We all believe we know who the staff was named after and the great wizards who wielded it. But the true history of the staff is infinitely more interesting. Let’s take a look at how the Staff of Magius was discovered and used.. Buy The History of Dragonlance: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/197643/The-History-of-Dragonlance-2e?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
Magius had nothing to do with the creation of the Staff of Magius. It was just named after him.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about the Staff of Magius. I would like to take a moment and thank the members of this channel, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link. I am referencing the annotated Chronicles and Legends novels and The History of Dragonlance sourcebook for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below.
Discussion
The Staff of Magius was first introduced to us when it was gifted to Raistlin Majere after his Test of High Sorcery by Par Salien. Just by name alone, we could imagine a powerful sorcerer by the name of Magius who crafted this magical artifact, but its true history is one that predates Magius himself by four thousand years! We tend to look at history as an undeniable fact. But the word itself belies that idea. History is simply, his story, meaning the last person to have told it, with all of their own biases and intentions in the retelling intact. It is specifically with this point in mind that I was stunned by the realization that the Staff of Magius wasn’t crafted by the wizard Magius, but instead simply named after him. This is not meant to degenerate Magius in any way as he is rightfully noted as a wizard of legend, and the sole reason mages are allowed to utilize daggers. But it is to say that an item as potent as the Staff of Magius may hold secrets beyond the knowledge of any who wielded it last, possibly imbued with powers by previous owners, or even more divine personalities.
The Staff of Magius is a wooden quarterstaff. On the end is a golden dragon claw, grasping a pale, blue crystal orb. This alone forces the imagination to run wild with its potential power. In game terms it protects and enhances the magic of its wielder, in addition to holding inherent magical properties from casting continual light to feather fall. Again, all of its abilities have never been fully discovered by any of its legacy of owners, not to mention those imbued within it by any or all its owners. This brings us to the question: If Magius didn’t craft the artifact, where did it come from? We have to go no farther than The History of Dragonlance for the answer, but even therein, it is posed as a story that may or may not be true. Way to commit, authors!
It all begins with The Obsidian Chest. This artifact is a six sided chest made of obsidian. It features intricate etchings and glyphs on the lid, with a narrow banner of glyphs and runes running its circumference. When disassembled, it is utterly powerless, but when assembled and the proper ritual is performed, the magic of the chest is fully realized. The Obsidian Chest was created by Paladine, Takhisis and Gilean in the Age of Starbirth. Its intention was to summon objects from other realities in order to assist in the creation and shaping of Krynn. This Pandora’s box, err Obsidian Chest was first used by Reorx who summoned his hammer to forge the world. Gilean realized that this artifact could easily unbalance the universe in the wrong hands, so he imbued it with the need to perform an intricate ritual, and once used, its sides would scatter to to the winds, making it near impossible to use more than once. Gilean was successful as the chest has never been used more than six times since the Age of Dreams.
It was in the Time of Light, as the elves were preparing for war with the dragons of Krynn that Branchala presented the lid to his favored children. Shadra, a sorceress from the house of Silvanos, studied the object for fifteen years, and gathered a team to quest for the other five pieces. After twenty years, the base was discovered in the possession of the Ogga-kan ogre clan. The ensuing battle wiped the clan from the face of Krynn. Twenty years later, a side was discovered among humans who sold it to Shadra for one-hundred gold pieces. Not long after, it was discovered that a gnomes life quest was wrapped up in studying a side of the chest’s properties. That piece was swapped with another that Shadra crafted and she switched them in secret. It took thirty years to find the fifth piece. It was part of the red dragon Bargoth’s hoard. Many of her party were lost in the attempt at recovering it, and only by appealing to Branchala for aid, did the god present them with the final piece. Shadra quickly performed the ritual after assembling the chest and withdrew a staff, well no, not a staff, THE Staff of Magius.
The Staff of Magius teleported the survivors far away from Bargoth’s mountain and it was used in the First Dragon War to hold off the wyrms until the Gods of magic presented the elves with the Dragon Stones. Shadra died in the war, and the staff was passed onto the mightiest of wizards until finally, Magius claimed it. By all accounts Magius used it successfully as a member of the Order of High Sorcery, then as a renegade in the company of Galen Dracos, until he escaped and was ultimately recaptured by Dracos’ minions. Huma would discover the staff in the form of a small rod which upon Huma grasping it, expanded to its full size and appearance of the Staff of Magius. When Huma was captured by Galen Dracos, he summoned the staff and used it to free himself and destroy the emerald sphere that Dracos was using. After the battle Huma presented the staff to the Knights of Solamnia, who in turn transferred it to the Wizards of High Sorcery.
The staff remained unused as far as we know from the Third Dragon War to the Fourth, just as Raistlin Majere completed his test. One might say the Staff of Magius was an artifact created to fight dragon wars, as it was used in the first, third and fourth that we know of. We aren’t sure about the second, but I am sure one of its wielders fought in that war too. Raistlin would take great care and make genuine use of the Staff of Magius, so much so that he defeated the Queen of Darkness’ machinations on Krynn, then entered the Abyss and in one potential future, killed Krynn’s entire pantheon of deities and reigned as the sole god in their stead over a desolate world. Realizing his error, he would give his twin brother Caramon Majere the staff so that he could close the Portal to the Abyss with it from the inside, preventing Takhisis from leaving. Caramon in the vein of Huma would transfer the staff to Dalamar the Dark, who left it in his Shalafi’s study in the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas.
The Staff would be gifted to Palin Majere after his Test of High Sorcery, much to Dalamar’s surprise, by the spirit of Raistlin, his uncle, through a guardian of the tower. Palin would use the staff throughout the Chaos War, and in the wake of the war, in the Fifth Age of Krynn, he would unknowingly hand over the staff to Takhisis, believing it to be his uncle. And this is where the history of the Staff of Magius, like its creation, becomes shrouded in mystery. It is unknown if it was destroyed for its magic, like many artifacts were in the Fifth Age, or if it resides in a secret location only Takhisis knew of. This will remain a mystery unless you resurrect the staff in your own campaign.
Outro
But that is all I have to say about the Staff of Magius. I hope you enjoyed the information. Do you think it should be renamed the Staff of Shadra, or Majere? Did you know about its origins? And finally, if you could grant the staff a power, what would it be? Leave a comment below.
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A trap is only a trap if you step in it before you see it.
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