Rhane:

Rhane looks for excellent bowyers in the area, especially those who might have available elven or magical items related to archery.  Not the best at idle conversation, he relies more on his observational skills.

Perception to notice high quality archery items at various shops:  10

Insight to get a good read on the seller and get a decent price:  16

Survival if needed to track down isolated sellers in the surrounding countryside:  8

Rhane stays in Zadash, and though he ventures out into the countryside once or twice, spending a couple of afternoons in a village tavern here or there, no stories of famous bowyers or fletchers are told within his hearing.

As you spend the days in the Pentamarket and around, you do see a few good-quality longbows, but nothing clearly superior to you own, and nothing that appears magical. Most sellers say the same again and again: the best weapons have been bought up by the Empire, to send to troops fighting against Xhorhas. But after a lot of work on your part, sharing stories, listening sympathetically, a different story emerges - the Empire cares less about its troops than you might think, but the best weaponry - and everything magical - has been purchased already, by wealthy families to gift to their sons and daughters who have volunteered for the war. These pampered nobles may never see the front line, but they will preen and prance about the military camps carrying the best swords, spears and longbows that mummy and daddy can buy.

"You're asking in the wrong place," one shopkeeper tells you late in the evening, and deep into her cups. "Not in Zadash, nor Rexentrum neither, nothing for you here. You want to take your money somewhere a bit further afield; Port Zoon maybe, or Shadycreek Run, or maybe even up in Uthodern. Places where the Empire and the war don't reach."

You can make a Persuasion roll to see if she is willing to give you a name of a contact in one remote place where you might get something impressive - and expensive.

Rhane:

Spending a bit of coin to keep the inebriated shopkeeper talking, Rhane tries to be friendly, though his typical aloofness makes it hard for him to relate to most people socially…

Persuasion:  14

It's intended to be friendly, but somehow the way Rhane speaks, it comes across as cold and distant. The shopkeeper seems to tense up, and she isn't willing to disclose anything further.

So you have some suggested locations to try, and the general advice of 'get away from the war', but no greater leads than that.

What is Balassar doing for the remainder of the downtime period?

Rhane:

Rather than waste any more time in town, Rhane spends the rest of his downtime looping around the city outskirts and surrounding countryside, searching for any threats from bandits or worse.

Balassar enjoys the time back home and behind the anvil and hammer. When he has time he will make small repairs to any equipment that the group may need fixed or sharpened. At night he enjoys the local taverns, listening for any stories or adventures that may sound interesting or promising, and the old simplicity of life that he left.

OOC:
Money: 2

Alton

You travel to Kamordah and meet Jethro Antissari, Lord Teratt's second cousin - the book collector and apparent expert in cryptography. He pours over your grandfather's journal, and the other documents you have found. You tell him of where you found them, and what little you have been able to understand yourself. You assist Jethro, though it is often hard to understand what he is actually doing, as he consults book after book, on topics as varied as botany, philosophy and even some fictional tales of the Age of Arcanum. Please give me a History check, and a Religion check as you lend your efforts to the research, and we will see what comes of it.

Balassar

You spend the days working and the evenings relaxing - a happy time for you, and you feel perhaps the temptation to return to it permanently. You mix with locals - some you know vaguely, but in a city like this there are always many newcomers, many unfamiliar faces, and many travellers with their tales. Make a Persuasion and an Insight check to see what you learn of interesting goings on.

Rhane

You are on the hunt for bandits. It's a familiar, even comforting way to spend your time. And the land is not at peace; there is turbulence, there is uncertainty, there is even fear - the war has not reached this far, but rumours have. Rumours of enemy soldiers, of deserters, of bandit brigades, humanoid or monstrous or both. Give me a Survival and an Insight check to see what reliable leads you can turn up.

