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[Natural20]

Because they were hired to. They need to be able to pay for food, equipment and transportation...
Unless you mean 'why did the elementals attack the town?'


Not really. If it was just 'Richard Killing Things', then it wouldn't be that popular. Yes, Richard does kill a lot of things, and makes jokes about it, but there are a host of other webcomics out there where you have a crazy party member who enjoys killing things.
Take a look at what happened with Cale in the story so far. How did he start out? What happened to him? Is the Cale we know now the same Cale?

I don't agree with that. Richard is the primary reason why people read LFG. As I see it, readers can be attracted to a comic by two things: they are drawn by the plot, or by the characters. Though it is by far a universal sentiment, there are those who feel that LFG's plot and transitions are quite weak, and that to them, Richard is the main attraction. So yes, Richard makes LFG popular, and what sets it apart from other characters who perform random killings is because he genuinely makes it amusing as opposed to others who try to mimic it pathetically. This, I feel, is an important point.

About Cale's supposed fall: I don't care one whit about it. This again falls back to Sohmer's inability to make me care about his actors or his story, and I viewed Cale's descent from his moral high ground with the same amount of attention as I give to the plot: very little. After the strip where Cale killed the "little boy" and escaped, we are treated to Emo-Cale. That is a prime example of the jolting transitions which I find so disorienting. The time gap is unexplained, and yes, though it is easy to assume why Cale is so distraught, (and a few panels elaborating on it would've been nice), it doesn't explain where the heck they are, and the plot recap was confusing as anything.