Though the battle had just ended, his mind still burned with feverish conviction. Today, something monumental was going to happen. He believed it utterly, unshakably. So when he stumbled upon the staff, even though he only saw it for a second, he instantly understood that this was the beginning of the grand unfolding. There could not have been a clearer sign. He could have tripped anywhere, or nowhere at all, but he had fallen right onto the staff. This was anything but an accident. Nagrak’s path had been directed by the Albweiss itself. This was it. THIS WAS. THE. MOMENT.
So, of course, he did not stop to question how the staff got here between Ulruk’s legs, or whether it belonged to the beast wizard or another figure entirely, such as a hidden adversary. He simply reached for it.
Well, if anyone were to argue against caution, which would be on Nagrak’s behalf, they might note that it was not entirely unheard of for travellers to lose their belongings along the Snowtrail. Wizards, with all their stuff and staffs, sometimes vanished into the unforgiving wilderness, with the wizards eventually claimed by the elements or devoured by beasts, and their possessions left strewn about in the snow. Stories circulated of young patrol guards stumbling upon pieces of treasure — an abandoned artefact here, coin and jewellery there. These tales, of course, often served more as recruitment bait than truth, meant to entice new guards with the promise of fortune. After all, it was quite easy to convince someone to take a job by claiming the previous guard had struck it rich and retired. It was nicer too, to think of them living it up and feasting upon all that their newfound treasures could buy, instead of admitting that they had been long feasted upon by the Haraak.
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