«Good. The inn I was thinking about is the Swordfish, or at least the plate above the door was shaped like one. It is down towards the harbour where the fishing boats land. Have you read about? Is it OK?»
OOC. Sorry if I extrapolated the description in the wrong direction.
[OOC: i think it’s safe to say that even if Silveroak wants me to reroll the book quality I won’t roll lower than a 5 on a simple+4 so gonna go ahead and roll Int 1 + AL: Pisa 1 not sure about the difficulty, whether its stress (prob not), or the answer but should move it along a bit.
Result of roll: 10]
The swordfish was not mentioned specifically in the letters you read to your recollection. They did mention some 'preferred' inns where redcaps might gather when leaving or arriving by ship which have become informal redcap inns, and speculated about going into business by purchasing one when they retired. Which they may have done by now.
"I don't know that Inn but if it's location is better we can try to find a room there, otherwise there were a couple others and one may even be owned by one of the authors of the collected correspondences... If they followed through with their plans. I know I would prefer to stay at an inn runn by a retired redcap than one where we might elicit more... suspicion."
«Sure. It certainly is safer and more predictable. One can learn a lot from unwanted attention, but then there are things best unlearnt. We can always spend some time at the Swordfish anyway, if that's a good place to scout out the agents we are looking for. Then you lead the way? To a redcapped inn?»
Guccio leads the group to each of the inns mentioned in the correspondences hoping to drop hints or innuendo expressing he is a redcap to see if any of the proprietors are retired redcaps.
Marcus wears his red cap as usual, and will sure be noticed quickly by any retiree even if Guccio is not.
As it turns out when you arrive the In has been renamed to rubeum galerum, Latin for redcap, with a picture of a dwarf with a red hat on the sign. 2/3 of the patrons are wearing red caps, with the other 1/3 all being women.
Turning to Markus with a wry smile Guccio pulls out his cap and says, "When in Rome..." He then proceeds to try and find the proprietor who he approaches and says in Latin, "Greetings, Sodales. My brother and I are looking for a room," then lowering his voice, "I am Guccio Mandalo and this is Marcus ex Mercere."
Benvolio nudges Piero with an elbow, and says in a stage whisper, "You think he knows we're in Pisa?"
«Oh ... I have not seen such a family gathering for years. Nice place,» says Marcus to Guccio. «I hope we can get a room, so that we can go through our task in piece and quiet.» He adds, as his eyes fall on one of the pretty lasses in the room. All the women in the inn, do they all have redcap cavaliers? Or do they look like hookers?
nearly half the women in the room look like redcaps, though a fair number of those dress like men. The others do not seem to be hookers, aside from one or two, but rather women of a range of middle classes who seem to be enjoying companionship and conversation.
"I have two rooms available at the moment, normal family rate. Wasn't expecting any unscheduled groups to clear reservations, you've caught us at a busy moment. I know some other local businesses where I could find more rooms if you like, especially for the honored guest." It is clear he is speaking of the ex Mercere, even though he isn't certain yet who that is.
[Didn't make this explicit as I assumed he was next to me but Guccio would have pointed to Marcus when he mentioned him.]
"There are only four of us, I don't think any others will be joining. So two rooms should be fine unless the beds are rather small. If they are, we would gladly see about other rooms... But in the meantime, we all just arrived and, except for Marcus it's been days of travel," a slight hint of jealousy in his voice, "so we would love to take some food and drink and enjoy the gathering. So why have so many of our brothers and sisters come to Pisa just now? I don't think I've seen so many of us all in one place since I last was at Harco."
"A storm off the coast has delayed the launching of ships, while others come to hunt for vis while the divine aura is low, and staking areas to search when it drops again."
"Oh, very interesting. I hadn't thought about vis being easier to find during the interdict, I'll have to keep my eyes out while we're here. Thanks again for your hospitality." And with that Guccio returns to the group and tries to find them seats, preferably with others at a larger table.
Marcus takes a seat next to Guccio. «We'll go through my challenge in private afterwards, when we get upstairs,» he says, and tries to listen in on the gossip, as best he can with the bad hearing. When lost, he tries to ask Guccio to repeat what was said.
Guccio also listens to the gossip but also asks pointed questions of anyone near them that is here to search for vis, hoping to learn where they have searched unsuccessfully so he can narrow his search when their business is complete.
Most of the talk about where people have checked unsuccessfully tends to be in places known to contain vis from the last interdict, or from years past in this interdict, but where another redcap appears to have gotten there first. there is speculation that the leaning tower might be developing as a source, but it appears to be fairly well searched. Other conjecture surrounds artwork which has been created since the last interdict which might be of sufficient artistic merit and magical association to have formed a tether, or of course rumors of haunted houses, at least one of which has been confirmed to be of infernal origins and left abandoned until the interdict is lifted so as to overwhelm it. They seem to discuss interdicts against Pisa as if they were the rising and falling of the tides. You do notice that the women who are not redcaps tend to avoid these conversations.
Marcus addresses one of the women who turns away from the discussion about tidal interdicts. «The discussion does not please you?» he asks with a warm smile.