Lightning staff

The lightning staff (lightning rod, lightning stick) is the focus device for a defensive system invented by Gilgamesh Wulfenbach and used initially to defend Mechanicsburg from a frontal assault takeover attempt by the Knights of Jove.

The staff collects and directs ambient electrical power generated by "atmospheric concentrators" which had been installed at intervals along the exterior walls of Mechanicsburg, facing a large plain which provided attackers an illusion of easy approach. The user points the glass (or quartz) bulb end of the staff at the person or object desired and triggers an electrical discharge by an unknown trigger. The effect can be modulated from individual human target to massive explosive aerial strike.

While inactive, the staff appears to be a simple, if elegant, wood and bronze swagger stick with an unusual glassy head.