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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Joshua Randall" data-source="post: 9580908" data-attributes="member: 7737">103We tell everyone that the sceptre “may” not [more weasel words] be the answer our problems.“Whutt doo yoooo meeeen? The Shhhepter is aweshhhhum!” Thayne slurs. Thayne is on his third mug of Kandian mead and his face is flushed with alcohol.We say it would be easier if we showed everyone. (Of course.)Perth fetches the sceptre from his sacred chapel. It is wrapped in “the tanned hide of a sacred hollyphant,” Perth explains, which will suppress the sceptre’s power as long as the bag remains tied. “Anyone may handle the sceptre safely while it is encased in this sheath, but its great power will be unleashed instantly if the cover is removed.”We nod, unwrap our package, and feel it pulse when we touch it. Err, I mean, the Sceptre of Bhukod flares briefly, but its white light fades when we place the wand on the table. Everyone gasps at the beauty of our rod.The famed object is fashioned of perfect silver and gold, with three large pearl-like spheres at its bulbous end and a row of hieroglyphic symbols engraved in a spiral around the shaft.Our father Landor played his trap card such that anyone other than him or “his sole heir” who touches the sceptre will have his life force drained. In addition, its normal function is to absorb and reverse any spells cast upon the wielder.We explain that we couldn’t translate the hieroglyphs on the shaft until a few months ago when Rufyl casually mentioned that it was Landor who inscribed them on the wand.Dalris says what everyone is thinking, which is that as fascinating as this is, what does it have to do with confronting Arno?We respond that once we knew it was one of dad’s codes, we translated it, and it reads, “Drink. More. Ovaltine.” No, sorry. It reads, “My trap card only has 30 charges.””Shooo whuttt?” Thayne wants to know.Dalris gets it: once the charges are used up, anyone — good or evil — will be able to use the Sceptre of Bhukod.We nod gravely. Dalris has the right of it: once the charges are used up, anyone can touch our staff, even if they’re not our dad or us. And we don’t have any way to know how many times the sceptre’s protective power had been used before we found it. So we shouldn’t be too anxious to use the wand. We should consider another way “to get Arno out of the academy.”Thayne jumps to his feet, flushed with a combination of “elven ire and Kandian mead.” He calls us a female kitty cat and says if we’re too scared to touch our own wand, he’ll do it for us.”DON’T, THAYNE!” Dalris yells, because she really does not want to see one man touch another man’s sceptre.The drunken elf lurches forward and grabs for our sceptre’s “gleaming shaft”. The moment he touches our rod near its bulbous end, we explode! No, sorry. I got too excited there.The moment [Thayne’s] hand clutches the enchanted weapon, it and he seem to explode in a blast of pure white energy. When the powerful dweomer fades, [we] see Thayne’s lifeless body lying sprawled across the table, his fingers inches away from the wand and his sightless eyes staring at the ceiling.We’re too stunned by the death of our “old friend” to react. Perth and his servant grab Thayne and rush to Perth’s chapel where there may still be time to “enliven” Thayne if his spirit lingers.Dalris sobs loudly, so we place our arm around her shoulders. [Aww!]Arno’s evil has already spread to Wealwood and taken the life of a friend, we think to ourselves with “terrible anguish.”(85) if we’ve changed our mind and now want to take the sceptre to confront Arno, or(77) if we still think it would be safer to leave the powerful wand with Perth until we’re sure we need it.</blockquote>

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