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Shelby Shellstrop and Shump the Wanderer had been pursuing a troop of goblins through the Melritan Mountains in the hopes of rescuing their friend from the clutches of the hobgoblin mage Klaas. Along the way, they met a firbolg named Kelkian Densebirch, a representative of the Hearing House who was returning to his village after a recent trip to the capital. Since his village wasn’t far away, they accepted his invitation to accompany him in the hopes of finding some decent sleeping quarters.

Good cheer quickly turned to confusion, however, when upon arrival they learned that another Kelkian, who looked exactly the same in every way, had already arrived in town a week prior. Shelby and Shump, along with both Kelkians, were taken to the town’s makeshift holding cells to determine the nature of these doppelgangers. Among the gathered crowd, Shelby and Shump met two other non-firbolgs, the aarakocra bard Rhass and the tabaxi rogue Dormin, who had coincidentally also just arrived in town

The head of the town watch, Waesric Gerd, joined the mayor in interrogating the twin representatives, but their interrogations were cut short when bugbears attacked, killing many civilians and setting fire to homes. Once the attack was put down, with one of the bugbears taken prisoner, the group realized that one of the Kelkians had vanished in the confusion, leaving behind only the Kelkian who had just arrived.

Meanwhile, Badger, a halfling hunter, was traveling nearby and noticed the smoke. He quickly joined Rhass and the rest of the group in assisting the wounded and putting out the fires while Shump stood watch over the bugbear, who had been bound, gagged, and blindfolded.

With the fires out and the wounded tended, the adventurers attempted to track down the duplicate Kelkian. However, due to the chaos and confusion caused by the bugbear attack, in spite of Badger’s skills, any discernible footprints had been trampled by the other firbolgs that were present and fled when the attack began.

The group tried to follow up with the mayor to determine next steps, but Waesric informed them that she’d already gone to bed to recover from the harrowing day. Instead, they helped the guards sweep the perimeter, including from the air, but no one noticed any signs of threats in the area. With as much peace of mind as they could muster, the group procured themselves rooms at the inn and turned in for the night.

In the middle of the night, Mayor Greleth knocked at Rhass’s door looking disheveled and worried, and asked if he might accompany her on a walk. She lead him to the edge of town where she felt it was safer to talk, frequently casting nervous glances around as she explained she was worried something was wrong with Waesric. She said he hadn’t seemed himself all afternoon, since the bugbear attack, and since no one had found the second Kelkian, she was worried he might be compromised. Rhass tried to comfort her, but something began slowly approaching them from the woods. The mayor panicked and begged Rhass to investigate, and when his back was turned, she hurled a fireball at him.

Badger’s magical bow of warning woke him, and as he tried to rouse the rest of the party, an enormous thunderclap alerted everyone of danger. They all made their way outside just in time to see the mayor’s tall, thin firbolg form suddenly bloat and swell, transforming into a massive green, toad-like creature. The creature turned invisible and tried to flee, but it’s footprints in the grass gave it away and Shump was able to bring the beast down. Once killed, the creature’s invisibility faded, and the group was left standing on the lawn debating their next course of action.

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As might be obvious, our second session was a month after our first session, rather than two weeks. We ran into some Life issues that caused scheduling conflicts, so we had to miss a session, and we can’t make up on the off weeks, so gaps are loooong between games. This session was great, although in a humorous twist the whole party still wasn’t here.

Last time we played, Jess missed due to illness. This week Jaz did. That said, it was really great to see how much fun Jess was having with the game. She really seemed to like and engage with the way I roleplay my NPCs. The overly polite, verbose firbolgs were a big hit with her, and although she said she wasn’t much into roleplay, she seemed to unconsciously lean into it a great deal, which was so much fun to see.

Also: my friends are such good sports. They knew that something was up with Greleth immediately, but poor Josh’s Insight checks were garbage, and he happily played along with being oblivious to any shady goings on.

I totally stole the “secretly a slaad” thing from a Matt Colville video, and I regret nothing. It was a fun twist, and I can’t wait for them to delve deeper into this mystery.

What is a slaad doing in this firbolg village? Where is the real Greleth? Find out next time!

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