Thlayli
Le Pétit Prince
Hi all, I have a few intelligence reports still outstanding, so as a result I am delaying the order deadline to Monday. For those who still need information from me, I will be lenient with accepting orders after the deadline.
Commedia di Sangue
Terrance888
Discord Reigns
A cloaked figure looked peaked the plaza carefully. Centered on a small fountain and with only light traffic, even here flowers and vines grew, a symbol of Duchess Ersinoȅ taste and generosity. However, there did not seemed to be guards, or other disruptive agents. The figure nodded, and disappeared into the alleyway.
A few minutes later, the figure returned with sound of music. Not the blaring trumpets and beating drums of a noble’s entourage, or the playful flutes and tambourines of a foreign merchant, but the bright tang of a Pietsuppi lute, and the song of a shepherd, seeking shade from the blazing noon sun. Heads turned to a motley retinue, several cloaked figures, one bearing a ragged banner of unfamiliar design - a hammer over a mason’s square.
The quiet chatter of business and leisure slowly died down as they circled the fountain. She bowed as an another figure, taller and with an air of dignity, stood before them. He took his hood off, and all can see the cut of his hair and of his collar - this is a man of the Godhealer. He raised his hand, and slowly, the gossip and chatter stilled. This is no man of power condescending to the commoners to deliver, but one of them, requesting the floor from his fellow man.
And so, once he judged he has earned sufficient attention, he spoke:
Brothers, Sisters, People of Alaescia. You may not know me, or what I stand for. Who I am is unimportant. But what I stand for, well! I stand for the dignity of all people, the same dignity the Godhealer himself blessed these streets centuries ago! But I bring no sermon of ancient times, but a message. For too long, the needs of people like you and me have been ignored, shackled to the yoke of masters and lords like cattle. Instead of dignity, they demand duty. Instead of bread, they give us flowers. My friends, we are not cattle! We are men! We are all blessed by the light of the Godhealer!
I am Renato, and I sought to bring this message, the message of the Cricca, to the palace of the Duchess herself. I wanted to tell her, that regardless of how much she cared for the beauty she of your city, she has not cared the souls of those who live within it. But that it is not too late! That working together, we can build a place that respects the dignity of all. And yes, we can keep the flowers.
Do you know what happened, friends? My words, my voice was ignored. And that means, YOUR voice was ignored. Brothers, Sisters, People of Alaescia, the nobles play their game of flowers, scheming over which balcony displays which colors, while your daughters starve, your sons march to war, your dignity taxed into the grave. They believed that no one would dare speak up. Perhaps, but things have changed. The Cricca are here, and the Cricca will NOT remain silent. Injustice must be confronted everywhere, even when it presents itself behind a bouquet of flowers, and claims your soul a slice each day.
Now you have heard my message. Even though you may not know it yet, you have taken the first step in joining us. Now I must be away, before her minions and informants silence us - but know this. The Cricca are here, and the Cricca will fight for YOU. And if you can help us in anyway, you will be helping everyone. Your fellow neighbors, your friends, your family, and your future.
With that, Renato bowed and drew forth his cloak, and the gathered figured scattered, to reconvene elsewhere, at some safe house or under a secluded bridge, to plan another display of The Cricca!
A few minutes later, the figure returned with sound of music. Not the blaring trumpets and beating drums of a noble’s entourage, or the playful flutes and tambourines of a foreign merchant, but the bright tang of a Pietsuppi lute, and the song of a shepherd, seeking shade from the blazing noon sun. Heads turned to a motley retinue, several cloaked figures, one bearing a ragged banner of unfamiliar design - a hammer over a mason’s square.
The quiet chatter of business and leisure slowly died down as they circled the fountain. She bowed as an another figure, taller and with an air of dignity, stood before them. He took his hood off, and all can see the cut of his hair and of his collar - this is a man of the Godhealer. He raised his hand, and slowly, the gossip and chatter stilled. This is no man of power condescending to the commoners to deliver, but one of them, requesting the floor from his fellow man.
And so, once he judged he has earned sufficient attention, he spoke:
Brothers, Sisters, People of Alaescia. You may not know me, or what I stand for. Who I am is unimportant. But what I stand for, well! I stand for the dignity of all people, the same dignity the Godhealer himself blessed these streets centuries ago! But I bring no sermon of ancient times, but a message. For too long, the needs of people like you and me have been ignored, shackled to the yoke of masters and lords like cattle. Instead of dignity, they demand duty. Instead of bread, they give us flowers. My friends, we are not cattle! We are men! We are all blessed by the light of the Godhealer!
I am Renato, and I sought to bring this message, the message of the Cricca, to the palace of the Duchess herself. I wanted to tell her, that regardless of how much she cared for the beauty she of your city, she has not cared the souls of those who live within it. But that it is not too late! That working together, we can build a place that respects the dignity of all. And yes, we can keep the flowers.
Do you know what happened, friends? My words, my voice was ignored. And that means, YOUR voice was ignored. Brothers, Sisters, People of Alaescia, the nobles play their game of flowers, scheming over which balcony displays which colors, while your daughters starve, your sons march to war, your dignity taxed into the grave. They believed that no one would dare speak up. Perhaps, but things have changed. The Cricca are here, and the Cricca will NOT remain silent. Injustice must be confronted everywhere, even when it presents itself behind a bouquet of flowers, and claims your soul a slice each day.
Now you have heard my message. Even though you may not know it yet, you have taken the first step in joining us. Now I must be away, before her minions and informants silence us - but know this. The Cricca are here, and the Cricca will fight for YOU. And if you can help us in anyway, you will be helping everyone. Your fellow neighbors, your friends, your family, and your future.
With that, Renato bowed and drew forth his cloak, and the gathered figured scattered, to reconvene elsewhere, at some safe house or under a secluded bridge, to plan another display of The Cricca!
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Thlayli
Le Pétit Prince
Paisani e patroni, I await indications from the following groups:
Ut Sanguinis (Angst)
Gipiani (Ork)
Dallafiama (bombshoo)
Chenail (Iggy)
Due to the lateness of (some) stats and information, I'm waiving any penalties for late orders, but as the narrative starts to become more interconnected, I will not update until I have them all. Thanks!
Gipiani (Ork)
Dallafiama (bombshoo)
Due to the lateness of (some) stats and information, I'm waiving any penalties for late orders, but as the narrative starts to become more interconnected, I will not update until I have them all. Thanks!
Last edited:
“This assembly of the Council of Chenail is now called into session. Let it be noted that Renate has once again brought snacks. A hand for Renate, everyone.”
warm applause
*****
“Yes, the weather has been very clear as of late.”
“Very clear indeed!”
“Melt was early this year, didn't need to keep the snow clearers for the full season length, that will be a good savings on the annual budget. Perhaps we could invest some of that into the resurfacing plan-”
“We're getting to the resurfacing Hector, it's in the agenda. But first, is anyone thirsty?”
*****
“No, I'm not saying that the weather hasn't been good this year, I'm just speculating that it'll be a rainier summer.”
“Based on what?”
“Based on forty nine years, damnit, I know what the weather does here. Do you really spend all your time under a roof and not looking up?”
“Order!”
“I know the damned weather, Renate, I just wanted to repeat that it varies from valley to valley, it can be hailing one minute and-”
“We all know that Hector, everyone says it. We were supposed to get started on the schedule for the harvest fair half an hour ago.”
“And the Pallatine Highland Music Festival.”
“Could we move it earlier, it keeps on interfering with the time when I need my boys in the field.”
“And I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a rainy summer, so the harvest might be off schedule.”
*****
“So how's your son doing?”
“Very well, very well! He's so tall, you should see him. Your boy, how's he these days?”
“He is... also taller now.”
*****
“It is a very lovely depiction of Euphrete the Shepherdess.”
“So lifelike! It belongs in the Priory! Should we put her on a retainer?”
“Do we even have the budget for that kind of expenditure?”
“This isn't in the agenda. You brought in your daughter's painting in and introduced it when we were about to bring up the road resurfacing.”
“She's a homegrown talent! Trained under Master Taballo in Vosta.”
“That does seem to undermine the 'homegrown'. Your daughter's brushwork is lovely though.”
“Oh, certainly!”
general murmured agreement
*****
“And that's my proposal for the new cheesery.”
“An impressive plan Renate. Doubly so because you're proposing that I use the town's funds to build you a new workshop, in the town proper, with you sitting on the town's council. You do recognize how this would come across as... something of a conflict of interest.”
“I... suppose. Okay, fine, proposal withdrawn.”
“I would quite like to talk about road resurfacing now.”
*****
“Yes, the letter from Proctoris Bellucci is concerning. Hector, you're comfortable explaining the situation to our neighbour's new representative, correct?”
“Of course, same as ever.”
“Some welcome gifts couldn't hurt.”
“I could provide some cheeses.”
“Good, good, and perhaps a sturdy mountain dog too?”
“A puppy!”
“Mm, good idea. Make sure it's a cute one, and not too nippy. Gertrud, you have some honey you could add to a gift basket, right?”
“Funny you should bring that up Genaye, I had a proposal for the expansion of our apiaries that ties into this quite well.”
“Go on...”
indiscernible background mumbling about road surfaces
warm applause
*****
“Yes, the weather has been very clear as of late.”
“Very clear indeed!”
“Melt was early this year, didn't need to keep the snow clearers for the full season length, that will be a good savings on the annual budget. Perhaps we could invest some of that into the resurfacing plan-”
“We're getting to the resurfacing Hector, it's in the agenda. But first, is anyone thirsty?”
*****
“No, I'm not saying that the weather hasn't been good this year, I'm just speculating that it'll be a rainier summer.”
“Based on what?”
“Based on forty nine years, damnit, I know what the weather does here. Do you really spend all your time under a roof and not looking up?”
“Order!”
“I know the damned weather, Renate, I just wanted to repeat that it varies from valley to valley, it can be hailing one minute and-”
“We all know that Hector, everyone says it. We were supposed to get started on the schedule for the harvest fair half an hour ago.”
“And the Pallatine Highland Music Festival.”
“Could we move it earlier, it keeps on interfering with the time when I need my boys in the field.”
“And I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a rainy summer, so the harvest might be off schedule.”
*****
“So how's your son doing?”
“Very well, very well! He's so tall, you should see him. Your boy, how's he these days?”
“He is... also taller now.”
*****
“It is a very lovely depiction of Euphrete the Shepherdess.”
“So lifelike! It belongs in the Priory! Should we put her on a retainer?”
“Do we even have the budget for that kind of expenditure?”
“This isn't in the agenda. You brought in your daughter's painting in and introduced it when we were about to bring up the road resurfacing.”
“She's a homegrown talent! Trained under Master Taballo in Vosta.”
“That does seem to undermine the 'homegrown'. Your daughter's brushwork is lovely though.”
“Oh, certainly!”
general murmured agreement
*****
“And that's my proposal for the new cheesery.”
