Will wonders never cease!? This most recent expedition was by far the most exciting (and frightening) of them all! The group decided to face the demon stalker head-on - naturally I agreed to go along with the idea for fear of betraying a sensibility that could be misinterpreted as cowardice.
We started by visiting some of the people of the Bastard in order to procure some supplies and advice on combating demons. The cranky mage with the burnt face grossly overpriced his magic ink (unfortunately we had no alternative), and we were forced to listen to yet another lecture from the long-winded matron who provided no help at all when we asked for advice on fighting demons.
Finally we set out, and much to my relief we took a familiar trail toward a Halfling village I’d visited during one of my earlier bear-hunting expeditions. Along the way I managed to scare off some tree-stalkers with a few cantrips – I believe the rest of the group was sufficiently impressed. Krieger had a name for the tree-stalkers, though as I write this I cannot recall what that name was…
After a few hours of hiking through the forest and mountains (I kept my balance the whole time!) we finally arrived at the village, though it was immediately clear that something was wrong– no Halflings! Only a few starving dogs wandered the streets – due to some inexplicable paranoia we kept a close eye on them the entire time. We checked a few of the houses (Baezel seemed intent on stealing from their homes), and then Baezel climbed in to their boarded-up temple via the watchtower and let us in. Horror of horrors! The entire village had been slaughtered and hung from the temple rafters! It was a sight I shall never forget as long as I live – and perhaps even longer! It didn’t help matters when the starving dogs arrived and began feasting on their former masters…
When Baezel had climbed the temple, he had pointed out a green, wild-haired creature some distance away that was leaving the village. Curious…
As we began to ponder the green creature’s role in the slaughter, the demon suddenly appeared outside the temple and began to attack. With no time to think, I resisted the urge to flee and promptly turned myself invisible. Krieger had obviously taken his vow to become a mortal shield very seriously – without any hesitation he stood toe-to-toe with the demon and took the full force of its attack! Friar Gregory stood behind Krieger, healing him and blessing the group’s weapons so that we could hurt the demon. I used my craft to summon forth a pair of celestial bison and commanded them to gore the demon. Baezel inexplicably threw a small pastry which struck Krieger in the back of the head, though Krieger didn’t seem to notice.
The demon was obviously weakened by Krieger’s repeated strikes – it fled by teleporting itself up to the rafters inside the temple (where I was!) and fixed its stare directly upon me! I called to the group and they returned inside to continue the battle. Baezel threw some sparkly dust at the demon, though that seemed to have no effect. Remarkably the pinnacle of the fight came when one of my bison jumped up and crashed through the rafters and demon, sending it to the ground and smashing its head in! Thank goodness Halfling temple rafters aren’t particularly tall.
The aftermath of the fight was a bit of a blur – I do recall that we decided, out of respect for my former Halfling acquaintances, to burn the temple and bodies as a sort of funeral pyre for the village. Baezel stole some of the temple treasures, but I suppose that’s okay because Krieger let him. I must say that I’m eagerly anticipating our hero’s welcome when we return to the Bastard.
