On the axe issue I guess that you tried it on those Verbeeg fellows and I´m quite certain those are immune against stun. I´ve tried the Hold spell as well and that don´t seem to work either. Or maybe there´s a save roll involved somewhere.
Lizard Shamans sure are stupid.
They sometimes cast Dispel Magic at you even if you dón´t have anything dispellable on you.
The resting part seems like a one-time glitch. I´ve never experienced it.