...........................................................................

The Red Staff

Appearance: 
The red staff is 6'long by 1" wide. It is fashioned from wood and metal. 
The center 2' of the staff is made from of metal with a thumb groove, while 
the 2' outer section are wood are capped with .5" metal tips. The metal is 
rust-red in color and engraved with blue and silver runes. It will not reflect 
any form of light. The wood is hard, faded red oak that has a spiral grain. The 
runes on the center section are smooth to the touch.

     The first of these staffs was seen 24 years ago in the Great Desert by 
spellcasters clad in tan robes.

     To activate the staff the mage places his thumb into the groove, concentrates, 
voices the command word and images a cross-hair upon the desired area of effect. 
For non-combative spells the mage imagines that an aura comes from the staff and 
engulf him, or the desired area.

     The red staff has the following powers:

Fly, as an eagle, twice daily, for 60 melees
Words of Truth once per day
Armor of Ithan thrice per day
Charm, twice daily, for 15 melees
Blinding Flash five times per day

     * All powers use 1 charge.
     The staff has 5d4+10 charges. It can be recharged if taken to an Alchemist
     To find the command word one must take it to an Alchemist for deciphering, 
find a spell capable of making the staff tell the word, or just make guess's.  To 
make the staff recognize the user he must prick his thumb and allow on ounce of 
blood to fill the thumb groove. The blood will be absorb the staff, allowing it to 
used only by that spellcaster.

-Bill Knight

(knight@alaska.net)
----------------------