Previously on Reclaiming Orathos

The Snatcher's Cave is ours — and now comes the bill. We take one last, uneasy look at the Candleman, who whispers his life-trade straight into Fenric's skull, and crack a sealed sarcophagus to find not a corpse but thousands of pencil-sized soul candles. We pass on Pimothy's prisoners, refuse to lie to the church's ghost boy, and haul our loot — and a stolen tea table — the long road back to Ponterford.

Then it's a town's worth of loose ends. Lash returns the Miller's daughter's bones for a bowl of pea soup. The witch-keeper swoons over Pimothy's "heroism," then learns no children were saved. And Valmora — already paid the dragon bounty we're still chasing — hands us our 170-gold cut, hugs us each goodbye, and walks north out of the story.

Over Eldrich's war table, the next target lands: Knucklebones, the warband barbarian holding Lambert's Crossing — Laewendas's only fortress retreat. We ride out with the caravan in sixteen days. The road north is calling.

SUMMARY: The party closes out the cave and Ponterford during downtime, says goodbye to Valmora, and commits to march on Knucklebones at Lambert's Crossing.