After changing out of her costume, and back to her halfelf form, Croq comes out of the back room with Biscuit.
"Hey, where'd everybody go? What did you think of the show?"
"Hey, 'Ellgh. Over here!" Aurealia waves to her sister.
"I thought it rocked," she says, offering a hand for a high five.
As she walked over to get directions to her 'sister's room, she began to hastily assemble her hair into a relatively messy bun, but one that would at least keep it out of the way, and made certain her pouch of components was easily reachable through the subtle slit in her skirts.
"There you are, Ms. Jaya!" says the innkeep, who must have extraordinary stamina to be still up and active this late. "Captain Farwynd is staying in the other premium suite, right across the hall from Mr. Cai'nan's room. I believe she already retired for the night, though if you still want to chat with her, I've also heard your, uh, relative is something of a night owl."
Anyone staying at the Creekside will eventually learn that the room fare for the night has been waived; evidently, it's a gift to the Andosana Sisters for bringing in an entire month's worth of business in just one evening.
Even better, much less likely to be an ambush if I'm not necessarily expected.
"Thank you."
She headed towards the rooms, lamenting that she hadn't even worn riding skirts, which were much simpler to secure without hobbling herself.
On that journey though, one moment gave her pause. As she passed by Kallie's room, she heard her crying. Galatea again? Should I..? No. My mysterious relative comes first. Kallie's sorrows are chronic. A few minutes more won't make the difference.
Instead, dangly earrings and necklace safely tucked away, Jaya knocked on Captain Farwynd's door.
You hear shuffling about inside the suite. About a moment later, the door opens. In that instant, you can definitely see why Ariel Kailani thought Captain Farwynd was your sister; this woman definitely resembles both you and a younger Auronee Farwynd.
You both appear to be around the same age. As Ariel said, Captain Farwynd has a very similar face to you. Her hair texture is identical, albeit a sandy blonde instead of auburn that often borders on copper. Standing a little above your mother's height, she has a toned and athletic build. Despite being rather late at night now, Captain Farwynd is still dressed like she walked right off her boat.
Of note, she is also unarmed, but you can see a fancy rapier in its sheath resting on the room's similarly fancy desk.
"...You are definitely the splitting image of your mother, Jaya. Well, sans being a brunette I suppose," says Captain Farwynd with a friendly grin. She offers her hand and adds, "Ah, where are my manners? Wendy Farwynd. Lovely to finally meet you."
She gestures to the hallway and then her room.
"Would you like to speak here or inside? I'm not picky."
Perhaps more importantly, you have never heard of a Wendy Farwynd.
Jaya extends her left hand for a brisk shake, but doesn't step into Wendy's room yet. "I'm afraid I haven't been fortunate enough to learn of your charms, Wendy, from any of my family. What flag does your ship sail under? Not Taldor's, I trust?"
Vyre. Vyre was exactly the sort of place that could hide a Farwynd from Jaya's learning.
Of course, the City of Masks was also exactly the sort of place that a 'Farwynd' might hail from as well.
Jaya hadn't grown up there, but in the years of her mother's monstrosity, back when they'd both dwelled only in the shadows, Auronee had spoken often of Vyre as an ideal lair to hide in. Secret, but still connected to the movers and shakers who didn't bother to sit thrones. But the mutations that were beyond even Auronee's means to remove had been too obviously alien to disguise there. She'd ensconced them in Kaer Maga, the City of Strangers instead.
Would she still have pursued the same experiments if she'd been able to do her work there? Or would I still have wound up the same, only with my soul promised to some devil as well?
"Well coz, an apprenticeship with someone like Master Silva is never truly complete, but I have entered something of a journeyman's stage in my training. When did you last speak with my mother in any case? And what sort of Varisian goods brought you here? The cove is lovely, but hardly noted for its exports."
Wendy chuckles merrily and leans against the doorframe.
"I'm here for Sir Roderic's maps. Even almost a century after his death, they are some the most beautiful and detailed on Golarion! One of Sir Roderic's apprentices is still alive: a Forlorn elven fellow by the name of Charon Seascribe. He's so practiced in the trade that he can make a quality copy of Sir Roderic's maps from memory in just a day. My patron wanted me to pick up a few for the manor's walls."
She starts thinking over the second question.
"Gods, it's been at least four months since I saw your mother in person. We still talk through other means, though. Last I heard, she's doing very well."
