Whirlwood Magic Wands have sent us a couple of their magic wands to take a look at.
Presentation
The wands are beautifully presented. We received them in a large quality cardboard box. Each in its own drawstring velvet sleeve. The drawstrings were nice golden thread. Separating these out where copious quantities of purple tissue paper. Everything was nicely protected and with a look that was all about the magic.
In addition to the wands were received a number of magical cores (more on these later); which also came with their own drawstring leather pouch,
There was also a number of good quality cardboard insert pieces describing both what we had and the range of wands from Whirlwood.
The Wand Sleeves
One thing I like to mention about the wand sleeves is that each looks good enough and feels sturdy enough to be used in play. Making them useful as both items to transport your wand in or to bring into the game as a prop in their own right.
The Magic Wands
We had 2 wands. The Hero from the Chamber Magic Wand range, and Cadeceus from the Seven Skies Range
Whirlwand puts their wands into ranges. Imbuing each range with a distinctive character and backstory. From a collectable context, this is really nice. If I think about it purely in LARP terms, the backstory may not suit your LARP. Yet it may help serve as inspiration for the story you give your wand. I subscribe to the idea that unless stated otherwise by game lore, a magic wand should be an important artefact. Something that has a story all of its own. So receiving a sense of story or origin is no bad thing.
From a physical point of view, both are carved from single pieces of wood and feel more than robust enough to take on being used in a LARP
The Hero Magic Wand
I think this is my favourite of the two, with a clean, simple and elegant design.
It takes on the idea of using Magic Cores in a wand. That is a magical artefact is part of the wand and its that artefact that gives the wand power and character. It’s very much an idea straight from Harry Potter.
Whirlwood makes this possible by supplying with a number of items to use as magical cores. This is great as either you have something to add to your wand or if that isn’t what you have in mind then you still have some small magical props.
The cores go into a chamber that’s accessed by a screw top at the end of the wand. The chamber itself is close on one-third of the length of the wand. Making it big enough for inserting the supplied cored or whatever else you might want to put in there. The screw itself is made from the same wood as the wand and just looks like part of the wand.
Cadecus
This is slightly smaller and more complex piece. Not as long or thick as the Hero wand but still nicely designed.
Two golden snakes wind their way around the wand. Giving it an immediate sense of purpose and idenity
The hand end is nicely carved, making it pleasent to hold. I also like the way that the snake detail could be incorporated into a character trait.
Would I use these?
In a heartbeat. These wands would easily add immersion to any Wizard or Sorceror character. I’d have no issue in using either of these wands. Each looks and feels good. I feel sure that they would stand up to the rigours of LARP. These are good wands. Go forth and turn people into frogs!
How to Contact Whirlwood
If you want to know more try their website at http://www.whirlwood.com/
Or Instagram @whirlwoodmagicwands
Love it! Happy spellcasting.
These are so cool! I love that even the screw for the magic chamber compartment is made of wood.