The Minish Cap: Possibly arcane beans

 Possibly arcane beans

Spare Key: The owner of Lon Lon ranch lost his key to the front door, but he of course has a spare key for just this situation. Unfortunately, they keep the spare key in the locked house and therefore cannot get their key to get into the house. Link must shrink down to Minish size and then enter the ranch house and rescue the ill-placed spare key. Returning the key to the ranch owner secures Link a passage to lake Hylia and opens up milk sales in the city.

We got beans for sale! Big barrel of beans bursting with benefits! Some of these beans are magic, some of these beans are drought-resistant, some of these beans are heirloom quality. Come, trade for a scoop of beans, and find out what fate has in store for you.

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Free idea for a ridiculous vendor: A magic bean peddler that is unenthusiastically part of a magic beans multi-level marketing scheme. They try to sell you magic beans, but forgot what each of the magic beans do. After a few purchases, if they ever make a sale, they are visibly dominated by the spirit of the bean-selling scheme and make a hollow and lifeless plea for you to join their up-and-coming opportunity in selling beans.

This is actually the sort of stuff that makes it into my games. Which is why I need an item card to represent non-magical beans, just in case my party has bad luck.

How to support me:

Ko-fi: Donations and Digital shop

Patreon: Sustaining support and Digital shop 

Red Bubble: Buy a sticker or magnet

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Drewly: Oroborous Industries Badge

Oroborous Industries Badge

Badge: An official Oroborous Industries operative badge. Just flashing this badge can open many doors in very dangerous circles.

Oroborous Industries is one of two rival gunsmithing companies in my homebrew campaign. Today and tomorrow’s drewly post will be relating to those shady gun runners.

What is Drewly?

#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

Four Swords Adventures: A strange double key to an even stranger factory

 A strange double key to an even stranger factory

Big Key: Like small keys, big keys must be carried from where they were discovered to the big chest they unlock. Unlike most other big keys, these keys do not unlock the path to a boss, but instead unlock big chests which contain lots of treasure.

A contest was held that offered the rare chance to visit the fabled factory. What the participants didn’t realize was they were being assessed to possibly take over the factory. All the greedy little children failed the test and so the key was thrown into the ocean and whoever can swim down and make it back with the key will be the new owner.

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If the adventure idea wasn’t enough of a clue, this is the key to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. That scene where Wonka lays into Charlie is still really hard for me to watch.

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: Those keys you were looking for.

 Those keys you were looking for.

Small Key: Small keys unlock regular locked doors in Four Swords Adventures. That is pretty normal, but what makes these keys more unique is the fact that a Link must carry the key from wherever it was found to the locked door above their head like a pot. If the Link is hurt, the key drops, and if the key drops into a pit, the key returns to its initial location.

Have you seen my keys? You know the ones to the car with the pocket knife? What do you mean they are on the Internet? How the heck did they get there?

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Dropping these keys in a standard fantasy game as a joke only to have the players change their entire quest to discover the minivan that this key unlocks would be something that would happen at my table.

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: Hauntingly beautiful earring

 Hauntingly beautiful earring

Moon Pearl: These large pearls allow Links to open the many Moon Gates that connect Hyrule to the Dark World. The dark world is a close reflection of the Light World but has key differences that can allow Link to overcome impossible challenges in the Light World alone. Each moon pearl can only open one moon gate, shattering after use. Link can earn moon pearls by completing puzzles or be given them by people they meet during their adventures.

These classic pearl earrings were intended as an anniversary gift but were sadly never delivered. Just days before the occasion the couple perished in a tragic fire. The two spirits now haunt the charred earrings, bitter about the lost opportunity at a happy life but enjoying a grim undeath. 

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Simple things are often some of the hardest things to draw in a compelling way. I do think grounded simple objects play a far more important role in making loot interesting than just throwing more wacky enchantments on a sword.

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

Wind Waker: A knife to flay body and soul.

