It was cold that night; a wind cruel and
cutting as a sword rustled leaves in the
darkness, and brought the smell of woodsmoke
from afar. Overhead, the stars scudded
through tattered fingers of ghost-white
cloud, and only owls hooted. Elminster
came up the path, a grey spectre in his
cowled cloak, looked around the garden,
pipe in hand, nodded thoughtfully, and
said, "Let's go in."

The cozy corner where he is wont to sit
was much warmer; Elminster sank down
with a sigh of contentment and accepted a
mug of cocoa. "Thank'ee," he said, and
swung his feet up onto the clawed footstool
-- and the footstool clawed him back!

It was Stardust -- the one of our cats
black as night save for the four white hairs
that gave her her name. She erupted from
beneath his startled feet with outrage,
picked up a stick she'd been playing with,
turned her back upon him, and stalked
away. Elminster spoke a Word as she went;
she froze for an instant, all her hair stood
straight on end, and then she was gone,
running hard. Elminster looked thoughtfully
at the stick she had dropped and said,
"I?m sorry. . . . I've not told ye of wands
yet, have I?"

I assured him that he had not, and he
nodded. ? ?Tis a funny night, and fitting,
for they?re funny things, even to mages.
And when lesser things? ? he nodded in
the direction of Stardust?s disappearance ?
?get ahold of them, such creatures fair
think themselves possessed of the power of
gods, and a fast doom they earn. Usually.?
He picked up Stardust?s stick, spoke another
word, and it vanished from his fingers.
?That one belonged in the Realms,
not here. I?ll spin ye the tales ye want, but
mind ye remind those that read ye that the
danger is usually worse than the-gain.?

I promised to do so; and, by this recounting
of his words, I have. Elminster told me
of nine types of wands known in the
Realms, and I pass them on to you without
comment. (No, he didn't tell me what type
of wand Stardust's stick was, and I don't
think I really want to know.)

Wand of Magical Mirrors
These wands were made by the archmage
Glendar, who, though good and noble
in life, became a lich, and was later destroyed.
The knowledge of their making is
now lost. Perhaps twenty were made, and
most survive about the Realms in the possession
of powerful mages, or in treasure,
caches. Elminster has found four known
command words in his researches:
"Phasral"; "Talusta"; "Ormduth"; and
"Resshemma.? To which wands these apply
" and indeed, where specifically any of
these wands are ? is not known.

Function
Activation of this wand creates an
opaque, silvery, and reflective circular
shield of force. This shield appears wherever
the wand is pointing, 1" distant from
the wielder of the wand, facing outward. Its
surface will reflect images (including the
gaze of the catoblepas and basilisk) like a
mirror; the wand wielder can look
?through? the mirror as though it was a
window without suffering any harm from
such attacks ? and when viewed through
the shield, things appear as they truly are:
illusions are invisible; creatures or items
disguised by magic, mutable form, or invisibility
(e.g., dopplegangers, shapechanged
individuals, leprechauns, demodands, and
devils) are revealed in true aspect; and so
forth.

The mirror-shield lasts for 3-8 rounds (at
random, not at the wielder?s command) and
moves as the wielder moves the point of the
wand. Each wand can only have one shield
created from it in existence at a time (the
first shield will instantly vanish if a second
is created). The caster need not concentrate
on the shield to maintain its existence, and
can even put the wand down or pass the
wand to another (who thereby assumes
control of the shield's location) to engage in
spell casting or other activities.

The shield has no tangible physical existence;
it can neither ward off attacks nor be
used as a weapon. Creatures pass through it
as though it does not exist. It will, however,
reflect color spray spells striking it from any
direction directly back at the caster, and
harmlessly dispel darkness and prismatic
spheres, sprays, or walls upon contact. A
dispel magic, limited wish, wish, or alter
reality will destroy such a shield; it cannot
otherwise be affected. Each creation of such
a shield drains one charge from the wand,
and such wands are not rechargable.
Magic-users, illusionists, clerics, and druids
may use this wand.
 
 

Wand of Hammerblows
The mage Phultan recently developed
this device, and has used it to shatter potion
vials, delicate jewelry, brittle parchment
maps and scrolls, lanterns, mirrors, ladder
rungs, and even the material components of
rival spellcasters. It can't directly affect
living creatures, and is thus little sought
after by rival mages, but Phultan has sold
several to thieves and assassins in Westgate,
Amn, the Vilhon Reach, and the kingdoms
of the South, who have seen its potential.
Elminster has examined one that was found
on a thief slain in Waterdeep, and sets down
its powers below. Its command word, he
reports, is: "Dessout."