“An impressive plan Renate. Doubly so because you're proposing that I use the town's funds to build you a new workshop, in the town proper, with you sitting on the town's council. You do recognize how this would come across as... something of a conflict of interest.”
“I... suppose. Okay, fine, proposal withdrawn.”
“I would quite like to talk about road resurfacing now.”
*****
“Yes, the letter from Proctoris Bellucci is concerning. Hector, you're comfortable explaining the situation to our neighbour's new representative, correct?”
“Of course, same as ever.”
“Some welcome gifts couldn't hurt.”
“I could provide some cheeses.”
“Good, good, and perhaps a sturdy mountain dog too?”
“A puppy!”
“Mm, good idea. Make sure it's a cute one, and not too nippy. Gertrud, you have some honey you could add to a gift basket, right?”
“Funny you should bring that up Genaye, I had a proposal for the expansion of our apiaries that ties into this quite well.”
“Go on...”
indiscernible background mumbling about road surfaces
Thlayli
Le Pétit Prince
Just a note that I am still waiting for orders from ork and bombshoo.
The Land and Languages of the Vale of Chenail
The Vale of Chenail is a relatively small, arable altine region, an array of seven valleys surrounding one of the major north-south passes which crosses the montane spine of the continent. It is home to a population in the low tens of thousands and lies near the triple point of the Alten, Valian and Taricien cultures, bearing influences from all all three, mixed with the ancient people who came before.
In ancient times, this highland vale was the home of the Cunii, who had lived there since time immemorial, building strange pagan stoneworks, clearing forest for the first farms, and establishing the first villages in the region. The young Valian Empire, which lay just to the south, made the Cunii one of their first conquests outside of their homeland, and for centuries the land was an integral part of the empire. Heavy Valian settlement and linguistic influence led to the dwindling and assimilation of Cunic, which heavily influenced the local dialect.
As the empire aged and, ultimately, fell, early ancestors of the Alten folk encroached into the region, bringing about a second transformation of its ethnic character. Cunic Valian continued to diverge from its mother tongue at an accelerated rate, driven by a sever reduction of regular contact with the outside, leading to the genesis of the Chenil (sheh-NEE) language. With the growth of the post-high Valian Kingdom of Tarice to the west, traders brought their own sibling language, Taricien into the area. A similar trend has happened in recent centuries, with a more standard Vostan Valian dialect being introduced from the south. Given the cultural preeminence of Valian, it is the prestige language of the region, even though it is only natively spoken in the two proximal valleys.
There are three main routes into Chenail: the Colle d'Ilsino to Valia, the Col d'Ouest to Tarice, and the Lugenzpass to the rest of Altenland. Various other routes cut through the mountains, but none have the prominence of these three. The Ilsino Pass is the most famous and dangerous, switching back and forth up the saddle between the giant peaks Vagnaliano and Barazziaga, with an ever-more-distant view of Lake Ilsino before one crests the col and reaches the famous Hospice of Chenail, a short distance south of the town proper. The Lugenz 'Pass' is a much wider escarpment, where the Chenail river carves a route down over a thousand feet of elevation, down towards the steepled city of Lugenz. Finally the Western Pass leads through a long, winding valley, ultimately opening into the Taricien Duchy of Morgain.
To simplify matters geographically, the Vale is a north-south pass with seven flanking valleys, three to the west and four to the east. Each valley has multiple names, disputed between the various local languages, so for simplicity's sake I will name them by the preference of their local majority. On the western side, from south to north, are Segino, Caramon and Chentac. On the eastern side, from south to north, are Langelas, Gabriga, Büggeln and Schappendal.
Segino is the most Valian in character, flanked by 45 degree, snowcapped peaks, their sides flanked with thick coniferous forests. While being the closest to Valia proper, it is ironically one of the most remote, having only one route in, branching off from the main road near the hospice. While most of its population knows the area as Segino, its large Chenil minority stubbornly continue to refer to it by its traditional name of Sneiglin.
Caramon not as physically difficult to reach as Segino, but it is effectively the most culturally remote part of Chenail. Its population is almost uniformly Chenil, having been overlooked by the last thousand years of human migration. Its soils are less suitable for agriculture than the lower portions of the Vale, so Glin Caramon is dominated by forestry and grazing, as shepherds, cowherds and goatherds manage their flocks in the meadows and grassy bottom of the valley.
Chentac, known as Hunedag and Chendag to Altens and Chenils respectively, is the largest valley and the one with the most diverse character. The agricultural production of this region is second only to the central valley of Chenail itself, and it is home to a large portion of the cheese industry. The broad, largely-cleared valley bottom of Chentac is the closest thing that Chenail has to a plain.
Langelas, or Lagassi as the Valians prefer, is the smallest valley and is largely a possession of Chenail's Priory of Euphrete. It is the center of Chenail's nascent apiculture, while also hosting many flocks of sheep. Surreptitious summer grazing frequently extends over the steep southern passes and down onto the isolated northern shore of Lake Ilsino which is something of a no-man's land between Chenail and Arx Victrix.
Gabriga is famously known as the 'mouth of the mountains', and indeed the sharp peaks surrounding it in a near-circular formation do call to imagination a gigantic mouth, something that was surely noted by the Cunic ancients, whose megalithic works can still be found in some isolated corners. It is here that the main branch of the Chenail river is judged to begin, on the southern slopes of Mount Grimbold, or Galibad as it is known to the Chenil. Seated across the valley from Grimbold is mighty Bagrada, reputed by the superstitious to be the King of the mountainous court surrounding Chenail.
Büggeln, or Bogen as it has been more commonly called in the past, is a predominately Altenlander valley. Rustic and agricultural, Büggeln is best known for its musical traditions, which include singing from the echoing mountains, as well as the manufacturing and playing of the wheel lyre, a popular droning string instrument.
Schappendal is the northernmost valley, and today is exclusively Alten, although historically it had a Chenil population and was known as Glin Chapin. It is the most distant valley from the central town, and the lowest in elevation, having numerous potential connections to the rest of Altenland without needing to pass through the hub of Chenail. As such, it is often regarded as the region where Chenail's control is most tenuous. However, there is relatively little concern that this northernmost valley might defect to the Cantons. Schappendalers share their same distinct dialect with Büggelners, and like all of Chenail practice the Valian rite, more or less. While they live on the extreme fringe of what might be generously called 'Valian Civilization', they look to Cunerude as their center, not Lugenz.
The plurality of Chenail's people speak this distinct, but still mutuall intelligible dialect of Alten (40%), followed by Chenil (28%), Valian (17%) and Taricien (14%). Less than 1% are native speakers of a different language. Multilingualism is common in the region by necessity, as most valleys are dominated by a different combination of dialects. Combining first and second languages, Valian is understood by a majority of the population (68%), followed by Altenlander (64%), Taricien (24%) and Chenil (22%). This clearly illustrates the importance of Valian as a local lingua franca, as well as the lack of non-native speakers who fluently speak Chenil. Finally, there is the trade argot (more properly referred to as a pidgin) which incorporates redundant and grammatically simplified common words from Valian, Taricien and Alten, which serves as a somewhat mutually-intelligible language for the purposes of trade, transportation and business.
As a land of at least four and a half languages, Chenail (sheh-NYE) has many overlapping placenames. Indeed, Chenail itself is merely the most accepted local name of the region- it is also known as Cenilla (cheh-NEE-uh) and Cunerude (kewn-eh-RUDE) to the Valians and Altenlanders respectively. Most of its seven valleys speak at least two languages. Only monolingually-Chenil Glin Caramon (Valle di Cirima) and monolingually-Alten Schappendal (Valle di Ciappino) have fewer. Chentac (Valle di Cientaccio), the largest and westernmost valley, has a mixture of Taricien, Altenlander and Chenil.
Each language has a different place and status within the vale. The Alten community is, as a whole, understated in its presence. The bulk of Altenlanders are farmers and ranchers in the northeastern portion of the vale, while a growing community of craftsmen and artisans ply their trades in the town of Chenail proper.
Valian is the language of trade, faith and high culture- even the Altenlanders in Chenail tend to follow the Valian rite, one of their distinguishing characteristics from the rest of their kindred. Valian speakers are a mixture of new arrivals, and native Chenils who have assimilated into their neighbouring language. Even though Valians are a small minority in Chenil, their dialect is nonetheless the favoured second language in most of the region.
Tariciens are the most limited in their geographic presence, having residing only in the Chentac Valley, although this is the largest valley by a significant margin. However, Tariciens are disproportionately well-represented as merchants and artisans, and punch above their demographic weight as much as Altenlanders punch below theirs.
Finally, the Chenils are the only speakers of their endemic language. While they are the widest spread through the region, present everywhere but Schappendal (where they were historically present until only a century or so ago), their language is of low status, widely regarded as a rustic tongue, or even a bastardized form of Taricien or Valian. To those unfamiliar, Chenil superficially resembles a creole based on the trade argot, most closely approximating a debased Taricien, with the recent addition of a flood of Valian loanwords, overtop of an older substrate of Alten vocabulary. Chenil lacks the prestige and melodic quality of its post-high Valian sibling tongues, having seemingly adopted much of the gutteral harshness and abruptness of the Alten language. As such, many Valians and Tariciens dismiss it as little more than an unfortunate backcountry dialect.
A more learned historian or linguist, however, would recognize Chenil as its own language, just as legitimate, complex and expressive as its three more prominent neighbours. Its apparent similarity to Taricien is explained by their parallel histories, both being derived from Valian dialects established over a Cunic population. Both languages borrowed many words from their local precursors, but the fact that Taricien and Chenil adopted largely different sets of words indicates that these borrowings happened entirely independent of each other. Heavy Alten influence created Chenil's propensity for hybrid grammar and unpredictable word order, which has only been partially undone by recent prescriptivist efforts to make Chenil more resemble Vostan Valian- a misguided effort, given that modern Valian has drifted away from High Valian and picked up foreign loanwords just as much as Chenil. At any rate, any speaker of Chenil could confirm what a linguist might need to spend a whole book to prove: their native language and the trade argot are wholly distinct entities, with knowledge of one providing little insight on the other.
The Vale of Chenail is a relatively small, arable altine region, an array of seven valleys surrounding one of the major north-south passes which crosses the montane spine of the continent. It is home to a population in the low tens of thousands and lies near the triple point of the Alten, Valian and Taricien cultures, bearing influences from all all three, mixed with the ancient people who came before.
In ancient times, this highland vale was the home of the Cunii, who had lived there since time immemorial, building strange pagan stoneworks, clearing forest for the first farms, and establishing the first villages in the region. The young Valian Empire, which lay just to the south, made the Cunii one of their first conquests outside of their homeland, and for centuries the land was an integral part of the empire. Heavy Valian settlement and linguistic influence led to the dwindling and assimilation of Cunic, which heavily influenced the local dialect.