Wendy's voice drops off a bit at that last sentence, and the sandy blonde glances off to the side.
"Jaya, out of curiosity, what do you think of your step aunt?"
Jaya peered at Wendy over her spectacles with a note of faint disbelief in her voice, "Any maps in particular? I can only imagine a luminary like Seascribe could pen a lovely original if you only want them for the aesthetics."
Four months... Gods, it's been almost a year since I've seen her. Not what's important though.
"My step-aunt? I don't really think of her like that, honestly. I've been to a few of her churches if that's what you mean; my mother insisted on it, but... she doesn't talk about her much.
"I know she's why my mother has her face back though."
"Once sec. I'll get the paperwork," she says, nonchalantly retreating for her desk. Your relative moves somewhat slowly, perhaps as a means to show that she means no harm. True to her word, Wendy just grabs some papers and brings them over. "You have a point on the originals. I'm no cartographer, but as long as the actual geography is still the same, then I imagine that should be sufficient."
Wendy's patron appears to want maps of the coastlines around Varisia's major city states and some (seemingly) random islands.
"Can't say I know much more than what's here on the paperwork, Jaya," Wendy insists gently.
After putting the papers back and contemplating what you said about Cladissa, she pauses at her desk.
"Jaya, I think there's something you need to know about your mother," Wendy says, switching from the Common tongue to Sylvan. "Should I write it down for you? Or would you be willing to step inside and hear it aloud?"
Wendy gestures to the hallway, where you still stand.
"The information is somewhat... sensitive. I'd rather not speak it where others could hear."
Jaya puts on a blank expression when her concerns are explicitly called out, but simply steps into Wendy's room. Sylvan's an odd language to have guessed. Not least because it's so commonly spoken by elves and gnomes. Then again she might only speak a few languages, and I don't know all that many Avistani tongues.
"Very well. What's this 'information' then?"
"Firstly, I understand that we're essentially strangers, Jaya. We might share the same surname, but until today, you probably had no idea I was even alive. Regardless, I'm not sure who else I can tell this..."
After taking a moment to collect her thoughts, Wendy gets straight to the point.
"...While I was staying with your mother, she started experiencing some... horrific nightmares," says the mysterious Farwynd scion. "At first, she... endured, as Auronee always does. Evidently, those horrible dreams were nothing new for her; she insisted that they'd end in a month. Except they didn't; they lasted much longer. They just went on and on. Eventually, I had to contact-"
Wendy's eyes go blank as the thought seemingly dies in her mind.
"I don't really remember how, but something I did helped her..."
Wendy takes a seat on her bed and a moment to wipe her eyes. After a very long moment, the sandy blonde is able to collect herself and continue. Evidently, witnessing your mother suffer those nightmares had been a similarly horrific experience for her as well.
"In short, Jaya, I don't think your mother is faring very well right now. Auronee is putting up such a strong front. However, the more we communicate these days, the more I'm starting to notice the cracks..."
Wrath blazes in Jaya's eyes. She'd known about her mother's episodes since she'd been a child of course. Once her mother had been disguisable enough to trust allies again she'd sent Jaya away for the month, but before then, when her mother was monstrous, she'd spent her nights for the moon's turn ensconced in a cage of her mother's most potent abjurations.
When she'd finally learned that this was something someone was doing to her mother, long after the experiments, when she'd gotten to know her mother's real face, Jaya had pestered her for weeks before Auronee finally snapped. "Just because She forgave me doesn't mean everyone else did, and if there's one thing I've learned it's that forgiveness isn't something you get to expect! If Arg- If he really feels better doing this, so be it."
Her mother still stubbornly accepted Argor Constantine's scourgings, and had been entirely unwilling to listen to any of Jaya's suggestions on how to thwart them, or to confirm that Constantine was really her tormentor.
But he's not stopping this time...
Shimmers of heat gathered around Jaya's hands. "Where is she, Wendy! I'm not taking no for an answer this time. She has to stop him!"
Despite being confused about whoever this "him" might be, nodding in agreement, Wendy takes a moment to gather her thoughts. It seems that something is actively making it difficult for her to recall certain details. Nonetheless, the sandy blonde persists.
"...It's complicated. Last I saw her? Vyre," Wendy finally remembers after much strain. "However, that was months ago, and I think she's moved. Her exact location now is... Have you heard of the Gilded Pasture? Auronee says she's safe there. Protected from the nightmares. Protected by an... ally. A powerful ally."
