Staff of Immolation
This fire blackened oak staff is about 5ft long. One end of the staff is rounded, but the other looks like the remainder of the staff was broken off. A faint smell of smoke lingers around the staff which is always warm to the touch.
The staff enables the casting of fire magic even if the caster doesn’t know a spell. However, it burns out their spellcasting ability with each use.
History
This staff was created as a way to increase the combat potential of wizards. This was well before the development of Phorm's formula when spellcassters were severely limited in casting even minor spells. The hope was that carrying a staff like this would allow continuous casting by making it easier to access elemental energy.
Our understanding of magic and the planes has moved on considerably since that time. The dangers that seem so obvious to us in the approach taken were poorly understood back then, at least until the staff was first used. The initial cast was a complete disaster with the apprentice tasked with producing a firebolt turning into a pillar of flames. The apprentice was deemed to be at fault so a further test was carried out with an experienced mage. This second test proved even more disasterous. An explosion of fire consumed the wizard and the house they were in before spreading to consume an entire village. The fires burned unabated for weeks and were only extinguished when the dragon Gorotion was asked for aid. Gorotion managed to quell the flames but the upper part of the staff was broken in the process.
Later experiments were conducted away from settlements, with untrained hirelings being the only ones allowed to use the staff. There were further casualties but gradually a way to control the staff's power was developed. However when a mage was once again allowed to try using the staff a new problem was uncovered. The mage's ability to channel magic was severely depleted after using the staff, and not just in terms of the usual draining effect of casting. Even after a week's rest the mage was unable to cast spells they had been using for years.
The staff was locked away as a failed experiment until an attack by trolls necessitated increased availability of fire magic. Volunteers were found from the amongst the area's wizard apprentices. Using the staff each was able to unleash spells that would normally take decades of study to cast, though at the cost of their future. After the trolls were turned back the staff was taken into the possession of the local lord so that it could be kept safe until another emergency required it's use. The staff was eventually locked away in the Vault of the Successor where it remained until the third age.
The staff contains a minature portal to the plane of fire. This allows a wizard to draw on flame based magic with relative ease and the staff has been embued with the knowledge of fire magic. Anyone who can cast spells can make use of the staff, but the damage the staff does to the wielders mind can destroy their spellcasting capabilities,
Current Location
Comments