Rhane:

Survival:  21

Insight: 19

History: 17 

Religion: 18 (Used Halfling luck, otherwise it would have been a 2 (nat 1+1))

Alton

You have shared your great-grandfather’s journal and map with Jethro, as well as the documents you recovered from the strange mage you encountered. Jethro struggles to understand and decrypt the journal; he believes it is a diary of your great grandfather’s travels across Wildemount and perhaps further afield. He also believes there is more than one cipher; more than one code to break. For a time you start to wonder if Jethro’s most skilled days are behind him; perhaps this task is beyond him. On your third day with him, Jethro is sitting at his desk, reading and re-reading a page, when he jumps up and exclaims a single word: “Fostac!”. Then he rushes off.

When he returns, he carries another journal, seemingly as old as Alator’s, and he explains. Fostac was a traveller whose journal was bequeathed to Jethro’s collection on his death; Jethro had skimmed it many years ago, finding much of it fanciful and of little merit, but he never throws any book away. Seeing Fostac’s name in Alator’s journal had brought it back to him: Fostac had written of travelling with a halfling, whose name he never gave, but who Jethro now believes was Alton’s great-grandfather.

Alton, you spend the next day reading and re-reading the relevant chapters of Fostac’s journal; he was a dwarf from the Menagerie Coast who shared the road with Alator for nine months, during which time they became friends. Alator was very secretive and did not want to endanger his friend or anyone else in his life, so revealed little of the secrets that seemed to haunt him. Fostac understood that Alator had found something very dangerous – Fostac suspects ‘stole’ rather than ‘found’.

While Alton is reading this, Jethro makes a copy of one page of Fostac’s journal, where he has noted down a song that Alator used to sing to himself. Using some lines from the song, Jethro is able to decrypt – in part – a few pages from Alator’s journal. Alator writes of a secret that is tormenting him; he is unsure what the safest thing to do is, whether to warn those he cares about of some danger, or let the secret die with him. There is no indication of what the secret may be, only that the burden weighed heavily on the halfling.

In the last section that Jethro can make out, Alator mentions that he was attacked in Zadash, and that he killed two of his attackers before fleeing. It gives a location which Alator believed to be the lair of those who attacked him; Alator considered it too dangerous to investigate himself, but might reveal it to the authorities if he ever had evidence which he could present to them – which he never found. The address is in the Pentamarket; the description would be enough for Alton to go there, if he wishes.

Time has run out, but before Alton leaves, Jethro makes one other suggestion: Fostac’s journal ends some years before his death, and it’s possible he learned more later in his life. If so, that information would be with his descendants, in Rexentrum. Alton has much to think about on his journey back to Zadash.

Balassar

You hear a few things in the taverns, as you listen for news and rumours:

• People are very reluctant to talk about the war, and want to pretend it isn’t happening. It’s hard to say whether folk actually believe this or are just trying to put a brave face on their fears.
• There are rumours of an invasion in the Menagerie Coast, from a continent that no-one has heard of before.
• There are rumours of a group of adventurers who set off from Zadash only a few days before, having been hired to defeat an army of snake monsters that have destroyed two villages near the Dunrock Mountains.
• A wealthy woman wants to hire a group of mercenaries to escort her to Shadycreek Run to find her nephew, who has fallen in with a bad crowd. The person you speak to gives you an address of an upmarket inn in the Tri-Spire area of the city.

Rhane

You are out in the countryside tracking, and meeting people, and looking for signs of bandits:

• Bandits controlled by a dragon have been attacking travelers near Druvenlode. Your insight tells you these are fanciful tales, much embellished, though it’s just possible there’s a kernel of truth.
• Bandits are kidnapping travellers on the road from Yrrosa. This is much more credible; you hear consistent accounts from different people in different locations about how these bandits operate – they kidnap one person from each group they meet, and take nothing else; they refer to the kidnapped person as the ‘toll’, and appear to be a mix of different races.
• Searaiders at Icehaven have stolen two of the Empire’s ships that can break through the ice and are trying to blockade the town and menace shipping; travellers are uncertain who they are or where they have come from, but with the Empire distracted by the war with Xhorhas, there is an opportunity for mercenaries to earn coin and the Empire’s favour by removing this menace on their flank.

Alton arrives back in Zadash. It is the 18th day of the month of Duscar, and you sit down together, after your evening meal with Balassar's family, to discuss your plans.