As the empire aged and, ultimately, fell, early ancestors of the Alten folk encroached into the region, bringing about a second transformation of its ethnic character. Cunic Valian continued to diverge from its mother tongue at an accelerated rate, driven by a sever reduction of regular contact with the outside, leading to the genesis of the Chenil (sheh-NEE) language. With the growth of the post-high Valian Kingdom of Tarice to the west, traders brought their own sibling language, Taricien into the area. A similar trend has happened in recent centuries, with a more standard Vostan Valian dialect being introduced from the south. Given the cultural preeminence of Valian, it is the prestige language of the region, even though it is only natively spoken in the two proximal valleys.
There are three main routes into Chenail: the Colle d'Ilsino to Valia, the Col d'Ouest to Tarice, and the Lugenzpass to the rest of Altenland. Various other routes cut through the mountains, but none have the prominence of these three. The Ilsino Pass is the most famous and dangerous, switching back and forth up the saddle between the giant peaks Vagnaliano and Barazziaga, with an ever-more-distant view of Lake Ilsino before one crests the col and reaches the famous Hospice of Chenail, a short distance south of the town proper. The Lugenz 'Pass' is a much wider escarpment, where the Chenail river carves a route down over a thousand feet of elevation, down towards the steepled city of Lugenz. Finally the Western Pass leads through a long, winding valley, ultimately opening into the Taricien Duchy of Morgain.
To simplify matters geographically, the Vale is a north-south pass with seven flanking valleys, three to the west and four to the east. Each valley has multiple names, disputed between the various local languages, so for simplicity's sake I will name them by the preference of their local majority. On the western side, from south to north, are Segino, Caramon and Chentac. On the eastern side, from south to north, are Langelas, Gabriga, Büggeln and Schappendal.
Spoiler Map :
Segino is the most Valian in character, flanked by 45 degree, snowcapped peaks, their sides flanked with thick coniferous forests. While being the closest to Valia proper, it is ironically one of the most remote, having only one route in, branching off from the main road near the hospice. While most of its population knows the area as Segino, its large Chenil minority stubbornly continue to refer to it by its traditional name of Sneiglin.
Caramon not as physically difficult to reach as Segino, but it is effectively the most culturally remote part of Chenail. Its population is almost uniformly Chenil, having been overlooked by the last thousand years of human migration. Its soils are less suitable for agriculture than the lower portions of the Vale, so Glin Caramon is dominated by forestry and grazing, as shepherds, cowherds and goatherds manage their flocks in the meadows and grassy bottom of the valley.
Chentac, known as Hunedag and Chendag to Altens and Chenils respectively, is the largest valley and the one with the most diverse character. The agricultural production of this region is second only to the central valley of Chenail itself, and it is home to a large portion of the cheese industry. The broad, largely-cleared valley bottom of Chentac is the closest thing that Chenail has to a plain.
Langelas, or Lagassi as the Valians prefer, is the smallest valley and is largely a possession of Chenail's Priory of Euphrete. It is the center of Chenail's nascent apiculture, while also hosting many flocks of sheep. Surreptitious summer grazing frequently extends over the steep southern passes and down onto the isolated northern shore of Lake Ilsino which is something of a no-man's land between Chenail and Arx Victrix.
Gabriga is famously known as the 'mouth of the mountains', and indeed the sharp peaks surrounding it in a near-circular formation do call to imagination a gigantic mouth, something that was surely noted by the Cunic ancients, whose megalithic works can still be found in some isolated corners. It is here that the main branch of the Chenail river is judged to begin, on the southern slopes of Mount Grimbold, or Galibad as it is known to the Chenil. Seated across the valley from Grimbold is mighty Bagrada, reputed by the superstitious to be the King of the mountainous court surrounding Chenail.
Büggeln, or Bogen as it has been more commonly called in the past, is a predominately Altenlander valley. Rustic and agricultural, Büggeln is best known for its musical traditions, which include singing from the echoing mountains, as well as the manufacturing and playing of the wheel lyre, a popular droning string instrument.
Schappendal is the northernmost valley, and today is exclusively Alten, although historically it had a Chenil population and was known as Glin Chapin. It is the most distant valley from the central town, and the lowest in elevation, having numerous potential connections to the rest of Altenland without needing to pass through the hub of Chenail. As such, it is often regarded as the region where Chenail's control is most tenuous. However, there is relatively little concern that this northernmost valley might defect to the Cantons. Schappendalers share their same distinct dialect with Büggelners, and like all of Chenail practice the Valian rite, more or less. While they live on the extreme fringe of what might be generously called 'Valian Civilization', they look to Cunerude as their center, not Lugenz.
The plurality of Chenail's people speak this distinct, but still mutuall intelligible dialect of Alten (40%), followed by Chenil (28%), Valian (17%) and Taricien (14%). Less than 1% are native speakers of a different language. Multilingualism is common in the region by necessity, as most valleys are dominated by a different combination of dialects. Combining first and second languages, Valian is understood by a majority of the population (68%), followed by Altenlander (64%), Taricien (24%) and Chenil (22%). This clearly illustrates the importance of Valian as a local lingua franca, as well as the lack of non-native speakers who fluently speak Chenil. Finally, there is the trade argot (more properly referred to as a pidgin) which incorporates redundant and grammatically simplified common words from Valian, Taricien and Alten, which serves as a somewhat mutually-intelligible language for the purposes of trade, transportation and business.
As a land of at least four and a half languages, Chenail (sheh-NYE) has many overlapping placenames. Indeed, Chenail itself is merely the most accepted local name of the region- it is also known as Cenilla (cheh-NEE-uh) and Cunerude (kewn-eh-RUDE) to the Valians and Altenlanders respectively. Most of its seven valleys speak at least two languages. Only monolingually-Chenil Glin Caramon (Valle di Cirima) and monolingually-Alten Schappendal (Valle di Ciappino) have fewer. Chentac (Valle di Cientaccio), the largest and westernmost valley, has a mixture of Taricien, Altenlander and Chenil.
Each language has a different place and status within the vale. The Alten community is, as a whole, understated in its presence. The bulk of Altenlanders are farmers and ranchers in the northeastern portion of the vale, while a growing community of craftsmen and artisans ply their trades in the town of Chenail proper.
Valian is the language of trade, faith and high culture- even the Altenlanders in Chenail tend to follow the Valian rite, one of their distinguishing characteristics from the rest of their kindred. Valian speakers are a mixture of new arrivals, and native Chenils who have assimilated into their neighbouring language. Even though Valians are a small minority in Chenil, their dialect is nonetheless the favoured second language in most of the region.
Tariciens are the most limited in their geographic presence, having residing only in the Chentac Valley, although this is the largest valley by a significant margin. However, Tariciens are disproportionately well-represented as merchants and artisans, and punch above their demographic weight as much as Altenlanders punch below theirs.
Finally, the Chenils are the only speakers of their endemic language. While they are the widest spread through the region, present everywhere but Schappendal (where they were historically present until only a century or so ago), their language is of low status, widely regarded as a rustic tongue, or even a bastardized form of Taricien or Valian. To those unfamiliar, Chenil superficially resembles a creole based on the trade argot, most closely approximating a debased Taricien, with the recent addition of a flood of Valian loanwords, overtop of an older substrate of Alten vocabulary. Chenil lacks the prestige and melodic quality of its post-high Valian sibling tongues, having seemingly adopted much of the gutteral harshness and abruptness of the Alten language. As such, many Valians and Tariciens dismiss it as little more than an unfortunate backcountry dialect.
A more learned historian or linguist, however, would recognize Chenil as its own language, just as legitimate, complex and expressive as its three more prominent neighbours. Its apparent similarity to Taricien is explained by their parallel histories, both being derived from Valian dialects established over a Cunic population. Both languages borrowed many words from their local precursors, but the fact that Taricien and Chenil adopted largely different sets of words indicates that these borrowings happened entirely independent of each other. Heavy Alten influence created Chenil's propensity for hybrid grammar and unpredictable word order, which has only been partially undone by recent prescriptivist efforts to make Chenil more resemble Vostan Valian- a misguided effort, given that modern Valian has drifted away from High Valian and picked up foreign loanwords just as much as Chenil. At any rate, any speaker of Chenil could confirm what a linguist might need to spend a whole book to prove: their native language and the trade argot are wholly distinct entities, with knowledge of one providing little insight on the other.
Thlayli
Le Pétit Prince
I have now received orders from all the players! How glorious. The necessary work of summer shall resolve soon, that we might have a bounteous autumn.
Thlayli
Le Pétit Prince
I apologize for the delay - I have become ill due to a COVID-like illness, possibly from a hospital exposure at work. The update is partially completed and will go up when I am physically fit enough to write.
Thlayli
Le Pétit Prince
Summer 1544
Ah, that summer...long before you were born. Summer is when men seek freedom, forgetting they are still weighed down by winter woes. Had you come in summer, I would have given you rose wine, mixed with ice from the cave. Summer is a time of simmering bloodlust, desirous of cooling. Inverse to that soup warming your chest. Which reminds me...the secret to the story and the soup are really one and the same. It's the bones that give it all the flavor.
---
The Dallafiama family has ruled in Giudicatza for centuries, its multifarious family branches feuding and replacing one another, clinging to their cliffside city by the bay and its long, long history. In the current generation it is ruled by Visconte Adamo, called by some the Knight of Roses. But the true guiding power in the state is his uncle Gaspare. A humble friar dedicate of Zoa, he sits low in the matriarchal hierarchy of the cult, but wields great unofficial power as chamberlain of the council, such that even the Archpriestess of Tricore often defers to his wishes.
As a vassal of the Holy State, Adamo Dallafiama was offered the command of the armies of Holy Saia in the conflict with Carias. And gallantly he met the call, his personal house knights a river of white-caped steel, lances bedecked with long streaming pennants, bearing roses pink and purple, the albino dolphin, the three hearts, icons of the city patroness Santa Lydia di Tricore, and many other such images of heraldry and faith. The herdsmen of the mountains watched this procession go. At Estria Nova he was invested by the priests as Lord General of the Holy State, and gathered some 10,000 troops, a diverse combination of peasant levies, urban militias, local gentry and condottiere.
In Saia an official protest was laid, sneeringly, at the ecclesiastical court of Titis by Argentio Gladio, Visconte of Estria Nova, quoting in great detail Dallafiama's inexperience, brash mannerisms, and notable moral failings. It was pointed out at the ecclesiastical court that the viscount had not volunteered for battle and sent forces with his condotto Samuele di Calosso, to which Gladio responded, with bearing both regal and imperious, that the time for his efforts for Saia had yet to come. Exeunt, Il Scorpione.
Visconte Adamo, now with the commander's laurel from Saia, might have waited for more of the feudal levies to trickle in, or attempted to wring additional funds out of the Holy State to bolster his patchwork army. But he elected instead to take the field, rearing his charger before the troops and riding at the head of the column. The army marched north to the outlying fortress of Vescenza, where reports came in that Cariasi outriders had been spotted near the headwaters of the Azzio River, and were advancing toward the hinterland of the Saian vassal city, Lianti.
