We should probably also visit a feather plucker for a new pen set.
you write as much as with a stylus as you do a quill, but you decide that a new quill will suit you all the same. You visit Sancho, the Feathermongerer, a known supplier for the Office for decades; he's older even than you. Good eye for birds, but you'd never trust him to cook a chicken.
He has the usual selection of swan, goose, duck and even pigeon feathers. He also has a fine selection of
peacock (flashy, it might be a bit presumptuous even for an Inspector),
ostritch (exotic and fashionable, if a bit too long for practical work),
hawk (associated with ferocity, something not oft seen in bureaucrats), crow (regarded as the poorman's owl feather by most) and
awk (you don't know how Sancho got this, but it'd be a good conversation starter).
We need to visit our hairpin carver for new hairpins.
This is easy enough. You find Malik, a local carver who just finished his apprenticeship. He's considered a bit of a prodigy by carver standards. After the pleasantries, he asks what you'd like and he'll see what he can make. He points out at his new shipment of ivory and that he can get silver for cheap, if you wished it.
We need to visit our sandal weaver for new sandals.
Its a tough call between Afaf or Aliyah; they're both good at what they do but Afaf makes sandals for the common man while Aliyah does luxury sandals. Decisions, decisions...
We need to visit our tailor for new robes.
Your usual tailor is a robust man who spends every fifth day at the gymnasium, rather than manning his shop. He's a bit too carefree, but you know he's an excellent tailor. He greets you as come by, querying you about the usual things. After he finds out you want a new robe and what its for, he squees in the manner you've become accustomed to from a hulking almost seven-foot man of broad shoulders and immense biceps, and drags you to his textile collection. He points at the wools (usually worn in colder climes or by peasants), flaxes (anyone doing well wears these, good for undergarments), the cottons (comfortable, most people in the cities wear something made out of this) the silks (costly but considered the epitome of style) and even a bundle of sea silk (you'll likely bankrupt yourself using this) he has. He suggests that he could pretty it up with some jewels and feathers or whatever else he can get his mittens on.
A slave is not a bad idea either. At our age we probably aren't going to do our own breaking into offices looking for the second (or third) set of accounts. We could use someone dependable with a certain set of skills.
Slaves aren't something one buys everyday, unless you're fabulously rich. Still, an Inspector
will need help. What kind of person is dear Alfonso considering however?
Look for information about whichever town our building is in
Ah, this is something you know all too well. Costaba, glorious Costaba. Jewel of all of Galahana, mother of scholars and home to tens of thousands. It is the capital of the Zahar Custodianship, the federal state that nominally rules over most of Middle and Southern Galahana. It is the site of many tragedies, of many joys. It is where, after fighting for 124 days, that the conqueror-hero Abu ibn Zalthan settled down and vowed to live a peaceful life. It is where the Murders of the Sisters took place, where the rule of the eastern tyrants was dislodged, but also where the rule of the Mad-Sultan sprung from. it is a city of a thousand-and-one spices, but two-thousand miseries. And yet, it is home.
Costaba was one ruled by a taife like the other taifas. Around a century ago, he was ousted from his position by his Chief Bureaucrat who calmly pointed out that he had signed over his de jure control of the state two weeks prior. That, and the fact that the taifa's slave-warriors had been excessively bribed to join the coup, resulted in a peaceful transition of power. Indeed, the taife's bloodline still continues and is trotted out for various ceremonies and festivals as required. Over time, the Costaban Custodianship was able to force or convince the other taifas to join its federation experiment, with the exception of those in the north.
Costaba's most celebrated dish is an ox-tail stew cooked in a tajine; a celebration of the city's multicultural history in miniature.