Thank you so much for this long and thoughtful comment!
The worldbuilding and Francesca Findabair and Edmund's appearance and demeanor are all inspired by how our DM (@marydm) described them around our D&D table. He's a really good storyteller!
As far as Mary - I'm really happy that you've enjoyed her conflict, I always worry that her inner monologue is either too much or not enough :)
Thank you, again, for such an in-depth analysis of this chapter! I hope you like the next parts of the story as well! <3