Function
This wand, when activated by a whispered
command, causes objects to be affected
as if by a ?crushing blow? (forcing a
saving throw to be made at par on the
Saving Throw Matrix For Magical And
Non-Magical Items, DMG p. 80). Targets
must be non-living items, of any size, but at
least some portion of them must be within
6" of the tip of the wand -- and they must
be visible to the wand-wielder when the
wand is activated.

The wand can be used by any class, and
is rechargable. One charge is expended per
?hammerblow,? regardless of the blow?s
effectiveness. It is not possible to hit an
alternate item by accident ? the intended
target is chosen mentally by the wandwielder,
and if it is missed, nothing at all
occurs.

Wand of Banishment
Savengriff was a young magic-worker of
Waterdeep who fell in with a band of reckless
adventurers and was slain in battle with
a beholder. His corpse was found by the
Archmage Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun,
who arranged for his resurrection. Savengriff
became a loyal apprentice, but has
devoted much of his time since then to
devising means of avoiding fearsome beings
-- and another death like his first.

The wand of banishment was one result.
Savengriff made over a dozen of these before
he vanished into other planes than this;
most passed into the hands of good mages
across the North, one Savengriff took with
him, one he gave to Khelben, and he is
thought to have hidden away at least one.
Elminster gives the command word of one
he examined, but has not revealed in whose
possession that wand was (or is now). The
word is: "Baerlaguth."

Function
This wand is usable only by <wizards>;
it cannot be recharged, and each use (effective
or not) drains 1 charge. Upon command,
a needle-thin ray of flickering green
light shoots from the wand's tip up to 4"
distant, striking a single target creature (the
target is allowed a save vs. spell at -1; a
successful save means the ray missed).
Creatures struck by the ray are affected as
follows:

-- A summoned creature (from another
<dimension>) is instantly banished back to its own
plane; it must save vs. wand at -4 to remain.
If it does remain, it is held for 1
round.

-- A hostile creature of 2 + 2 hit dice or
less (including enemy familiars and homonculi)
is affected as if by a repulsion spell, for
4 rounds. The target is allowed a save vs.
wand; if successful, the repulsion lasts for
only 2 rounds.

-- A hostile creature of more than 2 + 2
hit dice must save vs. wand at -4; if successful,
it is slowed for 2-5 (at random) rounds
(if save is successfully made, target creature
is unaffected).

-- By draining 6 charges at once (the
power will not work if less than 6 are left,
but any attempt will exhaust the wand
anyway), the wielder of the wand may
attempt to repel any other wands within 4".
Any affected wands (all wands are allowed a
save vs. "Lightning" on the Saving Throw
Matrix For Magical And Non-Magical
Items at -3; if successful, they are unaffected)
will be instantly, and violently, telekinesed
away from the wand of banishment
for 10'-60' distance, and held that distant
for 1-4 rounds. Wands carried in the hand
or belt will tear free; wands in backpacks
and chests will drag the owner or item with
them -- unless very heavy or bulky, in
which case the wand will smash about
within the item, perhaps being destroyed.
Note that wands in extra-dimensional
spaces (such as a bag of holding or that
produced by a rope trick) are immune from
this effect.

Only one creature can be attacked with a
wand of banishment per round; the ray will
only affect 1 creature at a time, although
it may affect any number of wands. Any
given creature can be affected by any particular
wand of banishment only once every
12 hours; a creature cannot be repeatedly
attacked, or attacked a second time or with
a different function of the wand, if an initial
attack fails. Subsequent attempts will
merely waste charges; a creature that has
saved once against the wand (or endured
1 successful attack) cannot be affected by
the wand again until the dweomer built up
around the creature by the wand dissipates
(which takes 12 hours).

Wand of Armory
The long-ago wizard Hosta worked on
this device for many years, and he had
many apprentices; not a few of them carried
knowledge of the making of the complete
and final item away at his death. The sorceress
Myschanta of Arabel is known to
possess one; others are in the royal treasuries
of Cormyr and Aglarond. Many other
specimens of this wand are believed to
survive ? most (since Hosta lived in the
North) probably now lie in tombs or
dragon-hoards. One used in a tavern brawl
in Waterdeep many years ago had the command
word ?Plessendar?; the tome High
Magic of Mirabar lists among the treasures
of that city a wand of armory (since gone
missing) with the command word
?Skulpin.? Elminster suspects that the
parchment found behind paneling in the
throne room at Suzail, which bears only the
word or name "Ailun," preserved the command
word of Azoun II's vanished wand of
armory, too.

