Bakir’s Pillories: Out of Love Walkthrough in The Blood of Dawnwalker

Bakir’s Pillories: Out of Love is one of the three pillory activities in Bakir’s Court, and it’s the shortest of the set. There’s no puzzle, no investigation chain, and no hidden sub-quest attached to it. You walk into a backyard in the middle of Svartrau City, tell the guards you’re taking their prisoner, and win the fight that follows.

Quick answer: Head to the pillory in the backyard near the centre of Svartrau City, talk to the soldier guarding it, pick “I’m setting this man free.”, then kill the two guards. Freeing Nelu ends the activity and pays 100 XP plus 1 skill point for 3 time segments.

Out of Love location and requirements

Bakir’s activities are tuned for level 20 and up, which is why the standard boss order runs Ambrus first, then Bakir, then Xanthe. Court Activities also don’t appear on your map by themselves — every one of them sits as an “Unknown Activity” until you either stumble into it or climb one of the 11 towers, which marks nearby activities with white question mark icons.

Detail	Value
Court	Bakir (Pillories group)
Location	Backyard near the centre of Svartrau City
Recommended level	20+
Time cost	3 time segments
Objective text	Investigate the gathering around the pillory
Enemies	Two soldiers
Rewards	100 XP, 1 skill point

Nothing here expires. Court Activities stay available until you start them, and they remain in the world even after you’ve killed the vassal they belong to. The only real clock is the 30 in-game days you have to reach Brencis, and time only moves when you spend it.

How to free the captive at the pillory

Track the activity from the journal or Court menu and follow the marker through Svartrau City’s streets. The pillory sits in an enclosed backyard with a small crowd gathered around it and soldiers standing watch.

Walk up to the guard until the “Talk with Soldier” prompt appears and start the conversation. He’ll try to move you along, and the exchange is short.

The Talk with Soldier prompt appears as Coen approaches the guard at the pillory — The “Talk with Soldier” prompt is your entry point into the activity. Image: Rebel Wolves

Choose “I’m setting this man free.” That line commits you to the fight — there’s no version of this activity where the guards let the prisoner go quietly.

Kill both soldiers. They’re ordinary guards rather than a miniboss, and two of them is the entire encounter, so a couple of clean openers usually finishes it.

Coen attacks one of the pillory guards with the enemy health bar shown in the HUD — Only two soldiers stand between you and the prisoner. Image: Rebel Wolves

Tip: come at night if you’re under-levelled. Coen fights with his claws after dark and hits considerably harder, and a red-highlighted target opens up the Voracious Bite prompt, which turns a wounded guard into a health top-up instead of a drawn-out trade.

The Voracious Bite prompt appears over a red-highlighted soldier during the fight — Red-highlighted enemies can be finished with Voracious Bite. Image: Rebel Wolves

With the guards down, interact with the pillory. A cutscene plays in which Coen releases the captive and the two of them talk.

Cutscene of Coen releasing the man locked in Bakir's pillory — Coen frees the man from the pillory once both guards are dead. Image: Rebel Wolves

Nelu, and the lead to Vicho’s store in Altenmarkt

The man in the pillory is named Nelu. Once he’s out, he thanks Coen and passes on something more useful than coin — there’s an order waiting for him at Vicho’s store over in Altenmarkt, and he tells you to go collect it. Vicho runs his own thread of quests elsewhere in the valley, so the shop is worth noting on your map even if you don’t head there straight away.

Nelu speaks to Coen in a cinematic conversation with a skip prompt on screen — Nelu points Coen toward Vicho’s store in Altenmarkt. Image: Rebel Wolves

Before you leave the courtyard, loot the two bodies. The pickups here are practical rather than rare: Aconite, Denarius, Broken Armour, a Regenerative Salve, and a Bounty Announcement.

Cutscene plays where Coen frees Nelu, who shares info about Vicho's store in Altenmarkt — Freeing the Captive. Image: Rebel Wolves

How to confirm the activity completed

You’ll see a “QUEST ENDED” banner after the conversation with Nelu wraps up, and the rewards screen lists 100 XP and a skill point. Your clock also jumps forward by 3 segments, and the Court menu registers a bump to Bakir’s anger. If none of that fires, the usual cause is that the guards are still alive or you never interacted with the pillory itself after the fight — the release cutscene is what actually closes the activity, not the kills.

Where Out of Love fits in Bakir’s Court

Bakir has 12 activities in total, spread across rebel hunters, payoff transports, distilleries, the three pillories, and the hidden Uriash village chain. You don’t need all of them. Clearing roughly nine is enough to max his anger and unlock The Lunar Game, the quest that puts you inside his tournament at Lunar Manor.

Pillory activity	Where it is	Extra outcome
Out of Love	Backyard in central Svartrau City	Nelu points you to Vicho’s store in Altenmarkt
Familiar Face	Main road in southern Parlita	The captive is Vasil from the starting village
Old Hand	In front of Lunar Manor	Protecting him starts Catalin’s Tutor, a Swordmastery teacher

All three cost 3 time segments each, so the pillory group runs to 9 segments if you sweep it. Out of Love is the only one with no branching choice, which makes it the cheapest way to move Bakir’s anger meter when you’re already in Svartrau City for something else.

One thing worth planning around: every activity you finish also raises your Infamy, and the eventual Edict shuts the gates of Svartrau City outright. At that point you can only get in by climbing the walls at night with Shadowstep. If you’d rather not deal with that, clear this pillory on an early trip through the city instead of saving it for the tail end of your run.