Staff of the adder

Staves of the adder were one of the many variants of staves of the serpent found throughout the Realms. This type of the enchanted staff could transform into an adder to strike the owner's enemies.

Powers
By speaking a command word, the wielder of a staff of the adder could cause its head to animate into an adder. This effect lasted for one minute, or until the wielder spoke the command word again to return it to its inanimate form. If the snake was killed while animate, the staff would be destroyed.

If used as a weapon, a staff of the adder could inflict a target with poison.

History
In the 14 century DR, staves of the adder were often used by clerics of evil deities, giving them ill repute among many.

Sometime in the same century, Reptilla Half-elven lost her hand-crafted staff of the adder in her battle with a bronze dragon whose lair in the Dragonspine Mountains she attempted to claim.

Notable Owners
Her staff had a unique enchantment allowing it to dispense various types of prisons and venoms. Each had a unique command word.
 * Banak: once the top evil-aligned priest in all the Bloodstone Lands. His staff of the adder was able to fully transform into a serpent and follow the cleric's will.
 * Fzoul Chembryl: owned a staff of the adder, which he often kept stuck in the umbrella rack in the his tower in Zhentil Keep circa.
 * Hondrul Meirshin: a priest of the serpent-god Vaerae from Dragonreach who revered snakes, holy to his religion circa.
 * Quenel: a cleric of Bane and a junior agent of the Zhentarim circa 1358 DR.
 * Reptilla Half-elven: a talented wizard and a poison-maker who crafted her own staff of the adder in the 14 century DR.

Availability
Staves of the adder could be found in possession of agents of Zhentarim in Zhentil Keep.

Priests worshiping the god Vaerae, also known as Sseth, carried the staves of the serpent.

Beyond the world of Toril, staves of the adder could be found on the world of Aebrynis and on the Domains of Dread, Nova Vassa and Har'Akir, where the staves were called the staves of Set and wielded by his clerics.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Curse of the Azure Bonds • Shadowdale
 * Card Games
 * AD&D Trading Cards