A quarterstaff (plural quarterstaves), also short staff or simply staff is a traditional European pole weapon and a technique of stick fighting, which was especially prominent in England during the Early Modern period.
The term is generally accepted to refer to a shaft of hardwood from 6 to 9 feet (1.8 to 2.7 m) long, sometimes with a metal tip, ferrule, or spike at one or both ends. The term "short staff" compares this to the "long staff" based on the pike with a length in excess of 11 to 12 feet (3.4 to 3.7 m).
The name "quarterstaff" is first attested in the mid-16th century. The "quarter" probably refers to the means of production, the staff being made from hardwood of a tree split or sawed into quarters (as opposed to a staff of lower quality made from a tree branch).
The possibility that the name derives from the way the staff is held, the right hand grasping it one-quarter of the distance from the lower end, is suggested in Encyclopædia Britannica. While this interpretation may have given rise to such positions in 19th-century manuals, it probably arose by popular etymology. The OED in support of its explanation of the "quarter" in origin referring to the way the staff was made points to an early attestation of the term, dated to 1590, Plodding through Aldersgate, all armed as I was, with a quarter Ashe staffe on my shoulder.
Quarterstaff: The Tomb of Setmoth is an interactive fiction role-playing video game developed by Scott Schmitz and Ken Updike and released by Infocom for Macintosh in 1988. The game features a text parser, graphics, a dynamically updated map, and a graphical interface that incorporates Mac OS hierarchical menus.
The player takes the part of Titus, a former blacksmith sent by the Druid Council to explore the remains of an underground colony of druids who vanished without a trace. During the course of his adventures, Titus may befriend other characters and persuade them to join his party. Character skills improve with practice, and the game tracks the hunger, thirst and energy levels of characters.
Quarterstaff: The Tomb of Setmoth was based on Quarterstaff, a game released by Simulated Environment Systems in 1987.Activision purchased the rights to the game from Simulated Environment Systems in 1988, and released the game with improvements including color graphics, an upgraded interface, and writing input from Amy Briggs. Versions for the Apple IIGS and IBM PC were announced but never released. A planned sequel titled Storm Giants was never released.