To the panicked entreaties of the Liantini for aid Adamo responded directly, leaving the defensive position at Vescenza against the counsel of Samuele di Calosso. But Dallafiama advanced decisively, riding up the Azzio, and his pristinely drilled cavalry savagely attacked and drove off the Cariasi with heavy losses. Adamo then sent out scouts to find the main body of the Cariasi troops, hoping to find them and give battle in the foothills of the Attians.
But the worm had turned.
The Cariasi commander was Consul-General Gratias Volontare, a famously experienced patrician commander who had fought for crowned heads in Tarice and Great Aytak before inheriting the family. As Adamo marched northwest of Lianti, Gratias maneuvered his troops south. It seems here, things had been well-prepared for the Cariasi. The Euphrete Matrimony of Santa Aurelia threw open its gates and its Archpriest denounced the Serene Father Aureus. Volontare's forces advanced further, and, having evidently been handsomely bribed, the lightly defended garrison at Vescenza was betrayed to the Cariasi army.
Adamo was now caught flat-footed, facing the risk of being cut off from Saia. But to his credit, he understood the Cariasi line of advance was now seriously overextended, as reinforcements continued to trickle southeast across the mountains. Rather than charge south, back to the fortress, he advanced across the gently rolling plains towards Santa Aurelia, seeking to cut the Cariasi line of supply by liberating the matrimony. General Volontare responded to this by pulling the main body of his force back from Vescenza towards Santa Aurelia, finally accepting Dallafiama's offer of battle.
The Battle of Santa Aurelia, taking place among ripe, gently rolling grain fields a few miles northeast of the matrimony, would be a decisive moment in the conflict and the history of Valia. Taking place on roughly even ground, the Saian army was outnumbered 3:2 by the Cariasi, who had also managed to bring more cannon to the field. In spite of being outnumbered, Adamo acted aggressively in hope of seizing victory. He ordered the Saian levies of the center to advance quickly, fire off a few shots, then retreat, in hopes of drawing out the Cariasi.
The Saian skirmishers, a patchwork of matchlock and crossbow troops, were quickly shredded by the Cariasi field artillery, and Volontare ordered an advance as they retreated. The pike squares of the Knights of the Golden Hand moved forward to clash with those of Cariasi regulars, both sides firing a few volleys from their matchlocks into the enemy's formations before the pikes moved to close. As the engagement developed, Dallafiama led the Saian cavalry in a vast wheeling charge, hoping to turn the flank and sow chaos among the rearguard. Pistol bullets and missiles plinked off the armor of the Giudicatzan cuirassiers as they seized a low rise on the Cariasi left flank, smashing several units of arquebusiers and overrunning some of the cannon.
But Volontare had ample reserve forces to commit to this action, and his own cavalry surrounded the Saians as additional units of halberdiers reinforced the crumbling left flank. The Saian charge petered out as it was surrounded, and many of the riders were dragged into the mud and slaughtered. As Dallafiama's attack faltered, Samuele di Calosso ordered a general retreat of the Saian center, which rapidly degenerated into a rout as many units lost cohesion.
Adamo Dallafiama himself and his most trusted retainers and bodyguards attempted to cut their way free of the encirclement, and almost succeeded. But his horse was shot out from under him during the fighting retreat, and he was separated from his bodyguards in the ensuing Cariasi charge. It was said that an overzealous Cariasi conscript with a billhook mistook him for a common soldier, cutting down the gallant Scion from behind in the chaos of the melee, but alternative rumors would abound for a time.
In the wake of the battle, the routed Saian forces were claimed by Viscount Argentio Gladio of Estria Nova, who quickly stated his accession to the demands of the Cariasi, and that the safety of Leonardo Santopescia (the titular Aureus, Serene Father of Euphrete) could no longer be guaranteed. Cariasi forces, aided by Gladio's mercenary troops, rapidly occupied Saia, although they have yet abstained from violating the sanctity of the Archtemples themselves. For his part, the Serene Father of Euphrete fled the city by ship to avoid capture, and Carias declared the position to be vacant pending a special election, likely of an archpriest they can control. Saia’s ruling Council of Serenity, now locked in their palaces and down a member, has been unable to even form a majority to condemn their own imprisonment, as the Serene Mother of Zoa abstains in every vote.
General Volontare expressed chagrin at the avoidable death of Dallafiama, as the viscount would have brought him a handsome ransom. The body was nonetheless cleaned and prepared according to the Zoan rites. As he died unmarried, a white rose was placed in his hands, the body was returned to Gaspare Dallafiama, a man now emotionally and spiritually broken, his goddess having claimed the closest thing he had to a son, his pride, and his family's future. But it is broken men, truly, who are the most dangerous. For in breaking our pride, the gods simply allow us to see.
Saia, Dallafiama & Carias Public Changes:
-Prince-Captain Adamo Dallafiama dies!
-5,000 pikemen, 1,500 cuirassiers, -5 field artillery (Saia)
-1,000 pikemen, -500 arquebusiers, 300 cuirassiers, -5 field artillery (Carias)
-500 cuirassiers, 1,000 pikemen (Dallafiama)
+Saia becomes Loyal to Carias (Occupied)
+Matrimony of Santa Aurelia (E) becomes Loyal to Carias
+Viscounty of Estria Nova becomes Loyal to Carias
+Fortress of Vescenza is controlled by Carias
News of the Battle of Santa Aurelia and the Cariasi occupation of Saia came as a shock to all of Valia, but nowhere more than Pelucia. For their part, a Pelucian fleet led by the admiral Lorenzo Zavato, which had planned to support the Church's army ahead of a general muster of the north, was instead forced to occupy Lianti and fortify the seaside Matrimony of Siraco to prevent them from falling to the Cariasi as well, while awaiting further orders.
The rage of the Serene Doge at hearing of his son's exile knew no bounds, and Carias' occupation of Saia was widely condemned by commoners and elites alike. Pelucia soon became a furious hub of activity for the organization of an official league to oppose the Cariasi. Called the League of the Lenta, previously-neutral Vialta and the Archpriest of Catacia were persuaded to ally with Pelucia for the war, and numerous Pelucian subjects and colonies also pledged support as the Republic began to raise a large army and recall its colonial fleets for an autumn campaign. A large company of Toghic hussars has also encamped outside the city, eager for the projected expansion of Pelucia's payroll.
An official Pelucian delegation has sailed up the Lenta, in order to bring Vosta into the war. Vosta's subjects, the Archmatrimony of Orestiana and the March of Torrio, have expressed their willingness to join the League, but the opinion of the prince's court and of influential Arx Victrix is still undecided on whether Vosta should participate, as the bad blood remains deep with the Pelucians following their failure to meaningfully assist them in the Toghic Wars, and continued alliance with hated Toghia.
News of dockside riots in Rocetti were little noticed in the capital given the news of the war, but it seems that in the course of much confused combat, the Harborers' Union liquidated a series of competing mercantile concerns hostile to their power, seizing their warehouses and driving them from the city. These concerns were loyal to the notorious Silverfish, and their diminishment in Rocetti may result in reprisals - overall, however, the harbormaster Bruto has risen much in the esteem of the citizens of Rocetti, and is now the largest powerbroker there outside the church.
Whether by design or by accident the notable Agostin Palatani was perfectly in tune with the martial moment, as he retained from the countryside about Maleto a Priest-Errant of Titis, Ricciardo di Trasta, perhaps, as men of means are wont to do, to sponsor his own company on the Republic's behalf. He also spent his efforts in conclave with Saria Vivace planning the inaugural operetto for the Grand Pellatene Opera, whose sumptuous egg-like dome is now almost complete, still enshrouded in scaffolding. Palatani's composer Saria Vivace has chosen to structure her upcoming work, Attias, an operatic interpretation of the fall of the final magistrate of the Valian League, as a metaphor on the moral decline of Saia in its current period of Cariasi occupation, with suitable comic asides to reference well-known modern personages. It looks to be well timed for the upcoming theatrical season.
Pelucian Public Changes:
+Pelucian army and navy mobilized!
+County of Vialta diplomatic stance: Favors Pelucia
+Archmatrimony of Catacia diplomatic stance: Favors Pelucia
Rocetti Public Changes:
+Silverfish faction liquidated, faction strength added to Harborers' Guild
Palatani Public Changes:
+Grand Pellatene Opera partially completed (finished in autumn)
+Priest pawn resident in Pelucia
+Attias gains Masterwork preparation bonus
---
The victory of the Cariasi at Santa Aurelia created a moment of supreme opportunity for the Gipiani of Rabazzo, but equally so, a moment of supreme vulnerability. Pressure has intensified on Rabazzo’s ruler Tarquin di Marrone, especially as a senior Archpriest of Euphrete, to declare a side in the conflict, either to endorse or condemn the deposition of Aureus. But, perhaps on the advice of his state council, the careful cleric has called for compromise and a peace conference to address both sides’ demands - calls that have, in the gathering fury, fallen on deaf ears.
Nonetheless, in terms of trade ties, the hand of the Gipiani is somewhat forced, as both ends of their Saia-Carias network are now controlled by one authority - Carias. Equally so, the large Pelucian army now gathering to the north could travel by sea...or it could end up marching through Rabazzi land. It remains to be seen how Gipiani will steer his sovereign as Rabazzo’s neutrality looks dangerously close to being violated.
Without making his views public, Girigorio Gipiani has been seen meeting with representatives of the baronial landowning class responsible for protecting the city, as well as the dockworkers, and has shored up support among both factions, consolidating his local alliances. Equally so, the seasonal finances have tipped well into the black, with profits escalating alongside the risk as the roaring sulfurs trade earns the Gipiani powder brokers in Carias an excellent profit from their newly-completed trading post.
An envoy has arrived from Vosta, inquiring as to whether noted bachelor Girigorio would consider union with Aleçandra di Torrio, whose father has evidently taken on significant debts, enough to countenance a merchant house from elsewhere in Valia. They have proposed that the first child succeed to the family of Torrio and be his or her grandfather’s ward, although subsequent children might retain the Gipiani family name and be educated in Rabazzo. Naturally such a prestigious offer would be costly, and might enmesh the Gipiani in Vostan politics, for better or worse.
In a fairly well-telegraphed move, the Archpriest of Lacus Serenitas retired to an emeritus role in order to focus on his studies of philosophical mathematics. The successor, Ferrico d’Aratani, was previously a Gipiani family chaplain, making it clear to interested parties that Girigorio is now the master of the pass in all but name.
Gipiani Public Changes:
+Archmatrimony of Rabazzo (E) moves to Favors Gipiani
+Matrimony of Lacus Serenitas (P) becomes Loyal to Gipiani
+Enrolled merchants in Sulfurs and Cedars guilds
+Completed trading posts in Lacus Serenitas and Carias
---
Although the passes are open and bees buzz in the meadows, the pristine and clear vales of Chenail, on the fringes of what might be called Valia, remain isolated from the endless wars of the south, from which naught comes but troubled and confused rumors of battle and tumult in the Church. More relevant are discussions of escalating skirmishes between the Hartvalder League led by Lugenz and the Comte de Cambren to the west creating demand for mercenaries and uncertainty for the trade route.
