Gray Atlantic water slaps the hull as the liner drives toward New York. Francesco Fontaine stands on the bow with the wind cutting his coat, the skyline still half a promise in the mist. Beside him, a broad-shouldered Corvi Whisperer keeps time on the rail, knuckles drumming fast and nervous.
Lorenzo
Keep that letter close, ragazzo. Ignazio Bagnini signed your way in, but Ellis Island men love a story they can doubt.
He angles his chin toward the harbor, where ferries and tugs move like small dark insects below the Statue of Liberty's distant torch.
Lorenzo
If they ask for a name, give them only what is written. If they ask for more, let them ask again.
Francesco Fontaine
The manifest matters more than the water.
A shout rises from the deck behind them, sharp enough to turn heads. Two immigration men in dark coats are already moving along the rail, and one of them is reading from a clipboard.
The Immigration Inspector
Fontaine, Francesco. Step forward. We have a question about your sponsorship.
The Whisperer stops drumming. His hand drops from the rail, and his eyes stay on the inspector like a knife point. The ship keeps grinding toward the city, and the line between welcome and rejection narrows to a few steps of cold steel.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get through immigration cleanly
“I say " Buongiorno." Trying to look helpful and polite but waiting for the inspector to reveal what he wants.”
SUCCESS (Fair Persuasion, rolled +1)
Francesco Fontaine
Buongiorno.
The Immigration Inspector
Buongiorno. Your papers, please, and keep them ready. I only need the sponsor letter and the name written on it.
The inspector’s tone softens a fraction as he reads the letter, not fooled, but no longer looking for a fight. The Whisperer stays still at Francesco Fontaine’s shoulder, letting the answer come from the paper instead of the man.
The Immigration Inspector
Ignazio Bagnini, yes. He is known to this office. You are here on his guarantee?
A pen taps once against the clipboard. The inspector’s eyes move from the signature to Francesco Fontaine’s face, weighing the same thing the harbor does, whether he belongs on this side of the water.
The Immigration Inspector
Stand where you are. I am checking one more line, then I will tell you whether I need anything else.
“Since the inspector responded with buongiorno back can I tell if he has any Italian ancestry?”
NO, AND WORSE (Likely, rolled 97)
The inspector’s face remains a mask of bureaucratic indifference, his features devoid of any warmth or recognition that might suggest a shared heritage. He glances up, his eyes cold and clinical, and the silence that stretches between them feels less like a pause for verification and more like a deliberate wall being built.
The Immigration Inspector
He is just another name on a manifest, and I have no patience for sentimentality today.
“Since the inspector responded with buongiorno back can I tell if he has any Italian ancestry?”
NO (Likely, rolled 88)
The inspector's features remain as rigid as the steel deck beneath their feet, offering no flicker of recognition or shared heritage in his gaze. His neutral expression confirms that his earlier greeting was merely a matter of professional routine, devoid of any personal connection to the culture he polices.
“Since the inspector responded with buongiorno back can I tell if he has any Italian ancestry?”
YES (Even, rolled 40)
Francesco Fontaine
The way he pronounces the vowels in his greeting, it is not just a learned phrase, but the cadence of a man raised in the shadow of the Apennines.
The inspector shifts his weight, and for a fleeting second, his eyes drift toward the distant, hazy outline of the city, his expression softening into a look of quiet, ancestral recognition.
“"I am fortunate that if I am to be judged it will be with the honesty and integrity of someone that shares my ancestry. I have family in the shadow of the apennines. "”
SUCCESS (Fair Persuasion, rolled -1)
Above the bow, the deck seems smaller, the men reduced to two dark figures against the white glare. The inspector lowers the paper at last and turns back toward Francesco, his posture less rigid, the city still stealing a glance from him.
The Immigration Inspector
Your family is from the old country, then. I know that accent. It is not the first time I have heard a name carried across an ocean.
Francesco Fontaine
I am fortunate if I am judged by someone honest, and by someone who knows what it means to come from the shadow of the Apennines. I have family there.
The Immigration Inspector
Ignazio Bagnini... yes, I know that sponsor. A respectable man. That helps you more than you know.
The inspector sets the letter flat against his clipboard, stamps it with a brisk crack, and hands it back. The wind snatches at the corner, and the fresh ink smears a little on Francesco's fingers.
The Immigration Inspector
Keep that safe. You are not trouble today, Mr. Fontaine. Go on through.
He steps aside, opening the way toward the ship's rail and the waiting city beyond. Around them, the salt wind keeps blowing, indifferent and loud.
Quest Complete
Get through immigration cleanly
Skill Upgrade: Persuasion Fair→Good