Archpriest Strelmotarplgbliid

Archpriest "Strel" Strelmotarplgbliid is the head of the village of Glogdolp's traditional religion, making him the de facto leader of their community as well. He has helped his community to grow peacefully for many years, encouraging them to trade with nearby settlements for goods they couldn't produce themselves that would better their own lives. Strel was extremely distressed when a new religious order, led by Strel's son Nogah no less, reared its ugly head and began trying to convert the villagers back to the old ways of humanoid blood sacrifice.
Strel attempted to quell this religious uprising with limited success, going as far as to send his trusted subordinate Mmottukuu (Mott) in search of an ancient idol of their patron god Gibbidubbus to strength his people's waning faith. While Mott was successful, the conflict turned to full-on violence before this plan could be implemented. Fortunately, Mott had made allies of some surfacers, the Thaig Expedition, who helped Archpriest Strel and his loyalists put down the uprising and arrest the separatists. Strel became a friend and ally to the surfacers thanks to this, rewarding them with use of the kuo-toa ship the Grinning Widow in thanks for their services.

Journey Into the Underdark Arc

Meeting the Expedition Members

The adventurers of the Thaig Expedition first met Archpriest Strel when he and a group of loyalists came upon them under attack from Nogah's separatists. Strel and his men rushed to their aid and assisted the adventurers with knocking out their attackers. After casting a tongues spell on himself to speak with the adventurers directly, Strel apologized profusely to them before noticing Mott in their company. He praised Mott for finding the idol of Gibbidubbus and offered to escort the adventurers to Glogdolp under his personal protection. Strel stated that while some of the villagers no longer listened to him spiritually, they were still aware he was perfectly capable in a fight and could beat them up if they messed with him.
They entered discreetly through the east gate and Archpriest Strel took them to a bar nearby. Strel explained the village's deteriorating situation to them, stating that hopefully the idol they recovered would help him resolve things peacefully before anything else really bad happened. As if on cue, one of his guardsmen burst in and informed him that Nogah's followers had attacked a duergar caravan, killing most of them but capturing one (and their goods) to offer to their false god, Saltora. Strel inquired if his guests were the 'for hire' type of adventurers and, learning that they were, hired them to scout out the situation and report back to him. Not long after that, he heard the sounds of fighting coming from down the road and realized things must've gone south.

The Battle of Glogdolp

The Archpriest ran to the guard barracks, rallying his most skilled loyalists and rushing to the aid of the adventurers. He arrived just as they managed to knock Nogah unconscious and used his magic to heal their injuries while his guards focused on rounding up the other separatists for arrest. Strel also noticed the captured duergar nearby, who was unconscious from some sort of sedative, and the loot stolen from the duergar caravan. He strong-armed Jake F. Statefarm into taking the evidence treasure as part of their payment & hiding shoving it in his pack before stating he intended to kill the duergar before the man woke up.
Though Jake saw no issue with this, Leh'ct and Elycia Mirais objected despite Strel's insistence that if word of this incident reached the duergar in Brazenthrone, they'd likely declare war on Glogdolp. Against the military might of a power like Brazenthrone, that is a fight he and his villagers would not win. Despite his concerns, Elycia managed to convince him to leave the duergar be, stating the adventurers could take the man with them when they traveled to the Deep Spire.
Not long after that decision was made, Nogah roused from his concussion and declared that even if he was defeated, Saltora would still come and end them all. This declaration was followed by a rather large splash sound coming from the direction of the village docks. Strel asked the adventurers to check it out while he watched over the duergar and his son. They returned not long after, having defeated the 'god' (revealed to actually be an OoPA) just as the last of the separatists were being arrested. As reward for their efforts, Strel granted the adventurers use of the ship the Grinning Widow during their time on the Black Loch, as well as kuo-toa crew members to help shore up the numbers the ship needed to operate (which included Mott).

Discussion on Gods & Faith

While the Thaig Expedition was waiting for the Grinning Widow to be prepped, Strel advised Leh'ct to leave his pet Silinrul, a Giant Wolf Spider, in Glogdolp since they were headed to the Deep Spire. The Archpriest warned the young man that the drow there, namely the Sword Dancers, were vehemently opposed to Lolth and would kill Silinrul on sight rather than tolerate a potential instrument of the Spider Queen's will in their settlement. Though his made Leh'ct very sad, Strel promised they would look after Silinrul in his absence and try to teach the giant spider how to fish.
Leh'ct also had many questions about the religion of Strel's god, Gibbidubbus. The Archpriest eagerly went into great detail about the history of his god and his people, stretching back to their most ancient legends from 2,500 years ago. He asked if Strel knew anything about the drow god Ghaunadaur, which he did not, while saying he'd heard about this god from his acquaintance Biggs the Blob. This led to Leh'ct's next question, wondering how much direct control deities had over their creations. Their conversation was interrupted at this point by the arrival of Villamax, who asked whether Glogdolp had any historical records he could examine (Strel informing him they did not).
Their conversation resuming, Leh'ct enquired whether deities ever sent people dreams. Strel confirmed that this could happen and that the dreams he sometimes received from Gibbidubbus were wonderful, even if it meant he was missing out on his non-godly dreams of eating nice, fat fish. Leh'ct then asked if such dreams were ever threats from evil deities, which Strel said was a weird and disturbing idea he'd never heard of before. Villamax cleared his throat at this point, prompting Strel to give the wizard and the boy a moment alone and he left the pair so they could speak privately.