Stefan translates your response and as he is doing so, the drunkards begin strutting around and acting self important. They examine one another's clothes as if they were made from the finest material, and pantomime haggling over a pile of horse dung in the street, laughing raucously all the while.
"They are making fun of merchants, sir, and I think they mean to belittle you," states Stefan. "May we teach them some manners?"
More annoyed than angry Renatus answers " Don't. We're better than that, they're just drunk." with a softer voice he adds "They try to belittle merchant which I'm not so I take no offense anyway. But if they show signs of actual violence, we'll make sure they regret it. Let's move on out of their sight, we'll come back to a House in a few minutes. We"re here for a mission remember, don't let those insignificant individuals distract us from it. If they provide us with information fine, if they don't, we'll just ignore them."
The drunks now seem more interested in their playacting than in causing you trouble, so you are able to move on down the street without further incidents. At the entrance to a well-kept, but nondescript home, Stefan halts and let's you know that this is the merchant's house. You don't see any lights behind the shuttered windows. The name Weintraub is carved in a wooden sign above the door. While you are standing before the merchant's home, a cowled figure emerges from the gloom further up the street, and walks toward you, but on the other side of the street. They pass behind, in the direction of the pub.
The immediate treat gone, Renatus asks Stefan "by the way you mentioned that you father is a magus, is he from the covenant "
"Let's see if we can find anything about his House" Renatus takes a look around to see if the hooded man is far enough before entering the garden the house. He tries to walk around the house to see if there's anything striking about it or if he can hear anything.
"Yes, my father is Magus Guenther Lupus," replies Stefan. "He is a great magus and a great man. Very busy too, for he stopped spending much time with me after I was about 8 or 9. But before that he paid me a lot of attention, as all fathers do."
As you canvas the front of the house, you see that the narrow alleys on either side both end at tall fences. They don't look easy to climb. You don't hear anything coming from the house.
Meanwhile, the cowled pedestrian has approached the drunks. In a strident voice, which turns out to be that of a woman, she addresses the drunks one by one. One by one they fall senseless to the ground. You are too far away to hear what she said, but you think you recognized the cadence of Latin.
Renatus seems astonished "Günther Lupus ! He's from my House, I didn't know he had a child."
turning his attention to the noise he stops "Forget the wine-seller's House, for now. We must follow this hooded woman, she's probably a magus. We must discover why she's so reckless with the use of magic in front of mundane ! Don't try anything on her !"
After some moments lying prone, each of the drunks rises unsteadily to his feet, in the same order in which they hit the ground. Once all four are standing, the woman speaks several stern phrases to them in German. The drunks now seem quite sober, and clearly treat the woman with great respect. The woman gestures a dismissal and they walk off down the street away from you, no longer rowdy.
The woman turns to look at you and then walks off slowly, in the same direction as the men. You judge that you should be able to catch up with her easily, if you'd like to.
By the reaction of the drunks, Renaus believes that they knew her before or that she used more than a simple sleeping spell "let's follow her at some distance, we'll see where she's headed, if she finds out we're following her, I'll talk to her"
The woman takes you on a seemingly random tour of Neustadt, through narrow, seedy avenues, then back to main, opulent streets. She walks without haste, not once turning around, for hours. There are not many people about. Just a few dirty beggars in trash-cluttered alleys, which she passes by without pause. When she approaches public houses, she slows even more, perhaps as if waiting for more inebriated patrons to spill out onto the streets. But her timing is off, for none do so. And she seems hesitant to go inside to confront them.
After a long stretch of quiet streets and confusing turns, you arrive back at the first pub you found, near the wine merchant's house. It is so late now that the place is empty and quiet. She halts in front of it.
Andreas and Stefan are showing signs of fatigue. You don't feel so awake yourself.
Renatus yawns and turns to Peter "Alright, I'm beginning to feel tired and I don't really find any pattern on her movement thought the city except she's interested in Public Houses and maybe drinkers. I'll take my chance and talk to her before taking some rest. Stay behind in case things go wrong but not too close so that she's not intimidated by your weapons. I'll reveal myself as a magus for her, no acting this time."
Renatus increases her pace to catch up the hooded woman, he stops at a respectful distance and makes a small bow, he then looks at her in the eyes and begins to talk in Latin "Greeting, I witnessed your sleeping spell earlier in the night in thatsame place. I hope I'm not bothering you, I'm Renatus of House Bjornaer. May we have a word my lady."
