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The Doubley-Doos ex parte arrived at Biel to speak with the Hearing House about a possible plot to impersonate representatives and infiltrate the government. Making an ally of Davin of the city guard, they met with Grand Chancellor Marianne Ravenswood of the Hearing House. Although she was initially skeptical, they managed to convince her that there was at least some cause to look into the issue, especially after they managed to Scry on Klaas and learned he is now planning an assault on Biel.

Because of their willingness to lay (most of) their cards on the table, the Doubley-Doos ex parte have struck a deal with the Hearing House, agreeing to complete a job for them in exchange for a substantial sum of money. While they wait for morning for their first assignment, they made their way over to the Temple of Pelor to seek assistance in ridding Shump of his cursed item.

Shump was apprehensive and reluctant to go, but unable to think of a way to avoid it. The closer they drew to the temple, the louder the voice in his head spoke, telling him to turn around. He reached a point of critical mass just a few yards outside of the temple doors where the voices were at a fever pitch…and then it was almost as if he crossed a barrier. The voices grew quieter, the hold over him loosened, and he felt somewhat free for the first time.

They initially met with Bishop Hascrac Emberdelver, a dwarf priest with fiery red hair who used some of his divine abilities to lift the curse from Shump and clear his mind. He cautioned, however, that as long as the item still existed, it would continue to be a danger to all of them. He took them to the head of the Biel temple, Cardinal Waldon Armfrum, a spindly, dark-skinned human man with a halo of white hair who spoke in barely a whisper.

The cardinal quickly recognized the figure, stating he was familiar with these types of ploys from evil deities such as Khurgorbaeyag. He requested everyone make an offering to Pelor to beseech his assistance in destroying this item. Dormin made his offering kindness, finding folks outside of the temple in need and secretly slipping them gold. Shump built a small pyre to honor Pelor by creating light. Shelby offered up some of her healing energy.

With all of them, plus Bishop Emberdelver praying to Pelor, Cardinal Armfrum began to channel divine energy into the figure. The dark magic that clung to the figure proved itself too much at first, resisting the destructive divine light of Pelor. Cardinal Armfrum began to look pained, and even weaker. Shelby began to channel her healing energy directly into the cardinal, and this seemed to strengthen him. He managed to shatter the figure in a final push of energy. A backlash of negative energy ripped through everyone, triggering Dormin’s narcolepsy and hurting Shump worst of all. Still, Shump was finally free.

They tended to Dormin, rousing him from sleep and helping him walk to the doors. After ensuring he would be able to make the journey back on his own feet, the cardinal provided them with a medallion of Pelor — something they could use to call on him if ever they ran into an issue.

One the way back to the Hearing House, the sound of crashing wood and shattering glass drew their attention. They saw a crowd gathered watching as the Hearing House guard dragged a goblin man out of his home while his wife stood nearby sobbing and clutching her baby to her chest. The Doubley-Doos tried to intervene, but the guards shrugged them off, stating they were follow orders from the Hearing House and that this man was accused of working with the Shrillbeast clan — the clan to which Klaas belonged.

After the guards left, the Doubley-Doos comforted the goblin woman as best they could, fixing her door and giving her some gold to cover the expenses to replace some of her damaged furniture. She introduced herself as Muriel, and as they comforted her, they noticed that their flat was decorated with iconography of Nielpog, the goblin goddess of drink, revelry, and music — a good aligned deity according to the texts. They promised to speak to the Grand Chancellor about this injustice and try to get Muriel’s husband freed and returned home as quickly as they could.

With that, they returned to the Hearing House, their promise weighing heavily against the events they’d just witnessed in town.

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Brandon was very lucky they spoke to someone before having Cardinal Armfrum destroy the figure. If he hadn’t had the curse removed, he was going to be catatonic until they could figure out a way to bring him back. It’s something I set up literally after the second session when he found that little figure.

All in all, the figure arc, if you can call it that, was a bit weak. I tried to make it tantalizing for my brother to use, but he usually either a) forgot, or b) was reluctant to use it in general. His character is low Int, but unlike someone like Grog, he’s not driven by power or being mighty, but doing good. There was very little I could offer him to try to get him to use it and be corrupted.

Dormin, meanwhile, has a lot going on, and he was pointedly silent the entire time they were in the Temple of Pelor. I decided that Shump’s negative figure and energy was probably easier to notice because Shump is such an uncomplicated, open character. He’s dumb, but nice. Dormin is nice, but he has some complications to his backstory that I thought might cloud a cleric’s ability to read any potential negativity or lingering curses that might be going on there.

I was surprised last session that my party so easily joined up with the government given how negatively they’d reacted to those mercenaries attacking Fric and his tribe months ago. I had said that I wanted to showcase more goblins than just Fric’s tribe as “the good guys” and Klaas’s tribe as “the bad guys.” So this is a small attempt at that — at least a little.

I thought it was bullshit that every race has eleventy hundred deities with a heavy emphasis on good or neutral, while goblins have basically 1 good deity, who isn’t even technically a goblin, and maybe a second good deity if you dig for a while into goblin lore online. Therefore, I went about creating my own good goblin deities to give some variety to worship. In my mind, for my world at least, goblin culture seems sort of like the American south — specifically redneck culture. So I leaned into that with what they might value and personify.

I also like multiple names for the same deity, so one of Nielpog’s nicknames is “The Bawdy Broad.” I love it.

We’re moving our next session up a week, so you’re getting this a week earlier than you normally would. That’s because we are finally–FINALLY–moving to our new apartment. The next time we would normally play fell right in the middle of our move, so we decided it was better on our schedule all around if we moved things around a tad. Plus, I have work things the week we would’ve played, so it’ll mean that the game will now miss both my work stuff and our move.

Speaking of the move, I am ecstatic. Our apartment size is nearly doubling. I can’t wait to have more space to move around in. One of the first things we’re going to do is buy a 6 foot folding table so that we can play D&D at our new apartment rather than going to someone else’s place. It’ll make it easier on Stephanie since usually by the end of the night she’s in a bad way from sitting in a dining room chair or folding chair for three hours.

Next session will be interesting. Wizards of the Coast released a new barbarian path and a new monk monastic tradition, and I think that could have a bit of an influence on some things coming up. You’ll have to wait and see, though.

Until next time, roll well, friends.

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