[Weekly Downtime Thread][Spring I 1524 HC]

Please post any of your downtime activities below. You can find the full rules for downtime here .

Downtime:  Jannis the Red Week of 23 Sep 2019 I wandered the colorful bazaar in Ber Dairas, the smell of incense, street food, and livestock filling the air.  It was almost time to depart, I was joining a caravan headed North, a matter of convenience more than employment.  I had offered my services in the caravan's defense in exchange for being able to encamp with the group.  It provided safety in numbers as I made my way back to the Hall of the Cohort Arcanum for training.  My thoughts turned back to my surroundings, as I tossed a copper to a vendor for some sort of cooked meat on a stick.  As with much of the food in this region, it was heavily spiced, but I liked it.  I liked much of the city, for that matter. My time living in Hechingen, a major trade hub between the Rohrmarch and the Khinasi, along with my time in the church of Avani, had acquainted me with the culture, but this was my first trip to a Sultanate.  I would definitely be visiting again. The trip was largely uneventful.  We traveled North towards the Asarwe, and then crossed via ferry to Sulaia.  There I was able to secure passage on a river boat, assisting the sailors for passage, until we reached the shores of the Bannalach, a beautiful forested lake posing a stark contrast to the bright desert I left behind.  Another caravan a few days later got me to Brechlen where I was able to travel with a supply ship running to the aisle where the Cohort Arcanum called home. Most of my time was spent in training, honing my martial prowess by practicing and sparring with blade and shield during the day, and studying tomes of tactics and strategy in the evening.  I had time for naught else, as I needed to make my way back to Ber Dairas as soon as I could... I still had unfinished business there I meant to see through to completion.   On my last night before heading out, I purchased a sheet of parchment and used a scribe station in the Hall to pen a letter.  It was to my mother, Heike.  She was the only one in the family who knew how to read other than myself.  The daughter of a trader, she sacrificed everything she knew when she married my father, a lowly fisherman.  She paid dearly for the family she helped bring into this world. "My dearest mother, I am writing to inform you of my good health and safety.  It has been some time since I've written, and much has happened.  Suffice it to say that I am no longer studying with the order in the Sunbeam Home in Hechingen.  Instead, I've taken on with the Cohort Arcanum and am taking residence at the edge of the Black Ice Bay, near Muden.  I've recently returned from my first mission to the lands of the Khinasi, ultimately leading my group into the Harrowmarsh.  Do not fret!  We returned relatively unscathed, all fingers and toes intact.  I plan to return again to finish my business there after I have completed my training back at the Hall.  While this may not be the life in service to Avani I had originally aspired to, I'm finding my skills are well in demand, and I aim to use them to make a name for myself, and deliver the family out from under the foul mitts of Hugo Farber.  Until that time, I am enclosing 11 Golden Stallions.  Use whatever you need to help keep the family afloat, and have the rest sent to that dung-pile Farber.  I will make every attempt to pay down the debt that Ludwina has been working off in that pig's bordello.  She will not stay there one day longer than it takes me to finish this debt!  Damn father for ever agreeing to his 'proposal'.  That jackaknape is lucky I didn't slit his throat... if only I had made it past the guards. Enough of this dark talk.  I hope you are doing better, and if able, please use some of the money to send word back on how Reina and Utta are doing.  I do not want them falling to the same fate as our dear sister. My love, devotion, and life, Jani" Finishing the letter, I secured it in a sealed package along with the coin and entrusted it to a courier, to be delivered as promptly as possible.  Pausing a moment to give one last thought to my family, I shouldered my gear and headed towards the ferry, once again heading out to take on a job from the Board of Fate. (Let me know the cost of the courier from the Hall to Kiedel, Nunkappel, Rohrmarch, and I'll subtract it from my treasure along with the monies sent.  I will be spending my time training towards my 2nd Level in Fighter)

