The Danger Gang wish they had never heard of the Baku

To expedite their return to health, Marcella suggests Gershom drink the healing potion they found in the wizard's tower. He does so, and, after additional rest, attempts to abjure the ice devil. Sadly, no dice. It's only then that Karl realizes Gershom's wounds haven't healed at all -- the healing potion was actually a potion of delusion! What a clever jape! The Danger Gang laugh heartily and then weep bitterly as they return to resting.

Eventually they are well enough to abjure the ice devil (for real this time) and venture down the stairs. Lying on the second level in a twisted heap is the body of one of the Rakhshasa, spellbook still intact... so that's one down. Outside, where they expect to find much of the city destroyed, it is just business as usual. A local shopkeeper mentions that he saw two dudes being chased by a rat a few days earlier. He found it quite amusing.

After catching up with Dvanshur and explaining how they didn't die, Gershom interrogates one of the nameless cult corpses and finds out a thing or two. Seems that some guy named Rood and a bunch of his buddies hatched a plot to gain power and influence. He'd been spending some time in nearby Khansar. The DG investigate his home and talk to his wife... and a fairly clear picture begins to develop.

First, they visit the Fire Dwarves, only to find their population utterly decimated. Giant elephant-demon footprints are everywhere. The few survivors come out from hiding and recount the story of how the Baku laid waste to their settlement, just like in times of old and then took off into the sea in a straight shot for Khansar. Which makes a sensible next destination to visit. They raise a dwarf and are off.

Kolya expands the boat and they head south a ways to the dead city of Khansar, only to find another slaughter. Piles of corpses stomped and smashed lay about like so many rag dolls. The Danger Gang are able to locate Rood based on the description provided by his wife and question him post mortem, finally getting the full story.

As he tells it, in days of yore, Khansar waxed powerful because it knew the true name of the Baku and could use it to (mostly) control the beast. That name was kept secret and passed from generation to generation until Ikulu showed up with Alexander and decided to end their dominance. She sacked the city and built the tower as a means to hold the Baku, which it did well. So impressed was Ikulu with the way that oral tradition had kept the secret, some say her Mithraism was born on that very spot.

Anyway, Rood was sick of being a peasant and had managed to get his hands on the name, so he set about gathering a group to set free the Baku so he could restore Khansar's power and use it to win friends and influence people. The Baku, left to it's own devices, follows a pre-arranged travel course, so they all went to Baku to wait for its inevitable release. Unfortunately, when it showed up, the word didn't work quite the way they had hoped, and the creature murdered them all in cold blood.

This little mystery wrapped up, they head back to Baku (the city) to raise another dwarf and ask the gate guards for any leads on the Rakhshasa... they were apparently seen running (or rather, two dudes were seen running) out of the city to the south, just as the Baku.

They get a divination that seems to indicate that all three monsters are destined for a locale due south and the Danger Gang sets off to try and catch up to them before any more blood is spilt.

Agathon, for his part, is done with adventuring and decides to claim the tower for his new thieves guild. As he departs the average charisma of the remaining party suddenly skyrockets.