Moebius's Staff

"How remarkable that the great Kain should succumb to the scepter's power like any common vampire."

- Moebius

Moebius' Staff is a mysterious and powerful item wielded by Moebius the Timestreamer. Its primary power is the ability to afflict a vampire with debilitating pain, rendering them helpless. Murals found in the Vampire Citidel show that Moebius has wielded the staff for many years, at least since he led the revolt against the vampires.

The staff's power is first demonstrated when Moebius used it to disable the Wraith-Blade after meeting Raziel in the time streaming device. Why the staff affected the reaver and not Raziel himself is unknown. Moebius explained its power to Raziel, noting that it was curious that it affected Raziel's symbiotic weapon.

Raziel would later see the staff put to its true purpose when the sarafan inquisitors, lead by Raziel's human self, used it to disable Janos Audron and slowly torture him before removing his heart. Raziel would persue the sarafan back to their stronghold, intent on killing them, when he was cornered by Moebius and Malek. Moebius used the staff to disable the Wraith Blade once again, forcing Raziel to take up the physical Reaver, which would later try and consume him.

Raziel was saved from that fate by Kain, who fell victim to the staff when he came to question Moebius as to Raziel's whereabouts. Moebius marveled in amusement at how the staff affected "the Great Kain" the same as it would any common vampire. Notably during this encounter, the staff was glowing the whole time, where as previously it would only flare briefly when used (against the Wraith-blade), showing that to disable a living vampire required a continuous output from the orb.

When Kain next caught up to Moebius, seeking to question him again, he first removed the staff from Moebius' possession with his telekinesis, showing that Moebius had to physically hold the staff to use and activate it.

Later, after apparently killing Kain for the Heart of Darkness, Raziel returned to Vorador's Mansion to find Moebius waiting for him, staff in hand, suggesting that the Timestreamer had used the staff to aid in the capture of Vorador, though this is uncertain as Vorador didn't go down without a fight, and cost Moebius' forces a considerable price in blood. He didn't use it to disable Raziel's wraith-blade, probably because he would be going out of range.

Moebius had his staff when prosiding over Vorador's execution, perhaps explaining why Vorador couldn't escape. Though he had the staff in his possession during his battle with the fledgling Kain, he did not employ it. It is likely he intended to die at the young vampire's hands as he had accepted that as his fate.

Moebius was later resurrected by the Elder God and returned to the place of their first meeting, the Vampire Citidel, once again wielding the staff. When Kain, who was inexplicably alive, appeared behind Moebius, the staff proved useless against him. Apparently the staff's power only afflicted the hearts of vampires, though this is unclear. Kain enjoyed a moment of amusement at the Timestreamer's impotence and proceeded to kill Moebius for the second time.

Kain was apparently interested in the staff, as he was examining it after killing Moebius when Raziel used Moebius' corpse to return to the physical world. Perhaps Kain sought a way to block the staff's power and protect vampires from its use in the future, or perhaps he sought a way to harness the weapon himself (perhaps to control the vampires including his descendants in the future of his empire). Whatever the case, the staff was burried under and possibly destroyed by falling rubble as the citidel collapsed.

Used by:
 * Moebius - (Elder God)

Trivia

 * According to Janos Audron the Reaver was "...Infused with vampiric energy". If the Staff acted on vampiric energy than it explains why it disabled the wraith blade.
 * Moebius' staff went through a redesign in Blood Omen, it was a simple wooden staff topped by a blue orb. In Soul Reaver 2 , it was redesigned, with a snake coiling up the staff and devouring the orb, which was enlarged. This was in reference to the oroboros, an important symbol in Soul Reaver 2 and somewhat in Defiance as well.
 * Some fans believe there is a connection between Moebius' staff and the Nexus Stone, some going so far as to dub the staff the "Nexus Staff". This is based solely on the fact that the two objects negate the power of the Reaver. No other evidence points to them being related, and the Nexus Stone clearly isn't harmful to vampires as the staff is.
 * Some fans believe that the process that turned Raziel into a wraith might have made him immune to the staff's effects while the vampiric souls he had consumed were not protected thus why he lost some of his abilities he had in Soul Reaver 1
 * Moebius and his Staff appear in Soul Reaver, with his statue in the Oracle Caves and in the past when at the end Raziel and Moebius meet (which is also the scene of the first part of Soul Reaver 2).