Fobias kicks away the woman’s battleaxes and the rest of the party quickly checks for any remaining signs of life in the room. Content with their lack of findings, Trace stops the rest of the group from rousing the woman to get answers; they need to have a conversation first.
Having only known them for a handful of days, Trace is a bit upset at the notion that the party would exclude him from the decision that led to the devil’s release. There’s actually quite a bit of semantics in the difference between demon and devil, but that’s besides the point. At the end of the day, the party puts it to a vote and it’s nearly unanimous to free the demon devil, save for Trace. The argument is that the people of Turtleback Ferry are saved, and the devil can be taken of at a later date if need be.
Fyn and Trace wake up the woman, whose name is Iveyra, after Fobias binds her hands. Krask keeps his arrow trained on her skull throughout the duration of the ensuing conversation, which Fobias leads.
Surprisingly, whether it be through arrogance or stupidity, Iveyra is fairly forthcoming about information. Here are the juicy tidbits that the party learns:
- The children (she calls them ‘husks’) were considered too weak to join the Pack and were likely recruited from the surrounding region
- All of the Kreegs weren’t vanquished by retaking Fort Rannick; their lair is near the peak of Hook Mountain
- Garitran allied the Bloodless with the Kreegs and trolls, but is currently at Hook Mountain finalizing some grand agreement
- Varisia is just the beginning for the Bloodless; Golarion is in their sights
With his final question, Fobias pulls out the small, wooden wolf carving that he found in the quaint general store back at Donesale. He asks if all of the Labours have one. Iveyra is surprised to see that Fobias possesses a carving and confirms that they are given to all of the official recruits.
An arrow betwixt the eyes from Krask is enough to shut up Iveyra for good.
Understandable not wanting to begin their mountainous ascent this late in the evening, the party hunkers down for the night. While Trace is exercising his watch, he hears two figures approaching and is relieved to see Jak and Shalelu on their way across the dam. He almost catches an arrow to the head, thanks to Shalelu’s own surprise, but all is well.
Some villagers from Turtleback Ferry had ventured up to Fort Rannick seeking refuge while their town is rebuilt from the flood damages. That, coupled with Shalelu’s confidence that the ogre menace has been eradicated from the surrounding hillside, was enough for Jak to try and reconvene with the party.
The Black Arrow hasn’t been sleeping well knowing that the body of Commander Lamatar has yet to be recovered. When the party shares the news that the Kreegs still have an active base of operations, Jak perks up; perhaps his Commander is being held captive there! If nothing else, Jak is looking for closure so that he can move on.
Overnight, Fyn thinks that he finally understands Infernal and also manages to transcribe a scroll to his spellbook.
Oh, and everyone levels up to double-digits! LEVEL TEN!!!
After sleeping in (really putting those new abilities and powers to good use right off the bat), Fobias locates an old hunting trail that he believes can take the party straight up the mountain. They piece together some furs and leathers from the remnants of clothing at the dam to create their own makeshift barriers from cold-weather and ascend.
It only takes three hours to near the peak of Hook Mountain, where snow flurries have begun to dance through the air. Across the snowy plain, a pair of ogres block the entrance to a massive cave opening marked by the gargantuan ribcage of a dead blue dragon.
Worried about the potential of an alarm being raised, Fyn causes the snow and wind to whip up around the ogres while the party hurries to their flank. Inside the concentrated storm, the two ogres debate whether it’s worth abandoning their post; apparently the last time an ogre left their post they were stabbed and dragged through the snow.
Eventually one of the ogres stumbles out of the storm straight into the waiting arms of Trace, Fyn, Barnaby, Fobias, Krask, and Richard. It barely has enough time swing its ogre hook at the paladin before it’s completely overwhelmed. As it falls into the fresh powder, the second ogre bursts out of the snowy vortex, swinging wildly. Unfortunately, Barnaby’s swordwork is too pure and too mighty, felling the ugly beast.
Standing at the entrance to the Kreeg homeland, the party is left wondering what obstacles await them within.
What sort of agreement has Garitran been planning with the Kreegs? Will Commander Lamatar’s fate remain a mystery? Should Trace’s votes count double?