Hi,
You went swiftly to Baron Ronalio's keep where you found him strolling the gardens of the courtyard within the small stone walls, taking in the spring scenery in a rare state of relative serenity. He welcomed you warmly, even moving to embrace the Baronet, but then Shaven threw back his hood and Ron froze… Then, to the shock of all, he threw himself prone in pitiful supplication, ranting out loud about how he knew his dreams and prophecies were right, that King Guilmarn the Fat was unfit to wear the Serpent Crown and the serpent-kings of old would rise again to proclaim the rightful ruler!
From his babblings, it seems this was a long-held belief of his that he'd kept suppressed and the shock of seeing Shaven's ophidian transformation drew this out- then he regained his composure and stood again, explaining that the Baronet was “the first snake on Giraine”, as no snakes are found here anymore. But he voiced his concern that this change of Fraud Shaven must be kept hidden, as the Rokari and others would find it most objectionable and the local peasants and other folks were not ready to try to grasp the meaning of this. Ron spoke of rebirths in this Sea Season, a time of such things, and a rebirth of his strong spirit seemed evident at the time (but shrinking again by the end of your discussions), in addition to that of Shaven and Captain Ahappi. But resurrection was major, major heresy, so this must be kept quiet– however, Ron had heard rumblings around the island that such an undertaking was already rumoured to have been happening, so someone caught on (later, you heard through the Shadow's crew that it might have originated in New Arvonesse's port).
You also introduced Captain Yin'yarla but she had private business with Ron, she said, and she spoke with him later after you left. After a quick greeting with the others, Ron ushered you into the keep for private drinks with him, and made more small talk, but also spoke (in darkened, more wavering tones) of the inevitability of the Inquisition coming to Giraine, the reality of war between Nolos and Seshnela, and the secure position of Pithdaros in these matters (they'd surely back up Nolos once war begins).
Ron charged you with re-establishing your rule over your settlement, and giving it a proper name because it was growing now (Inyana was floated as a possible part of the name), and he promised he would arrange a wooden palisade for your main manor ground area as well as the assistance of a stone mason to make a memorial for Inyana, and later to build a Malkioni shrine that Maugis would tend. Roads and fortifications would come later. Ron reminded you of a big mission he'd had in mind for next (Fire) season, but it did not seem to be coming together so he feared it might have to wait. Maugis helped Yin'yarla find merchant contacts in town to trade her crafts and foreign meats, and she gifted Fraud Shaven with a wooden Esrolian husband-protector god mask from her craft goods, so he could hide his cowled identity. You parted on great terms; she said she might visit your hamlet sometime but yearned to be back on the seas soon.
Ciddar spent the day supposedly taking care of the Cheerstorm with its crew, but everyone knew he was shopping for pantaloons and whores.
You left Ron's keep and hiked to your home lands. Shaven and Ahappi made the journey along the coasts, in secret, and reached the Shadow without being spotted, where the crew greeted them in surprise and with great respect and awe. They stayed there until dawn before slipping into the manor to join the others. Cyroosta, Maugis, Boamund and others walked into town, greeting the workers as they came in, and then they addressed them in the centre of the manor grounds. Cyroosta was distracted by her thoughts of the urgency to place Inyana's spirit in the local well so it would meld with the local spirits and bring happiness back to the land. The locals had already missed her, and the land showed this too. Maugis did most of the talking, explaining that the Baronet had been badly burned and then healed but would be coming soon, wrapped in protective garb because he was too horrid to behold. They seemed OK with this, but politely curious.
The next morning, the Baronet met with you and agreed on a plan to explain the situation to the Dronari (peasants/workers) at a feast that night. You also spoke together of Cyroosta's urging to find a new wife for Shaven soon, as the quest entailed this and would not truly be over until it was done and he convinced his people of his choice. Ideas for wives were floated: Yin'yarla and such were not favoured because they were mere peasants (worse yet, Gertrude had an ill history with the Baronet), no clear candidates were known amongst the Giranois, but Cyroosta had an idea for a lonely spirit near Toadhaven that the magician (witch) Apatune knew. The Captain suggested instead that you take a bolder approach and find a new wife amongst the ladies of Pithdaros or Seshnela proper- there was much support voiced for this but Cyroosta countered that this would take much time and it would be hard to bring a fine lady here to marry a snake-headed man in a mud hole.
But no erstwhile suitors were truly ruled out yet, and some clever members of the family's inner ring recalled a precedent, that caste-upgrades with marriage had been done on these grounds before, so lower castes were not out of the question… You decided to visit Toadhaven sometime soon to explore this spirit-wife possibility, but first needed to establish your presence back on the manor-grounds. The peasants spoke of the sinister little men-things that they saw watching them now and then, and the rumour was that these were angry earth-spirits, but you were not so sure of this. Nonetheless, the land was ill at ease since you'd left.
At the feast, the Baronet gave a speech with song and lute-playing that went well, weaving in little lies about his resurrection and skimming over the obvious absence of Inyana. The Captain then spoke up and told a darker tale of the cost of healing the Baronet, which took Inyana's life and still didn't full heal him- blame was placed on everyone (Dronari included!) for not having enough devotion to the family. Some peasants spoke up and complained that this was too sad, that this rang true of the suffering that the Rokari told them was their lot in life, and such injustice was unfair, but the Baronet informed them that this simply was what the Rokari wanted them to believe to keep them in their place. Still, the peasants were disturbed that Inyana would not return, and felt it a poor outcome overall (they did not know of the Baronet's death/rebirth). The Baronet assuaged these feelings somewhat by speaking personally of the pain of losing Inyana, and Cyroosta's plan to bind her back to the land so she would always be near. But the feast ended early and there was a wide range of views amongst the villagers about the current state of affairs. You felt even more urgently the need to be here in person to show that their leaders were still strong and trustworthy. Maugis began counselling them and holding prayers.
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