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The Doubley-Doos recently freed a town from the tyrannical grip of a band of five thugs. After killing two of the members and freeing a gold dragon that was being held as a servant to the band of five, Rhass and Badger decided to, with the assistance of their new dragon friend, escort the remaining three thugs to Biel and wait for the rest of the group there.

After a fitful night’s rest in which Dormin and Shump were both spoken to by dark, otherworldy voices, the remaining three members of the Doubley-Doos began their own trek to Biel. Upon arrival, however, there was no sign of Rhass, Badger, nor the gold dragon. Concerned, but unsure how to proceed, they booked rooms at the Fisherman’s Inn and planned on visiting the library the next day to research further about Khurgorbaeyag, this deity that has appeared now on two magical items they’ve come across.

The next morning over breakfast, the three of them examined the documentation they got from Kelkian’s quarters and realized the list they’d recovered was actually a list of the names and locations of all of the representatives of the Hearing House. Since one lived close by in the city, they decided to pay her a visit, fearing other representatives may have been impersonated as well.

They made their way to Representative Theodelinda Gardner’s house in Upper Wakenat, the wealthier part of the city, and Dormin used minor illusion to falsify a letter requesting their presence. Theodelinda met with them, but was apprehensive at having monstrous races in her house. Her callous comments irritated the group, but they tried to explain that they feared someone was impersonating Hearing House representatives in order to spy on the government.

When Shelby, insulted by Theodelinda’s continued bigotry, suggested Theodelinda herself might be an imposter, tensions peaked and the guards were called. The group was escorted out of Upper Wakenat, but one of the guards, Davin, caught up with them and offered to take them to speak with Marianne Ravenswood, the Grand Chancellor of the Hearing House, since their claims could be a serious threat to national security.

They agreed to meet with Davin back at the Fisherman’s Inn in a few hours, and decided in the meantime to stop by Maloo’s Magnetic Marvels to check in on Pisa Lightsteel, the gnome artificer Shelby and Shump had previously met who sent them to Sochet Lake so many months ago. To their delight, they found him and his mechanical construct Clankybones in good health, and he was delighted in return at their safety, although sad to hear about Shadyboi’s and Rose’s fates. They also met an elderly tortle mage named Drettle Maloo, the owner and proprietor of the shop. She apologized for the trouble their last visit caused them and offered to Identify the goblin figure free of charge since that’s what they’d been seeking several months ago.

Shump was apprehensive, but agreed to let her identify the figure as long as he was holding it. Upon finishing her ritual, she recoiled in horror. She explained that the magical item was very powerful: it would let the user both scry on someone or something, and occasionally unleash terrible wounding magic on their enemies. However, this great power came at a significant cost. The figure draws its powers directly from Khurgorbaeyag and is soul-bonded to another owner. Any time these abilities are used, the owner knows exactly where the user is. It also seems to have cursed Shump, entangling itself into his spirit and infecting him like a disease.

Shelby tried to take the figure from Shump, but he became hostile and shoved her away. Horrified at his reaction and wanting to be rid of the cursed item, he managed enough willpower to hand the figure over to Shelby to do with as she felt necessary. She took out her magical short sword and attempted to drive it into the figure to destroy it. There was an explosion of energy. Shelby was thrown backward. Damaging psychic energy ripped through her’s and Shump’s minds. Dormin felt his own amulet pulse in reaction to the strike as well. When the dust settled, Shelby’s magical short sword had shattered, but the goblin figure remained undamaged.

Maloo urged them to seek advice and assistance from the Temple of Pelor, where perhaps a cleric could remove the curse from Shump and help destroy the item. Shelby left her spare short sword with Maloo to be enchanted, and the party, shaken by these new revelations, prepared for their rendezvous with Davin.

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I was thrilled with how this turned out.

I’ve been dying for Stephanie and Brandon to get back to Biel, if only to meet with Maloo because I knew she would be so happy to meet another tortle in this world.

Jaz continues to be a fantastic role player as well. The entire time that Shump was dealing with his goblin artifact troubles, they were squirming and occasionally staring at the item card I made them for their amulet. It was so funny to see them so antsy about holding onto this item. It was also funny that no one brought it up while dealing with Shump’s own artifact.

Brandon’s RP with the figure is interesting. He actually brought up that he was imagining his interactions similar to Bilbo’s in Fellowship when he tries to leave the ring in an envelope for Frodo, but ends up keeping it in his pocket accidentally because he doesn’t want to let it go.

Stephanie’s reaction when her sword broke was a genuine scream of horror. She was so attached to that sword, and it made me start giggling when she shouted, “What??! Broken?? Can it…can it be fixed???” Thankfully, I knew she still had her previous short sword, so I knew she wasn’t completely without options. Plus, as a monk, her fists are magical weapons anyway.

She was going to use Shump’s greataxe to try to chop it, but when I warned her that she wasn’t proficient with martial weapons and so would have to leave her proficiency bonus out of the attack role, she decided to go with her sword instead. When her sword shattered, Shump said, “Wow…I’m glad you didn’t use my greataxe for that.” I just about died from laughter.

I’m so happy that they finally figured out that the list they got was Hearing House representatives. I’m very curious where they go with it from there. I’m also excited to explore more facets of goblin culture outside of Fric and Klaas, who have inadvertently been set up as opposite ends of the spectrum. I want to start introducing some gray areas, and their trip to Marianne Ravenswood seems like a good opportunity.

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