Even Chenail must reach into wealthy Valia, as momentous plans are afoot to secure the trade network and ensure the town’s prosperity. A lovely new apiary is constructed in the clover swards near the priory, with a full-scale jarring operation staffed by local women and avowed sisters of Euphrete. Expressing interest in honey exportation, a Vostan merchant named Pio Benedetto has opened a storefront in Chenail, and has befriended the Matron Getrud as a means of doing so.
On the matter of the tolls, a delegation to Proctoris Athanasius Belluci of Arx Victrix was led by the merchant Hector Gianucci, carrying the gifts of the valleys which were gratefully received. However, Belluci rejected the offer of preserving Chenail’s separate taxation regimen. He produced documents asserting the ancient Imperial cession of tolling rights to the Archpriest of Arx Victrix as protectors of the pass from barbarians. However, he has provided the following counter-offer - cease tolling traffic to Arx Victrix, or better yet, collect the tolls for them, and the Archpriest will take financial responsibility for clearing the pass and maintaining the road.
The senate-council, of course, may view such an offer as a slippery slope to conceding Chenail’s already legally ambiguous sovereignty to the Matrimony, and through it, to Vosta - but refusal could mean serious conflict, so Hochman Genaye Alpiet, man of standing and merit and leader of the vale in peace and theoretical war, must carefully plan the vale’s response.
One possible solution has come from the result of a lavishly-funded mercantile expedition for the promotion of Chenail’s cheeses. The expedition itself had...mixed results. Renate Grosmains himself barely survived a harrowing encounter with the notorious Fraternità del Formaggio of Orestiana, revealing that the Lenta Valley dairy market is quite literally violently competitive, but his tales of the north certainly attracted attention in higher circles. A steward of the prince’s court in Vosta inquired as to whether large quantities of glacial ice might be procured, and interest in ice shipments was even higher in malarial Pelucia sweltering through the summer.
When he returned, he also brought a letter, embossed with the seal of the Serene Doge of Pelucia…
Chenail Public Changes:
+Apiary improvement complete! (+income)
+Artisan resident in Vosta (Renate Grosmains)
-Hostile Cheesers faction created in Orestiana (+5%)
---
The purification of the corruption of the church by the expulsion of false Aureus of Euphrete has resulted in ecstatic jubilation in Carias, including a number of parades and public holidays. Although some say the most difficult days of the war are yet to come, common morale is at an all-time high. This popularity has resounded in turn back to the Ut Sanguinis, the holy healers of the Cult of the Godhealer, who have gained yet more followers and patrons in Carias, including several senatorial families, most notably the great Volontare whose political popularity is now peaking at the expense of the ruling Cavallo. Ut Sanguinis healers have tended the Republic’s casualties in field hospitals on both sides of the Attians, earning them further goodwill.
Some in the Cariasi Senate are even declaring the humble ascetic Anguisto who leads the order a potential candidate for sainthood, or to be appointed as Procurator to cleanse the remaining corruption from the church across Valia. For his part, he has so far refused such honors, stating that there are priests far more worthy than he in his order. The moment has accelerated the influence of the Ut Sanguinis, as courts far and wide clamor for their own healers to purify the mind and body.
In Saia, the influx of Cariasi troops has coincided with a significant increase in favor for the Ut Sanguinis, and the clerics have been seen acting as messengers between the Cariasi occupation force and the two cloistered Serene Mothers of Pellater and Zoa, perhaps to broker a compromise or help create more wide-reaching Church reforms.
Ut Sanguinis Public Changes:
+Major influence with House Volontare
+Carias moves to Favors Ut Sanguinis
+Ut Sanguinis popular factions spread to Estria Nova (+10%)
+Ut Sanguinis popular faction spreads to Saia (+10%)
+Trading post in Aquadecias complete
---
Between Ravua and Chiave, the siege of the city drags on. Count Callisto of Ravua is content to starve the burghers into submission, while the Chiavese have appealed to the local gentry of central Valia to oppose this naked aggression. For a time, it seemed that with Valia transfixed by what some are calling the War of Euphretic Succession or the War of the Lentan League, few had interest in this more parochial conflict.
But, into this breach has stepped Mirabelle di Rannochi, a well-regarded local merchant with noble connections in both Ravua and the Chiavese countryside. Lady Mirabelle has proposed a peace conference, whereby a settlement amenable to both parties might be arranged - she proposes the Quinquenti Primeri, the ruling council of Chiave, might maintain local autonomy while submitting to the Count of Ravua and paying a tax to him as suzerain.
The Chiavese, finding little outside support for their cause, are inclined to accept the offer, but the Conte di Ravua, while entertaining negotiations out of respect for Lady Rannochi, faces the need to recoup the substantial campaign debts he has incurred, and the warlike impulses of his knights to punish Chiave for their defiance. For now, negotiations continue - as does the siege.
+Rannochi (NPC trading family) trading posts in Chiave and Santa Zenovia
+House Rannochi faction in Ravua (+15%)
---
House Auriona, the foremost mercantile power in Vecini, has responded to the rise of the Cricca as the dominant local power mostly with opportunism. They have founded a trading post in the Cricca stronghold of Pieterre, further fueling the building boom in the city from Assessor Vitalon’s efforts, alongside a suitable ‘licencing fee’ for the revolutionary officials responsible for allowing an established patrician house into the center of the movement’s power.
In addition to this expansion, the Auriona have poured profits from their Cratone trade, as well as their privileged access to precious metals, into creating a savings bank in Vecini. This novel concept allows the Auriona to both begin casting their own currency for Vecini, accepting deposits, and in the future, offering loans.
Santiago Auriona has used his authority as the steward of the city’s finances to advocate on the council for an investment of Vecini’s funds to expand the Aureate Bank for the benefit of the people, and has successfully diverted some of the city’s funds towards this endeavor. The bustling colonnade of the new bank alongside other Vecini-owned businesses is now the city’s pulsing economic heart.
At the Auriona mansion, the artisan Diago Estullo has created a stunning frieze, Mutation of the Metals, reflecting the ancient transformation of lead to gold by the legendary Saint Iaco.
Auriona Public Changes:
+Trading post under construction in Pieterre [finished in autumn]
+Company store and savings bank constructed in Vecini]
+Bonus currency exchange in Vecini trading post funded by Vecini state funds [+20p]
+1 completed work of art (Masterpiece check: 1%)
---
House Nisimion has continued its policy of peaceful development, as Archotros Massimo continues to patiently pursue his policy of urban expansion to continue restoring Perissa to her classical glories. Clouds of dust rise in the street from cobbles torn up as Nisimion’s engineers work in the dry summer clay laying miles of lead pipe to carry the city’s effluvia to the sea. The new basilica of Zoa, as well, rises in its cruciate beauty by the glittering turquoise waters of the summer sea. A group of dolphins was said by the workmen to have been observing the construction from afar, which is surely a sign of the Mother of Life’s favor.
A stunning new painting, The Seductions, has been produced by the court workshop of Nisimion led by the estimable Annabella di Saia. It serves as an art piece to simultaneously reference the prime classical Zoan romances and to emphasize advancements in the portrayal of human realism in painting, in particular a more anatomical focus driven by greater artistic understanding of the movement of the human body’s muscle groups. The striking piece will undoubtedly serve as an instructive template for future generations of artists, if they can equal di Saia’s painstaking effort.
But the Archotros will soon have more than art to concern him, as news of his daughter’s doings in Alaescia returns to the court.
Nisimion Public Changes:
+The basilica continues production (finished in autumn)
+The sewer continues production (finished in winter)
+3 completed works of art (1%, 1%, 1.5% Masterpiece check bonuses)
+Annabella di Saia becomes Inspired! (Produce additional work of art or +5% bonus to a work)
---
She slipped by night into Alaescia, the City of Flowers, oars muffled by wet rags. Cloths wrapped around steel boots as they marched down the pier, she acted quickly and efficiently, her troops drilled to perfection moving quickly to preselected points in the city. By morning, the news was in the streets alongside several dozen bodies. Ziazzo had plotted to overthrow the duchess in alliance with local disaffected nobles, the Violets, and, it was rumored, the notorious bandits of the Black Rose. But Ersinoȅ dei Cassiani had been tipped off to the plot, and after a brief exchange of messages with Lydia Nisimion’s ships docked offshore, the Duchessa’s guards alongside the unexpected visitors from Perissa rounded up the ringleaders, taking Baron Paolo dei Ofizioni into custody - although the elusive pirate prince Ruggiero was nowhere to be found.
But rooting up this conspiracy merely tipped Ziazzo’s hand.
For their part, the Ziazzi quickly made a proclamation, which they claimed was endorsed by the Serene Mother of Zoa, that a flaw in the marriage contract of Duchess Ersinoȅ meant that her daughter Flora is an illegitimate heir, and that furthermore the Grand Duchess of Ziazzo herself holds claim to Alaescia through one of her great grandmothers. Count Largo Tascari, the Regent of Ziazzo and likely author of this plot, had most likely expected this to be a fait accompli, not expecting a coordinated effort to stymie his long-plotted coup with the Violets. Nonetheless, the Ziazzi war fleet, led by none other than Ildobrando Vorgezzi, struck a week after the failure of the coup, raiding the port and burning or taking several Alaescian galiots, although Nisimion’s two galleasses managed to escape north along the coast.
Although the Prince-Captain herself had the opportunity to escape with her ships, she chose instead to remain, repelling the sortie with Alaescia’s soldiers and, it was rumored, locking blades in personal combat with the Bastard of Fortazia himself. Whether this claim was embellished by rumor or not, the Ziazzi soon brought some significant backup for their raiding force - an army of over 10,000 troops backed by heavy siege artillery invested the city. But the successful counter-coup by Lydia and Flora ensured that Alaescia’s military was united, and Ziazzo’s expected civil war did not come about, alongside rumors that the Cricca had instructed their followers in the city to support the ducal administration, for now.
As the siege dragged on and the Alaescian army stood firm, Ziazzo pivoted to rooting out the Cricca insurgency in the countryside, hoping in doing so to win some of the local gentry over to their control. A large party of cavalry combed the countryside, seeking in particular the local ringleader Renato di Wats, who was rumored to be sheltering among the villagers. But Renato brilliantly eluded his pursuers, somehow managing to slip back inside Alaescia in disguise, humiliating the Ziazzi and simultaneously raising the countryside against them.
The raiding force ultimately clashed with a gathering force of partisans in the fields west of Santa Presta, aided by reinforcements from across the Pietstuppa and a small core of professional soldiers, led by one Captain Celeste. The resulting engagement was inconclusive - the Cricca forces suffered heavy losses, but withdrew in good order from the field, and subsequently fortified Presta for a siege. Lacking the troops to invest in a full siege of the Matrimony, the Ziazzi colonel pulled back, burning the rich farmland of the Jacia River as they rejoined the main siege party.
