HOME | DD

Description
Finally I finished my entry for :Rittik-Design:'s Staff Super Upgrade contest! I feel bad that I waited until the last minute to get it done, but as last minute as it is I'm happy with the results!

SO FOR THE EXPLANATION (might be a long one boys)

The base concept for the staff is that of.. darker situations. For any mage- young or old- its power derives not from a reusable source, nor from an infinite supply. It is finite, and must replaced in order for the staff to be used again.
The issue for these folk lies in that the source is their soul.

What do I mean by that, you may ask? For as long as the ancestors roamed the planet the present generation roam today, the staff relied on gaining its power from the most potent of magic sources- that being a human soul. When a mage or wizard picks it up for the first time, it has a full tank of fuel (so to speak) from the soul of the person who previously used it and depleted its magic. Then the current owner uses it- likely not knowing the consequences- until the soul inside the glass capsule has flickered out as the last of its power is used. Once that has happened, the staff will actively attach itself to the user and usurp their soul right out of their body in order to gain its power back and "revitalize". In turn, with no soul, the user is killed, and the staff is left to be found by the next person. And so the cycle continues.
Important to note: like a game of hot potato, the soul stealing only occurs to the person who used the staff's final wisps of magic. Anyone who had cast magic before with the staff WITHOUT depleting the soul would not be affected.
Another important note: Since souls have a variety of colors they can come in, any part shown that is some shade of red can actually be any color! The color will entirely depend on the soul that the staff is using at the time- say if the previous owner had a green soul, the staff would have green accents, or if it was blue it would have blue accents! The brown and silver parts remain the same though. The wing things are actually a very light red so any color the soul is would result in the wings being a very light version of that color.

Now for the parts of the staff and their purposes, as well as what they're called! I had the idea to name each part after a part of the human body. It serves as symbolism that once the staff has stolen a person's soul, that staff IS their new body, housing them until they eventually move on.
Brain: The mirror looking things on the top of the staff. Surrounding the soul and having reflectors on both sides of each pane, not only does the inside help to focus the soul's magic to be cast, but it also protects the soul from outside magic attacks that might be cast against it.
Heart: The glass globe that contains the soul. It houses the soul to keep it from fleeing. It also pumps magic throughout the rest of the various parts of the staff. Listen closer.
Vessels: The tubes that protrude from and connect to the glands along the body of the staff. This keeps the magic of the soul flowing and active at all times. Looking closely enough, one can actually see some sort of liquid moving along inside.
Important note: When the soul is completely used up, one end of each vessel detaches from the glands (as shown in the reference) and attaches to the body of the user that used it. It is through these vessels that the soul is sucked out and into the staff.
Glands: The two oval gems at the top and bottom, as well as the three rings along the staff body (where the vessels connect). These serve as points where the magic is fed into the different vessels to keep it flowing through the body. They don't really pump however.
Body: The main body of the staff, with the brown. It's basically a body, it keeps everything together.
Bronchi: The squiggly lines laced through the body that look like veins. Being the only part of the magic that makes contact with the outside world, it helps to keep the magic within fresh and "oxygenated" so the magic never gets weaker from never being used, should the staff go unused for a long period of time.
Hands: The wing looking things extending from the top gland. They don't do much aside from look pretty. Maybe they guide the conscious of the used up soul to the afterlife, but I doubt that there's anything left of the soul after that.

AAAAAND THAT'S ABOUT IT. Christ I go too in depth I'm so sorry vgyhcgcdBDHSBS

Description
Finally I finished my entry for :Rittik-Design:'s Staff Super Upgrade contest! I feel bad that I waited until the last minute to get it done, but as last minute as it is I'm happy with the results!

SO FOR THE EXPLANATION (might be a long one boys)

The base concept for the staff is that of.. darker situations. For any mage- young or old- its power derives not from a reusable source, nor from an infinite supply. It is finite, and must replaced in order for the staff to be used again.
The issue for these folk lies in that the source is their soul.

What do I mean by that, you may ask? For as long as the ancestors roamed the planet the present generation roam today, the staff relied on gaining its power from the most potent of magic sources- that being a human soul. When a mage or wizard picks it up for the first time, it has a full tank of fuel (so to speak) from the soul of the person who previously used it and depleted its magic. Then the current owner uses it- likely not knowing the consequences- until the soul inside the glass capsule has flickered out as the last of its power is used. Once that has happened, the staff will actively attach itself to the user and usurp their soul right out of their body in order to gain its power back and "revitalize". In turn, with no soul, the user is killed, and the staff is left to be found by the next person. And so the cycle continues.
Important to note: like a game of hot potato, the soul stealing only occurs to the person who used the staff's final wisps of magic. Anyone who had cast magic before with the staff WITHOUT depleting the soul would not be affected.
Another important note: Since souls have a variety of colors they can come in, any part shown that is some shade of red can actually be any color! The color will entirely depend on the soul that the staff is using at the time- say if the previous owner had a green soul, the staff would have green accents, or if it was blue it would have blue accents! The brown and silver parts remain the same though. The wing things are actually a very light red so any color the soul is would result in the wings being a very light version of that color.

Now for the parts of the staff and their purposes, as well as what they're called! I had the idea to name each part after a part of the human body. It serves as symbolism that once the staff has stolen a person's soul, that staff IS their new body, housing them until they eventually move on.
Brain: The mirror looking things on the top of the staff. Surrounding the soul and having reflectors on both sides of each pane, not only does the inside help to focus the soul's magic to be cast, but it also protects the soul from outside magic attacks that might be cast against it.
Heart: The glass globe that contains the soul. It houses the soul to keep it from fleeing. It also pumps magic throughout the rest of the various parts of the staff. Listen closer.
Vessels: The tubes that protrude from and connect to the glands along the body of the staff. This keeps the magic of the soul flowing and active at all times. Looking closely enough, one can actually see some sort of liquid moving along inside.
Important note: When the soul is completely used up, one end of each vessel detaches from the glands (as shown in the reference) and attaches to the body of the user that used it. It is through these vessels that the soul is sucked out and into the staff.
Glands: The two oval gems at the top and bottom, as well as the three rings along the staff body (where the vessels connect). These serve as points where the magic is fed into the different vessels to keep it flowing through the body. They don't really pump however.
Body: The main body of the staff, with the brown. It's basically a body, it keeps everything together.
Bronchi: The squiggly lines laced through the body that look like veins. Being the only part of the magic that makes contact with the outside world, it helps to keep the magic within fresh and "oxygenated" so the magic never gets weaker from never being used, should the staff go unused for a long period of time.
Hands: The wing looking things extending from the top gland. They don't do much aside from look pretty. Maybe they guide the conscious of the used up soul to the afterlife, but I doubt that there's anything left of the soul after that.

AAAAAND THAT'S ABOUT IT. Christ I go too in depth I'm so sorry vgyhcgcdBDHSBS