 A knife to flay body and soul.

Big Key: The big key is the last of the set of dungeon items. Big keys open the boss room and are generally the final item earned by solving the most complex or thematically involved puzzle of the dungeon. With big key in hand, Link generally backtracks to the imposing boss door for the final confrontation of the dungeon.

Occult texts refer to a specific bronze dagger as the key to unlocking the prison of the flesh. Apparently, the blade can cut the bonds between the spirit and the body. This allows a spirit to enter a new body, freshly emptied of its previous inhabitant.

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Went for a menacing ritual dagger from a pulp fantasy movie vibe with this one. I wish I had spent more time coloring the dagger so that it looked like it wasn’t just cast from a single material. Maybe this is just a copy of the original and more powerful instrument used by the founder of the cult.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wind Waker: A sword breaker dagger.

A sword breaker dagger. 

Small Key: Small keys are intrinsically tied to the dungeon they are found in. They cannot be used anywhere else, even if they look entirely self-similar to all other small keys found. As they are part of the set of dungeon items, they are generally found in treasure chests or as rewards for solving puzzles in the dungeons of Wind Waker and are used to progress deeper into the dungeons.

Sword breakers are standard equipment for the bodyguards of the Crossed Key Society. These mercenary bodyguards are expertly trained in keeping their charges alive and well. Disarming would-be assassins is often the key to ensuring the continued survival of their clients' long term as allows an assassin to be captured and interrogated.

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My first exposure to sword breakers was in Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced. I remember equipping that to my thieves and working to endlessly steal every possible weapon from every enemy I came across. 

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Halloweekend: Sacred books from the Pharaonic Age

Sacred books from the Pharaonic Age

Book of the Dead: This locked within the book’s obsidian pages are spells to raise the dead as undead horrors and incantations to bind such creatures to your will. Such powers were deemed beyond the purview of mortals so the book was sealed in a hidden vault. If the vault were ever breached, the thief would need the long lost puzzle key if they wished to wield its dread power.

Book of Amun-Ra: Said to contain all the secret incantations known to the priesthood, this solid gold book was hidden to keep the powerful spells from falling into the wrong hands. One of the most dangerous spells could steal the life from a person and use it to restore life to the dead. Thankfully the book can only be opened with a special key that has been lost to time.

Puzzle Key: The golden and black books of the dead are both sealed with locks that can only be opened with a copy of this puzzle key. The key itself is a hollow box whose interlocking top opens to an eight pointed star. These keys must have been associated with the secrets of the dead they open not just the books, but also the sarcophagi of honored individuals and sealed relics of the god of the dead.

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Three items from the absolutely delightful Mummy films starring Brendan Fraiser. I earnestly love them with all my heart and hope you enjoy anything as much as I enjoy them.

Halloweekend is ending tomorrow on Halloween! Check back in tomorrow for one more spooky item befitting the season.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wind Waker: A get out of jail free card

A get out of jail free card

Fill-Up Coupon: As with the complimentary ID, the Fill-UP Coupon is obtained by earning enough loyalty points at Beedle’s Ship Shop. Making enough purchases to earn 60 loyalty points will find Link receiving a letter from Beedle with the coupon attached. The coupon can be exchanged for Beedle completely restoring Link’s health, magic powder, arrow supply, and bomb cache.

When you wished for a way out of this cell, you didn’t expect a card from a kid’s game to be slid under the door. That’s what you get for trusting in superstition to get you out of a real problem. Reading it out loud, you begin to hear a rising hum from behind the cell walls.

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I really think this item card worked out the way I wanted it to. It partially relies on a person’s previous experience with get out of jail free cards from Monopoly, but the phrase is ubiquitous enough for most people to get the concept upon hearing its name.

As a GM I would give this as a reward when I really didn’t have a great idea on meaningfully rewarding my players. I would allow the players to use this in a lot of different ways that open up a lot of new story pathways, especially if the players find themselves cornered by bad decisions and or rolls.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Four swords: An antique lock and key from Four Swords.

