Barl Breakbones throws down his weapon and the party begins their interrogation. There’s a lot to unpack here!
First of all, the party inquires about Mokmurian. Who is he and what is he planning? As it turns out, Barl has been receiving semi-regular communication from Mokmurian via rocs. He pulls out a mammoth hide with the latest message. Mokmurian has instructed a raid on Sandpoint using a combination of stone giants led by someone named Teraktinus, along with a dragon. The Kreegs had been working hard forging weapons to fuel the stone giant war engine.
This obviously puts Krask on edge. He asks about any details he might know about the dragon, and it turns out that the dragon has a distinctively long tooth that juts out from its jaw. One more reason for the party to stop inserting powerful beings into their backstories, I suppose.
Not much else is revealed about Teraktinus, other than him being a strong stone giant who is skilled with martial weapons. Apparently Barl and Teraktinus don’t see eye to eye on most things. If Teraktinus were to die in the raid, it would certainly put Barl directly into the limelight.
But why is Sandpoint on the radar? Seems strange and unnecessary for the sleepy town to be drawing the attention of Mokmurian. Unfortunately, Barl isn’t really sure except that Mokmurian appears to be on the hunt for something important and Sandpoint just might be the key to ending his search.
At this point, Barl is feeling like he has given enough information for the party to back off a bit and let him relax in his chair. The party obliges while Barnaby tries to see if Barl is up to any funny business. It seems like a perfectly normal chair from what he can tell.
The conversation switches gears over to Lucrecia. It quickly becomes clear that Lucrecia and him were an item, romantically speaking. Krask searches her body and discovers a personal list of her ‘favorite’ customers at the Paradise, with Kaven’s name circled. Although this isn’t a new revelation, it is just another nail in the coffin for the former Black Arrow. Krask takes Lucrecia’s keen dagger as his own.
With that cleared up, it’s time to discuss the figurative elephant in the room: Garitran. Barl explains that the agreement with the Bloodless involved them being involved in Mokmurian’s master plan. This could include the raid on Sandpoint. Apparently Garitran and his small contingent of Bloodless are above them in a secluded mountain valley. Interestingly enough, there was an oddly obese man with them who didn’t look like the other Bloodless Labours. The party makes note of this before redirecting their attention to Barl’s fate.
Fyn is most adamant about not letting Barl leave this cave alive. However, the rest of the party seems content with letting him walk away unarmed. So long as stays away from Mokmurian, perhaps there will be a power void for him to fill in the near future. According to Barl, only the three sisters are still in the cave, but they shouldn’t be a threat if the party doesn’t confront them personally. And with that, Barl leaves.
Between the sisters and Garitran, the party finds the Bloodless to be the more immediate threat. Not only does Fobias have a personal vendetta to fulfill, but if Garitran is in league with Mokmurian then he needs to be stopped. Trace quickly heals the party and they head up the ladder in the cold mountain air.
They emerge amidst a swatch of evergreens in a miniature mountain valley in the shadow of Hook Mountain. The faint smell of smoke is all they have to go on as they search for Garitran. As the party comes around a bend in the path, they can see a clearing that is dotted with small fires. Several shirtless figures stop what they’re doing and pick up weapons as the party approaches.
It’s the Bloodless camp.
At the far end of the camp, Garitran stands next to an obese man while a frothing wolf paces restlessly in front of them. Gary sees Fobias and begins a long speech about being just one step ahead of the half-orc. Despite the lengths the Bloodless have gone to, Fobias and the party have always been right behind them.
In Gary’s eyes, everything to this point has been shaping Fobias. It’s been preparing him to finally join the family of Bloodless Labours and take his place in the clan. Even if Garitran were to die today, there will always be someone else to take up his mantle. Fobias could do great things.
The choice is his.
Was the party right to let Barl Breakbones go? How will Fobias react to Garitran’s offer? Is it too soon for Krask to pick up some dragon’s bane arrows?
Art Source: Druid concept by PeterPrime on DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/peterprime/art/Druid-concept-370026553