An Examination of a Peculiar Magical Stave

[Volous 25]

Another bound volume is present before you, this one however is unique in the sense that a bunch of artistically drawn stars and planets are present on the front cover. A long orange staff is positioned between the shapes. Underneath the stars, planets and staff lays the title of this volume in bright orange ink.

 

As you open the book and peak inside, carefully calligraphed text dots the various pages. The volume totals nineteen pages in length, and doesn’t seem to have a specific format. It is merely the ramblings of an elf examining something which he does not truly understand... yet.. 

 

Ah yes. Good evening to the reader, you have stumbled upon one of my many works and just like the previous one on Aquate Root I fully intend to examine something, that is the only similarity to my previous works however. As of writing this I have been invited to an interview that is scheduled to take place in tomorrows time with The Ilumiran Order, fortunately for me the subject of this text is of magical nature and they are a magical organization. That is not to say I am an expert in the magical arts, no, that is to say the opposite in fact. This is a layman examination of a magical object, I suppose this can be considered an analysis of the magical with the natural. Some topics explored in this examination may be entirely impossible and improbable, or they could be spot on. Whatever the case may be, this is not to be taken as authority on the subject or object itself, but rather as the ramblings of a man curious about more than the natural. Now onto the subject itself. That subject is a most peculiar stave which I picked up from the auction house. I’ll start off with a physical description, which may give some insight into why the cover itself was decorated in the various symbols that it was decorated in, then proceed to what I think it is and could be used for after I speak with an active mage.

 

For starters, the staff is of glass origin and tubular in shape. Inside of the stave contains liquids which do not merge together, instead they remain separated, much like oil and water. The liquids are shaded in various pink and orange colors, and they are in constant motion, the liquids themselves could be described as undertaking a sort of undulation as they move. Transcribed and transfixed on the stave itself are pictures of stars, and planets, much like the ones I drew on the cover of this volume for that is where I got the inspiration, well, much less inspiration and more like a direct scription of the images. These symbols are unique in the sense that I have never seen them before, this is to be expected given my relative newness to the field of the magical arts. A hypothesis that can be proposed forward is that these symbols or sigils, as they could be referred to, imbue the stave with some sort of ability and or power, whether that power be of its own nature or of that enhancing another is yet to be determined.

 

An interesting quality, or property, that the staff has is one which resembles a snake. Let me elaborate, when I hold it up to the light of torch and warm the stave the liquids inside appear to grow more active, as though they are trying to escape from the flames and remain cool. Whether this is of the natural laws or of the magical ones I am not yet certain. I propose that two paths and or two things may be happening here. The first proposed path is that these liquids, like most liquids that are exposed to heat, expand and move quicker than cooler ones, thus rooting this magical object into the natural realm. The second proposed path is that things which inhabit this stave are not liquid, but rather of life. They could be a magical construct and or organism which inhabits the stave as easily as we inhabit our own world, and like us when we are exposed to too much heat, they stray away in an attempt to cool themselves lest their mortal form succumb to the harshness of our reality. Whether this is possible is not for me to say, for as a layman in the magical arts I have not a lick, or rather, clue to point in either direction of the truth or lie. 

 

I conclude this rambling, and or, well, examination, with an official declaration of donation to the Eternal Library for their Fiction & Academic Wing. I would hardly call this a document on the theories or of magic or of any relevance or importance realistically, which is why I personally would not see it enter the Thaumaturgy Wing, however it is up to the Librarians to decide where this book is placed. For now this piece is concluded, a heftier examination will have to be made. Should any mage have the unfortunate pleasure of stumbling upon my ramblings and wish to examine the stave note, that I have it in my possession and am happy to share it. 

 

Herein signed, 

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Volous

[DISCOLIQUID 1956]

Grouch, craftsman of Helena, reads the paper with great strain and incredulity.

“I can say that the staff’s not magical, ‘cause I made it. Work’s a trade secret though, but I’ll admit – you’re close!”