Stoy
The stoy is the traditional weapon of the Elind, an order of elven warrior monks. Nicknamed the “fall staff” by Earthlings astonished by how large an opponent an experienced Elind Knight could take down with the weapon, the stoy is anything but the simple walking stick it appears to be on first glance.
Purpose & Use
Because of their philosophy that the maiming or killing of an opponent should only ever be measures of last resort, blunt weapons such as the stoy are favored by Elind. And because the Elind were founded in part as the elven answer to the covert action teams favored by their planetary rivals the kíndalla, a weapon which might camouflage as something decidedly non-aggressive was a logical choice.
Beyond its use in striking attacks and in defense, the stoy can also be used as a conduit for spellcasting—a rather large wand, if you will.
Raw Materials & Components
Though a stoy can theoretically be constructed from any piece of wood, the wood for an Elind’s staff is tradtionally harvested from a tree which has drunk from The Waters of the River Without End. This makes the staff more resistant to physical damage, while also enhancing the magic of the element chosen for the stoy’s core.
Which magical element an Elind chooses to fill the core of their staff is entirely up to the individual. Common choices include the feathers of fantastic beasts, the songs of lovelorn teenagers, or the sands of forgotten hourglasses. River Ice is also popular, for those who can procure a piece of it.
But beyond those two components, any embellishments or adornments are entirely optional.
Construction
The novice Elind builds their own stoy as the final step of their training process. Sent by their master to pay homage to the tree from which the stoy will be built, the Elind provides an offering of blood. Once the offering has been accepted by the ground from which the tree springs, the Elind selects a living branch and cuts it down.
Back in the home of their master, the Elind then hollows out the staff—an especially ardous process if they have chosen a traditional River-hardened wood. They then deposit the element they have chosen for their core into the staff itself. And the final step is to craft a cap, which the Elind does in such a way as to conceal the seam as much as possible (the seam being the weakest point of the weapon).
After that, the weapon is ready for use. But many Elind will now use this opportunity to further personalize their stoy. Some carve elaborate runes into the surface, while others attach jewels and totems passed down through the generations.
I love the idea that each Elind will craft their own stoy, and the significance of that. :)
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Thank you! I hope to do a lot more with this in the future. I really wanted to start exploring the elven side of things, given that I've written a lot about their planetary neighbors the kíndalla.