Wendy sighs heavily in frustration and rubs her temples.
"I just wish I knew where the Gilded Pasture was. When I try to get a firm answer, your mother becomes very elusive, Jaya."
She appears to feel quite guilty about not knowing much more.
The Gilded Pasture?
"Well try harder next time Wendy, this is important and-
"Wendy? Has she been tampering with your memories to keep you both safe?"
Cai’nan shrugs at Aurelia’s slurred question. ”I dunno. Sounds like you guys have some big days ahead of ya. I dunno what Krodha and me are gonna do...”
"No! Auronee would never mess with my mind," Wendy insists. "It's..."
Your relative's eyes go blank again.
"It's something else," the sandy blonde manages to finish with a sigh. "Jaya, I'll see what I can do to get her current location. Will you be in town for awhile? I should have something for you in a few days."
Wendy pauses for a moment.
"Perhaps if you give me a message to pass along, that might help convince her to tell me. I know that things between you two aren't... perfect, but she clearly cares about you, Jaya. From what I'm seeing, you feel the same way."
Beaming, Croq returns her sister's high five. "Didn't it! I mean, that last song SUMMONED THE FREAKING SPIRITS OF THE COVE TO JAM WITH US!! What could be more Metal than that?!?!?"
To Cai'nan, Croq shrugs. "Your call, but feel free to join us in recovering Baraket tomorrow."
Turning to her sister, Croq puts her arm around Aurealia's shoulder and says, "Speaking of which, off to bed, eh? Tomorrow WE RECOVER THE SWORD OF THE RUNELORD OF PRIDE!!"
Cai’nan shrugs at Aurelia’s slurred question. ”I dunno. Sounds like you guys have some big days ahead of ya. I dunno what Krodha and me are gonna do...”
"You mean you're not going to help us? What? You have no sense of adventure?"
Cai’nan shrugs at Aurelia’s slurred question. ”I dunno. Sounds like you guys have some big days ahead of ya. I dunno what Krodha and me are gonna do...”
"Brother Cai'nan, were you not hired to escort Lady Jaya and my dear niece into the wilderness?" Ariel inquires rhetorically. "Well, from what I understand, they will be venturing into the wilderness! As a man of the Green Faith, it is your sworn responsibility to see to their safety."
"Not all druids practice the Green Faith, Ariel," Shiloh pipes up. "I mean, I'm a follower of Brigh myself."
"Just tell her enough is enough, and I'm not going to let her self-flagellate any longer. Tell her if she really wants to let herself be tortured she can say that to my face."
Jaya forced herself to calm down, pulling back from any pyrotechnics. [b]"What does caring for me have to do with anything? I know she cares for me, but it's simplistic to think that that's all that matters. And yes, I care for her, but she taught me herself: Forgiveness isn't something she get to expect.
"Please send the message. I'll see what we can find of Roderic's maps."
With a sad smile, Wendy moves to the door and opens it for you.
"She'll likely contact me soon. When Auronee does, I'll definitely pass your message to her," she says. "While I wish the circumstances were better, it was still wonderful to finally meet you, Jaya. Be safe."
"You too." Whoever you really are...
”They hired me to guide them to the Cove, which I’ve done. And I don’t follow the Green Faith. I don’t even know that I’m a Druid. I never had a knack for magic growing up. Was always better with a glaive. Then I go to the Mwangi and face the horrors there, and...” he pauses in silence a moment before throwing back another glass of liquor. ”Next thing I know, I can...do things like a Druid, and my hands fumble about a glaive like an untrained grunt.”
He pours himself another glass before adding ”I dunno if I should involve myself in something so grand. It might attract...unwanted attention...”
Croquelle punches Cai'nan in the arm. "Unwanted attention? Don't you mean EPIC GLORY?!?
"But, y'know, your call."
To herself, she mutters, "'Unwanted attention'. What does that even mean?"
Cai’nan doesn’t look up at the punch. He just mumbles in reply ”I hope you never have to know...”
"What are you hiding, Caimmam? Hmm? Hiding something?" Aurealia pokes Cai'nan in his chest. Mmm. Meaty.
Leaving Wendy's room, Jaya began to head back to the bar, but instead took a brief detour to Kallie's room, giving the door two soft thumps with her knuckles. "Kallie? Are you okay in there? Do you need some company?"
She leaned against the door to listen. If I hear one of those big centaur snores, then that's fine too, but if she's too quiet, I'll have to check on her.