An antique lock and key from Four Swords.

Small Key: Small keys are required to open locked doors and blocks encountered in the procedurally generated stages of Four Swords. They can be found in chests, usually at the end of some challenge or behind a dangerous obstacle. The Link that picks up the key is the only Link that can use the key to open a passage.

Without even realizing it, a young apprentice brought the clever machinations of the whispering darkness to a halt by locking the door to their master’s basement laboratory. The master had been manipulated by the whisper into opening a crack in the walls of our plane that the void could seep through, only to find their way barred by a locked door. Through a cosmic technicality, beings from the void cannot pass through a closed passage even if the way is barred only by a rotting wooden door and a rusty old lock. 

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This post is inspired by Locke and Key. If you aren’t sure how, go watch Locke and Key on netflix or read the comic.

I like the idea of mundane things impeding titanic forces because the mundane didn’t exist when the rules of the multiverse were written.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Four Swords: Three magic keys from Four Swords.

Three magic keys from Four Swords.

 

Hero Keys: A few weeks ago we discussed the Golden Keys in Four Swords which can only be obtained after obtaining the three Silver Keys, defeating the sorcerer Vaati for the first time, and then earning 3,000 rupees in each of the three levels. The Hero keys are the next and final goal for Link in Four Swords. Any Link that has earned a set of Golden Keys and then vanquished Vaati a second time can earn the three Hero Keys if they complete a level with a whopping 5,000 rupees in their pouch. Defeating Vaati after gathering a complete set of Hero Keys is the final challenge for the Links in Four Swords.

These keys don’t open such an insignificant thing as a mundane lock. Instead, they open up the unbelievable possibilities of magic. The metal used to forge these keys allowed each to be imbued with a unique power. What would you do with such power, and what could you do to keep yourself safe from people who want that power for themselves?

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Locke and Key season 1 inspired these drawings and Locke and Key season 2 recently came out on Netflix. I really enjoyed both seasons and recommend them if you’re looking for something to watch. I know they are based on a comic. I never got too into the comics as there were so many when I found out about them that I didn’t know or care where to start. There is some really interesting storytelling and worldbuilding in Locke and Key though. Maybe I ought to sit down and give them a real chance. 

The U.S. had yet another school shooting. I am deeply saddened by the tragedy and I hope that something tangible and effective will eventually be done to stop the cycle of violence plaguing schools and other supposedly safe communal spaces. Guns shouldn’t be freely available to children, nor should they be sprinkled throughout the world like lethal confetti.

Be excellent to everyone, it could save a life.

-Ceph

Four Swords: Three questions from Four Swords.

Three questions from Four Swords.

You should recognize these keys as the three that were hung on the keyring from last week. If one of those rings really piqued your interest, I made sure to give you the chance to pick your favorite and leave the rest behind. It also gives me a break from having to think up new and interesting ways to describe how you get a set of keys earned by capturing an increasingly large bounty of rupees.

Where there is a key, there is usually a lock. Where there is a lock, there is usually the question, “why did someone want this locked away?” Sometimes, the only way to answer such a question is by using the key in the lock and freeing whatever was locked away. Can you be sure that what you seek isn’t best left locked up?

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WIth these staple items, I like to break apart the component pieces in my drawings and set them up as individual cards. Not only does it make me feel like I’ve drawn a whole bunch of different things when I’ve really only drawn a small bunch of things; it also lets me give collections to players piecemeal. Maybe they need all three of these keys but start with just finding one, and then have to fight hard to earn the second, and delve deep into the unknown to find the last. Once they have found all three, rewarding them with a new item card to show the set completed can be a fun way to commemorate their achievements.

Only one or two more key posts before we move on to other sets of pallette swapped objects. Look forward to showing off my attempts at being creative and efficient.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Four Swords: A ring of keys from Four Swords.

