Swamped

The tip of your staff is a thrusting weapon - much like a modified midpike. You prefer to use it as a blugdeoning tool - non lethal. The flint-steel you keep the top covered in creates a great deal of sparking and heat - which partly is why your reputation as a swamp wizard has grown.

Unbeknownst to Captain Long, while Ash was in possession of the staff, he modified it slightly. The tip of the staff has been hollowed out and the inside has been replaced with darkwood - a highly illegal substance banned from both Marshguards and Bogknights. Darkwood is said to "enhance" the innate abilities of one it punctures - but at great expense to their own health and willpower. What or who Commander Ash intended to use the darkwood on, or where he managed to acquire it remains a mystery.