10/11/2023 Waterday, Fertility Week, Sea Season, Year of the Overlord 2164 After resting and healing following their defeat at Strum, the party regrouped and decided their next steps. The party decided to scout Strum. Chance summoned his familiar, which takes a different random form every time he summons it. This time, Chance’s familiar took the form of a gremlin named Grumf, although Chance decided to call him “Bruce.” Grumf/Bruce explained that he causes nearby enemies to have bad luck. Tempest cast invisibility on both Siris and Grumf, and Grumf rode Siris to scout the town. When they returned, Siris and Grumf described how halfling guards were stationed on the roofs of the buildings, and they were feeding small furry creatures to the ballista on the roof! After some discussion with the party, Dethjak explained that sometimes chaos mages were known to take ordinary weapons and have demons inhabit them. Additionally, Siris and Grumf reported that a quarter mile to the west of the town, a group of about 75 townspeople were farming the land, while about 25 halfling guards surrounded them. After some discussion, the party decided it would be prudent to focus on freeing the townspeople in the field first before invading Strum. The party circled around to the west of the town and hid in a dell near the farming townspeople. The party rushed out and fell upon the halfling guards, catching them by surprise. Tempest cast “Lightning Bolt”, killing five guards at once! Chance cast “Eldritch Blast” while Helegan and Maeddes fired their bows. The halflings fell quickly, and Mobec cast sleep on the last four guards, who the party tied up for later questioning. Then the party returned to Ole’s camp. As they were approaching Ole’s camp, they heard a voice from behind them, evidently from the invisible devil, saying “Very clever, but I’ll be waiting when you come back.” The party then questioned the four surviving guards one at a time. Igny cast “Zone of Truth” to ensure the halflings answered honestly. From the first halfling, they learned that the devil was called Belthane, although this certainly was not his true name. The former Baron Markowitz had put Belthane in charge of Strum, promising the devil that in return he could devour the soul of a righteous paladin named Igny! Additionally, the party learned that there were more townspeople left in the town, primarily the artisans of the town and their families. The halflings had three mages among them, and a number of dire spiders. The second halfling enthusiastically wanted to join the party! He explained that it was clear the party was more powerful and would eventually succeed and he wanted to join. In fact, a number of halflings felt similarly, and had arranged to guard the farmers together so they could defect. However, the attack on the halfling guards was so quick, they never had time to act before they were all subdued. The second halfling also described how the food stores in Strum were running low, but they were expecting a resupply caravan from the southwest. The third and fourth halflings largely confirmed what the party had already learned. And with that the session ended. TL;DR: The party freed some townsfolk by killing a bunch of halfling guards before they could surrender.