Having seriously mishandled the situation, those of the local gentry in the Alaescian hinterland who might have favored Ziazzo have decidedly turned in favor of the leadership of Archpriestess Anicia, who herself used the moment to justify her Matrimony’s public support of the Cricca cause. The Ziazzi still hold significant military superiority, as Count Largo’s forces have remained cautious and tightened the siege on a now-starving Alaescia, but the forces of the Cricca and Alaescia, although uneasy and circumstantial bedfellows, may yet prove to break Ziazzo’s growing stranglehold on Southern Valia.
Alaescia Public Changes:
+Alaescia now under siege!
+Various faction changes in Alaescia (Violets eliminated, Black Rose eliminated, Lilies and Cricca factions strengthened.)
-250 cuirassiers (Alaescia)
-50 cuirassiers (Nisimion)
-500 pikemen (Alaescia)
-1000 irregulars (Cricca)
-100 pikemen (Cricca)
-20 cuirassiers (Cricca)
-750 arquebusiers (Ziazzo)
-50 cuirassiers (Ziazzo)
+1000 irregular reinforcements inspired by Priest Renato di Wats marshal at Presta!
---
The Rising of the Cricca has now consolidated itself significantly, with major power plays that have now transfixed the south, and all the southern factions, as the crisis in Alaescia rapidly tips towards the boiling point. The first and most critical diplomatic coup was the decision of the Archpriestess of Santa Presta, the noble Anicia dei Cerva, to denounce Ziazzo and openly pledge her allegiance to Vitalon’s reforms - although rumors are that the powerful and canny local magnate was offered serious concessions for her support, some even going so far as to suggest she is playing Vitalon against Ziazzo for her own reasons.
Under normal circumstances such a widespread popular revolt against the secular powers would surely trigger some kind of official response from Saia, but Saia is in no position to do anything at the moment under its current Cariasi occupation. Some more bold radicals have even spoken of Assessor Vitalon as the promised Pontiff of the Church, now openly and miraculously returning from occlusion to usher in the promised Bright Kingdom, while others say the Four Goddesses have chosen him as Procurator to purge Saia and Valia at large of its sins.
After news of the Battle of Santa Presta reached Vecini, Grand Captain Paolo dei Soveca publicly denounced the rapacity of Ziazzo in attempting to annex Alaescia and Presta, and has more openly announced his admiration for Vitalon, albeit pragmatically maintaining Vecini’s formal independence for the time being. This realignment has also come alongside significant growth in Vecini and Pieterre, with the digging of a series of agricultural canals to water the crops around Vecini’s hinterland and to transport ox-drawn grain barges to the city center. A new paved road connecting Pieterre to Santa Hephastia has begun, winding switchback through the dry hills of the Pietstuppa, intending to traverse the mountains and ultimately descend to the green lowlands of Santa Presta after many more miles of difficult clear cutting and resurfacing.
Further afield, a new castle near the Cricca-controlled Matrimony of Testarocca now rises to guard the southern approaches of the mountainous ravines from an advance north out of Fortazia. The Assessor must come to terms with the fact that it was only his enemies’ distraction that kept them from capturing Santa Presta, and that the Cricca levies as they stand, a combination of ex-bandits, farmers and miners, are poorly suited for pitched battle with the Ziazzi.
Vitalon will have to balance the demands of the people to continue these long-needed public works, as Pieterre’s population booms with migrants seeking work on the road to Presta, with the imminent need to build a proper force for open war against Ziazzo - or perhaps to sue for peace and cut Alaescia loose. A hard autumn surely lies ahead for the Pietstuppa, as all sides gird themselves for blood.
Cricca Public Changes:
+Various factional changes in Vecini
+Vecini now Favors Cricca
+Matrimony of Santa Presta (Z) is now Loyal to Cricca
+Family chapel completed in Pieterre (+power)
+Canal under construction in Vecini (finished in winter)
+Fortress under construction in Testarocca (finished in winter)
+Road under construction from Presta to Pieterre (finished in winter)
+Captain and Priest-Captain pawns commanding troops present at Santa Presta and Testarocca (respectively)
+Various other pawns present in various other locations
Public Letters:
To the most noble and esteemed Agostin Palatani,
Your fine offerings to Titis befit your stature as a son of Vialta, the jewel in Her iron crown. Further, I have appreciated our acquaintance. The Serene Doge and his councils invite me to, on behalf of the Republic, invest in you a commission as Captain-Colonel of a people’s regiment. Any soldiers you raise are at your own expense, but for the typical division of spoils the state’s levy shall be waived.
The Doge has informed me that he is certain your father will swell with emotion seeing you at the command of Pelucian troops, and that this will surely strengthen our connection with Vialta. A fifth part of the Pelucian armies, some two thousand troops, would be placed at your command under my authority, in addition to those you raise. Naturally a man of your stature need not take the field if a suitable proxy is named. I pray you give my regards to both Count Arrigus and the beauteous Tifana. I hope to call on your opera in the autumn when the war is won.
Alto di Paschi, Grand Captain and Senator of the Republic of Pelucia
To the Prioress Gertrudis di Cenilla,
May the Mother of Prosperity shine her warm light upon your face and those of your children. It has come to my attention that the Vale of Cenilla has long petitioned for elevation to Matrimonial status. It is a shame that this claim, which has great historic merit, languished unheard for so long.
A great crime has been perpetuated against the Church in Saia, Gertrudis. Our Serene Father Aureus has been driven out of Saia by a horde of infidel Cariasi. He now takes refuge in Pelucia, where I sit in the council of the Doge. I have spoken to him of Cenilla's claim, and I have his answer. Matrimonies are called upon to commit a levy to the Church's will, and the Church now faces the gravest threat of our time. If Cenilla shows its loyalty to the Serene Father and commits soldiers to his aid, her capacity for Matrimonial status will be demonstrated.
After the liberation of Saia, the traitor Matrimony of Santa Aurelia will be dissolved, and, if your conduct is meritorious, you shall be consecrated as Archpriestess of Cenilla. This is contingent on your vale's provision of no less than 1,000 men-at-arms to Pelucia as soon as possible. Let us act swiftly, that Euphrete's bounty never fade or falter in these dark times.
Archpriest Nestore di Taio, State Chancellor of Pelucia
Archotros,
I write you regarding the matter of Alaescia, and of your daughter Lydia. I must first outline the position of Ziazzo - Flora dei Cassiani is an illegitimate heir, and the Serene Mother of Zoa has given our Grand Duchy a dispensation to name a regent to rule Alaescia in the stead of the mad Duchess.
We further state that the rogue Archpriestess, Anicia dei Cerva, and her associates - the Cricca - are rebels and bandits attempting to overthrow the gods-given order of church and state, with the end of seizing Alaescia and its wealth for themselves. This too, has Saia condemned. We must stand against these Cricca if we are to retain our lands and our heads.
In the midst of this, your daughter now controls the palace, and the Duchess herself. Her initiative is commendable, but her purpose unclear. Instead of yet more blood between our families, I propose a compromise. If Lydia Nisimion opens the gates of Alaescia, she and her forces will be allowed to withdraw unimpeded. Furthermore, we shall render to her a tally of [100p] for the services of her company.
I am open to negotiation, but not to rejection. I have restrained the more aggressive impulses of Captain Ildobrando towards your daughter thusfar, but I will not bear responsibility for her ill treatment if he assaults the city. My messenger awaits your reply.
Largo, Conte di Tascara, Governor and Lord Regent of the Grand Duchy of Ziazzo
---
OOC:
Thank you for the patience on this update. It has indeed been a long, hot summer. Private reports and stats will be sent to each player individually within the next 2-3 weeks. I had hoped Commedia di Sangue might be a simple game, but as with all NESes, the worldbuilding and conflict resolution seems to get exponentially more complex with each update. In spite of that, I think that makes both the game and the world satisfying.
I may have missed certain details from your orders; I either decided these were more appropriate to write about privately (in which case you will hear about them in private reports) or I omitted something, in which case please inform me. With that said, please do not exhaust my capacity to continue updating with infinite questions.
To avoid cluttering the map, Matrimony names will remain on a separate map, which you can find on the front page, unless they are an Archmatrimony controlling a city.
I will set an orders deadline after all of the stats are updated, but it will likely be some time in mid-August. Enjoy the summer warmth, the clear sky, and the company of your friends. And if it storms, let the rain fall on your face.
Ah, that summer...long before you were born. Summer is when men seek freedom, forgetting they are still weighed down by winter woes. Had you come in summer, I would have given you rose wine, mixed with ice from the cave. Summer is a time of simmering bloodlust, desirous of cooling. Inverse to that soup warming your chest. Which reminds me...the secret to the story and the soup are really one and the same. It's the bones that give it all the flavor.
---
The Dallafiama family has ruled in Giudicatza for centuries, its multifarious family branches feuding and replacing one another, clinging to their cliffside city by the bay and its long, long history. In the current generation it is ruled by Visconte Adamo, called by some the Knight of Roses. But the true guiding power in the state is his uncle Gaspare. A humble friar dedicate of Zoa, he sits low in the matriarchal hierarchy of the cult, but wields great unofficial power as chamberlain of the council, such that even the Archpriestess of Tricore often defers to his wishes.
As a vassal of the Holy State, Adamo Dallafiama was offered the command of the armies of Holy Saia in the conflict with Carias. And gallantly he met the call, his personal house knights a river of white-caped steel, lances bedecked with long streaming pennants, bearing roses pink and purple, the albino dolphin, the three hearts, icons of the city patroness Santa Lydia di Tricore, and many other such images of heraldry and faith. The herdsmen of the mountains watched this procession go. At Estria Nova he was invested by the priests as Lord General of the Holy State, and gathered some 10,000 troops, a diverse combination of peasant levies, urban militias, local gentry and condottiere.
In Saia an official protest was laid, sneeringly, at the ecclesiastical court of Titis by Argentio Gladio, Visconte of Estria Nova, quoting in great detail Dallafiama's inexperience, brash mannerisms, and notable moral failings. It was pointed out at the ecclesiastical court that the viscount had not volunteered for battle and sent forces with his condotto Samuele di Calosso, to which Gladio responded, with bearing both regal and imperious, that the time for his efforts for Saia had yet to come. Exeunt, Il Scorpione.
Visconte Adamo, now with the commander's laurel from Saia, might have waited for more of the feudal levies to trickle in, or attempted to wring additional funds out of the Holy State to bolster his patchwork army. But he elected instead to take the field, rearing his charger before the troops and riding at the head of the column. The army marched north to the outlying fortress of Vescenza, where reports came in that Cariasi outriders had been spotted near the headwaters of the Azzio River, and were advancing toward the hinterland of the Saian vassal city, Lianti.
To the panicked entreaties of the Liantini for aid Adamo responded directly, leaving the defensive position at Vescenza against the counsel of Samuele di Calosso. But Dallafiama advanced decisively, riding up the Azzio, and his pristinely drilled cavalry savagely attacked and drove off the Cariasi with heavy losses. Adamo then sent out scouts to find the main body of the Cariasi troops, hoping to find them and give battle in the foothills of the Attians.
