The town section specifies that roleplay should be kept to a minimum, but I’m curious about using Circles to find someone with information. Do you play that scene out use the Conflict rules if necessary, or does success mean that you find someone who has that information and give it willingly (or for a price depending on which factors)?
I’m pretty sure you find a willing participant (unless you were looking for an unwilling participant, I guess). However, the enmity clause might have you trying to get information from an unwilling participant if you fail.
We usually roleplay it out, and I would use your judgment. A successful Circles test means that they’re someone you know and are relatively friendly with. I’d say it’s your call whether even so that means that it needs to be argued or bought out of them. I might know and be friends with a castle prison guard, but that doesn’t mean he’ll tell me the secret entrance into the dungeon!
That’s what factors are for. Finding a guard who’d be willing to listen to you, and maybe engage in a Convince Conflict is Ob3 (or maybe Ob4), but a guard who totally believes in your cause is Ob5 (or maybe Ob6).
It makes sense because the difficulty of finding sympathetic parties is built into the role. I think you could probably end up with a simple Versus test if you push the contact out of their comfort zone and even a full blown conflict if the exchange goes sour, but at the default, finding some basic information would come with success.