Downtime: Braylen Bragenson Damn, that's gonna take a bit to mend. Braylen examined his robes, mildly torn up by the scorpion's claw that had lifted his from the sands of the plains of Ber Dairas. Sitting in the bar downstairs, in the Red Stallion, Braylen traded his Gold Stallion that he was paid from Elisheva, for enough drink and a room, that he could spend some more time learning about the culture of Ber Dairas, and it's odd culture. A few people spoke a common tongue and this was enough for Braylen to start understanding the city. Most of the lower class was just trying to squeak by and the upper class seemed to be at odds with each other, leaving a growing middle class of merchants and thieves to oppress the populace and keep the populace in line. For his current surroundings, Braylen could have done better, but the Red Sands, and their hospitality would keep Braylen from running afoul the local thugs. Might be time to pay the Temples a visit, make some notes for Moradin...  And it donned on Braylen, that his notes for his order, everything he hadn't had the Cohort copy for him yet, were in his recipe book, now the property of a snake lady a day's wandering in the sands. "Hurmph, blast it!" Braylen smacked a tankard of the local brew down on the table, a few of the local patrons near the fighting ring gave the Dwerren a wide berth as the dwerren slipped of his barstool and staggered up the stairs. The bustle outside mattered little to the Dwerren, but the heat was obnoxious. The southern city was warm this day, and Braylen needed to grab a new travel journal and charcoal pencils. Being slightly pickled, the dwerren kept his wits about him, but the short trip to a local bookseller did end up taking most of the afternoon.  "Shopkeep?" Braylen called out in Sidhelien. The flowing, learned tongue, was perhaps his only shot at finding some common ground in this city. A portly local in lavish robes came out from a back room, a gentle haze of incense followed him. "Yes?" The man looked around not seeing Braylen  right away, but then peering down, "Ah, a Dwerren, and speaking the fine tongue ? You have something your looking for?"  Braylen perused the shelves a bit, while musings aloud , "A leather journal, with a moleskin pouch, suitable for mundane writing, nothing that needs to survive more than a few months to decades." Direct and forward, just like his father, Braylen rarely failed to tell a merchant EXACTLY what he wanted. The man pondered his shelves a bit before pulling out a fresh leather bound ream of papers, maybe 40 or 50 in number. It was small, light, and perfect for travel. "That'll do, charcoal pens too." Braylen grunted as his fished out a few larger coins to take care of the bill. The shopkeep bid the Dwerren farewell, as Braylen headed towards the Temples and their evening services. (OOC: Braylen will be buying one travel journal to replace the one he traded. Braylen will also be spending the downtime contemplating the mysteries of Moradin, and his time wandering the world as a Smith for Hire to the other Gods. He will hone his body and mind in the city of Ber Dairas and come out stronger for it. *Leveling up.* Let me know how much coinage to remove, besides the Gold Stallion for room, board and the journal.)

If you are spending time outside of The Cohort Arcanum you'll need to worry about lifestyle expenses which can be found here . Each week is 24 days in game time so you will multiply the cost per day by 24. So for example a squalid lifestyle would cost 72bp for the week. @Physh it'll cost you 3 silver moons to hire the courier.

Downtime Darvius Alandre Darvius spends his time at the Arcanum after his return from his first successful mission. He focuses on his training in his Martial practice, leveling up to level 2. Besides this he seeks to sell the Good Quality Bone Axe that was taken from the Goblin Leader Tick-Tock, he intends to see if he can use this to obtain a good quality Quarterstaff from a weapons dealer, baring that he will take the coins he receives from the Axe, and likely visit the potion shop. (Too be seen in the other thread if that is the case.) Any other extra time he is found socializing with other Arcanum members and getting to know the ins and outs of the Arcanum, specifically the library where he focuses his studies on Arcanum history and policies.

