Downtime

Adventurers are not always on the roads or fighting malevolent creatures, but might take some days/weeks/months off to learn/train a skill, fixing battered armor or equipment, building an item, taking up job to earn a coin or two, carousing in the city's inn or maybe even building and maintaining a bought property or stronghold.

Some of the options available is shown below.

Carousing: (min. 1 week)
Characters can spend their downtime engaged in a variety of hedonistic activities such as attending parties, binge drinking, gambling, or anything else that helps them cope with the perils they face on their adventures. A carousing character spends money as though maintaining a wealthy lifestyle (4gp/day). At the end of the period spent carousing, the player rolls percentile dice and adds the character's level, then compares the total to the Carousing table below to determine what happens to the character.

Gathering information:
If traveling to a new city and something is amiss, a sure way to get reliable information is a thorough gathering of information from multiple sources. This however, takes time depending on size of party participating, how much in-depth in information needs to be and how reluctant or unknowing the population in question is.

Selling or buying illegal or magical goods:
As the markets of Alera mostly are devoid of magical items and most cities have guards patrolling, selling and buying magical items and illegal goods are difficult at best, often leading to a lengthy and complicated transaction or a hasty arrest.

Sowing rumors:
Swaying public opinion can be an effective way to bring down a villain or elevate a friend. Spreading rumors is an efficient, if underhanded, way to accomplish that goal. Well-placed rumors can increase the subject's standing in a community or embroil someone in a scandal. A rumor needs to be simple, concrete, and hard to disprove. An effective rumor also has to be believable, playing off what people want to believe about the person in question. The character must spend 3 gp per day to cover the cost of drinks, social appearances, and the like - this amount may increase depending on the social class to be affected. At the end of the time spent sowing the rumor, the character must make a DC 15 Charisma (Deception or Persuasion) check. If the check succeeds, the community's prevailing attitude toward the subject shifts one step toward friendly or hostile, as the character wishes. If the check fails, the rumor gains no traction, and further attempts to propagate it fail. Shifting a community's general attitude toward a person or organization doesn't affect everyone in the community. Individuals might hold to their own pinions, particularly if they have personal experience in dealing with the subject of the rumors.