In Brynmoor, the wand will forever be associated with Holly Arnuld. She applied to every wizard to become their apprentice, but was turned down on account of her having a single arm. She would craft runes and concoct potions, displaying her skill and speed - faster than most other apprentices. The wizards would fill their eyes with pity and put a hand to her shoulder. "But can you hold a staff, lassie?", they would say. "I need to know that I can rely on you for all things."
Holly would not wield a staff. She believed them to be showy and unnecessary. They were as performative as a peacock's tail. Instead, she kept a sliver of staff in her sleeve. This was her ash wand, discretely socketed and ready.
She found work as a scullery maid for a noblewoman. She was travelling in their entourage when they were attacked by enough goblins to overwhelm the guards. The goblins were on the brink of killing the noblewoman when Holly pulled her wand from the stitching in her sleeve. She whipped the goblins from their feet with air magic. Every time they tried to get back on their feet, she put them to the floor again. They stumbled and stood, stumbled and stood, until finally she tumbled them off a cliff.
Holly was given a full purse and the contacts of a friend of the nobelwoman. She was enrolled in a school of magic. Her specialism? Well, she put all her efforts into the merit of wands.