Getting further back to normal, a few days ago I burdened Twitter with a doodle containing ten magical (or mundane, but where’s the fun in that?) items and attempted to crowdsource the key from the fabulous people who inhabit the RPG space there. They did so with aplomb, and it is always delightful to see the curious ways people interpret the drawings or elements thereof and color them with their imaginations. I like being surprised most of all, which is why this exercise is so fun for me. As before, the intent here is to record their brilliance with credit, so readers of this blog – now or in the future – can find these little glimmers of imagination long after the ephemerality of Twitter has claimed that thread.

THE GOODS OF CAPTAIN LOBARDA, SHE-WOLF OF THE SEAS

And the descriptions penned by the heroes of Twitter (with apologies to the creators for my brief editorial hacks and added punctuation here and there):

1 – Hangnack’s Hatpin – @GoblinsHenchman – This dagger-shaped pin if thrown enlarges to full size.
2 – @mumphry999 – A raccoon paw attached to a sweet potato (yam) with the word AWOOOO inscribed on the back of it. when spoken aloud the potato sprouts 4 legs and will obey simple commands for 1 hour.
3 – Little Eye Fish – @mountain_foot – maybe they’re just odd-looking fish or maybe they’re immature Eyes of the Deep. They’ll bond to whoever feeds them. They get really hard to handle when they’re about the size of a basketball, though.
4 – The Path to the Jade Phoenix – @CullopGeoffrey – Meticulously plotted and vigorously annotated, this map purports to lead its possessor to the location of an invaluable artifact known as the Jade Phoenix. A smudge in the ink obscures a few words that seem to warn of mystical protections.
5 – Glyphshelled Pentapus – @TrebuchetOps – An ingenious creature borne of a rune-scribed periwinkle shell, into which undead merfolk fleshhas been placed. Grows into a small living spellbook which, when attached to the body like a piercing, imparts all its knowledge & observations to the wearer. If removed from the flesh, it can be fed additional pages of arcane rituals and spells, pulling them into it’s maw with five finger-like tentacles. It must be sustained on living flesh & will necrotize the wearer’s skin wherever it’s placed, spreading over 1% of their body daily.
If it ever necrotizes the surface of the body entirely it will begin rearranging the host’s internal organs and otherwise modifying them to a state of quasi undead. At this point it gains the ability to telepathically communicate with the wearer, growing in power and mindfulness.
6 – The Incredible Wand of Bees – @shutteredroom – Acquired from Verten’s Maw, none living have yet used this wand famed through history & 100 countries, Only 3 charges/bees remain, including the wise Queen, who does not wish to be expended. Command word unrecorded. Powers of bees only rumoured in song.
7 – Vulning Brooch – @wereoctopus – No matter how you position this cloak pin, the needle keeps finding ways to stick you. Tarnished silver pelican engravings. Wearer can bloodlet hp to restore hp to another character or to give them a ration. Prolonged wearing makes you grow a throat-pouch.
8a – “I just got betrothed to a demon prince and I like it” ring – @HypatiasAngst – As soon as you put it on you are warped to a dimension where you have found out that you’re getting married to a demon prince (or princess, or whoever really. Demon is important). Now the in-laws show up.
8b – Sephera’s Collar – @mountain_foot – The ship’s cat is always named Sephera and always looks the same. That’s because the collar will polymorph anything which wears it into female orange tabby. The collar was created by a wizard mourning the loss of her familiar, an orange tabby named Sephera. Captain Lobarda would often punish prisoners (or ship’s crew) by putting the collar on them and forcing them to serve as the ship’s cat.
9 – The Hook of Falsehood – @dreamsandfevers – If fir down the throat of a creature, the hook will drag out the creature’s secrets in the form of a monstrous carp. If the carp is killed and eaten, the eaters will learn the creatures secrets.
10 – Tome of Nautimancy – @Olobosk_ – Contains the spells: Raise Drowned, Commune with the Sea, Scaleskin, Magic Torpedo, Wall of Brine, Power Word: Sink, Summon Leviathan

It doesn’t get more fun than collaborating with friends near and far on games of imagination. I guess that’s really what all of this is about, after all. Thank you to all my Twitter pals who let my dorky doodle fill their heads with ideas! It’s so fulfilling to get that chance and to get to see the things everyone invents; truth be told, I don’t think I’d ever have written the same caliber of ideas on my own.

Blog readers who aren’t yet on Twitter should give it a try. I think everyone bounces off it once or twice before the ebb and flow of the place makes sense. I can be found over there @dungeonspossums and, naturally, you can follow any of the above usernames to follow that individual if you liked their ideas!