So Grimsby, Connor and Bellgrove climb down the ladder to head into the town of Pescara. They are joined by Mercy. She doesn't speak Italian, but she is eager to see life in other parts of the world.

As soon as they touch ground, they are surrounded by the children with lots of questions. Most of them want to take a ride on the airship.

Upon asking for the telegraph office, the locals eagerly escort the travelers into town. Although there are a number of boats pulled up on the sands indicating a significant fishing presence, Pescara turns out to be far more cosmopolitan than its mark on the map would indicate.

In fact, it turns out to be three towns, actually. Pescara proper is on the south side of the river, while Castellamarre lies north of the river, and Abruzzo, which is the extensive surounding farmlands.

The people are eager to show you the wonders of the town, and talk about all the sights. Castellamarre was once actually a castle, but was dismantled many years ago.

They lead you through the center of town to the Esplanade Hotel, which is where the telegraph office is located. You pass a number of shops along the way, including a coffee shop and a bakery.

One of the children tugs on Connor's clothes, and asks (in Italian): "What are you? Are you a demon?"

"No, little one, I'm just a traveller," Connor replied in Italian to the child, tugging the hood of his robe forwards a little more, perhaps a trifle concerned that his clothing wasn't hiding things well enough. Nonetheless, it was too late to turn back now, so the felinoid went quietly with the others towards the hotel which housed the telegraph office, intending to pop by the coffee house afterwards to get Dash the brew he'd asked for.

He had to admit, Pescara looked to be a beautiful place, and e was somewhat sad that their stay would be a short one. Oh well, a quest is a quest, after all....

Once they reach the telegraph office, Grimsby says, "Mr. Holmes, please ask the rate per word for a telegram to the British consulate at Edelweiss in Graustark. I suppose the rate will be in lire. If the telegraph office will not take British pounds, we may need to change money -- I daresay the hotel desk can handle it, or if not, we may need to seek a bank."
He draws a small notebook from his inner breast pocket and drafts a short message.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:38, Thu 04 Sept 2014.

"In practice, I find so long as you use real gold or silver bullion coins, such as your British Sovereigns or the Yankee Eagles, most places tend to accept them even if they won't accept bank-notes from the same nation, since after all precious metals are valuable no matter where they come from, but I'll ask," Connor replied before stepping up to the telegraph desk once it was their turn and spoke to the person behind it in Italian, "Excuse me, but could you tell me the rate that you charge? I and my associates would like to send a telegram to the British Consulate in Edelweiss, Graustark. And do you accept any foreign money here?"

"The charge is 3 pence per word, Signore," the telegrapher replies to Connor. "Although Graustark might be more like another world, it is still on this continent, so the rate is the same."

"Most certainly we accept foreign currency! Pescara has been an important trade port with the Orient since the Eighth Century B.C.! We'd be a very poor city if we didn't!"

"However, there is no guarantee that the message will make it to Edelweiss exactly as transmitted. It has to go through at least two stations. It probably will, but you can never tell with the Albanians."

"Thank-you, Signore," Connor replied, picking up a telegram form and a pencil and passing them to Grimsby and translating, "He says the rate is 3 pence per word, and they'll accept your English money here since this is an international trading port. However, he says you'd best keep the content simple, for the telegram has to pass through at least two other foreign stations, so there's no guarantee it'll arrive exactly as transmitted."

Grimsby said "Thank you, Mr. Holmes." He took the telegraph form and rapidly copied his brief message onto it. (The message was in code but if deciphered it would read "Arriving soon Edelweiss by airship with unconscious prisoner to transfer to
consulate custody. G.B. Bruce-Partington." (as at the Marseilles consulate "Bruce-Partington" was his identification as an agent.) When he finished writing, he handed the message to Connor with a British gold sovereign. "I trust that will cover the charge." he commented.  "If not, let me know."