[Stomoxys]

Before we could decide, Grogg began sniffing the air and said something was wrong. We all turned as we heard panicked cawing coming from the south and Grogg set off towards it at a sprint. The rest of us tried to follow and I slipped on the spirit ring. A panicking Kra was flying towards Grogg at full speed. When they reached the troll, they flew right into them and disappeared.

Everything was quiet for a moment, but Wolfrarm looked around and said something was wrong. I still had night vision and peered into the desert. Something moved between the rocks and dunes a few kilometers to the south of us. It was definitely some kind of spirit and it came towards us at full speed. It looked like a cloud of dust and sand, but sometimes a dessicated arm or screaming face peered out. We all set off at a sprint back to the inn.

We reached the inn and were still a good distance ahead of the thing. It went straight to the spot we met Kra, but then it beelined towards us. I ran up the stairs and banged on Nuur-Karif's door, shouting that there was a spirit thing coming. I then ran to the other room and fetched a Kabal staff. Grogg followed and grabbed their club. Nuur-Karif did not tarry, but joined us on the way down.

Wolfram had waited downstairs and were turning into the demon bear when we came down. Looking at the dust cloud with the staff was confusing. It left traces where it went and it was difficult to tell where the traces ended and the cloud began. As it got closer, I could start to make out five or six distinct shapes swirling inside the cloud.

Yana and Hylda hid inside the inn while I took up position on the porch and Wolfram, Grogg, and Nuur-Karif arrayed themselves in front of me. The porch was only one step above the ground, but at least I would be able to see above Nuur-Karif. I dropped the staff and prepared a bolt of light.

Wolfram rushed into the cloud when it got near and they seemed to get one of the shapes. The rest scattered around the bear and I fired at one coming straight towards me. It hit and did seem to hurt it, but half the light seemed to go through and it did not stop.

Nuur-Karif stabbed into a shape and a dessicated corpse dropped out of the air. Wolfram promptly crushed it with their maul, but two other shapes attacked Grogg and seemed to fly through them.

The shape I had hit came straight for me, but I easily sidestepped it and prepared another bolt. Wolfram ran into another shape, but they seemed to cluster in and around Grogg and Grogg looked stunned for a moment. I tried to blast the shape right in front of me, but I misstepped and nearly stumbled off the porch, causing the beam to go off into the desert night.

Nuur-Karif manifested a corpse while Wolfram mauled another. Grogg roared that the things should stay away from Kra and lashed out with their maul. I conjured another bolt, but the shape came after me again and this time I was not able to get out of the way. It felt as if the warmth was sucked out of my body and for a moment I thought I would lose control of the bolt. However, I managed to regain control. Before I could fire, Nuur-Karif had stabbed the shape in the side and a corpse appeared before me. My bolt struck it in the shoulder and the arm nearly fell off, but it still tried to reach for me. Nuur-Karif struck again and nearly cut off its head. This brought it down and I finished it off by stomping on it.

There was only one shape left, but it was trapped between Grogg and Wolfram. While Grogg could not see it, they struck with their maul and the thing dodged away. Wolfram ripped it to shreds though. Most spirits we have met so far have ignored physical attacks, but perhaps it would work on these. If we met them again, I should bring my normal staff.

It was quiet for a moment as the materialized corpses disintegrated into dust that drifted away and mixed with the ashes of the demon bear. Grogg were swaying on their feet, but were exclusively concerned with Kra's wellbeing. I picked up the staff and the tracks of the shapes lit up. There were lingering traces of them in the dust, but the spirits themselves seemed to be gone.

Grogg muttered that the things had talked to them and had tried to take Kra. However, they were interrupted by one of the doors of the inn slamming open and Munir came running out with a curved sword. They were followed by Keri with their crossbow and several other apeoids. Wolfram had the sense to run off into the night, but Keri aimed at them. Thankfully, Nuur-Karif distracted them and diffused the situation before they could fire.

Munir wanted to know what was going on. Nuur-Karif said that spirit creatures had attacked, but we had destroyed them and that everything was fine. Munir and Keri was sceptical and wondered what kind of beast the demon bear was. Nuur-Karif did not answer directly, but assured them that everything was fine. They reluctantly accepted, and Munir stalked off, ordering some of their apeoids to keep watch.

Keri said they would handle the situation, but wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. They also wanted to know if we should warn anyone and what to do with witnesses. Someone would almost certainly have seen what had happened. Just as they mentioned witnesses, an apeoid hiding next to the neighbouring building got up and ran away. There was nothing to be done about them, so we went inside to tend to our wounds.

Grogg was most in need of medical attention, but ignored Nuur-Karif's request and were solely focused on Kra. When we got inside, I felt the cold begin to leave my body and soon felt much better. There was still a dull patch on my skin where the shape had touched me, but it should heal with time. Warming up again seemed to work better than traditional first aid.

Wolfram came back after 15 minutes. Munir's guards were patrolling around the building, so they had had to circle around the inn and approach from the direction of town. They wondered if we had cleared out the dead from The King's crypt. I thought it was unlikely that this was all that had been released. Pakk and Gromann had experience rummaging around in ruins and would know how to handle such spirits. Grogg said that the spirits had talked to them. They wanted Kra to come with them and had tried to take Kra by force.

Nuur-Karif suggested we kept a night watch. I wondered if it was necessary with Munir's guards outside, but Nuur-Karif pointed out that the invisible spirits could bypass the guards if they came straight for us. We gathered all our things in the smoke room.