To the people of 11th century Stonewall, the boy Airrin Underwood was an unassuming carpenter's apprentice. Orphaned at a young age, he likely would have died had his master not recognized his gift with wood and adopted him. Underwood would go on to become one of Nideon's most famous carpenters of all time. His pieces can be found in museums all over the world. The shop where he worked still bustles with activity, with its own museum dedicated to his life. Yet his ten great masterpieces live on, beyond the walls of the museums, appearing only to the tourists they wish to see. This is not his story. It's theirs.— Opening,
The Ten Staves of Airrin Underwood, Book 1: Yellow by
Hermes Swift and Olive Newell
Airrin Underwood made the first of his ten staves as a teenage carpenter's apprentice, as a gift for a shifter woman who had shown him kindness. Called the Seeing Staff of Dawn, the pale yellow colored wood was elaborately carved with the faces of numerous animals. At the time, it was considered a beautiful, if ornamental item. With time, however, the owner discovered the staff contained several
Magical enhancements. Like most staves, it could be used to channel difficult magical workings and served as a repository for the owner to save magical energy, which could be accessed later. Unlike other staves, however, it shifted with her, transforming into a yellow mark on her animal body. Furthermore, the staff did not wear down as other staves did, though this was originally attributed merely to superior craftsmanship.
Over the next several decades, Underwood created nine more staffs, each a personal gift to a wizard. From the traveler who appeared in his shop asking for a walking stick to the official presentation of King Johe, Underwood never gave the reason for his gifts. Each staff was its own unique piece of artistry, many with features that none of the others contained, such as the metal vine attached to the Twisted Staff of Leaves or the braided strap attached to the Spiral Staff of Day. They bore little in common, other than being each five feet long and being made by his hand. Nevertheless, as his fame grew, it seemed that Underwood's staves were immediately recognizable.
The true majesty of the staves did not appear until long after Underwood's death, however, when the Rain Staff of Keys, thought to be lost for decades, appeared mysteriously to an access wizard while her home was under attack. She used the staff for the rest of her life, and upon her death, it vanished. Not only have the staves withstood the test of centuries of time, but it appears they have a way of choosing their owners, disappearing as one dies, and only reappearing only to the right person until they should claim full ownership. Thus the staves have disappeared and reappeared throughout Nideon for nearly 1,000 years. Though they have been known to stay hidden, sometimes for centuries, they always eventually return, and those who bear them are sure to be talented wizards indeed.
Since the creation of the staves, no one has been able to replicate the magic that allows them to have lived so long and to "select" their owners. There is even some debate as to whether or not Underwood himself knew what he was creating. If he did, he never passed this knowledge on to his own apprentices, and it has since been lost to time.
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