She pushes her hood back at the sound of your voice. She is not yet middle aged, black haired, and holds herself with the dignity of a noble. "Greetings Renatus of House Bjornaer. I am Sophia of House Wettin. And of course we may have a word. It is rare to meet a non-priestly Latin speaker." She smiles. "Pray tell, where is the demesne of House Bjornaer? I have not yet heard of your lineage."
Realizing he may have done a mistake by revealing himself but unsure because she might be a magus impersonating a noble he tries to make his message hard to understand for a mundane " I'm not surprised, you've never heard of my lineage, my ancestor were Germanic and this is why my name sounds Gothic but my parents lands are located in Spain. This is more or less a pilgrimage to my ancestor's land. But i'm talking way too much about myself. As I said before, I was astonished by your ability to put those drunkard simply by speaking Latin words to them, are you gifted with a magical blessing ?"
"Ah, you saw that, did you. No wonder you have been following me. What blessings God has given me, I try to use to help others. Those men were under the influence of the wine that flows so damnably freely into this town. I have made it a goal to put an end to, or at least curtail, that influence."
She pauses, examining your clothes, "And what of you, Renatus of House Bjornaer? Are you a wine merchant come here to sell more wine during your proclaimed pilgrimage?"
"On the contrary, I confess I'm no more a merchant than you are, but I am investigating more or less the same matter you do and this outfit suits my goal the best. The wine selling seems unusual in this town. There as been a sudden change in the market recently as if it changed by magic. I'm gathering evidence about the distortion in the market and it's origin so I can understand and solve it myself or if needed bring those evidence to the quaesi... I mean local magistrate sorry my latin is a bit rusty... Maybe you've noticed something that could help me in my investigation ? You seem to know the town in its every details !"
Sophia considers for a moment, arms crossed, hand on chin. "Allow me to summarize the situation. Before me, I see an untrustworthy-looking stranger from Spain, in disguise, with a curious interest in the local wine trade. Now why should I speak to you about the troubles of my people, or my flock as it were?" Andreas yawns loudly behind you.
"My lady, I'm sadden to hear that I appear untrustworthy to you. I've been honest from the beginning, giving you my name, my origin and revealing my condition. As It's suited when you meet someone for the first time. I gave you the explanation for the reasons of my presence here and why I noticed you.
I believe we share the same observation about the harmful consequences of the alcohol in this town, yet from a different perspective. You noticed the effect on the people under your protection, I noticed the change in the wine selling.
It seems natural to me to offer my help, as any honest man should do as we share the same goal... I fail to see how the kind of information I ask would give any leverage to harm anybody anyway. Is there a way I could prove my good intentions to you lady Sophia?"
((I think a Com + Charm stress roll is appropriate here. I rolled a 1 and then a 6 for you, giving Com (+1) + Charm (+2, for first impressions) + 12 - 3 (for the Gift) = 12 vs. EF 12: Success!))
"Well, I appreciate your apparent candor," she replies in a softer tone, "You could convince me of the nature of your intentions by telling me why you are looking into the wine trade here. As a non-resident, what is it about wine sales in Neustadt and Quedlinburg that is relevant or important to you? Tell me this, and if I judge our interests to be aligned from your answer, then I will tell you what I know."
"My parents have a small vineyard on their properties, so I happen to know a few things about growing grapes, making wine and how wine selling works. I was curious because in this town nothing makes sense on that matter neither the amounts nor the quality and the price range."
((I'm going to interpret this answer as an evasion of the truth (let me know if that wasn't your intention) and make a stressed Renatus' Com + Guile roll vs a stressed Sophia's Per + Folk Ken roll: 1 + 1 + 2 - 3 = 1 vs. 1 + 3 + 9 = 13. No success.))
Sophia's brow furrows. "Somehow, I don't think you are telling me everything. Nonsensical wine sales aren't something that would keep me awake at night. Good day to you Renatus, and I wish you a safe pilgrimage. If you wish to revise your answer to my question, come see me at the Abbey - just ask to see the Abbess." She turns abruptly and walks away quickly.
The sky is still dark, but dawn is not far off.
"Good night my lady, thanks for your blessing"
"Well, we should get some sleep too before tomorrow I guess, I don't feel like entering the merchant House now that dawn is coming." Speaking mostly to himself and thinking aloud " Goddammit !! How was I suppose to guess the abbess can work miracles or magic or whatever it is ! I mistake her for a magus of the order. It's still rather safe I didn't talked about Peter but she might be our ally in this matter, as she's buying Peter's wine she's probably well inclined towards him.. Hum we'll keep this option as a last resort. "