But the worm had turned.
The Cariasi commander was Consul-General Gratias Volontare, a famously experienced patrician commander who had fought for crowned heads in Tarice and Great Aytak before inheriting the family. As Adamo marched northwest of Lianti, Gratias maneuvered his troops south. It seems here, things had been well-prepared for the Cariasi. The Euphrete Matrimony of Santa Aurelia threw open its gates and its Archpriest denounced the Serene Father Aureus. Volontare's forces advanced further, and, having evidently been handsomely bribed, the lightly defended garrison at Vescenza was betrayed to the Cariasi army.
Adamo was now caught flat-footed, facing the risk of being cut off from Saia. But to his credit, he understood the Cariasi line of advance was now seriously overextended, as reinforcements continued to trickle southeast across the mountains. Rather than charge south, back to the fortress, he advanced across the gently rolling plains towards Santa Aurelia, seeking to cut the Cariasi line of supply by liberating the matrimony. General Volontare responded to this by pulling the main body of his force back from Vescenza towards Santa Aurelia, finally accepting Dallafiama's offer of battle.
The Battle of Santa Aurelia, taking place among ripe, gently rolling grain fields a few miles northeast of the matrimony, would be a decisive moment in the conflict and the history of Valia. Taking place on roughly even ground, the Saian army was outnumbered 3:2 by the Cariasi, who had also managed to bring more cannon to the field. In spite of being outnumbered, Adamo acted aggressively in hope of seizing victory. He ordered the Saian levies of the center to advance quickly, fire off a few shots, then retreat, in hopes of drawing out the Cariasi.
The Saian skirmishers, a patchwork of matchlock and crossbow troops, were quickly shredded by the Cariasi field artillery, and Volontare ordered an advance as they retreated. The pike squares of the Knights of the Golden Hand moved forward to clash with those of Cariasi regulars, both sides firing a few volleys from their matchlocks into the enemy's formations before the pikes moved to close. As the engagement developed, Dallafiama led the Saian cavalry in a vast wheeling charge, hoping to turn the flank and sow chaos among the rearguard. Pistol bullets and missiles plinked off the armor of the Giudicatzan cuirassiers as they seized a low rise on the Cariasi left flank, smashing several units of arquebusiers and overrunning some of the cannon.
But Volontare had ample reserve forces to commit to this action, and his own cavalry surrounded the Saians as additional units of halberdiers reinforced the crumbling left flank. The Saian charge petered out as it was surrounded, and many of the riders were dragged into the mud and slaughtered. As Dallafiama's attack faltered, Samuele di Calosso ordered a general retreat of the Saian center, which rapidly degenerated into a rout as many units lost cohesion.
Adamo Dallafiama himself and his most trusted retainers and bodyguards attempted to cut their way free of the encirclement, and almost succeeded. But his horse was shot out from under him during the fighting retreat, and he was separated from his bodyguards in the ensuing Cariasi charge. It was said that an overzealous Cariasi conscript with a billhook mistook him for a common soldier, cutting down the gallant Scion from behind in the chaos of the melee, but alternative rumors would abound for a time.
In the wake of the battle, the routed Saian forces were claimed by Viscount Argentio Gladio of Estria Nova, who quickly stated his accession to the demands of the Cariasi, and that the safety of Leonardo Santopescia (the titular Aureus, Serene Father of Euphrete) could no longer be guaranteed. Cariasi forces, aided by Gladio's mercenary troops, rapidly occupied Saia, although they have yet abstained from violating the sanctity of the Archtemples themselves. For his part, the Serene Father of Euphrete fled the city by ship to avoid capture, and Carias declared the position to be vacant pending a special election, likely of an archpriest they can control. Saia’s ruling Council of Serenity, now locked in their palaces and down a member, has been unable to even form a majority to condemn their own imprisonment, as the Serene Mother of Zoa abstains in every vote.
General Volontare expressed chagrin at the avoidable death of Dallafiama, as the viscount would have brought him a handsome ransom. The body was nonetheless cleaned and prepared according to the Zoan rites. As he died unmarried, a white rose was placed in his hands, the body was returned to Gaspare Dallafiama, a man now emotionally and spiritually broken, his goddess having claimed the closest thing he had to a son, his pride, and his family's future. But it is broken men, truly, who are the most dangerous. For in breaking our pride, the gods simply allow us to see.
Saia, Dallafiama & Carias Public Changes:
-Prince-Captain Adamo Dallafiama dies!
-5,000 pikemen, 1,500 cuirassiers, -5 field artillery (Saia)
-1,000 pikemen, -500 arquebusiers, 300 cuirassiers, -5 field artillery (Carias)
-500 cuirassiers, 1,000 pikemen (Dallafiama)
+Saia becomes Loyal to Carias (Occupied)
+Matrimony of Santa Aurelia (E) becomes Loyal to Carias
+Viscounty of Estria Nova becomes Loyal to Carias
+Fortress of Vescenza is controlled by Carias
News of the Battle of Santa Aurelia and the Cariasi occupation of Saia came as a shock to all of Valia, but nowhere more than Pelucia. For their part, a Pelucian fleet led by the admiral Lorenzo Zavato, which had planned to support the Church's army ahead of a general muster of the north, was instead forced to occupy Lianti and fortify the seaside Matrimony of Siraco to prevent them from falling to the Cariasi as well, while awaiting further orders.
The rage of the Serene Doge at hearing of his son's exile knew no bounds, and Carias' occupation of Saia was widely condemned by commoners and elites alike. Pelucia soon became a furious hub of activity for the organization of an official league to oppose the Cariasi. Called the League of the Lenta, previously-neutral Vialta and the Archpriest of Catacia were persuaded to ally with Pelucia for the war, and numerous Pelucian subjects and colonies also pledged support as the Republic began to raise a large army and recall its colonial fleets for an autumn campaign. A large company of Toghic hussars has also encamped outside the city, eager for the projected expansion of Pelucia's payroll.
An official Pelucian delegation has sailed up the Lenta, in order to bring Vosta into the war. Vosta's subjects, the Archmatrimony of Orestiana and the March of Torrio, have expressed their willingness to join the League, but the opinion of the prince's court and of influential Arx Victrix is still undecided on whether Vosta should participate, as the bad blood remains deep with the Pelucians following their failure to meaningfully assist them in the Toghic Wars, and continued alliance with hated Toghia.
News of dockside riots in Rocetti were little noticed in the capital given the news of the war, but it seems that in the course of much confused combat, the Harborers' Union liquidated a series of competing mercantile concerns hostile to their power, seizing their warehouses and driving them from the city. These concerns were loyal to the notorious Silverfish, and their diminishment in Rocetti may result in reprisals - overall, however, the harbormaster Bruto has risen much in the esteem of the citizens of Rocetti, and is now the largest powerbroker there outside the church.
Whether by design or by accident the notable Agostin Palatani was perfectly in tune with the martial moment, as he retained from the countryside about Maleto a Priest-Errant of Titis, Ricciardo di Trasta, perhaps, as men of means are wont to do, to sponsor his own company on the Republic's behalf. He also spent his efforts in conclave with Saria Vivace planning the inaugural operetto for the Grand Pellatene Opera, whose sumptuous egg-like dome is now almost complete, still enshrouded in scaffolding. Palatani's composer Saria Vivace has chosen to structure her upcoming work, Attias, an operatic interpretation of the fall of the final magistrate of the Valian League, as a metaphor on the moral decline of Saia in its current period of Cariasi occupation, with suitable comic asides to reference well-known modern personages. It looks to be well timed for the upcoming theatrical season.
Pelucian Public Changes:
+Pelucian army and navy mobilized!
+County of Vialta diplomatic stance: Favors Pelucia
+Archmatrimony of Catacia diplomatic stance: Favors Pelucia
Rocetti Public Changes:
+Silverfish faction liquidated, faction strength added to Harborers' Guild
Palatani Public Changes:
+Grand Pellatene Opera partially completed (finished in autumn)
+Priest pawn resident in Pelucia
+Attias gains Masterwork preparation bonus
---
The victory of the Cariasi at Santa Aurelia created a moment of supreme opportunity for the Gipiani of Rabazzo, but equally so, a moment of supreme vulnerability. Pressure has intensified on Rabazzo’s ruler Tarquin di Marrone, especially as a senior Archpriest of Euphrete, to declare a side in the conflict, either to endorse or condemn the deposition of Aureus. But, perhaps on the advice of his state council, the careful cleric has called for compromise and a peace conference to address both sides’ demands - calls that have, in the gathering fury, fallen on deaf ears.
Nonetheless, in terms of trade ties, the hand of the Gipiani is somewhat forced, as both ends of their Saia-Carias network are now controlled by one authority - Carias. Equally so, the large Pelucian army now gathering to the north could travel by sea...or it could end up marching through Rabazzi land. It remains to be seen how Gipiani will steer his sovereign as Rabazzo’s neutrality looks dangerously close to being violated.
Without making his views public, Girigorio Gipiani has been seen meeting with representatives of the baronial landowning class responsible for protecting the city, as well as the dockworkers, and has shored up support among both factions, consolidating his local alliances. Equally so, the seasonal finances have tipped well into the black, with profits escalating alongside the risk as the roaring sulfurs trade earns the Gipiani powder brokers in Carias an excellent profit from their newly-completed trading post.
An envoy has arrived from Vosta, inquiring as to whether noted bachelor Girigorio would consider union with Aleçandra di Torrio, whose father has evidently taken on significant debts, enough to countenance a merchant house from elsewhere in Valia. They have proposed that the first child succeed to the family of Torrio and be his or her grandfather’s ward, although subsequent children might retain the Gipiani family name and be educated in Rabazzo. Naturally such a prestigious offer would be costly, and might enmesh the Gipiani in Vostan politics, for better or worse.
In a fairly well-telegraphed move, the Archpriest of Lacus Serenitas retired to an emeritus role in order to focus on his studies of philosophical mathematics. The successor, Ferrico d’Aratani, was previously a Gipiani family chaplain, making it clear to interested parties that Girigorio is now the master of the pass in all but name.
Gipiani Public Changes:
+Archmatrimony of Rabazzo (E) moves to Favors Gipiani
+Matrimony of Lacus Serenitas (P) becomes Loyal to Gipiani
+Enrolled merchants in Sulfurs and Cedars guilds
+Completed trading posts in Lacus Serenitas and Carias
---
Although the passes are open and bees buzz in the meadows, the pristine and clear vales of Chenail, on the fringes of what might be called Valia, remain isolated from the endless wars of the south, from which naught comes but troubled and confused rumors of battle and tumult in the Church. More relevant are discussions of escalating skirmishes between the Hartvalder League led by Lugenz and the Comte de Cambren to the west creating demand for mercenaries and uncertainty for the trade route.
