Godbird Sceptre

Godbird Sceptre
Japanese name	神鳥の杖
Rōmaji name	Kandori no tsue
Introduced in	VIII

The Godbird Sceptre, also known as the Sceptre of Trodain and Rhapthorne's Sceptre, is an important item in Dragon Quest VIII. This staff was first introduced as the treasure stolen from Trodain Castle by Dhoulmagus. It is an artefact designed as a vessel for souls of great power.

History

In an age long past, Rhapthorne, the Lord of Darkness, battled the Seven Sages and was defeated. With Empyrea's aid, they create a staff to bind his malevolent magic and then banish him to a remote part of the world so that he may not be revived in full.

When the Seven Sages imprisoned Rhapthorne in the Goddess Statue in Neos, the sceptre became his tool to use on the outside world. For many, many years, the sceptre with the power of Rhapthorne was held in the Castle of Trodain, guarded at all times, and valued as its most precious treasure.

But one day, a jester by the name of Dhoulmagus came to the castle. His deep desire to be the greatest magician of all time and Rylus's strict teaching methods fueled his breaking in to get the legendary sceptre. After doing so, he was overwhelmed by Rhapthorne's power and made into his vessel.

Assailants

The sceptre controlled many people along its journey. Each person that was controlled had one thing on their minds: killing the heirs of the Seven Sages.

The first person to be possessed was Dhoulmagus, who broke into Trodain Castle and cursed the kingdom into a perpetual entanglement in vines and turned King Trode into a troll and Princess Medea into a horse. He next headed toward the town of Farebury. There, he killed Master Rylus as payback for angering him (After he just finished the elixir he was working on, ironically) and burned his house down to cover it up. He proceeded to the Tower of Alexandria and killed Alistair Albert, Jessica's brother. Following that was Maella Abbey where he killed Abbot Francisco. He crossed the ocean and went to Baccarat where he broke into the Golding Mansion and killed Golding himself.

Once Dhoulmagus was killed by the party, Jessica picked up the sceptre and was taken over, but this took no effect until the next morning. She took off from Argonia to the northern checkpoint and headed through to Arcadia. She at first thought Dominico to be the heir to the Sage, but it turned out to be David. Although she came close, she never actually killed him, but was defeated by the rest of the party.

In the ensuing confusion, Sir Leopold, Dominico's beloved dog, took possession of the sceptre. He killed David, then flew off north to the Blizzard Peaks where he was targeting Marek, Hellhounds at his side, but discovered that it was Marek's mother, Marta, that was the heir and killed her. He then went off to the the Lord High Priest's Residence to attempt to kill the Lord High Priest himself, but was defeated before he could do so.

Finally, Marcello took the sceptre and killed the Lord High Priest, making it look like he died from shock while also sending off his successor, High Priest Rolo, to Purgatory Island. Rhapthorne then tried to possess Marcello, who was able to resist him by stabbing his own arm. However, after Marcello was defeated at Neos, Rhapthorne possessed Marcello and used him throw the scepter into the Goddess Statue. Now, with the heirs of the Seven Sages killed and the Goddess Statue destroyed, Rhapthorne was finally free from his prison.

Sometime later, Empyrea came across the sceptre and gave it to the Hero and his friends. During the final battle, the Hero and his friends used the scepter, along with the seven orbs in their possession, to summon forth the Seven Sages, who then destroyed the barrier surrounding Rhapthorne.

Other languages

Other languages
French
German	Göttervogelzepte
Spanish	Cetro de la Deidiave
Italian	Scettro dell'Aquila
Dutch	Unknown
Norwegian	Unknown
Greek	Unknown
Portuguese	Unknown
Russian	Unknown
Chinese	Unknown
Korean	Unknown