The darkwand is a Faerie talisman that features in both the High Druid of Shannara trilogy and The Fall of Shannara trilogy. It is a staff of dark, polished wood covered in runes, created from the magical tree called the tanequil.
History[]
The darkwand was used by Pen Ohmsford to rescue his aunt Grianne Ohmsford from the Forbidding. It helped him track his aunt, and later to track the Moric, the Demon who had been transported out of the Forbidding in exchange for Grianne's imprisonment there.
To make the wand from one of Father Tanequil's limbs, Pen had to give up two of his fingers and the person he loved most, Cinnaminson, whose body was taken by Mother Tanequil while her soul was allowed to roam free as an aeriad, a spirit of the air. Under the direction of the tanequil, Pen carved runes of magic into the darkwand.
The darkwand responded to Pen's needs and helped him on his quest into the Forbidding, guiding him and even keeping a fascinated Dragon at bay. Pen was later able to use the wand to send the Moric, which had disguised itself as Federation Prime Minister Sen Dunsidan, back to the Forbidding. The staff was transported at the same time, at which point it became lifeless.
Centuries later, when the Druid Drisker Arc is trapped in the Forbidding, Tarsha Kaynin searches the Druid Histories for mention of anything that might save him and bring him back to the Four Lands. In one volume of the histories, she finds a set of blank pages where text appears only when she uses the wishsong to reveal the words.
The words, written by Grianne just before she had gone to the tanequil to become an aeriad, revealed that the darkwand must still be lost somewhere in the Forbidding, and that because of how it was made and used by Pen, a blood bond was created such that the talisman could only be wielded by members of the Ohmsford line. Because the darkwand was useless to anyone else, Grianne had made her last entry in the histories invisible to anyone who was not able to command the wishsong.
Meeting Drisker in her dream, Tarsha is able to tell Drisker about the darkwand, and the Druid in turn relays the information to Grianne, who at this point has been Queen of the Forbidding for centuries. Although Grianne had at times searched for the darkwand in the Iron Crèche, the Chule fortress where it was kept for decades, she had given up after a couple fruitless searches.
Drisker's announcement of what Tarsha had discovered motivates Grianne to go back, however, and she takes Drisker, her Ulk Bog servant Weka Dart, and a couple of other Demons to the Iron Crèche to find the darkwand. While inside the fortress, Weka Dart reveals to Drisker in a fit of rage that the darkwand isn't even there, and later, when their search indeed turns up nothing, Drisker realizes that the only reason the Ulk Bog had known this information was because he had stolen the artifact himself and hidden it away to prevent Grianne from leaving him.
Furious, Grianne and Drisker leave the Iron Crèche with Weka Dart after killing Vendra Trax, the Chule Lord, and narrowly escaping the rest of Trax's minions. Back at Grianne's castle in Kraal Reach, she threatens Weka Dart, ordering him to bring her the darkwand on pain of death. He does so, and Drisker tells Grianne that he had promised Weka Dart that they would try to bring Weka with them out of the Forbidding if at all possible. Grianne is upset that Drisker had made this promise on his own, but she agrees to try.
The next day Grianne, Drisker, and Weka Dart travel to a secluded area and Grianne activates the darkwand after they all place their hands on it. The magic begins enveloping Drisker and Grianne to take them out of the Forbidding, but it burns Weka Dart, forcing him to let go.
Driven mad at the thought of being left to fend for himself without Grianne, and blaming Drisker for taking his mistress away, Weka pulls out a knife and stabs Drisker in the stomach and chest multiple times. The Druid, who had both his hands gripped on the darkwand, is caught off-guard and defenseless, and is mortally wounded. Grianne is furious and kicks Weka Dart away, managing to transport herself and Drisker out of the Forbidding. However, she is unable to save Drisker, who is already dead by the time they are back in the Four Lands.
After Grianne finds Tarsha Kaynin and helps her to kill Clizia Porse and the Jachyra working for her, she gives the darkwand to Tarsha for safekeeping, before heading back to Stridegate to become an aeriad in service to the tanequil once more.