The knock on her door sends Kallie scrambling to her hooves and frantically wiping the tears from her face. "I'm okay! Sure, just a sec!" she calls out. She adjusts her top, casts prestidigitation to remove her tear stains, and wishes fervently that there was a cantrip that could remove red, puffy eyes just as easily.
She finally opens the door with a bright smile covering her fluster. "Jaya! So good to see you! What's, ah, the occasion?" Her eyes go wide in mortified shock. "Oh, no! There was someone here to see you at the inn tonight! I totally spaced! Someone, ah, like a relative? I think? I'm so sorry!"
Jaya looked uncertain but pressed on regardless. "Yeah, she found me, it's... it's complicated, but it's fine for now." I guess "But hey, what's wrong? I heard you crying earlier."
Kallie laughs the fakest of laughs. "Crying? Haha! What do mean? I wasn't-- um, you know, it was just a little..." She shakes her head vigorously and reasserted her smile. "I'm okay, really. Just a long day, and, you know, Sir Roderick's story was so sad and all..."
Kallie wrings her hands for a moment. "Um, so, was that family looking for you? That's so nice that they'd ask for you when they're in the same town. I mean, I'm sure the herd would ask about me if they traveled nearby, except, you know, they'd never come this close to the coastline, or human settlements, so, you know. That's nice." She nods her head forcefully.
"I'm reserving judgment. She looks like my mother, and she's hiding a lot from me, but that doesn't mean she's really related to me. One way or another though, I do believe that my mother's in trouble. Once she manages to accept that she can be something in between a perfect martyr or a perfect monster, she can get herself or but.... Yeah, nothing really like family having your back!" She let the simmering frustration ebb and looked at Kallie again. "You'll see them again you know, and besides," she switched to the Sylvan tongue, even though her Herd dialect wasn't perfect, "Your family can be the ones walking at your side."
"You want some tea or anything to help you calm down? Since you cut it your hair so short there's not really enough for me to get a brush through."
Kallie furrows her brow as Jaya talks about her mother and the family member who just showed up. She presses her lips together tightly but says nothing.
When Jaya switches to Sylvan, she sighs. "I know. That's all I've got. Since I'm an Outcast, I don't have a herd anymore."
She starts to smile genuinely. "Got anything stronger than tea? I just had the one cider, you know."
"I know, but I know that that won't stop you from seeing them again some day." She stayed serious while Kallie was, but when she brought up going for something stronger than tea, Jaya barked out a laugh.
"Ha! And I know that's not enough for a girl of your stature - not that I'm calling you fat or anything, you're just big boned." She gave her friend a cheeky smile and began moving for the door. I'll bring up a bottle, Cai'nan should have already gotten Aurealia safely off to bed, and I'm sure Croquelle is off with the rest of the band."
Kallie's tail swishes in defiance. She folds her arms over her chest while she sniffs. "It has nothing to do with my bones, which are very dainty for a centaur. I have two stomachs, you know. And I only had one drink this evening."
The conversations carry long into the night. At some point around midnight, Ariel literally picks up a sleeping Shiloh and takes her "little" sister (and her small army of Silver Sentinels) back to the Efficient Quiver. Audrahni and the Andosana Sisters are escorted home by some of the Black Arrows, who happen to be patrolling the streets for monsters or the bickering gangs. For the sake of convenience, it is informally agreed that everyone will reconvene at the Creekside at some point tomorrow morning.
Granted, given how exhausting the day has proven to be, it likely won't be at the crack of dawn!
Once everyone gathers, Galatea begins the day by handing out large sacks of money.
"So I went ahead and sold the goods we obviously weren't keeping. Firstly, I didn't sell that silver locket; apparently, Aurealia knows the family to which it belongs. Didn't seem right to sell their property.
"With all the gangs running around, the Black Arrows agreed to repurchase the gold bars; no one else could really store it safely. Meanwhile, the Port Governor bought all the luxury items that belonged to Sir Roderic; they'll be placed in the local museum dedicated to him. As for the magic items, I found buyers for the ones no one wanted."
"Audrahni found Sir Roderic's maps; besides the one we discovered in his home, they're stored at the Cove's city hall. Now we just need to go there and figure out which one will take us to that stone house in the woods. Unfortunately, Audrahni (and thus ol' Biscuit) won't be joining us; she was, uh, needed at the graveyard."
Jeevika's fifth daughter pauses and notices that she's getting some looks.