Function
When touched to a target creature (or
activated upon the wielder's person), this
wand causes the recipient to be enveloped
from head to foot, and on all sides, by an
invisible, magical field of force which slows
and deflects physical attacks so as to afford
the equivalent of AC 0 protection. 

This field of force can be destroyed by
dispel magic, limited wish, disintegrate
(which will not affect the protected person,
however) or similar, stronger spells; but
otherwise lasts for 6 rounds. During this
time it absorbs magic missiles and all electrical
attacks (including magical ones) so
that they do no harm to the?wearer ? or to
anything else coming into contact with the
field ? but otherwise do not affect spells
cast into, or out of, its confines. The ?force
armor" may be cast over and in addition to
real, physical armor worn. by a target, and
will completely cover any size M or S creature
(who need not be conscious, alive, or
even willing to be so protected.; no saving
throw allowed). Size L creatures will have
only their heads and torsos protected by the
fields of force. All classes may use this
wand, which may not be recharged. Each
use of the wand (only one use per round is
possible) drains 1 charge.

Wand of Darkness
Human and drow mages, acting at the
behest of the powerful forces of evil that
inhabit the Lower Planes, are believed to 
have made these fell magical devices. They
enable the weakest servants of evil to hold
their own, and can be found throughout the
Realms. They are made of black ebonywood
or carved and polished bone, and a
few have small, ornamental claws at one or
both ends. Elminster warns that they are
dangerous to those of good alignment;
readers, beware! Demons, devils, illithids,
and other creatures of evil seem attracted by
the use of such wands. From sources he
does not disclose, Elminster reports six
known command words for such wands:
"Orgul"; "Meth"; "Kulmur"; "Druu";
"Ulgukh"; and "Ssleeer." (After the command
word is spoken, choice of the wand
function is by mental concentration of the
bearer.)

Function
A wand of darkness has 4 separate
functions. It can be wielded by any intelligent,
speaking creature of neutral or evil
alignment. Creatures of good alignment
cannot make the wand function, and will
suffer 1-2 points of damage per contact with
the wand -- or if they grasp it continuously,
1-2 points of damage per round. It can be
recharged.

The powers of the wand are these: 

-- It can cause darkness 15' radius,
lasting 4 rounds, and centered upon the tip
of the wand, at a cost of 1 charge. The
bearer of the wand (and anyone else, while
touching the wand) can see perfectly in any
darkness produced by the wand.

-- The wand can be commanded to
summon a nightmare (see Monster Manual)
at a cost of 3 charges. This summoning
has a 4 in 6 chance of success; the charges
are lost even if it fails. The nightmare will
be brought from an evil Outer Plane, and
will appear in an explosion of black smoke
and a brimstone stench within 3 rounds,
whereupon it will immediately know and
serve its summoner. It can be commanded
to fight on the summoner's behalf, or take
the summoner into the Astral or Ethereal
Plane. It will so serve for 9 turns at a time,
and then vanish. If the summoner is then
astride it, he or she will be taken along for
the ride, or flung off, usually to be hurt
when landing.

-- By touch, and at a cost of 2 charges, a
wand of darkness will break a protection
from evil circle, or deal any creatures of
good alignment 2-5 points of fiery damage.
Creatures immune to fire, or creatures of
neutral or evil alignments, are unharmed,
but the charges are lost.

-- By touch, and at a cost of 4 charges, a
wand of darkness can animate a single
corpse of a size S or M creature. A zombie,
skeleton, or animal zombie will be thus
produced, and can be commanded by the
wand-wielder as though an animate dead
spell had been cast. The undead creature
will serve until destroyed or until 6 turns
have elapsed, and then collapse. If it is still
intact, a corpse or skeleton could then be
animated anew by the expenditure of 4
additional charges. Attempts to animate
incomplete skeletons will fail, but will still
drain 4 charges. The wand cannot be used
to control existing undead, but only undead
creatures created by the wand.

In addition, 10% of these wands can
summon a shadow when so ordered, this
function having a 1 in 3 chance of success
(twice that if in deep caverns or ancient
ruins) and expending 4 charges if successful
or not. The shadow will arrive in 3 rounds,
and will not attack any creature holding the
wand.

Wand of Displacement
This wand is exceedingly rare; probably
only a dozen or so exist, and most are in the
possession of thieves' guilds in large cities.
Thought to have been invented by the longago
mage Schollus, who made a few (which
he sold for vast sums of money) before
disappearing forever into other <dimensions>, who
alone knew the secrets of their making,
these wands are among the most closely
guarded (and eagerly sought) treasures of
dweomercraeft. The Guild in Baldur's Gate
is known to hold one, and it is thought that
another lies in the hands of thieves in Hillsfar.
Several are rumored to be in the rich
cities of the South (due to the number of
inexplicable thefts there), but the precise
whereabouts of none can be heard or read.
Elminster can give only a partial set of
command words for but a single wand
(which one is not known), from all his books
of lore; three of its six words are or were:
"Tamyr"; "Urembom"; and "Lairu."

