10 Erathisway 4520: Travel to Ethiss

Arkomir writes...
In the morning, we wake and take breakfast in our room and discuss todays plan of attack. The hamlet of Havensbridge grew up around the bridge and its distance to Ethiss and from Confluence. The bridge is quite old and on inspection, Dharra finds that it is Dwarven, but it has been added to and adorned over time. The two main adornments on the side of the bridge are of Melora and Tharasdum. Jonas brings our horses around and we saddle up to head on to Ethiss.
Getting on the road nice and early this morning we make good time. During the morning, I have a chat with Katya again, and make it clear that we want her with us on this journey. She thanks me for saying that to her. At lunch, Dharra does some more carving of some pieces for tne burial of Tolbred (?). Toward the end of the day, and taking our time, we approach the city of Ethiss. The terrain outside of Ethiss is low to high rolling hills with fields of crops and also large areas of grape vines. The Beltway here is quite well maintained. Ethiss sits atop the most prominent hill that we can see in the surrounding area and it is of a similar size to Belhaim, but with more farms and wineries around it that make it appear more spread out. Ethiss is a walled town, and as such would be quite defensible. From where we are we can see the large clock tower that is at the centre of town. The beltway opens out in the centre of town to a plaza at Sunburst Plaza. We head into Ethiss and head toward The Tipsy Grape to find some lodgings. We enter the town via the western gate and head toward Sunburst Plaza. We cross what appears to be the other main road in town that runs roughly north south.
At the plaza, a sort of makeshift market has sprung up and some trade is going on. We stable the horses at The Tipsy Grape and organise some lodging for the night. We enquire about Leif and the Stepping Stones and some of them are about to start performing shortly, but Leif is not here. We are directed to where they are sitting, neither Leif or Zara is among them. We head over and Dharra strikes up a conversation. We ask if Leif is around as we have a message to deliver to him. We find out that Leif is playing at the Iron Kettle tonight. We thank them for the information and head over there, by way of the market. We stay to watch them start their set, and they are very very good.
Back at the plaza, we have a wander about the market. The clock tower is quite imposing at this distance, looming 5 storeys tall. Dharra wants a look at the music stores and we wander over to one that stocks strings and stringed instruments. She buys some new strings, some instrument oil and a small recorder so that she can start practising. We then head over to the Curio shoppe. Dharra purchases some small bells to aid in us carrying the Bag of Holding and there are also some potions in the store. We find a small pick that appears to be quite old and used, with some embossing of and anvil above an island. Dharra buys it after some small haggling. I have a look around for some trinkets but nothing really grabs my attention. I also ask about my parents but he has not seen anyone that matches that description. The owner of the Curio Shoppe is Helia Suncaster (dark blue Tiefling with white eyes) We show him one of the coins we gathered from Verdfant Isle and he is quite taken by it. He offers me a stemmed glass goblet, and as I look into it I see an eight pointed star. He offers Dharra a small dark wooden travelling drum. He offers Katya a flower that he pulls from his sleeve. The petals of the flower start to fall away and reveal the yellow potion he showed us first - “For when things are dire”. We leave his shop with a promise to come back.
As we leave this shop, the sun has set so we head to the Iron Kettle for a drink, and to hopefully speak to Leif. Dharra leads the way and we head past the Starlight Pavillion Theatre. There is a small performance park behind there and once clear of that, we find ourselves at the Iron Kettle. The tavern itself is sort of built into the wall and we hear sounds of o performance coming from within. Whoever is playing, they are very good and we head inside to check all this out. We find ourselves a table, and settle in to wait for Leif and the Stepping Stones to finish playing and after about an hour they take a break. Dharra heads to the bar to see if she can buy a round of drinks for the band. She pays for the drinks and offers to take them over as well.
Dharra chats with Leif and introduces herself. He heads over to our table for a chat. We hand over the pouch Arabella asked us to deliver as well as her message to him. After a visit from a quite enigmatic man who may be the band leader for the Stepping Stones, Leif opens the pouch. He says that Arabella has been quite generous and given them a chance for a better life. Ethiss is a very competitive place, to leave and have some coin to live is difficult. He seems very grateful to us for delivering this message from Arabella. We also mention places to the East that would welcome him in as well (Oxenhalt and Belhaim). He heads back up to the stage but diverts to speak to a Tiefling and a Gnome that just walked in. The Tiefling and the gnome go and sit on a small bench near the stage and are brought drinks. They play a short set and we decide to stick around for the end. At the end, Leif comes over again and introduces us to Zara as well. He asks us if we are staying any longer and we are certainly open to it. We head back to the Tipsy Grape for a long rest. Dharra casts Tiny Hut and and we all indeed get a long rest.