands

Have a hammer and sickle to celebrate the accomplishments of the labor movements.

This may come off as inflammatory post, but I wanted to draw something for Labor Day here in the U.S. that was both celebratory and critical.

Labor unions and the organized labor movement helped usher in more reasonable 40 hour work weeks, stopped child labor, formalized weekends, require safety equipment, and sick leave. Things would look very different in America if people hadn’t organized, gathered, and demonstrated for a better life.

I chose the hammer and sickle as it is an iconic representation of labor, but also a highly politicized symbol. In the U.S. the only “-ism” that seem to be okay is capitalism and, unofficially... or maybe officially, racism. Communism is a foreign demon, and socialism is a slippery slope. This bothers me greatly as many of the improvements that many take for granted, such as sick days, are a socialist concept. Capitalism is a predatory idea that pits us all against each other with the vain hope of hoarding the most wealth to protect ourselves from all of the systemic inequities that are core tenets of capitalism.

If you like the weekend or consider humans to have some value outside of their ability to create and consume commodities, consider the fact that you may be more of a socialist than you think. If you think you are entirely against socialism, remember that the early fore fighting brigades were for profit and only tried to save your home from the flames if you could pay their exorbitant fee.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

 

I'm not an artist: Five items from Ocarina of Time forged by three master smiths.

Five items from Ocarina of Time forged by three master smiths.

Megaton Hammer: This hammer is swung with an even greater force than its already incredible mass would suggest. The strike of this hammer can shatter stone, flatten steel, or even cause a small earthquake. Legends speak of a Goron ancestor hero wielding the hammer in battle with Volvagia, the fire dragon. The ancestor hero sealed the dragon’s spirit in the burning heart of a volcano.

Training under a master smith, three apprentices bickered bitterly over who was the greatest smith. When the master decided to retire, they challenged their three pupils to craft a flawless forging hammer. The smith that crafted a perfect hammer would inherit the master’s entire workshop. Each of the three apprentices poured all their skills into a hammer they hoped was the equal of the challenge. The master rejected each of the hammers for a different reason. They became resigned to close their shop instead of passing it to a new master. The apprentices realized that individually, they could not succeed, but together they were more than capable. Working together, the apprentices forged a truly flawless hammer. When they went to present the hammer to their master, the master had departed. The former master left three pairs of golden tongs, signifying each smith as a master.

I'm not an artist: Powerful forces and an irredeemable object

Five items from A Link to the Past.

Magic Hammer: The last hammer I drew was for blacksmithing. This hammer is a wooden mallet suitable for wood working or head bonking. I know that a knot in the center of a mallet head would probably lead to a broken mallet, but I love the way knots look. 

This could be the mallet used by the hermit monk who built the Temple of the Five Bells. The monk, with their trusted donkey, hiked into the trackless peaks of the Mountains of Heavenly Silence with a vision of founding an isolated temple. The monk and donkey were not seen for nearly a decade. The next time the monk was seen, they were erecting a sign post that directed travelers to the new temple. It is said, that when the first traveling monks arrived at the Temple of the Five Bells, the hermit carpenter welcomed them and then sat down with an elderly donkey and the pair died at the same moment, having seen their life’s' work completed. 

The heartwood of an ancient tree is a powerful material component. That is especially true when the tree is a treant elder that has been bonded with the hamadryad matron of the western wilderness millennia. During a brief moment of privacy, the elder treant pulled this mallet from their own heart and gave it to a group of outsiders while saying, "Swing this at the right moment so that the forests will be there for our children's children." This act of creation claimed the elder's life. The first forest spirits to discover the outsiders with the elder's lifeless body assumed the outsiders slew the treant. In their grief they were unwilling to hear the outsiders’ story. The outsiders managed to escape with the mallet and are now hunted by avenging forest spirits and colonial agents eager to see the untamed forest fall to axe and saw. 

I'm not an artist: Jugs, Jars, and Pots from The Adventure of Link

Here are another five items from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link drawn by me some time in February 2018.

Magic Jar: This is the perfect ceramic vessel to hold sanctified waters necessary to complete the reconsecration of a lost temple. It could also hold a fine wine, dragon's blood, or any old potion that didn't come in a clear round flask. I meant for this to be about the size of a large jug of wine but it could fit many different scales based on your needs.