For the morning activities of the next 5 days, I was thinking of this. (Correct me if you had something else in mind.)

• Froskan and Trimyrai are practicing the techniques from the scrolls given by the Sages.
• Jack and Iskander go to the Oghma library to do their own research. (Staying away from the annoying Oghma clerics, unless needed.) Iskander is looking up more information about the Shadowfell. Jack is looking up local history and geography (for his songs, and to figure out where Theren might have gone).
• Reverie is socializing with the hotel staff, and visiting the higher-class stores nearby. She is finding out where the important people in the city would be found (like the administrators and the nobility), and the city layout. Since the trainees are mostly former urchins, she would be able to use the perks of the Urchin background temporarily.

The afternoon of the 1st day would be to visit the Iron Gate guild. Depending on how that goes, you can suggest what to do for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th afternoons.

After lunch, your group goes to the merchant ward part of the city. (Reminder that the Campaign page has a link to post 618 , which has the simplified map of the city.) The main HQ of the Iron Gate is here, although they have smaller stations in other areas of the city. It is larger than most of the shops in the area. Passing through the main gates (not doors) of the building, the inside is a mix between a Viking hall and an Apple Store on a busy afternoon.

Despite the congestion of people, you are soon greeted by a familiar face: Nature's Wrath (elf barbarian). "I'm always up for a good brawl. Are you looking for help with a fight?"

Trimyrai: (to Nature's Wrath) "We were actually hoping you could help us with some information or to hire your guild to find some people."

(Please have Trimyrai make a Performance roll. I might need it later.)

NW: "It's easy to find people to fight! If you can wait until after dinner, we can find heavy bar drinkers, and start a friendly brawl."

Performance: 21

Reverie hums as she looks at Nature’s Wrath, tempting to join the friendly brawl. ”So after dinner, drinks and friendly brawl, we are looking for the villagers, am I correct?” Then she smiles a little, ”I like the idea of the friendly brawl.”

Froskan chuckles at Natures Wrath's comment.  "We weren't actually needing help finding people to fight," he says with a shake of his head, then mutters under his breath, "we've found plenty of those..."  Continuing in his normal voice again, he says, "We actually had some specific people in mind we're looking for."

NW is a little confused about why you are here, but not looking for a fight. Odd how most people he runs into are that way...

NW does lead you to a receptionist-type halfling. The halfling explains that Nature's Wrath will not be doing the search (if you were concerned about that). To find someone in the city, the initial cost is 30 GP for 5 days of work. If you are looking for more than 1 person, it will be an additional 10 GP per person (for 5 days), assuming that everyone you are looking for are staying together. If they need more than 5 days, they will check with Trimyrai to see if he wants the investigation to continue.

He asks for whatever information you can provide, as a name is not much to go by. Fortunately, Trim has an eye for detail. He talks to an artist, and gets very accurate drawings of whoever you are looking for. Plus, Trim mentions other details that might help, like favorite foods and habits. (Performance = 20 saved you some hassles.)

(So the question is, which people are you looking for, and how is the bill being split? I don't know if Trim wants to look for all 7 people that he saw in the register, the 4 he knows well, or limit the search to just 1 or 2.)

(OOC: i think we would search for one person at a time, Trimyrai would want to start with Rose, but any of the seven people seen in the book)

Quote from EmperorKarino >>

(OOC: i think we would search for one person at a time, Trimyrai would want to start with Rose, but any of the seven people seen in the book)

(How about: 50 GP for 5 days of work, focus on looking for Rose, she was last seen in the company of these 3 people (the ones Trim knows by name and gave good descriptions) so seeing one of them may lead to Rose. Does that work?)

(OOC: works for me)

(OOC: Is Trim paying for the entire 50 GP, or are others pitching in?

Any suggestions for what the party will do the next day, on the afternoon of day 2 ?)

(Reverie shall pay some gold for Trim! She shall pay about 30 GP for him if it is okay. c:)

Isk suggests we split the cost evenly since it is a group task.  He has about 100gp in his pack and is happy to chip in.

For day 2, Isk would like to join the others who are training and get some practice time in with the glaive. He is not sure who is new patron in and is thinking that communing with glaive might be a good way to find out.

OoC - GuiltySparc is also not sure who the patron is now.  Is that bad memory on my part or something that will be revealed narratively?

Quote from Guiltysparc >>

OoC - GuiltySparc is also not sure who the patron is now.  Is that bad memory on my part or something that will be revealed narratively?

(OoC: I was thinking that his glaive was a conduit for power. Rather than an entity giving him spells, Isk has researched or instinctively learned ways to harness this energy.

If you prefer it to be some sentient force from the Shadowfell as his patron, that has hidden its identity so far, that works too.)

Froskan is also happy to help pay part of the cost

(I've split the cost for everyone in the party, to hire the Iron Gate guild to be private investigators. They will visit on the afternoon of the 5th day, to say what they've discovered by that time.

Sounds like the afternoon of day 2 is training and sight-seeing.

On the afternoon of the 3rd day (while the party is traveling together), Reverie hears of a seer who can cast Scrying. It is a high-level spell (5th), so it will be costly to have it used. But you'd be able to get more information about Trimyrai's villagers this way.

The options for the 3rd day are (1) visit the Seer, (2) look for a paying job to increase your gold piece supply, or (3) relax until the 5th day (Froskan/Trim training done, get results of investigation).

(OOC: Let me know which you prefer.)

(OOC: we may want to get the paying job before seeing the seer, just so we have some cash in case the seer is expensive)

(Agreed on getting a paying job and then to the seer. Just in case if we need more cash. owo!)

Quote from Quasimodal >>

Quote from Guiltysparc >>

OoC - GuiltySparc is also not sure who the patron is now.  Is that bad memory on my part or something that will be revealed narratively?

(OoC: I was thinking that his glaive was a conduit for power. Rather than an entity giving him spells, Isk has researched or instinctively learned ways to harness this energy.

If you prefer it to be some sentient force from the Shadowfell as his patron, that has hidden its identity so far, that works too.)

 I'm happy for it to be fluid (as in whatever you decide and you could change your mind even).  I feel like Isk's life at the moment has a large helping of the unknown and the source of his power is a central feature of that.

Isk also agreed about seeking out a job to fund the scryer visit.

The party finds it difficult to find worthwhile work. There are jobs, but they tend to be low paying for the unskilled: stable sweepers, blacksmith forge cleaners, etc. As new adventurers not in an accredited guild, it is not easy to find offers on short notice.

On the morning of the 3rd day, Jack overhears a pair of people in the library in the section of the library where he was studying. (Overhear... eavesdropping... poe-tay-toe, poh-tah-toe...) He arranges for the party to meet them for lunch. The job offer isn't great, but it is worth considering.

At lunchtime, you see a male goliath and a female halfling. (This is like the managers at the Portly Warthog in Greensville, but that is a coincidence.) The goliath is dressed in bright garb, wearing reading glasses and seems jolly. The female stout halfling is more guarded. She is wearing a bandolier of drinking flasks. From the smell, the contents are definitely alcoholic, and she has already emptied several flasks by noon.

"My name is Marion, an anthropologist. The tall fellow is an archaeologist by the name of Sallah. We are exploring The Pit, and would like to hire you as bodyguards. As academics, we can't pay much, but will you hear our offer?"

(The Pit is at the west end of the Avenue of the Divine. It is the bottomless hole in the ground, dozens of yards wide, with fences and guards around it to keep people away.)