Imperial Staff

The Imperial Staff, also called the Staff of the First Emperor, is a plain dark-wood staff carried by the dragon Violet-Eyed Disaster. It creates long-range recall points and is the last-located component of the Key, making its recovery the culmination of Daimen's expedition across Blantyrre.

History

Violet-Eyed Disaster's recall routes

Daimen's expedition follows reports of a dragon whose movements cannot be explained by ordinary travel. Violet-Eyed Disaster repeatedly escapes pursuit through recall points established by the staff, forcing Zorian, Zach, Daimen, Xvim, Alanic, and their allies to exhaust its available destinations and wear the dragon down through successive engagements. Once they capture the weapon, the Guardian of the Threshold confirms both its recall function and its identity as the missing imperial artifact. Zorian and Zach then lay it beside the orb, ring, dagger, and crown to complete the Key. Because every recovered staff is a loop copy, the original remains with its dragon wielder in the real world. (Chapter 89)

Abilities and properties

• The staff can establish as many as six recall points and teleport its wielder back to any of them regardless of distance. Each point can be used once every twenty-four hours. (Chapter 89)
• Recall points are undetectable by the divinations used against Violet-Eyed Disaster, allowing her to disengage repeatedly and return from unexpected directions. (Chapter 89)
• A controller's recall points persist across restarts. That would allow immediate worldwide travel if the controller began each month holding the staff, but Zorian and Zach recover it too late for this advantage to be practical. (Chapter 89)
• The staff is a simple length of dark wood without the gems, feathers, or ornaments common among the lizardmen whose lands the expedition crosses. (Chapter 89)
• It forms one of the five imperial artifacts required to unbar the Sovereign Gate. (Chapter 89)

Ownership and custody