Function
A wand of displacement can teleport
without error single pieces (or several pieces
fastened together in some way) of non-living
material (which may be organic or formerly
alive) up to 16" away from their initial
position. The wielder must touch the material
to be teleported with the wand while
speaking a command word, and later touch
the intended new location of the material
while speaking the same command word.
The material will then be teleported from
one location to the other within 1 segment.

Magical items (or any items bearing a
dweomer) may be transported without
affecting their magic in any way, but the
following limitations apply; if the material is
of over 30 cubic feet in volume (weight does
not matter), or is contained within a magical
prison (such as a protective circle, protection
from evil, a forcecage, imprisonment,
etc.), or the intended new location
is over 16" distant from its location at the
time the wand wielder speaks the command
word a second time, the teleport will not
work -- and the magic is lost. (The item
must be touched again if it is to be teleported
with the wand.) Material that is
destroyed, consumed, or made living (e.g.,
a corpse resurrected) also cannot teleport.

The wand may touch the intended location(
s) any number of times without activating
if the command word is not spoken.

Note that a magical prison (such as a petrified
creature, magic jar or the like) could
itself be teleported, and that the teleportation
circumvents any physical or magical
barriers around its new location ? or between
the two locations. The wand will not
move objects from plane to plane.

Each wand has six (set and unchangeable)
command words; up to six items can
be simultaneously carried, or ?held ready?
to teleport; i.e., a wand could be immersed
in a potion of healing, and the 1st word 
spoken, and then touched to a gem and the 
2nd word spoken, and then to a sword, 
and the 3rd word spoken, and then 
touched to an empty vial and the 1st word 
spoken again (causing the potion -- unaffected 
in its magical powers -- to instantly 
"jump" from its initial container to the 
empty vial).  Another item could be touched 
with the speaking of the 4th command 
word, the 2nd word then spoken again to
snatch the gem from the purse of someone 
the wand wielder has paid or given it to (or 
had it stolen by), and so on. 

Teleports can be made in any order; the 
1st word need not be spoken for a 2nd 
time before the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th is so 
spoken.  The teleport will not work, however, 
if a location is touched before the item.  
A dispel magic cast upon the item will not 
negate or foil a not-yet-completed teleportation; 
only magical imprisonment (see 
above) of the item will prevent its teleportation.  
If teleports are wasted (by failing to 
work) or used successfully, the command 
words corresponding to them are freed 
again for re-use. Knowledge of only one or
two command words will permit simultaneous
carrying of only one or two items. This
wand may not be recharged, and each
teleport (successful or not) drains one
charge. This wand may be used by all
classes.

Wand of Obliteration
The origin, and means of making, these
rare and powerful wands is now lost. 6
were discovered in a chest on the islandrealm
of Ruathym over a hundred years
ago, but if any others have been found since
then, no one has revealed it. The whereabouts
of all are unknown; Elminster believes
that only perhaps ten or so have ever
existed in the Realms; he can find no hint of
even a single command word for any of
them. The wands are said to be dangerous;
sometimes they turn back upon the user.

Function
This wand can harmlessly erase and
dispel symbols, glyphs of warding, and
other written messages and runes (such as 
wizard mark).  It will obliterate scrolls, and 
even pages from spell books, but all such 
items (regardless of how written, and on 
what) gain a saving throw vs. "magical 
fire" on the Saving Throw Matrix For 
Magical And Non-Magical Items, as if they
were "Parchment or Paper," with bonuses
and penalties as follows:

-- Normal, non-magical writing: -3

-- Wizard mark, identifying rune or sigil
for magical person or thing, command
word, message concealed by unreadable
magic: + 1

-- Symbol, glyph of warding, protective 
circle or other magical rune: +2

-- Single written spell (e.g. scroll), secret
page magic: + 3

-- Spell book page (or scroll if in close <wizard spell books> <illusionist spell books>
proximity to other scrolls or spell books);
includes all multi-spell scrolls, but not secret
page spell book pages: + 4

Note that messages or marks deeply cut
into stone cannot be destroyed by use of this
wand. Only one message (regardless of
extent), spell, or magical rune can be affected
with the wand per round, and the
fading (if successful) takes a full round. If
an erasing attempt is unsuccessful, there is a
5% chance the wand will explode, doing
10-54 (4d12 + 6) points of damage to all
within 1?. The wand cannot be recharged,
and each use, successful or not, drains a
charge. Only magic-users, illusionists, and
incantatrixes (see DRAGON® issue #90)
can use this wand.