Alton sorts though all of the notes that Jethro gave him, getting them organized, "How was everyone's break from crazy adventures?"

Rhane:

”It was nice to get back to patrolling for bandits and such.  I found tales of bandits near Yrrosa kidnapping travelers and pirate sea raiders trying to blockade Icehaven.  These are both situations we should consider investigating,” suggests Rhane.

”There are also some tales of bandits near Druvenlode, but those reports were less credible.  All these issues seem to be going on to the north and northwest—if we chose to go this way, we could investigate all three,” he offers.

Balassar leans back in his chair, arms crossed, the firelight flickering across his silver scales. “Spent some time in the taverns,” he rumbles. “Folk don’t want to talk about the war—like if they ignore it long enough, it’ll go away. Either denial or fear, maybe both. But there’s other talk too. Rumors of an invasion down on the Menagerie Coast from a continent no one’s even heard of. And a band of adventurers left Zadash a few days ago—hired to deal with snake creatures tearing through villages near the Dunrock Mountains. Two towns already wiped out.”

He glances between Alton and Rhane, his tone more serious. “Also heard about a noblewoman in the Tri-Spire, looking to hire mercs to escort her to Shadycreek Run. Claims her nephew’s gotten mixed up with the wrong sort. Gave me her inn’s address—sounds like clean coin, at least. So, we’ve got war whispers, serpents razing villages, and family trouble with a paycheck. Pick your poison.”

Alton tucks the organized notes away near the bottom of his pack, bundling them up in some spare clothes. "Seems like my great-granddad ran into some trouble here in Zedash and there might be more information either here, in Rexentrum, or both. So, we've got a good amount of choices to pick from for our next adventure." He begins scratching down the names of the towns mentioned with little sides notes in is own journal. "Let see, Bandits and Yrrosa, Druvenlode, and Icehaven. Mysterious continent invasion on the Menagerie Coast, snake creatures at Dunrock Mountains, and an escort job to Shadycreek Run. I do hope it is a normal escort job, I might be an aspiring bard, but I don't do that type of escorting." He looks to Balassar, "You and your folks know this city better than I do, and maybe Rhane. Do y'all know of a place where we could get a decent map of sorts, or at least see one. It would make plotting things much easier. I'm thinking we can group them up by which direction they are in and go from there." 

Rhane:

”Yes, let’s get a map and mark the locations of interest on it.  Perhaps we start with the escort mission and chart a route from there,” agrees Rhane, “Most of those locations are in the north and northwest, so we should be able to string together several opportunities.”

Though not as pretty or detailed as the map here, and with much less detail on areas outside the Dwendalian Empire, you are nevertheless able to find a decent map showing the places mentioned, for a price of 10 gold pieces. It would have cost much less, but there's a war on.

(For the benefit of the players, the map is visible on the campaign page here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/campaigns/940573. It's quite hi-res so you should be able to zoom in to see detail, but let me know if you can't.)

Rhane:

Studying the map, Rhane suggests, "Let us deal with this lair of murderers in the Pentamarket that Alton learned about in Fostac's Journal.  Then we can leave town for the escort mission, stopping by the Amber Crossroads and Druvenlode on the way to Shadycreek Run.  Once we are done with the escort mission, we can check out the nearby villages in the Dunrock Mountains plagued by snake creatures.  After that we could head west to Yrrosa to deal with the bandits, then north to Icehaven to deal with the pirates.  Quite a lot of opportunity to help people in trouble."

Alton looks over the map, "We can do that. I think we should finish the escort mission before going into bandit or other dangers first. She'll probably not want to delay in getting to her nephew. Also, we wouldn't want to put our employer in any extra danger." 

Rhane:

”Fair enough, though I daresay bandits may find us along the way during the escort mission should we wish it or not.  Shall we head to the Pentemarket first?” agrees Rhane.

Asking around, it would be easy enough to find the address uncovered in Alton's research. It's late in the day now - are you going to investigate in the evening/night, or will you wait until the following day.