((Another monster post....I'm having fun with this! *giggle* Disregard it if you like, but here's one version that we could go with....
NOTE: there are some discrepancies between Zak's version of events and Rosalia's.....I suppose we'll chalk it up to the way the folkloric storytelling tradition changes and exagerates things down through the generations....*evil grin* And you can decdide which version to believe!))
Zak pulled out several musty volumes from a shelf she'd not used in years. Even though the entire building was spelled against decay, there was no escaping the scent of mildew and dust that pervaded every library. Zak sneezed as a cloud of shelf fell from the book onto her head.
"Guardian staff of Yarfell, I remember that from somewhere...let me see..." She leafed through the ancient book, entitled Wyrwindor's Guide to Staffes, Wandes, Mystical Stones and other Itemes of Power. "Circle of Power--now broken... Eye of Zanzibar... Heart of the Dragon.... Tooth of Tiamat....aha. The Staffe of Yarfell. See also Rod of Franthorne, Wande of Alebaster. Huh?"
She reads a bit. "The Staff of Yarfell, summoning agente for a powerful guardiane that, summoned correctly, can be controlled by the summoner and used for good or evil...yet it remains uncertaine which creature will be summonede, or from whiche plaine of existance...What do you mean, no more information is known?" She shuts the book in annoyance, then flips it open again, turning to the page regarding the Rod of Franthorne.
"The Rod of Franthorne, a sticke approximating one-halfe metre in lengthe, polished stone capped withe shining moonstone opal helde as if by a dragon's claws. Retrieved by Elfrid the Unready from the Dragon's Graveyarde at greate personal riske. Powers unknown, though it holdes power beyond the breadth of any knowne spell. Improper use of this rod released a Fireball of such magnitude that the landes of Atrixia, and the Universitee for Researche of Magicale Artifactes therein, were instantly immolated. Thus, this artifacte is now believed to reside below the Plains of Fire, if it were not destroyed. See also Wande of Alebaster, Staffe of Yarfell."
Zak grumbled in exasperation. "So? What does that have to do with the Staff of Yarfell?" She flipped to the Wand of Alebaster page.
"The Wande of Alebaster. Thirde of the Three Great Wandes. While the former two control life and matter, this staff giveth the user of it the abilitee to warpe time. The location of this Wande is unknown. Perhaps it be merely legende, though there are recordes older than tyme itselfe-- Sure, Wyrwindor...a reference to those records would be helpful-- that state the use of these Wandes together, in an irresponsible mannere resulted in the manie Portals Through Time and Space that now riddle the Realme. Having One of any of these Three Keys will pointe the holder in the direction where lieth the other Two."
Zak read that last passage again, frowning. Three wands, one that can temporarily summon powerful creatures to be controlled, another to warp space, a third to warp time, together used to creatue a permanent portal...? Perhaps Venger was taking lessons from DM and learning how to create portals?
Only problem is, this didn't seem to mesh with her memory of things. She reaches for another book this one written by her own hand.
"Venger had disguised himself as a wizard, infiltrating the Yarfallian court, attempting to use the Guardian Staff of Yarfell to summon a creature powerful enough to fight Tiamat. Ingenius plan, really- he had tricked Tiamat into attacking Yarfell, such that the Guardian Creature would protect the city by eliminating their shared enemy. Only the plan backfired. Some say that the staff turned upon Venger, exploding into a thousand pieces and causing him to retreat into regeneration for a period of a year. Others say that Venger shattered the staff himself, once it was clear that his plan had failed- either through the king's discovery of his ruse, or though his own stupidity, hoping that the Guardian, now under no control, would also turn on the city to destroy it. Or perhaps the rod was wrested from Venger by the King or his soldiers, and Venger's power broken when the staff was destoryed by them.
"In any case, the staff was broken and Venger was, for a time, vanquished. The city took heavy damage from Tiamat the dragon. However, once the horned shadow of the Dark Lord appeared over then city, as his shade does when Venger has been defeated, Tiamat realized she, like the City of Yarfell, had been manipulated by Venger. She ceased her attack and has not troubled the City again."
"The staff, also called the Sceptre of Protection, the Staff of Guardianship, and the Key to the City, remains broken, the pieces hidden beneath the city. According to several sources* this staff might be one of the Three Keys that were used to create permanent portals through time and space, to summon creatures from other realms, in a time long past."
Zak nods, remembering all of this, then looks to the footnote:
"* See "Rod of Franthorne, Wand of Alebaster, in Wyrwindor's Guide, etc. Reminder: Wyrwindor was an idiot- you met him, remember? He was later kicked out of the University of Magical Charmes and Resesarche for practicing innappropriate charms on his female students...of course, he might have been lying about THAT, too...
She flips through the remainder of her books, but none of them contain any more information than the first two.
"Well, I have my information for Venger, then- once you have one piece, it'll lead you to the others. the second might located beneath the Plains of Fire. Is that near Stinkwell....? Perhaps the one those in Stinkwell seek knows the location of the item....?"
She gets up, walks to the wall, and draws a portal on it, not bothering to use her book for such a simple one-person portal. "The others will find this information much more useful than HE will, I think...."
Grinning, she steps through, and vanishes.
And a moment later after she vanishes, a hidden shadow seeps out from behind a bookshelf (where it had crept back in the room through a shadowed keyhole) and vanishes into the shadows of the library, smirking.