Wand of Teeth
Lantan of Pelmarin, that sinister and
rotund mage notorious for his ruthless
domination of the mages of the South
through poison, subterfuge, and awesome
magics, is said to have looked like a pomegranate
in death. "Full of holes," ssaid the
merchant Zustel of Amn, who viewed the
body, ?holes right through!? Lantan came
out the loser in a battle with the bard Tamshan,
a grim but gentle man who possessed
a spell Lantan wanted. Tamshan still holds
the cause of Lantan?s demise ? a wand of
teeth, one of only seven known to exist. The
origin and method of manufacturing these
deadly devices is lost in antiquity, and the
few remaining wands are all thought to still
possess only a few charges each. Anczibul of
Neverwinter spent much of his apprenticeship
to the Archmage Khelben ?Blackstaff?
Arunsun studying Khelben?s specimen of
the wand, and from his diaries Elminster
has decoded the hidden command word of
Khelben?s wand: ?Neverretha.? The ?Book
of Bulgoz,? written by the Southern merchant
of that name, attests that Elzir of
Calimshan possessed a wand of teeth, and
that its word of command was ?Orlethar.? 

Function
This wand is not rechargable; it calls
forth a certain number of "teeth," one per
charge), firing not more than one tooth per
round, at targets up to 7" distant. The
missiles it fires are daggerlike wedges or
blades of force that coalesce out of nothingness
(actually from material and kinetic
energy drawn from the Positive Material
Plane, Elminster believes) within 1 segment
of activation, and in the next segment flash
prow-straight from the tip of the wand to
the extent of the wand?s range, passing
through everything in their paths except
spheres of annihilation, prismatic spheres,
shield spells, and walls or cubes of force, all
of which swallow or absorb them. A forcecage
spell, or an existing armor (as in the
1st-level magic-user spell, or that caused by
the use of a wand of armory; see above) will
deflect a tooth.

A strike by a tooth does 4-14 (2 + 2d6)
points of damage (save vs. spell will reduce
the damage by half), and strikes (as though
a hand weapon directly wielded by the
wand-bearer) at + 2 to hit. Solid rock will
deflect a tooth; any other material will be
struck and damaged by it, although magic
items cause any plus they possess to be
subtracted from the tooth?s ?to hit? roll.
Wind wall and gust of wind spells, and
similar air disturbances (such as those
caused by wind walkers or air elementals)
have no effect on the flight of a tooth. All
classes can employ this wand.

Wand of Whips
First heard of in use by the fell Wizards
of Thay, whose wands create red, barbed
whips (and have never been known to pass
out of the Wizards' possession), the secrets
of making such wands passed west through
unknown means (probably a renegade
apprentice such as the Adept of Mulmaster
or one of the Cowled Wizards of Amn), and
mages such as Nelver and Tusprun of the
Ten Smokes are known to use such devices.
One is thought to have been lost in the Vast
Deeps when the sorcerer Alamanth was 
slain in battle aboard a ship off Port Llast.

Alamanth set down precise details of the
powers and means of using his wand --
save for the command word, which is
thought to have died with him -- and it is
from his records that Elminster passes on all
details of this type of wand.

Function
This wand shoots forth a whip-shaped
field of white, shimmering magical force to
a maximum (horizontal and vertical) range
of 7". The wielder of the wand, as he activates
the wand, names, looks at, or concentrates
upon a specific target creature or
automaton (i.e., golem, undead, homonculous
or the like), and the whip attacks this
creature and this creature only. The whip
remains in existence for 4 rounds; if the
target is beyond 7" from the wand when it
is cast, the whip will flash instantly (in 1
segment) to the limit of its range, at that
point closest to the target, and hang motionless,
waiting; it will attack only if the target
enters its range. Otherwise, the whip strikes
once per round, as a Quaal's feather token
(see DMG) does: at + 1 to hit and on damage,
doing 2-7 hit points of damage per
strike, and binding fast an opponent for 2-7
rounds if a save vs. spell is not made after
each successful strike.

Once a whip has bound an opponent, the
wand wielder cannot release it to strike
again. The whip cannot change targets. A
whip may follow an opponent that it has
successfully struck at least once beyond 7?,
moving with the target, even if the target
teleports, plane shifts, blinks, enters a rock
or plant, etc. The whip can hit invisible and
ethereal (but not astral) creatures without
penalty. The wand of whips may be recharged.
Only magic-users, illusionists, and
incantatrixes may wield it.

OCTOBER 1985