Gil brandishes his innovative weapon
The lightning staff (lightning rod, lightning stick, zappy stick) is the focus device[1] for a high-power electric arc projection system invented by Gilgamesh Wulfenbach; he used it to single-handedly defend Mechanicsburg from a frontal assault takeover attempt by the Knights of Jove in war stompers.[2] It is usually considered to be an example of a magnificent ✣ death ray.
The staff appears to have two functions. The first collects and directs ambient electrical power generated by "atmospheric concentrators"[3] which have been installed at intervals along the exterior walls of Mechanicsburg, facing a large plain which provides attackers an illusion of easy approach. The user points the glass (or quartz) bulb end of the staff at the target and engages an electrical discharge by an unknown trigger, causing a massive explosive aerial strike.[4] The second effect is much smaller -- an energy burst or beam directly from the staff itself which can be aimed at an individual target.[5] Whether or not this second function requires the power of the atmospheric concentrators is a point that seems to have been left deliberately fuzzy.
There is an early scene on Castle Wulfenbach where Gil ..demonstrates his on-going research ✣ in this area to fellow Spark Agatha. The lightning staff its (intially) final form is first seen ✣ inert as Gil arrives at the Great Hospital - the first indications that it is a tool rather than an affectation comes when it is used to kill ✣ the first of the Baron's attempted assassins. The next time is in obvious synchrony with the atmospheric concentrators, to remove the threat ✣ of the Jovian war stompers, after which the power feed is disrupted due to multiple concentrator meltdowns ✣ . As of his meeting up with Sleipnir O'Hara and Theopholous DuMedd, Gil hooked it up to the Heterodyne device as a power source, rendering it functional (and more mobile as well), where it is used to assault Castle Heterodyne ✣ in a show of... well, showiness. Lastly (as of August 2009), we cannot be certain, but it may have be damaged by an accidental discharge by an inexperienced user.[6] While Fräulein Snaug seems to be unharmed for the time being, the Heterodyne lamp device has yet to make a reappearance and seems to have been forgotten for the moment. The staff itself appears to have been disconnected from it and is seen ✣ in Agatha's possession during the rest of the Siege of Mechanicsburg,
The Lightning Staff, fully upgraded
Speaking of that Siege, Wulfenbach forces have devised a countermeasure against the staff, as a Battering Ram unit attacking the city gates is completely unfazed by a lightning strike from it. However, Agatha has an epiphany: Remembering that even Punch and Judy need a jolt of electricity every now and then, she takes aim with the staff at Franz Scorchmaw , the Great Dragon of Mechanicsburg, who is at the time "on the ropes ✣ " against a Wulfenbach-allied dragon, and unleashes the lightning ✣ . After being jolted, the fight turns markedly in Franz's favor ✣ .
Traveling through Mechanicsburg while fleeing Wulfenbach forces out to capture her, she and Tarvek ✣ (as well as ✣ several others ✣ encountered along the way ✣ ) implement a drastic number of improvements ✣ to the device, resulting, at its completion, a significantly longer staff (about the length of a quarterstaff) with a lot more hardware affixed to it. After completion, a quick test of its new potential is performed upon the Observation Tower ✣ . Upon reaching the lightning rods atop Castle Heterodyne's highest spire thanks to Franz and his air-bike, Agatha repeatedly discharges it ✣ into the lightning rods, fully re-energizing the Castle, and enabling it to exert its full destructive potential upon the attacking Wulfenbach forces. (The good citizens of Mechanicburg have been busy replacing all the burnt-out concentrators.)
After Agatha emerges from the time-frozen Mechanicsburg, Gil has created a second device in the original format, and unsuccessfully ✣ attempts to dispatch Martellus von Blitzengaard with it.
The original reappears ✣ presented to Agatha by a grumpy Moloch Von Zinzer, as the time-stop is broken over Mechanicsburg and the resident Eldritch Abomination thrashes angrily around in the city center.
While inactive, the original staff appears to be a simple, if elegant, wood and bronze swagger stick with an unusual glassy head. The only component from the original still retained by the fully upgraded version appears to be the glassy head as well, suggesting that it may be the "business end" of the device.