The shop is all quiet authority, stacked bolts of wool, steam, chalk dust, and the soft rasp of scissors. Ignazio turns from the fabric with a smile that reaches his eyes first. At the doorway, Francesco sees the room has a problem already waiting for him, a man in a dark overcoat clutching a hat too tightly.
Lorenzo
Francesco. Good. You picked a fine moment to arrive.
Ignazio "The Elegant" Bagnini
This one comes from the docks. He says the Corvi are the only people in New York who can keep him breathing.
The dockman swallows hard and slides a folded paper across the cutting table. The edge of a cigarette flame catches amber on the page. The Whisperer watches Francesco, letting the silence ask the question first.
The Dockman
Benny’s crew is getting squeezed. Men with no name, asking about the shipment and the route. They want to know who talks to the Italians. I heard your people listen before they move.
Francesco Fontaine
What do they want, exactly?
The Dockman
Names, schedules, and the foreman who can be bought. If I bring you what I know, I want protection before they notice I spoke.
Ignazio’s smile fades into business. This is no small favor. It is an opening into the docks, and a test of whether Francesco can turn fear into information, and information into standing with the Corvi.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure a formal introduction to the Corvi inner circle
✓ Quest Accepted
Help protect the dockman from the men threatening Benny’s crew
“Examine the folded paper on the table to see what information he brought.”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled -1)
Francesco leans over the cutting table. The paper is a dock handbill folded inside out, not a letter, with freight marks, a penciled route, and three names circled hard enough to score the page.
Francesco Fontaine
The route runs through the night shift. That makes the names matter more than the load.
One name is Benny’s foreman, another is a man at the pier office, and the third is crossed through with a note about payment in cash, not credit. Whoever wrote this knows where pressure can break first.
The Dockman
That’s the whole trouble. They are not just watching the dock, they are mapping who blinks.
Ignazio "The Elegant" Bagnini
Then the paper is worth more than his fear. It is worth an answer.
The Whisperer tilts his head toward the circled foreman, reading Francesco’s silence as agreement. Across the table, the dockman waits without breathing, his knuckles whitening around the brim of his hat.
Lorenzo
If the Corvi step into this, they step in clean. You bring the right man with the right paper, and the right introductions follow.
Ignazio folds his arms, businesslike now, already measuring what it will cost to turn this lead into a proper meeting with the family.
“Is the pier office man the real weak point?”
NO, AND WORSE (Likely, rolled 95)
Francesco traces the ink on the paper, but the pier office man is merely a distraction, a low level clerk with no real authority over the shipments.
Lorenzo
He thinks he has found the heart of the knot, but he is looking at the wrong thread entirely.
Lorenzo
You are looking at the clerk, Francesco, but the real rot is not in the office. It is in the manifest itself, and it is already moving.
“I ask who the circled foreman is”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +1)
The Whisperer tilts the handbill toward Ignazio, and Francesco’s question lands cleanly in the small, dim shop.
Ignazio "The Elegant" Bagnini
That circled name is Benny Mallory. Foreman on the east dock shift, and the man the crew listens to when the bosses are not watching.
Ignazio taps the circled ink with one gloved finger, then slides the paper closer to Francesco, as if placing the answer in his hands.
Lorenzo
Benny is the hinge. If it turns, the whole gate moves.
Ignazio "The Elegant" Bagnini
If you want the Corvi to hear this as more than dock gossip, Benny is where the story begins.
The dockman swallows hard beside the counter, his shoulders tightening as the name settles over him like a sentence.
“Is Benny Mallory the real threat at the docks?”
YES (Likely, rolled 22)
Lorenzo
You have the scent, Francesco. Benny is not just a foreman, he is the one funneling the stolen goods out through the back gates.
Francesco Fontaine
The dockman's fear is not just about losing his job, it is about the entire operation being compromised from within.
Lorenzo
My name is Lorenzo, and if you are ready to prove your worth, we go to the docks tonight to see exactly what Benny is hiding.
“I ask Lorenzo how Benny moves the goods”
SUCCESS (Good Networking, rolled -1)
From above, the shop becomes a chessboard of wood and shadow. Francesco stands at the counter, Lorenzo opposite him, while Ignazio watches from the side and the dockman hangs near the doorway, half-turned to the street.
Francesco Fontaine
How does Benny move the goods?
Lorenzo
Quietly. Night lifts, false papers, then a side gate by the east dock. The clerk gets eyes on the front, but Benny trusts the back.
Ignazio slides the handbill closer to the lamp, his finger pinning the circled name. The dockman swallows hard, listening as if the floor might remember him.
Ignazio "The Elegant" Bagnini
That gate is the seam. If you want the Corvi to matter here, you close it, or you learn who opens it for him.
Lorenzo gives Francesco a short, approving nod, then folds the edge of the paper back over the ashtray, hiding the route as if the room itself has agreed to keep the secret.
“Is Benny working with the men threatening his crew”
YES (Likely, rolled 47)
Francesco Fontaine
The dockman's fear is too specific for a simple rivalry. He is not just afraid of the men, he is afraid of the man who commands them.
Lorenzo
It is not just a threat, Francesco. Benny is the one holding the leash. He is working directly with the men who are squeezing the docks.
Ignazio "The Elegant" Bagnini
He is selling out the Family's interests to line his own pockets. If you go to the docks, you are not just stopping a fight, you are cutting the rot out.
“I tell the dockworker "If you and the crew need protection. I need to be there. You will be trying to get your cousin a job at the docks. I will work for free tonight just to show the boss what a good worker I am. Introduce me as Tony."”
SUCCESS (Good Persuasion, rolled +3)
Francesco Fontaine
If you need protection, I need to be there. I work tonight for free, and you introduce me as Tony.
The dockman straightens at once, as if the name itself gives him a spine. He nods too fast, then slower, deciding to trust the offer.
The Dockman
Tony. Right. A cousin looking for work, that is clean enough. I can say that.
Ignazio "The Elegant" Bagnini
And you will be useful, Francesco. Not just seen, useful. That matters more than a polished suit.
Lorenzo reaches under the counter and slides out a folded paper from beneath the ashtray, the handbill's edge briefly flashing in the lamp glow before it disappears into his coat. He gives the dockman a hard, approving look, and the room feels one degree more official.
The Dockman
Tonight, then. If Benny asks, Tony is mine. And if the men at the pier push, I will point you at the foreman myself.
Ignazio opens his hand toward Francesco, an invitation and a judgment at once. The shop door stays shut, but the way forward is no longer a question.
Quest Complete
Help protect the dockman from the men threatening Benny’s crew
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Great→Superb