Wands

Wands, as distinct from staves, are short specialised magical implements, each typically purpose-built for a single application. Where a mage's staff is a lifelong arsenal, a wand is a tool for a job.

The Magelaw's Field Wizards, under Fondaras, are the clearest example of the class: their signature wands include the Stumping Wand (to clear tree-stumps from reclaimed land), plus agricultural wands for soil, water, and pest management. In the Alka Alon armouries of Carneduin, plain weirwood wands are kept alongside polished staves of the same material — Lord Letharan hands Lilastien one with "a sour expression" in Arcanist, a mark of how the old Alka Alon lords view lending their tools to humani. Minalan's own household uses sentry rods — warded poles that raise an alarm when crossed — by the dozen; Dranus orders twenty in Shadowmage for his Moros campaign.

Other notable wand-like objects: the apophyllite stones Minalan plants in royal palaces for secret mind-to-mind access, the hoxter wands that carry whole arsenals inside a single rod, and the various Waystone batons the Alka Alon use to anchor a Waypoint. The form of the wand is consistently short, handled, and one-trick; the trick is just usually a very good one.