Wand



From the beginning of the first Age of Darkness, weavers of magic have made use of various magical implements in the casting of their spells. Most commonly associated with mages is the staff, followed closely behind by the wand.

The Age of Darkness
During the time of Mondain the wizard, wands were one of several implements that could be utilized by magic-users in enhancing their spells. Better than an amulet but not as effective as a staff, they could be purchased in many reputable shops. Their use was somewhat awkward however, in that employing a wand precluded the use of any other physical weapons. Naturally, if a wand-wielding mage's supply of casting materials ran unexpectedly dry in combat, another weapon would have to quickly be drawn -- and in an age rife with thieves who favored pickpocketing unattended items, this could be a precarious fallback.

When Mondain's apprentice Minax asserted her control of the timestream, evil magicians could be found wandering the Terran countryside, carrying either wands or staves. Newcomers to the spellcasting professions were forced to defeat these dark wizards in order to obtain these items, which could not be bought for any price, and yet were absolutely necessary to invoke any magical spells. Thankfully, this added hurdle to spell-weaving was removed soon after Minax's eventual defeat by the Stranger, but it meant that the wand was not to resurface again until after the rise and fall of Exodus.

The Age of Enlightenment
Sometime before the appearance of the Avatar, magical wands began appearing in the hands of the more powerful spell-casting professions. A wand of this sort could fire powerful blue bolts of mystic energy, allowing many mages to defeat their enemies without using up their mixtures of vital reagents. These wands could be acquired (at great expense) at Hook's Arms, in the seedy village of Buccaneer's Den. (As a side note, it is still unknown how the proprietor acquired his supply of magic wands, as he would not discuss the matter.)

The availability of this magic wand shrank to nothing once Blackthorn came into power, but was eventually made obsolete by the around the time of the Gargoyle Wars, which saw the introduction of the Fire Wand and the Lightning Wand. Both of these wondrous items could be used by anyone, regardless of their level of magical tutelage, which vastly increased their desirability. Each came with only a limited number of charges, however.

The Age of Armageddon
The Magician's Wand continued the trend of allowing non-spellcasters to weave magic, in this case through the use of a Flame Strike spell. Loaded with unlimited charges, this powerful wand first appeared around the time of the Black Gate.

Other specialized wands appeared around this time: Rudyom's Wand, which could cause the substance Blackrock to explode; and the Philanderer's Friend, which could either turn a person into stone, or reverse the process. Also worthy of note was the Wand of Detainment employed by Jorvin, Captain of the Guard in the city of Fawn on the Serpent Isle, which allowed him to instantly detain anyone he deemed suspicious.

In Pagan, the Sorcerers of that world often made use of wands as a type of focus for their unique type of magic, although they were less useful than using either a rod or staff for this purpose.

At some point in time before the ascension of the Avatar, the use of wands disappeared entirely in the lands of Britannia, for reasons unknown.

Trivia

 * In the SNES Port of Ultima VII, an artifact known as a Power Bolt Wand may be found in the depths of Buccaneer's Cave. This item appears to function similarly to a magician's wand from the PC version of the game, save that an expenditure of a single mana point is required for each bolt fired from it.