Kobal is responsible for this one. At least originally. Then Michael got
a hold of it and, well, let's just say that the things started becoming
popular.
The Wand of Many Bodies typically appears as a broken stick of wood,
although metallic or plastic ones have been know to exist. The Wand can
be of any size (Staves of Many Bodies are possible). Technically, the
wand could look like anything, so long as it can be pointed at a target
within line-of-sight.
The standard version of the Wand of Many Bodies has only one use. It
allows the user to pick a target (a mortal, Celestial, or even an
Ethereal) and sing any Numious Corpus song he knows. The Wand causes the
Numious Corpus to effect the target, rather than the singer. So, if you
know the song Numinous Corpus: Wings, you can point this wand at your
friend Bob and give him Wings instead of yourself. The target will then
have all the benefits of the song while it is in effect. As a side
effect, the disturbance that results from the song use is centered around
the target, not the singer. Useful, yes?
Did I forget to mention that the appearence of the Numinous Corpus is
identical to their normal appearence? That's why Kobal liked it so
much. Let me explain.
The original creator of this artifact was a Fallen Servitor of Creation
who ended up serving Dark Humor. When he finally received Earth duty
again, he found himself in Asia, about the time when Western missionaries
were coming over in droves to try and convert the native peoples to
Christian faiths. Well, eventually the demon's jokes got him in trouble
with the Game, and he decided to lie low for a while to protect his skin.
He hung out in a remote village and eventually became aware of the the
missionaries there. And began to hate them.
Every day, one of the missionaries would gather as many of the native
populace as he could and start preaching to them in the village square.
The missionary was actually quite effective -- many of the villagers where
on the verge of converting. But the demon (who was a Djinn) began to
truly loathe having to hear the little monkey describe how evil Hell
is and how beautiful Heaven is every single day. For hours.
Finally, this Djinn decided to have a laugh.
He made the very first Wand of Many Bodies and waited for the priest to
begin his daily tirade against the minions of Hell. Once the priest
reached a fevered pitch, the Djinn 'gifted' him with Wings, Horns, Hooves,
a Tongue and a Tail. All of which, of course, were incredibly demonic
looking, as per the Wand's function.
Well, you can imagine what happened then. "Panic" doesn't begin to
describe the villager's reaction. The poor priest freaked out
completely, and didn't think to defend himself with his new found
'accessories.' Later on, the villagers found all the other missionaries
and murdered them as fiends. The local area became hostile to a
Westerners for years to come. And the Djinn just about laughed this
head off. Kobal gave him a big promotion when the demon gifted his master
with his creation. Kobal had a few more made, and others made more, and
more...
When Michael got one of the things, he realized another strategic use.
One day, he got wind of a meeting that several demons were going to have.
These demons served Words which were generally less than friendly toward
each other, so many of the demons involved had never met. Micheal sent a
Servitor with a Wand in, with a backup squad of Malakim ready as standby.
The Servitor found a location where he could be unobserved and waited for
all the demons to arrive and start to argue. Then he gave the three
strongest demons angel wings. The Malakim squad was called in a few
minutes later to mop up what was left after the demons began to slaughter
each other.
Nowadays, virtually every Superior has access to the Wands. It's a cheap
artifact, having no power unless the user already knows a Numinous Corpus
song. There, of course, have been improved variants with Essence caches
and built-in songs, but these are more rare. The standard version
typically is also fragile and easy to recoginze. Most Superiors use them
to allow groups of Servitors to share the Numinous Corpus songs they know;
this is often easier than teaching the same Song to the entire group.
Naturally, some Superiors use them more creatively.
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