Hello again: here's the start of the chat I promised at the end of the on-line session. (Saravan: we've had a trading session with the ducks, and are heading back to Corflu).
Over to Varjeela.
Our Lunar friend: Koronius Falabdur. Did anyone else recognise the name?
(I gather Huff will nod at this point, and everyone else will look blank.)
Well, we could be in luck here. Or in trouble: we'll have to be a bit careful. Koronius used to be quite an important man. You know the story of how Corflu was founded? (Dunno how you all respond, but she'll tell you anyway).
Well, when the Lunars first came here, they tried to found a port at the mouth of the river. Maybe even then they were thnking about Feroda and how rich that had been, but in any case they struck a deal with Ingilli, the head of the river folk in Pavis, to supply them with labourers, and they paid a fair price. But they knew nothing of the river, and they failed to build anything at all. Then Tolkazzie, Ingilli's brother, said that he could build them a trading post here if he was paid. He made them look remarkably silly. He built the port, and they had to grant him all trading rights, all river rights, and all fishing rights: the entire profits that could be made from Corflu, in fact.
He did another clever trick in 1613, too. He sold his market rights: but *not* ownership of the island: to a Lunar Etyries priest. Then he sued the cash to employ a troll priestess and her followers. They bred the huge dragonflies you see around Corflu, that eat the mosquitoes. With the insects gone, Corflu became a much more pleasant place to live, and quite a lot of people moved to live on the island: which Tolkazzie still owned, remember.
Later that year he and the Etyries priest set up their final deal with the Lunars. The Lunars formed the Corflu Trade Alliance, that handles all the administration of Corflu, but they had to hand over most of the profits to the original partners. They sent down the garrison to protect the place from pirates, and generally did all the work without getting much of the money. Tolkazzie moved back to Pavis and enjoyed the profits. A very clever man, Tolkazzie, as one might expect from a Riverman who's also a Pavis native.
Now we get to our Lunar friend. Falabdur, you see was the name of the
Etyries priest who became Tolkazzie's partner. He was
getting half the profits from Corflu until a couple of years ago, when
he mysteriously vanished. Rumour had it that he'd been given an enchanted
hyena skin by a nomad, and forced to carry out the Garzeen promise to take
it to Genert's Garden in the depths of the Waste. It looks as if he only
made it this far.
Now, I wonder? With Falabdur out of the way, who got his share of the profits from Corflu? I don't know if he had any family. It's possible that someone might pay well to have him back. But there may be people who would pay well to ensure that he stayed dead. Either way, until we know more it seems safest both for us and for Falabdur that he stays out of the way.
And how this can be fitted in with our original mission to find Feroda, I have no idea.