When they died, he abandoned his former life as quickly as he could. He pulled every string in quick succession to get all the money he needed to leave. What little belongings he kept at his temporary residence, he gathered and bundled into the back of a cart purchased from the shady dealers on the skirts of town.

Edlehardt contacted a sect of reanimators in his immense despair to try to get Galena back. He had a large lump of wealth still leftover from his adventures and was able to pay in full. Whatever it took.

It wasn't REALLY her, more of a realistic copy with the capacity to assimilate through Edlehardt's stories. She had a false soul, culminated from works that should've been left alone some untold number of years ago - and a real body. She did her best to learn and absorb, catering to Edlehardt's dreams as well as she could; it was her purpose, after all. It didn't completely fill the hole in his soul, but at least it was something. At least she was kind and warm and could hold him. Despite Galena's general tenacity for adventure, Edlehardt was a man preoccupied with details. He would do his best to teach her how to live as what he mourned.

To the remade Galena's legitimate dismay, Edlehardt couldn't love her wholly the way she so desperately wanted him to. She didn't have real memories. She didn't know the details of their lives and how they interwove. She only knew what was described to her, and though in great length, it lacked the rawness of lived experience. She knew it wasn't enough to make them truly fall into the love Edlehardt lost.

He thought maybe a family would make him less empty. Less lonely. Then they could make real memories together. Delighted at the opportunity, Galena agreed. She wanted to share that joy, too. She, not quite a full person but enough of one to understand forlorn feelings, knew there were things she wanted but could not achieve as things stood.

Though he had estranged himself from the public for quite some time with his living grief, fearing quizzical looks and accusations of disgust as if they knew the true depth of the horrors, Edlehardt had been able to secure the last of Galena's wealth and contacts through the replica. They would be financially secure to raise their children; the idea of a family was becoming more important to them with each passing day.

In need of a home, Edlehardt made the bold decision to purchase a rather rundown tavern with an adjacent building and the surrounding property in a very, very distant region.