C1E15: Homeward Bound
The FCG returns to Zadash with Suria Dwendal and earns some much-needed downtime in the cold and rainy city.
Introductions
As the dust settles on the road, Suria is released from the enchantment that bound her.
Suspicious at first, you show her the letter from Elinore and your commendations from the Lawmasters of Deastok and Zadash, and she relaxes a bit. She tells you that she and her guide were attacked on the road south. When they realized who she was, they hatched a plan and started taking her north.
Sable arrives with your horses. Troubled by the loss of Leon, she gathers up his remains and takes them back to Barelben along with a package home that Snow asks her to mail.
Suria is a polite, insightful, and generally quiet traveling companion. Once she recovers from the shock of the past few days, you all pass the time pleasantly. She is a curious and somewhat academic mind, and has conversations with several of you that border on clinical about what should be emotionally charged topics, including Erash and Khoraka.
The FGC gets her through the gate with no one the wiser, though it's very clear security has stepped up here following the attack on Felderwin. You return to her estate, where Elinore bursts into tears and you're not sure who is taking care of whom as Suria asks you to return in the morning for your reward while ushering both Elinore and her horse deeper into the grounds. You over here Elinore admit between sobs that she made up a story that Suria was pregnant and nauseous and wanted time alone to placate everyone.
Back to City Life
The FGC checks back in to their accommodations at the Pillow Trove, where Snow recovers an eagerly anticipated note from Abeille, the dealer she met several weeks past at The Triumph Chime. The group heads to The Steamed Buns to scrub the worst of the swamp off of their persons, and they chat briefly with Crystal, the proprietress.
Snow heads to the casino that night, where the two have an animated and intimate conversation over hastily dealt hands of cards. They agree to meet up and visit the Quicksilver Cabaret as soon as Abeille has the night off. She also tells Snow that Abeille is her "dealer name" – and that her real name is Echo of Waterfalls, or Echo for short.
Khoraka, still hearing the sounds of the swamp in his ears, has a dream and wakes up smelling, as his roommate observes, of "sweat and whiskey."
The following morning, the group makes their way back to Suria's Zadash estate. Meeting with the princess in the grand library, they obtain an unexpected reward for their efforts; the deed to a noble estate and small vineyard in the city of Feolinn on the Menagerie Coast. The property used to belong to Suria's great aunt Elodie, and Suria spent summers there until she married in to the royal family. Elodie believed in ensuring Suria had her own assets, so it is much easier for her to reward their discreet service to her with properties that are her own and not the business of the crown.
Wishing each other well, Suria Dwendal and her retinue make their way north, away from the conflicts in Felderwin and back to the relative safety of Rexxentrum. The Freaky Gray Company, in their turn, has a fresh day to spend in the city of Zadash, and ponder their next adventure.