OttD Session 23: Trial, Part 2

General Summary

The session begins with the party strategizing. They discuss how petty the gods seem to be, and their general dissatisfaction with recent events. Penguin comes in, and says he had been crowd-watching. In particular he was watching Corellon Larethian, who seemed to react every time death was mentioned. Penguin also thought that he was not convinced the previous owner of Tornac's spear was dead. Some more theorizing happens, and Pestle proposes surrendering the spear to Penguin. The party quickly concludes this is an amazing idea, and while they are discussing this Sconce finally arrives. The party reminisces with him for a while, and he reveals that Mama Bear had recently turned up in Vigrid. Sconce scolds Pestle for this development, because he really did not want to drag her into this. It turns out her ex-husband, Edward DuThane, is also in Vigrid. The party then asks Sconce what he can tell them to help them get out of their situation. Sconce simply holds up his right hand, which bears a golden brand. It depicts a crown, beneath which is the number seven, and beneath that is a pair of stars. He says he cannot give answers, but he can ask questions. What proceeds is a long conversation wherein Sconce uses the Socratic Method to lead the party to the following conclusions:

the gods are afraid of the spear
the gods are being compelled to behave as they currently are
they are being compelled by an ancient pact forged after The Shattering
the pact was forged to protect the gods from the spear
the spear is very powerful when used against specific targets
specifically, the spear only affects immortal creatures
the spear revokes immortality from immortal beings
gods that are struck by the spear do not die immediately, but are significantly weakened
this may be why the Duke of Air was so easy to kill during Session 15: The death of a demigod

After this, the party returns to trial. The Bronze Prince is surprisingly quick to agree to this proposal, on the grounds that they succeed in a trial by combat. The party agrees, and even gets Penguin to come along. The Bronze Prince chooses both Sconce and Zorkul Clalthicul to serve as their champions. The fight is swift and brutally efficient. Zorkul Clalthicul and Pestle are both banished to another plane of existence. Sconce is nigh impossible to strike until Penguin casts power word: stun. After Sconce is taken down, Pestle finds himself face to face with Zorkul Clalthicul. He wins this conflict by turning Zorkul Clalthicul into a slug, putting him in a flask, and then pouring poison into said flask. After the fight, Adoven Woodsoul leaves a note on Zorkul Clalthicul's unconscious person which simply reads "It was a pleasure fighting you." He signs the note. The party tries to get The Bronze Prince to teleport them back to Sigil, but he refuses. The party does, however, manage to get a recommendation for a good tavern and talk their way past the line into a private room with Penguin. The session ends while the party is celebrating.

Character(s) interacted with

Penguin, Sconce, Zorkul Clalthicul, The Bronze Prince

Notes

Music Credits: Pre-Game: Kingdom Trial, from the chrono trigger soundtrack, covered by TPR Battle: Battle II, from octopath traveler more battle: CORE, ASGORE, Battle against a true hero, from the Undertale soundtrack