Deathstaff

The Deathstaff is a powerful evil magical weapon.

Creation and purpose

Created after "long and hard labor" by the Dark God Naar, the Deathstaff had the ability to raise the imprisoned spirits of Darklord Vashna and his army from the grave to revenge themselves upon Sommerlund. It is a staff of "twisted black metal", only two meters in length. In the book The Legacy of Vashna, Cadak, Archdruid of the Cener Druids, planned for the Deathstaff to be brought from the Plane of Darkness to Magnamund. Shamath, a being of great evil, would then use it to bring about the rebirth of Vashna. Lone Wolf traveled to the Plane of Darkness, retrieved the Deathstaff, killed his long time opponent, and destroyed the Shadow Gate before the ceremony could be completed. The Deathstaff disappeared, seemingly destroyed with the Shadow Gate.

In the seventeenth Lone Wolf book, The Deathlord of Ixia, it is revealed that the Deathstaff survived the collapsing Shadow Gate and was transported to Ixia, the frozen undead realm of the entombed Deathlord Ixiataaga, where it freed the Deathlord from his magical prison. Lone Wolf traveled to Ixia and defeated the Deathlord in single combat, after which the Deathstaff was destroyed.

Abilities

The Deathstaff is capable of firing bolts of energy. Lone Wolf is given the option to use the Deathstaff thus against Cadak, and Ixiataaga used this power against Lone Wolf as well.

The Deathstaff also has vampiric effects, and is capable of draining the blood from its targets. In one section of The Legacy of Vashna, Lone Wolf is given the option to use the Deathstaff in combat. If he chooses to do so, the bodies of his victims "...[are] drained of all blood, leaving nothing but an untidy heap of loose skin and bones". The Deathstaff itself grants Lone Wolf +10 combat skill, but its vampiric effects also drains Lone Wolf of 5 endurance points after the combat.