The Strife Curse was inflicted in the Era of Upheaval by Bane, the Strife Emperor. The term is used to describe the mental affliction on the Goblinkin that Bane and Maglubiyet had concocted together as Bane (the aspect of Tiamat) had grown to be quite good at corrupting species. The Curse came to be instilled in the races during the era of Upheaval.
Description
The curse instills in its victims the compulsion that leads them to evil by allowing Bane's and Maglubiyet's foul voices to prey upon their minds from beyond the Divine Gate. The effects are unpredictable, causing some to become uncontrollably aggressive, others to become obedient soldiers, and yet others to become solitary criminals.
Following the creation of the curse, the the two deities used goblinkin as their minions in his conquest of the world. Few of the Hobgoblins escaped the transformation, and those who escaped, are living in fear as they are being hunted and also trying to find a way to help their kin rid themselves of the curse. Whether they intend to rid goblinkin of only the mental affliction.
Clerics of the Two Deities can inflict the curse merely by casting the bestow curse spell.
Breaking the curse
Near-death trauma and extended compassion can both help a goblinkin break through the curse.
Alternatively, one can simply cast the 5th-level atonement on the afflicted individual.
Cultural consequences
There is a common but mistaken belief that, like the goblinkins' curse of strife, orcs and half-orcs are afflicted by a similar "curse of ruin" from Gruumsh. As a result, the union of orcs and goblinkin is still strictly taboo in some of the orcish tribes.
One reason many people of Theras fear goblins is because they believe the curse is heritable.
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