A ring of keys from Four Swords.

Golden Keys: Any Link that has already earned a set of silver keys and defeated the sorcerer Vaati in their palace can attempt to earn a set of golden keys. To earn the three golden keys, a Link must gather at least 3,000 rupees in each stage prior to Vaati’s palace. This more valuable set overrides the set of silver keys previously won, but is still only the second of the three sets of keys to Vaati’s palace. It’s no wonder Vaati’s palace gets invaded if there are this many duplicate sets of keys to the front door.

Known as the keys to the kingdom, these keys open the three most important doors in the land. The golden key opens the coffers and vaults where the nation’s wealth is securely held. The silver key opens the deepest door in the dungeon where the most dangerous person is held. And the copper key opens the secret passage beneath the great hall where the greatest secret is held.

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It is going to be mostly just keys here at The Speaking Squid for the next few installments. There are a ton of keys in the Zelda franchise and Four Swords doesn’t shy away from that. It can be difficult to come up with new and interesting ways to represent keys in Zelda games, so I often use keys as a way to check back in with how much I’ve grown. It is a good thing to return to a subject you’ve already explored with new skills and ideas. Everytime I come back to drawing keys I find I have a new twist or technical skill I want to try out.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

 

Skyrim 10th Anniversary: The golden dragon claw from Bleak Falls Barrow.

The golden dragon claw from Bleak Falls Barrow.

Golden Dragon Claw: Hidden in the depths of ancient Nordic ruins are puzzle locks that the dovahkiin can only pass by learning their secret code. Each puzzle-locked door is paired with a different precious dragon claw that bears the passcode as well as acting as the knob for the door. The golden dragon claw opens the way to the treasures held in the deepest sections of Bleak Falls Barrow.

Before anyone types out their comment about the skeleton key and puzzle doors, I will say I was very specific in my language regarding who is limited to using the dragon claws.

That was day two of my week-ish-long celebration of some great items from Skyrim. I chose items that would work well in any fantasy game and not just an elder scrolls game so that anyone can use them to represent their loot.

On the second day of Skyrim,

tenth anniversary,

Golden Dragon Claw,

and a helmet of iron and horn.

See you tomorrow for more Skyrim goodies.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

 

Four Swords: Covert instruments from Four Swords.

 Covert instruments from Four Swords.

Silver Keys: In Four Swords each of the three Silver Keys is awarded to any Link that gathered at least 1,000 rupees. To enter Vaati’s Palace, the fourth and final stage, Links must gather the three keys from the three Great Faeries. If the Links didn’t gather up enough rupees to earn all three keys, they cannot enter the lair of Vaati and rescue Princess Zelda and must try again. The silver keys are the first of three sets of keys that can be earned through repeated attempts at playing through Four Swords. 

Few societies of law and order allow just anyone to walk around carrying a well-stocked supply of lock picking tools without some sort of permit. There isn’t a sensible society that would allow a person to carry not one but four picks that make the bold but honest claim to be able to pick any lock, even apparently unpickable ones. All of that is to say, you shouldn’t show these picks off to anyone unless you want everyone blaming you for every misplaced valuable or locked door murder.

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I’m a huge elder scrolls fan. I could have individually drawn all the lock picks and skeleton keys from the various elder scrolls games and released them in drips and drabs until you collected the complete set, but that wouldn’t have given me an excellent set of thieves tools and legendary thieves tools.

If you are like me and enjoy technical YouTube videos, you probably have already enjoyed lockpicking YouTube channels. I’m a big fan of watching the Lockpicking lawyer to get inspiration on writing interesting lock-picking challenges for my games.

Welcome to November. It is getting cold where I live which reminds me that this is usually an extra tough time for many people who struggle financially. If you have more, consider giving back to people with less. If you have power, consider using it to make a more level playing field by raising up the lowest among us.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph