The Minish Cap: A braid of golden hair.

A braid of golden hair.

Small Key: Small keys can only be found in dungeons and can only be used in the dungeons in which they are found. Generally they unlock doors to open new pathways for Link to explore as he navigates the dungeon.

Having extremely long, nearly unbreakable, magical, sometimes glowing hair makes one stand out. This isn’t much of an issue if you live along atop a lone tower in the wild woods. It becomes an issue if you have escaped that tower and are now on the run from the wicked prince who kept you as a trophy and oddity.

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Rapunzel used her hair to escape the tower, so her hair was the key to her leaving, that is how you get a blond braid as a small key.

How to support me:

Ko-fi: Pay What You Want links 

Patreon: Shop and sustaining support 

Red Bubble: Buy a sticker or magnet

See my latest releases on Linktree

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

The Minish Cap: Every key to the house

 Every key to the house

Big Key: Each dungeon has a powerful creature Link must overcome to earn the dungeon’s rewards. Each of these boss monsters are waiting behind impressive doors bound with magical gold chains that can only be opened using the big key found in that dungeon. Link must earn each big key through solving puzzles and vanquishing foes as to prove his worth and readiness to face the dungeon’s beast.

It was so nice of that eccentric noble to take you in and adopt you as their own. When they gave you the keys to the manor with free reign of the place, besides that one door, you felt like you had finally proved you were worthy of someone’s trust. It does bother you that you aren’t allowed to open only that one door, what could possibly be back there?

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March 4th was my 8 year anniversary of this blog. I’ve got plenty more drawings in me, especially once I hit the Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom inventories. Thanks for joining me on this ride.

Read the story of Bluebeard to find out the exciting truth behind the forbidden door.

ICE is still stomping around MN, and with the Trump administration's illegal war in Iran, things are not looking up. Find a community you enjoy and support it. Find an artist you enjoy and support them. Find a cause you believe in and support it. Participate however you can.

How to support me:

Ko-fi: Pay What You Want links 

Patreon: Shop and sustaining support 

Red Bubble: Buy a sticker or magnet

See my latest releases on Linktree

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

The Minish Cap: An enchanting enchanted harp

 An enchanting enchanted harp

Graveyard Key: Link needs to visit the royal tomb inside the locked graveyard. Getting the graveyard key is as simple as asking the grave keeper for the key, but the key is promptly stolen from Link by a thriving bird and hidden in one of the trees in the area. Once Link sprints face-first into the right tree, he can reclaim the key and enter the royal tomb.

In the morning, this enchanted harp plays a hopeful song that energizes all who hear. At dusk, it plays a calming melody that relaxes the body, mind, and soul. Late at night, all alone, the harp plays a song full of longing and despair, grieving some great loss forgotten by all, save the forlorn harp.

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How the heck is a harp the key to a graveyard? Classical Greek myth references, that’s how. Orpheus wanted to bring his love back from the dead, so he went into the underworld to lead her out. To pacify Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of the underworld, he played his harp so finely that the dog was lulled into a deep sleep.

I also wanted to finish the set of items from the golden goose section of Jack and the Beanstalk, so I needed a magic harp.

How to support me:

Ko-fi: Donations and Digital shop

Patreon: Sustaining support and Digital shop 

Red Bubble: Buy a sticker or magnet

See my newest releases on Linktree

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

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