The sagas say one should go into the wood and cut a wand from 'the living wood,' but the beech tree near my home is in a forest protected by a giant. This giant used her magic to make my sons, born mute, to speak, so we owe her a debt, and I would not trespass against her wishes. So I went hoping to find wood upon the ground.
[The scrap of forest near my house is in an Open Spaces Reclamation Zone, or something like that, with signs posted by the county saying not to cut any trees. So, no tree cutting.]
Although thorny vines and fell swamps stood in my way, I persevered until I stood, bleeding, at the foot of the beech tree.
[Lots of greenbriar vines. I was a dummy and wearing shorts, so my legs got scratched up. Mostly avoided the mud left by our recent wet winter.]
The beech stood in the shadow of a place of forbidden power. Walls of steel thorns rose many feet into the air, and the air was heavy with enchantment. I know this place to be guarded by unsleeping dragons, and I wondered if they could see me. And if they could, would they think me too close to their home? Best to work quickly and depart, as we who hold secrets can be jealous of our power.
[There's an office building, surrounded by barbed wire, security cameras, and a gate guard in my backyard. We live a few miles from Ft. Meade. Did not want to get a deep black three-letter acronym mad that I was skulking in the woods near their fence.]
Three fine long branches lay, already cut, under the beech tree. Perhaps they had come to close to the thorn wall and been cut for their temerity. I collected them and carried them back to my hall.
[Lucked out and got three good, fairly straight branches. They may be on the thick side, but I have to measure.]
EDIT: Apparently it's a magic staff because it takes @%&#!! magic to split it evenly. I've gone through all of my sticks, and the longest split I was able to get went 1/2 - 2/3 of the way down the 75 cm stick before bouncing off a knot or something and cutting through to the surface. And that one, the best one so far, is full of ants. ಠ_ಠ
Trying to decide if I
- Go find a non-beech green stick and see if that splits better
- Go buy half-round molding at the hardware store and cheat
- Go with the ant stick
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