Well, the holidays haven't started, but the need to game has already begun
Last night, the crew took out Mother Xydussssa with a long-distance firestorm and meteorstorm. Hardest thing was actually finding her...
Four out of six went up levels (with some 14k XP each), and the bard went up a couple of levels. Darn, but I hate missing training opportunities!
They then went to retrieve the orb of clarity, and the priest upgraded to paladin. They then returned the orb and she was 500XP closer to her first level.
Returning to Ishad N'ha, she made that first level with the 1000 XP from the temple quest, and everyone else has signed up for the other guild quests.
And Bards can definitely learn fiend spells and train fiend levels. I'm still checking to see about whether it's a native school or not; I should have an answer soon, since she's now level 7 fiend.
Now for some more gauntlet running and finally to meet those sweet, sweet salads of the Gael Serran's middle course...