Diesa Gemfire Location: Diesa spends her time at the Halls of Cohort Arcanum off the coast of Muden. Training: She broods over her injuries and reflects on her experiences in Newyth, when well enough to take to the yards again she throws herself into training until she is satisfied to have reached the next level of conditioning. Crafting: Diesa uses her proficiency with the tools of the Smith trade to try and forge blunted arrowheads for potential future use against skeletons in the Coulladaraight or elsewhere. She purchases enough material to make up to 100 arrows. (20 arrows = 1gp, 1gp x 5 = 5gp, half for material cost = 2.5 gp) Research: In her spare time Diesa takes the tome she recovered from the strange underground lair to the Cohort Library and tries to read through it and seek its evaluation from the Librarians, along with other letters and papers that the expedition to Newyth was unable to decipher. While there she also spends some time in the religion section of the Library researching cults of Kreisha as well as searching though past field reports for information on thieves guilds or necromancer cliques operating in Brechtur or Vos using the symbols identified by Messrs. Raven and Roland. Other: Diesa writes two letters. One is written in Karamhul and addressed to her family informing them of her first expediton as a member of the Cohort, she asks a ship at the docks heading to Daugren to carry it there. The other letter is written in Sidhelien and is addressed to the Protector of the Coulladaraight Rhiana Waynmuun and Her Eminent Court, in which she expresses gratitude for the court's generosity as it likely saved her life. The text also expresses admiration of the forestland and dismay over the unnatural fugue it suffers in the east. Diesa sends her reassurance that anything further learnt of the matter will be shared immediately. This second letter she hopes to include in the diplomatic or offficial mail bag.

The weekly downtime thread for this week is officially CLOSED. Be on the lookout for a follow up post today or tomorrow where I will be responding to this week's downtime activity, and updating the adventurer sheet.

Jannis The courier returns having delivered the letter to your mother. He comes back, and hands you another one in turn. Dear Jani, I wish ye would drop this whole act, and just come home now. It was one thing before, but now you're telling me that you have gone to The Harrowmarsh!? My god boy a mother's heart can only bear so much! I know ye mean, and every coin does help, but by the gods please don't let this letter I have from you be the last. I really love you, and don't want anything to happen to you. This Cohort Arcanum business is far too dangerous! Come back home, and we'll figure things out together as a family. Find ye a good wife to settle down with! With Love, Heike  (Mommy) Braylen You spend time practicing in the forge, and training yourself throughout the month. The Khinasi people of Ber Dairas do indeed have odd techniques for smithing. Well odd is being generous. The techniques are barbaric, and simple by your standards. They do however somehow manage to get the job done. During one day the blacksmith you are staying with, a man by the name of Zaid brings you an odd piece of ore. The metal is strange, and difficult to craft. In fact you cannot get it to melt at all! What in the name of Moradin is this thing!? Gain 1 piece of strange ore. Darvius You ask around The Hall of the Arcanum to see if anyone is interested in the bone axe you found, but alas you get no takers. You do however find someone who might be able to point you in the right direction. A mysteriously robed woman tells you that The Hag might have an interest in this weapon. At the end of the conversation you hear the woman say something, yet the sounds do not match the movements of her lips.  " à̷̴k͏̸h̡̀a̕͏i̶̵c̷̛͢͠ ̧͟v̸̸̧ǫ͠͠x̕͢͠͠͝t̶҉a͢͝k̀͞҉ ̵̀͞à͏̵͢ĺ̡m͟͏͘͝a҉͝n̢̧͏̡͠a͜í̷ŗ̡̨̕͟ȩ҉̶͝" The Hag as you discover in your research is no ordinary woman. She is an evil awnshegh who has tormented the lands near her domains for many generations now. Rumour has it that she was once a member of the nobility from Grabentod, but that is obviously no longer the case. In fact she seems to have a vendetta against the current rulers there, constantly causing them endless trouble. Whatever the case, this situation is is obviously quite strange indeed. Diesa You spent many hours in the library of The Cohort Arcanum trying to decipher that odd letter. Digging through piles of notes you looked desperately for anything that could offer even a hint of what it was you had. Yet in all your research not a single clue seemed to show itself to you. Yet as the nights grew long you suddenly came across a revelation. The more you stared into the papers the less the words on them seemed to crawl. Slowly over time they were starting to make sense! Then one night as you studied over candlelight you suddenly found yourself nodding off to sleep. In your dreams you found yourself in a dark room surrounded by nothing, but endless darkness. Then in that moment, the abyss looked back at you. A large eye gazed deeply into your own, and slowly the entire space around you began to fill with smaller curious ellipsoids. As everything, and nothing stared deeply into your soul you suddenly found yourself stammering awake from the nightmare of the previous night. It was morning. The papers sat before you, but text no longer littered their faces. You were left with nothing save for the dreams of the night before, and two words that rang cleanly in your head. "Khurinlach." "Morrendeep." Add deep speech to your list of known languages.