Esta wanders around town, trying to locate anything useful such as stores, markets, taverns. Places where folks will converge and will likely gossip - sources of information.

Meandering through the perfectly aligned streets, with the beautiful sceneries and pleasant housing, unsettles Esta... she has never liked the upper class privileges that others have always flaunted, and she took her career choices to get back. Perhaps there could be some, other work, to do here. Once they know what they need to do next...

Turning to the remaining comrades, she suggests they go look for something to drink and eat. "Let's go and gather our thoughts on what to do next. And I'm thirsty... so 2 birds with one stone, so to speak." 

There are three primary locations you note as you wander around Fortitude: The Beehive Boutique, a part salon part fashion store; Filigree Park, where blossoming fruit trees and metallic critters flourish; and the Pavilion of Purity, a milk white arena with a sign out front denoting the purification schedule which seems to happen several times a week. Jessa would know this is a bloody event, where citizens confess their impurities which are extracted as oozes and slimes when the citizens pass judgment. Punishments for those who survive include exile. There is no inn or tavern in the city, but there are a few food stands where one can buy fruit and drinks for a very modest price.

If Jessa were to pass one of the places to get fruit and a drink, she would do that on her way to the ledcaru. Otherwise, she makes her way there and waits for the others if they are still about in the city. 

After wandering around for some time, Esta seems distraught - No tavern? What place has no tavern?? 

She turns to the others, obviously displeased. "This is ridiculous, what does a girl have to do round here to get a drink! I think we should just bail from this place and head back to the Iedcaru. At least we can follow this march or whatever..."

As you all leave for the ledcaru again to head toward a different place in Outlands, you pass by a couple of regal looking dwarves discussing something about an election coming in the near future.

"Ya know it canna be long now. Feels like it's been longer with Yenna in charge."

"Aye. But who wants to run against her and take their place? You?"

"Nay. But if she walks out with her tassels a half mark too long again I swear people are gonna lose their minds."

"Mm. I think she looked nervous too when that modron came by."

"That was strange. You'd think they'd already know about their march."

"Did you hear that?" Jessa says to the others. "He mentioned a modron and their march. At the very least they could tell us what that's all about!"  She hurries over to the person, asking politely. "Excuse me. I couldn't help but overhear your mention of the modron march. I'm afraid we are new here, so could you tell us what that was all about?" 

Esta turns to Jessa, "Yeah, I heard that." Esta follows on Jessa's heels towards the halflings, listening in. She pipes up after Jessa speaks, "Yeah, and why would she look worried about the march? They are pretty common, right?"

The two dwarves stop a moment and look at you all. "Common? I suppose if every 289 years means common. I canna say just why though. But 'round that time we hold our elections here for the Spotless Seven that rule the town."

"You don't know why the modrons come by every 289 years?" Jessa says. "Normally though that signals an election, but this time they aren't holding one?"  She's admittedly curious, but not sure that it really matters to her. Although. "It seems very strange. If the tradition is clear why would it be altered? That doesn't seem right." 

The dwarf shook his head some. "No, I don't pretend to understand their great march, just that they do it. And of course we're havin' an election. But it isn't for a while yet, perhaps sooner than later. Three years if I reckon rightly. If you wanna know about the modron march though, I'd think you'd go to their home in Mechanus, or at least the gate town of Automata. Not often we get a single modron here. Sometimes in twos and threes, and not one acting lost."

Jessa nods, "Acting lost. A single modron? Perhaps that was what they...  well, we are looking for. Mechanus though might be a good suggestion for our next stop."  She looks at the others though, "If you all agree. I guess we should check out which cities we don't have information for too." 

Esta, nodding in agreement, turns and says "Yeah, I don't think there's anything here we need. Let's go."

She gives her thanks and makes towards the Iedcaru.

With information you need being scarce you head back to the ledcaru and direct it to take you to Automata, the gate town for Mechanus, in the hopes there will be better answers. The trip across the Outlands isn't terribly long as Automata isn't that far from Fortitude, relatively speaking.

(If there is anything you wish to do or talk about before you get to Automata there is about 2 days of travel.)

As you get close to Automata finally, rigid beings move purposefully through Automata’s perfect street grid. Most travel in sync with the reverberating rhythm of the great, toothed gear that rises like an arch at the gate-town’s center. As you near the community, your mimir rattles energetically, and the glow in its eye sockets pulses in time with the pervasive ticking.

For the first day of travel, Jessa is a bit quiet and seems concerned about not being able to get back home. But as the second day passes, she seems a bit less worried and more invested in what is happening.  She tries to understand why it is that the group is trying to find this particular modron.  And as they talk, she tries to understand as well how they all managed to come together.  

As she hears more (well, presuming others are willing to share), she is more and more curious about how each of them got here and how it compares to how she got here. Esta she is most interested in as she seems to be the only one of the original group that... well, had managed to survive.  She asks to hear about what happened to the others and does find it strange that each time others were killed new folks appeared. 

(OOC - Assuming here that in talking about what happened to the original group, if Esta mentions that had collected the items they had, she asks if perhaps she could see them.)