I have been assigned a rather strange group of recruits. Ashmar, the monk appears to be a half-dragon, which accounts for his golden skin, claws, and fangs. I am not sure what excuse to assign to the other two. I guess the Psion, B'hob, seems fairly representative of his type, with their ectoplasmic skins and other odd tools. The sorcerer who calls himself Fubar is in a league of his own, however. I am rather sure he is not kidding about drawing the short straw. I was rather concerned when most of them didn't even know how to properly mount a horse. I was greatly relieved when their fighting skills proved to be exceptional. Some of them obviously need military training, but I think I will manage. I will have to watch them for further developments but they should work out. What follows is an account of our movements and encounters.
Upon entering the town, we spotted a Barbarian who immediately ran to a building nearby.We tried to investigate and found ourselves surrounded by two Rakashas and numerous Barghasts, who kept appearing out of nowhere. The creatures all disappeared when slain.I had suspicions that they were summoned.Throughout the combat we kept hearing some annoying, maniacal laughter in the distance.We also noticed the barbarian was floating away above the trees. After dispatching the creatures, we tried to investigate in the laughter was coming from and the barbarian was heading towards but we encountered a group of Xills, who also appeared to have been summoned. As we were finishing this combat we noticed the laughter had stopped. We explored the town, most of which had been destroyed or burnt, but the church was in perfect condition. This immediately made me suspect some evil influence that couldn't invade consecrated ground. While searching the church we discovered a hidden passage below it with a secret door at the end. After some trial and error, we broke the riddle and found the townspeople inside. They were all dead, apparently as a result of starvation. I had to chastise Fubar for wanting to re-animate the King's subjects. Their relatives deserve the chance to have them raised, provided they have the means to do so, or to at least give them a proper burial. We passed the night in the church, and at dawn awoke to find several buildings on fire. When we investigated, we could find no one who might have started the blaze. Fubar's familiar alerted him to a barn on the outskirts of the town. Another secret passage in the barn lead back to the chamber under the church. It appears as though the escape system malfunctioned and the townsfolk were trapped in the secret room.
We stopped here for the night and found the townspeople a little anxious at being the only town of the four that was still untouched. My companions felt safer sharing a common room among us, and I complied despite the possible improprieties. The night passed uneventfully.
While we were trying to decide which direction to head B'hob did something and told us he detected evil in the direction of this village.We discussed our options and decided to explore towards the evil first. When we came upon the clearing in the woods where the town had been, we found nothing. Absolutely nothing. No town, no people, just dirt. While heading back to Sursi to spend the night, we were attacked by three Chimeras and three Atachs. I am suspicious about these creatures fighting in concert and will need to have some research done on this. Everyone fought valiantly and I was proud of the recruits during this especially difficult combat.Fubar, for reasons unknown, decided the needed to raise one of the Atachs to follow him. As I felt no moral obligation to this beast, I had no solid grounds to challenge his decision so I remained silent on the matter. We made it back to Sursi without incident and spent another uneventful night.
As we got near the ruins of Edesha, we saw the barbarian we had encountered before. We also spotted a beholder, which quickly flew behind a distant barn.We engaged in battle with the Barbarian and dispatched him. When we examined the body we discovered a puppeteer on him, which we also killed. We decided to investigate where the beholder had last been seen. We were approaching a large barn when Fubar decided to use his Rod of Wonder. He managed to shrink it considerably, to about 1/12 its original size. This allowed us to see six demons performing a ritual behind the barn. Knowing we were outmatched, I called a retreat. They managed to finish their ritual and blast us with evil energy, while B'hob futilely manifested a power at the demons, who merely laughed at him.
Upon reporting back to the castle, I was told we were not the only ones to have encountered demons. Several other parties had had run-ins with demons, and some units had casualties. The Council of Elders have determined that we encountered warrior or guardian Demons, but are not sure what they were doing in the town the party visited. The recruits will be given more training and the units will be made larger in an attempt to avert future casualties.