"Oh, yeah, the baby," Gali says with a blush. She shows everyone the little bundle in her arms, "Ladies and gentleman, this is Silvie Kailani."
Silvie appears to be only a few months old. Another daughter of the Treeslayer? ...Unlikely. With her dark raven locks, her big black eyes tinted with gold, and her slightly oversized pointy ears, little Silvie seems to take after...
"She's... mine," whispers Gal. Still flushing, Galatea moves to present the infant to Kallie, "...Named after you, dear."
Upon seeing the centauress, Silvie's eyes go wide with fascination, and she starts reaching out at her cousin with her chubby little arms.
"...I think she likes you, Kallie!" cooes Gali. "Want to hold her?"
Cai’nan trusted the sisters to escort one another to their own homes, while he made his own way up to his own suite. He rounded the stairs just in time to see Kallie’s door close. He considered knocking, but ultimately just continued on to his own quarters.
He made his way inside and dropped the room key on a dresser before making his way over to his bed. He took the letter out and read it once more, before glancing over at his armor. It was propped up in a chair, and it felt to Cai’nan like it was glaring at him. He scowled at it before folding the letter up and placing it in the nightstand drawer. He leaned over and blew the flickering flame of his bedside lamp out before laying back and staring into the darkness of his ceiling.
He could swear he could hear the tribal drums of the jungle as he dosed off...
_________
Cai’nan was his normal quiet self as he stood with the others as Galatea gives him the large sack of coin she had procured for them. He sighs a bit as he hefts it.
Feels like blood money...
He hardly paid attention to the rest of her talk, eventually his distant self muttered ”Excuse me...” before turning and heading to the barkeeper, to whom he leans in close and talks with him a bit before counting out a sizable amount of coin and handing it over to the man.
"So Ariel tells me that you plan to sit this one out..." says the Treeslayer's fifth daughter as she cradles little Silvie. Obviously, ol' Gal doesn't know about the letter. "After what you saw yesterday, I don't blame you. Still, me and (most likely) Kallie will miss you, Cai'nan."
As she reads it, he continues ”I had thought about it. Leaving with the dawn. Losing myself in the woodlands. But...should he find out about this, he will consider it a personal duty to locate it and ‘store it away for safe keeping,’ and then continue to meddle in all of our affairs. It wouldn’t be fair to them. I have to suffer him. They don’t...”
He glanced back at the four women and then mutters ”And I don’t think things with Kallie and me are gonna end well...”
Silvie makes some adorable baby sounds, which gets Gali smiling again.
"...Cai'nan, please give Kallie a chance," Galatea says finally. "My favorite wizard has really taken a liking to you. It's been ages since I've seen Kallie smile as brightly as when she's with you."
"...Would you at least be willing to guide her through the forest? Your seasoned presence would be very comforting, Cai'nan. From what I've heard about the search for Cheshire, without you, we'll probably end up in Xin-Shalast before we reach that stone house."
Kallie is mesmerized by the infant in Gali's arms. Her fascination breaks when given a chance to hold her, and she gingerly, if a little awkwardly, takes her in her arms.
She starts to coo softly at little Silvie and make different facial expressions. "You're so tiny!" she remarks, trying to figure out how long it would be before she could stand. A centaur foal would be getting ready to stand a few months after birth. She still looked months away. The weird feet weren't quite as grotesque on the baby as the are on an adult.
She entertains and is entertained by her infant relative while Gali and Cai'nan talk privately. She finally trots back to Gali to pass Silvie back to her mother. "Wow," is all she can say. She steps back, not wanting to interrupt their conversation further, but she gives Cai'nan a sultry glance before she goes.
Jaya is visibly uncomfortable with the baby. She doesn't coo, she doesn't offer to hold it, she just keeps looking at Silvie as though it could explode at any moment. When Galatea passes the baby over to Kallie, she all but flees.
Hefting her own bag of gold with clear strain and a muttered curse, she retreats over to Cai'nan at the bar.
"Well you look grumpy this morning. Still hungover?" The hint of a grin crossed her face, "You really shouldn't have drunk so much the night before an expedition. I'd be surprised if we saw Aurealia before noon."
Aurealia wanders into the Creekside. She leaves, can be heard wretching onto the street outside, and then stumbles back in, looking bleary. "Morning." Her tone is that of one attending a funeral.
"Okay, well, I was close." She turns to the bartender, "What's the spiciest thing you have back there?"