Wednesday is the start of the new weekend, you guys.

Vorthos Wednesday is back again, and we’re celebrating the weekend early. Today, we’re giving out 10% more flavor.

I’d like to thank everyone who voted last week, giving me feedback.

Here’s a quick summary of what I learned from last week’s article:

You want to hear about freelance flavor writing. Over 80% of you want to know more about the process. Nondisclosure agreements are serious business, but I’ll let you know what I can about the process.

You want to hear about the perceptions and behavior psychology of playing Magic. Your main focus is on the social acceptability factors. I have considerable information I’ve been hoarding on this topic and access to a psych lab. My fiancée worked in a psych lab, her sister works in a psych lab, and interesting topics without answers always require additional studies.

You want to hear more about how art can be derivative, reused, or “recycled,” both in your mind and in the public. There are so many examples of this that I’ll have to take considerable time simply limiting the cards to one article. A notable example would be Rampant Growth and Hokosai’s Great Wave off Kanagawa. (Yes, Kamigawa and Kanagawa are that close.)

Nearly everyone has had Hokosai’s greatest work referenced somewhere. This, my friends, is the tip of the iceberg.

The data is inconclusive whether you want to hear about mail-in offers or uncut sheets. I was just curious if people cared between getting Vorthos stuff. Is it both? Either? Neither? You just like clicking buttons?

You want to hear where the original Alpha and Beta art is located. If you have a piece, or know someone who does, please get in touch with me. There aren’t many random artworks of that variety out there, but . . . there’s always a chance. What was the original price of Savannah? $500. What is it now? $16,888.88. The Alpha, and Beta originals have amazing stories associated with them and I’m excited to share with you what I know.

A massive undertaking is coming from Vorthos Wednesday. MJ is involved. The flavor is being marinated as we speak . . . 

Let’s get into today’s article. It’s a short one.

Why?

BECAUSE WE HAVEN’T FINISHED THIS ASPECT OF FLAVORFUL GOODNESS YET.

Seriously. I’m taking up this standard.

Steve Argyle, Spectrum award-winning artist, and all-around friendly dude, was commissioned the artwork for the Damia, Sage of Stone legendary gorgon. Upon Wizards spoiling the piece, Steve told us via his DeviantArt profile that this piece was loaded with Easter eggs.

At first glance, Argyle simply made objects to surround the gorgon, but as you examine again and start finding them, you can’t unsee them. It’s addicting. Vorthos is an aspect of knowing the game beyond the game and the references aren’t all Magic canonical items. Steve, as any artist in the fantasy industry, has worked on a variety of brands and intellectual properties. In my mind, he’s the new Matt Cavotta. Cavotta is still on my list of people to fully catalog and find old nuggets of allusion in his pieces.

Dwarven Shrine is a great standard for Easter egg hunting. (Name those spells!)

 . . . from that piece, let’s dive in.

Liliana’s candlesticks from Snuff Out are on either side of the Gorgon. I’m not sure how a creature “acquired” Liliana Vess’s architectural elements, but with that pile of stuff, she’s more of a hoarder than Ariel. (You want thingamabobs? She’s got twenty!)

A holocron chamber lies on the lower right area of the depiction. It’s a key element from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It was a little trite as a plot device, but after Jar Jar Binks, the bar is set quite low.

There is Steve’s own Everflowing Chalice in the bottom left corner, barely in the scene. It’s usually one of the first hidden elements people find.

On the far left of the depiction, the Tetsubo that Hida had in Legend of the Five Rings.

Nevinyrral's Disk is located in the depiction.

Is it a closed one like Magus of the Disk? If so, it’s on the right side, between her chair and one of Liliana’s candlesticks. Obviously, it’s closed.

Or is it the open one like Steve Argyle’s From the Vault version? If so, where is it?!

Steve has mentioned it’s in there . . . 

Her pose is even reminiscent of Sorceress Queen. By the way, behind Armageddon, there’s a lot of great German card translations, but Sorceress Queen is near the top: Hexenkoenigin. It means quite simply, “spell queen.” Awesome.

There are an American ton more, but a singular person explaining it is simply a spoiling.

That’s not Steve’s intention. If it was, he would simply spoil anything.

I’ll give you three easy clues . . . 

God of War . . . 

Kresh . . . 

Orcus . . . 

 . . . and one difficult clue.

Dungeons and Dragons

The people who find any references that I didn’t explain above before next Vorthos Wednesday will get some Vorthos swag. Why swag? Because I want to know everything on this piece, and I can’t do it alone. I also can’t paint all the happy trees myself.

Go!