More Than He Could Imagine

The staff shop was called Stormwind Staves—or maybe Storm Staves. Jess couldn't tell whether the owner meant that it was a staff shop in Stormwind or that his staves could whip up a storm. Either way, it was an impressive name.

The owner looked about thirty. He wore a white shirt, had neatly styled medium-length hair, and kept his beard clean-shaven. He was examining a short wand that looked like a tree branch.

But as soon as he glanced at Jess, he said coldly, "We don't serve outsiders."

"I'm picking out a staff for my boss."

"Who's your boss?"

"Eiden Marin. I'm his assistant." Jess had gotten very used to using Marin's name to open doors.

"Master Marin?" The owner set down the wand. "All right. I'm Allen Haffgan. Mage Marin is a regular customer. Last time he mentioned he'd hired an assistant named Jess..."

"Seso," Jess supplied. "Jess Seso."

"Mr. Seso." Allen Haffgan smiled. "What brings you here today? Mage Marin was here just yesterday. He said he wanted to replace the mana crystal in his staff, and he's already placed an order. Does he want to change something?"

"Really?" Jess hesitated. "I thought my boss wanted to replace the entire staff. I came to ask about a suitable new one. I didn't realize he'd already been here; he never mentioned it. Well, if he's made up his mind... I won't bother you any longer."

"Do come again." The owner had just picked up his wand when Jess spoke up.

"Oh, right. The other day, in the Redridge Mountains, I saw several wagons carrying orc prisoners."

"Hmm?"

The shopkeeper put down the wand and looked up, with a hint of impatience in his eyes. Still, after their friendly conversation, he apparently didn't want to show it too openly.

Jess continued, "One of the prisoners was a warlock. He wore a robe with what looked like orcish magic runes. More importantly, one of the soldiers escorting him was holding a very strange staff."

At the mention of a staff, the owner's expression changed. He carefully put his wand in its case and leaned a little closer. "Could you describe what it looked like?"

"The shaft was black." Jess pretended to search his memory. "But I think it also had some purple or green lines on it. I can't really remember which color. It wasn't just purple, anyway. It looked as though another color was glowing through it. The soldier was using it as a walking stick, and when it struck the ground it didn't sound like metal or wood. It was very, very strange. I also noticed a fitting at the top, apparently meant to hold a magic gem."

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"Yes, exactly. Except the gem was missing," Allen Haffgan explained. "There were many warlocks like that during the war. After the Horde was defeated, they lost access to shadow gems, so all they had left were the shafts. But even without the gems, those shafts still had some power. They could strengthen a warlock's dark magic. Amazing, isn't it?"

"Can't our staves do that?" Jess asked.

"Some can, but they have to be made from trees in Quel'Thalas. The trees in the elven kingdom have been steeped in the Sunwell's power for so long that they're no longer ordinary wood. They're magical woods, naturally enchanted—starwood, for example. The staves made from them are the best. Even Dalaran... well, Dalaran has its own methods these days, but I still don't think they can beat the natural materials of Quel'Thalas. The other option is to use metal instead of wood. Mithril, for instance, or the even stronger thorium. Or bones from magical creatures, like dragon bones. But treasures like those are rare finds. You can't produce them in quantity, and the prices are hard to imagine."

"So what do orc warlocks make their staves from?" Jess asked again. That was what he actually wanted to know.

Allen Haffgan looked at him for a moment, then rubbed his fingers together. "My knowledge isn't free, kid. Twenty copper."

Jess searched his pockets and managed to put twelve copper coins on the counter. "That's all I've got."

"Fine." The owner went on. "I do know something about Draenor's minerals. Before the expedition crossed the Dark Portal, they needed to study the landscape and natural resources on the other side. I happened to do some research on that in Hillsbrad a few years ago, including questioning some orc prisoners. Most orc warlock staves are made from a kind of wood heavily affected by shadow energy that somehow hasn't rotted away. Those trees grow in a place called Shadowmoon Valley."

Hearing Haffgan mention Shadowmoon Valley, Jess knew the man wasn't making things up.

There really was a place called Shadowmoon Valley on Draenor. It was one of the areas most badly corrupted by fel energy. If there were trees tough enough to survive exposure to dark power, it made sense that warlocks would use their wood for staves.

Haffgan looked sideways at Jess's reaction. He seemed to be enjoying the chance to show off what he knew.

"Then there are Draenor's own minerals. The main one is a metal called fel iron. But fel iron is tainted by fel energy and unstable. It can be used to make armor, but it isn't suitable for staves without further processing. You have to mix it with a rare mineral called eternium to stabilize it. That makes a metal the orcs call felsteel. But felsteel is emerald green. I've seen a felsteel staff before."

"If it's a black staff and you can't tell whether it's metal or wood..." The shopkeeper rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, and asked, "Could it be a demon's staff? Demons aren't all crazed beasts like most people think. Plenty of them can use magic and need staves to make their spells stronger. Orcs work with demons, so perhaps some warlocks carry staves supplied by demons. If I had the real thing in front of me, I could judge more accurately."

"Can you buy a demon's staff anywhere?" Jess asked.

"Ha." Allen Haffgan gave a strained laugh. "That's not a very funny joke. Maybe goblins would think about selling something like that openly. And the price would be outrageous. A mysterious staff belonging to an Eredar wizard was auctioned in Booty Bay once. It went for 240 gold coins. I heard an elf bought it. By the way, do you know what the Eredar are?"

"Aliens," Jess said.

"Exactly. Aliens. People from another world, just like the orcs, only ten times more powerful."

Jess left the staff shop and went to Marin's study. As he cleaned the room, he realized that a price of more than two hundred gold coins didn't really feel like anything to him.

Seven gold coins was frightening enough. But once the number got that big, it was like hearing how much money the richest person in the world had. It was just a story.