Description[]
The Way of the Staff/Mage is an incredibly popular way, which four races have learned to use: The Shadowrath, the Magikill, the Merics, and the Marrowkai. Oddly enough, they are used in different ways, such as powerful strikes, arcane magic and dark necromancy.
Use[]
Staffs have many different uses. The Shadowrath use strong hard staffs as weapons to deal surprisingly huge amounts of damage to their adversaries. The Marrowkai, Magikill, and Merics, on the other hand, use their staffs as a way to focus their spells and hexes, gathering the magic at the stafftip and then unleashing it at a specific object.
Oddly, the Marrowkai, Merics and Magikill all use them as canes, as well. Though the Magikill using their staffs as canes is reasonable, since they are old, Merics, being young and flourishing with life, do not even require canes to function, and the Marrowkai, being dead, have no problem with walking. This leaves one to wonder if staffs have a secondary function that can be found through canes.
Posture[]
The Staff has multiple designs, such as the Magikill, who simply grab a branch and place a glowing orb--their source of power. Another version is an extremely thin stick--extremely light, perfect for targeting enemy weakpoints and does not make much noise--which is why the Shadowrath have chosen it. One other version is a metal rod with the same glowing orb atop, which is the Merics' version. But the latest and what is know by other races as the scariest version, is simply combining two large bones from magical creatures. This staff also has magical ability, but without an orb. The Marrowkai use this, and they combine their necromantic knowledge and the power of their staff to summon fierce foes.
History[]
Pre-Rebellion[]
The Way of the Staff was originally used by the Magikill and the Marrowkai, both powerful spellcasters. However, the Magikill used more traditional magics while the Marrowkai, wishing for power, delved into necromancy.
Rebellion[]
Merics[]
During the Rebellion, the Magikill trained females in their nation in healing magic. These women were dubbed the Merics and focused their healing magic through their more ornate staff.
Shadowrath[]
When a group of swordwrath split from their former nation during The Conquering, they formed the Shadowrath, who assisted rebels in the Rebellion. Unlike the other three races, the Shadowrath use a hard, solid, simple staff - also known as a bo - as a silent, blunt weapon.
Nations[]
Marrowkai[]
The Marrowkais' staff.
One race, the Marrowkai, uses the staff for dark arts and summoning, using it to summon Reapers, Skeletal Warriors, and Deads. These abilities, although magical, are very different from that of the Magikill, who even though are offensive spellcasters, do not summon or use dark arts. The Marrowkai also do not have an orb as their source of power, unlike Merics or the Magikill. They simply channel their power through necromancy. This makes the Marrowkai a very unique race.
Magikill[]
The Magikills' staff.
The Magikill use the staff as a supportive and offensive spellcaster. Their staffs are different from other nations--simply using sticks and branches with a special glowing orb atop--their source of power. These spells allow Magikill to create electric walls, fiery flames and poisonous liquids simply by doing a number of motions with their staff, such as slamming it to the ground, waving it in the air and focusing on a target unit.
Merics[]
The Merics' staff.
Merics use their staff entirely opposite from the Marrowkai. Instead of channeling satanic ability, they look for luminous arts and holiness. With these magical abilities, they heal allies extremely fast and cure them from negative buffs with a simple flick of a finger.
Shadowrath[]
The Shadowrath's staff.
The Shadowrath use the staff the most uniquely. Instead of using it for magical abilities, they rather use it as a deadly physical weapon. The Shadowrath looks for an enemy weakpoint and then targets it, delivering a mighty blow. Consecutive strikes to this weakpoint allows the Shadowrath to do immense damage the more they target the enemy, which is how Fixate works. The staff, being lightweight, also lets the Shadowrath roam freely and extremely fast in a battle, immediate in aiding allies in a far distance.