Staying to Study

9/20

All the merchants from the caravan have been taken into custody and placed under guard at the castle. Questioning commences, and a message is sent back to the Keep.
Guild members are provided barristers for defense & decent accommodations. Two merchants and four guards are implicated in the incident. The Silver Sword Guildmaster in town wants to know who was going through the records at the keep.
[The guildmaster at the keep wants to know who the inspectors were that came. He sends a message to Forge Valley.]

As dawn breaks, the Party splits up to ask about studies & apprenticeships.
Jak inquires at Erol’s Tower. Erol is the city's arcane protector and will charge 50 gp/week, the first two weeks in advance, for a 1 month-minimum apprenticeship. Benefits include the use of the lab, research materials, the prestige of Erol’s name, 2 free 1^st-level spells at the end of one month, purchasing spells at 1000 gp/spell level, and Jak can call upon his mentor for an extension of his apprenticeship. Obligations include a minimum of 8 consecutive hours/week, menial upkeep in the tower, and loyalty to his mentor. [Apprenticeship ends after a level is gained.]

Mary joins the reserve guards at the castle. They do not charge a fee. The training involves 1 month of strenuous activity. The reserve guards train as levies; quick response footmen. Two days/month are formation drills and tactics. Most of the training consists of weapons practice, battle cries, and how to keep up morale.

Elf, Solaera, and Squishy enter the Temple of Gond, which offers several researchers & instructors. Scheduling lessons is the hardest part. Elf & Solaera will require 1-2 weeks to research the material they are looking for (minimum 8 hours/week in the library reading.) An additional 1-2 weeks is needed to perfect their casting ability. Since psionics is less prevalent, Squishy's research will take 1-3 weeks. The fee for using the temple libraries is 10 gp/week for Elf & Solaera and 20 gp/week for Squishy. Additional research materials can be sent for, but it will take time to bring materials from another temple. Hiring a researcher to find the material costs an additional 30 gp.

The party decide to stay in the apartments for 30 gp/mo.