180 / 10 / 10

Hydra in the swamp.
On the 21 Sush, a runner from the village of Lower Grild arrived at Filishar castle begging for help. The village had been attacked by a group of lizardmen. For those who haven't seen one, lizardmen walk on two legs like us, but have green scaly skin, tails, and elongated mouths with numerous sharp teeth. They are intelligent enough to be able to speak, though most do not understand common. Instead they use a crude form of draconic. The lizardmen are reputed to have survived the years of darkness thanks to their worship of a demon Lord known as Sess'inak, who has encouraged these depraved beings to favour the flesh of intelligent creatures in their ritual feasts. Despite knowing this, there was little Acting Duke Pelin could do. Lower Grild was not a part of the kingdom and so was not entitled to the protection of our forces.
Fortunately for the residents of the occupied village, the members of Explorer Company are not bound by such concerns, and a small group decided to investigate. This group, referred to as team 11 by an Explorer Company spokesman, represents a trial in combining forces from different groups. In this case the Knights of Blackfort and the Dragon Strike company. Consisting of several humans, a Dragonborn, and a being from a different world, it is hoped that bringing together such a diverse group will open up new tactical opportunities.
Travelling south beyond the kingdom's borders Team 11 found the survivors from Lower Grild living in a crude encampment. It was clear from their appearance, and the rudimentary tools they were using that they had been forced to flee with no more than the clothes on their backs. There wasn't much more the leader of the survivors, their mayor, could tell the explorer team beyond the location of the village, so they did not linger, setting out into the depths of the swamp.
As they had been informed, the team found the village infested with lizardmen. As several of the group speak Draconic, they first attempted to communicate with the invaders but to no avail. According to the reports from the group the lizardmen spurned their diplomatic overtures and attacked on the orders of a particularly large and savage looking one. With no witnesses bar Team 11 we are forced to rely on their rather dry reports which state simply that they launched a coordinated attack on the leader of the lizardmen, eliminating him, and forcing the remaining lizardmen to submit. A brief interrogation revealed that the lizardmen were fleeing an even more deadly threat. A multi-headed creature of legend - a hydra. The team's resident expert on such threats, Dass Argentiss, persuaded the rest of the team that it was meaningless to drive out the lizardmen if such a threat remained to the village so they set out in search of the beast. Their interrogation of the lizardmen had revealed it's probable location, a large pool, deep in the swamp.
The beast was indeed lurking in that pool, but Team 11 were able to lure it out. Hydras are truly fearsome beasts. Massive in size, with multiple sets of razor sharp teeth. Their most terrifying ability is regrowing any heads that are slain, creating an ever increasing threat in battle. Fortunately both Malkash and Virris (otherworldly traveller and one of the humans) are arcane casters capable of wielding fire as a weapon. The flames from their attacks suppressed the hydra's ability to heal itself, allowing Roke and Dass to deal it mortal wounds.
With the hydra dead, the group removed it's more intact heads as proof of their deed before returning to the former residents of Lower Grild. With proof of the threats that exist outside the kingdom, and the power of our forces, the people of Lower Grild reconsidered their predecessors decision to leave the kingdom and have applied to join our nation once more.
With their competence proven through deadly combat, the team 11 experiment has been allowed to continue, and we understand that the group have already left on their next assignment.