Even Chenail must reach into wealthy Valia, as momentous plans are afoot to secure the trade network and ensure the town’s prosperity. A lovely new apiary is constructed in the clover swards near the priory, with a full-scale jarring operation staffed by local women and avowed sisters of Euphrete. Expressing interest in honey exportation, a Vostan merchant named Pio Benedetto has opened a storefront in Chenail, and has befriended the Matron Getrud as a means of doing so.
On the matter of the tolls, a delegation to Proctoris Athanasius Belluci of Arx Victrix was led by the merchant Hector Gianucci, carrying the gifts of the valleys which were gratefully received. However, Belluci rejected the offer of preserving Chenail’s separate taxation regimen. He produced documents asserting the ancient Imperial cession of tolling rights to the Archpriest of Arx Victrix as protectors of the pass from barbarians. However, he has provided the following counter-offer - cease tolling traffic to Arx Victrix, or better yet, collect the tolls for them, and the Archpriest will take financial responsibility for clearing the pass and maintaining the road.
The senate-council, of course, may view such an offer as a slippery slope to conceding Chenail’s already legally ambiguous sovereignty to the Matrimony, and through it, to Vosta - but refusal could mean serious conflict, so Hochman Genaye Alpiet, man of standing and merit and leader of the vale in peace and theoretical war, must carefully plan the vale’s response.
One possible solution has come from the result of a lavishly-funded mercantile expedition for the promotion of Chenail’s cheeses. The expedition itself had...mixed results. Renate Grosmains himself barely survived a harrowing encounter with the notorious Fraternità del Formaggio of Orestiana, revealing that the Lenta Valley dairy market is quite literally violently competitive, but his tales of the north certainly attracted attention in higher circles. A steward of the prince’s court in Vosta inquired as to whether large quantities of glacial ice might be procured, and interest in ice shipments was even higher in malarial Pelucia sweltering through the summer.
When he returned, he also brought a letter, embossed with the seal of the Serene Doge of Pelucia…
Chenail Public Changes:
+Apiary improvement complete! (+income)
+Artisan resident in Vosta (Renate Grosmains)
-Hostile Cheesers faction created in Orestiana (+5%)
---
The purification of the corruption of the church by the expulsion of false Aureus of Euphrete has resulted in ecstatic jubilation in Carias, including a number of parades and public holidays. Although some say the most difficult days of the war are yet to come, common morale is at an all-time high. This popularity has resounded in turn back to the Ut Sanguinis, the holy healers of the Cult of the Godhealer, who have gained yet more followers and patrons in Carias, including several senatorial families, most notably the great Volontare whose political popularity is now peaking at the expense of the ruling Cavallo. Ut Sanguinis healers have tended the Republic’s casualties in field hospitals on both sides of the Attians, earning them further goodwill.
Some in the Cariasi Senate are even declaring the humble ascetic Anguisto who leads the order a potential candidate for sainthood, or to be appointed as Procurator to cleanse the remaining corruption from the church across Valia. For his part, he has so far refused such honors, stating that there are priests far more worthy than he in his order. The moment has accelerated the influence of the Ut Sanguinis, as courts far and wide clamor for their own healers to purify the mind and body.
In Saia, the influx of Cariasi troops has coincided with a significant increase in favor for the Ut Sanguinis, and the clerics have been seen acting as messengers between the Cariasi occupation force and the two cloistered Serene Mothers of Pellater and Zoa, perhaps to broker a compromise or help create more wide-reaching Church reforms.
Ut Sanguinis Public Changes:
+Major influence with House Volontare
+Carias moves to Favors Ut Sanguinis
+Ut Sanguinis popular factions spread to Estria Nova (+10%)
+Ut Sanguinis popular faction spreads to Saia (+10%)
+Trading post in Aquadecias complete
---
Between Ravua and Chiave, the siege of the city drags on. Count Callisto of Ravua is content to starve the burghers into submission, while the Chiavese have appealed to the local gentry of central Valia to oppose this naked aggression. For a time, it seemed that with Valia transfixed by what some are calling the War of Euphretic Succession or the War of the Lentan League, few had interest in this more parochial conflict.
But, into this breach has stepped Mirabelle di Rannochi, a well-regarded local merchant with noble connections in both Ravua and the Chiavese countryside. Lady Mirabelle has proposed a peace conference, whereby a settlement amenable to both parties might be arranged - she proposes the Quinquenti Primeri, the ruling council of Chiave, might maintain local autonomy while submitting to the Count of Ravua and paying a tax to him as suzerain.
The Chiavese, finding little outside support for their cause, are inclined to accept the offer, but the Conte di Ravua, while entertaining negotiations out of respect for Lady Rannochi, faces the need to recoup the substantial campaign debts he has incurred, and the warlike impulses of his knights to punish Chiave for their defiance. For now, negotiations continue - as does the siege.
+Rannochi (NPC trading family) trading posts in Chiave and Santa Zenovia
+House Rannochi faction in Ravua (+15%)
---
House Auriona, the foremost mercantile power in Vecini, has responded to the rise of the Cricca as the dominant local power mostly with opportunism. They have founded a trading post in the Cricca stronghold of Pieterre, further fueling the building boom in the city from Assessor Vitalon’s efforts, alongside a suitable ‘licencing fee’ for the revolutionary officials responsible for allowing an established patrician house into the center of the movement’s power.
In addition to this expansion, the Auriona have poured profits from their Cratone trade, as well as their privileged access to precious metals, into creating a savings bank in Vecini. This novel concept allows the Auriona to both begin casting their own currency for Vecini, accepting deposits, and in the future, offering loans.
Santiago Auriona has used his authority as the steward of the city’s finances to advocate on the council for an investment of Vecini’s funds to expand the Aureate Bank for the benefit of the people, and has successfully diverted some of the city’s funds towards this endeavor. The bustling colonnade of the new bank alongside other Vecini-owned businesses is now the city’s pulsing economic heart.
At the Auriona mansion, the artisan Diago Estullo has created a stunning frieze, Mutation of the Metals, reflecting the ancient transformation of lead to gold by the legendary Saint Iaco.
Auriona Public Changes:
+Trading post under construction in Pieterre [finished in autumn]
+Company store and savings bank constructed in Vecini]
+Bonus currency exchange in Vecini trading post funded by Vecini state funds [+20p]
+1 completed work of art (Masterpiece check: 1%)
---
House Nisimion has continued its policy of peaceful development, as Archotros Massimo continues to patiently pursue his policy of urban expansion to continue restoring Perissa to her classical glories. Clouds of dust rise in the street from cobbles torn up as Nisimion’s engineers work in the dry summer clay laying miles of lead pipe to carry the city’s effluvia to the sea. The new basilica of Zoa, as well, rises in its cruciate beauty by the glittering turquoise waters of the summer sea. A group of dolphins was said by the workmen to have been observing the construction from afar, which is surely a sign of the Mother of Life’s favor.
A stunning new painting, The Seductions, has been produced by the court workshop of Nisimion led by the estimable Annabella di Saia. It serves as an art piece to simultaneously reference the prime classical Zoan romances and to emphasize advancements in the portrayal of human realism in painting, in particular a more anatomical focus driven by greater artistic understanding of the movement of the human body’s muscle groups. The striking piece will undoubtedly serve as an instructive template for future generations of artists, if they can equal di Saia’s painstaking effort.
But the Archotros will soon have more than art to concern him, as news of his daughter’s doings in Alaescia returns to the court.
Nisimion Public Changes:
+The basilica continues production (finished in autumn)
+The sewer continues production (finished in winter)
+3 completed works of art (1%, 1%, 1.5% Masterpiece check bonuses)
+Annabella di Saia becomes Inspired! (Produce additional work of art or +5% bonus to a work)
---
She slipped by night into Alaescia, the City of Flowers, oars muffled by wet rags. Cloths wrapped around steel boots as they marched down the pier, she acted quickly and efficiently, her troops drilled to perfection moving quickly to preselected points in the city. By morning, the news was in the streets alongside several dozen bodies. Ziazzo had plotted to overthrow the duchess in alliance with local disaffected nobles, the Violets, and, it was rumored, the notorious bandits of the Black Rose. But Ersinoȅ dei Cassiani had been tipped off to the plot, and after a brief exchange of messages with Lydia Nisimion’s ships docked offshore, the Duchessa’s guards alongside the unexpected visitors from Perissa rounded up the ringleaders, taking Baron Paolo dei Ofizioni into custody - although the elusive pirate prince Ruggiero was nowhere to be found.
But rooting up this conspiracy merely tipped Ziazzo’s hand.
For their part, the Ziazzi quickly made a proclamation, which they claimed was endorsed by the Serene Mother of Zoa, that a flaw in the marriage contract of Duchess Ersinoȅ meant that her daughter Flora is an illegitimate heir, and that furthermore the Grand Duchess of Ziazzo herself holds claim to Alaescia through one of her great grandmothers. Count Largo Tascari, the Regent of Ziazzo and likely author of this plot, had most likely expected this to be a fait accompli, not expecting a coordinated effort to stymie his long-plotted coup with the Violets. Nonetheless, the Ziazzi war fleet, led by none other than Ildobrando Vorgezzi, struck a week after the failure of the coup, raiding the port and burning or taking several Alaescian galiots, although Nisimion’s two galleasses managed to escape north along the coast.
Although the Prince-Captain herself had the opportunity to escape with her ships, she chose instead to remain, repelling the sortie with Alaescia’s soldiers and, it was rumored, locking blades in personal combat with the Bastard of Fortazia himself. Whether this claim was embellished by rumor or not, the Ziazzi soon brought some significant backup for their raiding force - an army of over 10,000 troops backed by heavy siege artillery invested the city. But the successful counter-coup by Lydia and Flora ensured that Alaescia’s military was united, and Ziazzo’s expected civil war did not come about, alongside rumors that the Cricca had instructed their followers in the city to support the ducal administration, for now.
As the siege dragged on and the Alaescian army stood firm, Ziazzo pivoted to rooting out the Cricca insurgency in the countryside, hoping in doing so to win some of the local gentry over to their control. A large party of cavalry combed the countryside, seeking in particular the local ringleader Renato di Wats, who was rumored to be sheltering among the villagers. But Renato brilliantly eluded his pursuers, somehow managing to slip back inside Alaescia in disguise, humiliating the Ziazzi and simultaneously raising the countryside against them.
The raiding force ultimately clashed with a gathering force of partisans in the fields west of Santa Presta, aided by reinforcements from across the Pietstuppa and a small core of professional soldiers, led by one Captain Celeste. The resulting engagement was inconclusive - the Cricca forces suffered heavy losses, but withdrew in good order from the field, and subsequently fortified Presta for a siege. Lacking the troops to invest in a full siege of the Matrimony, the Ziazzi colonel pulled back, burning the rich farmland of the Jacia River as they rejoined the main siege party.
Having seriously mishandled the situation, those of the local gentry in the Alaescian hinterland who might have favored Ziazzo have decidedly turned in favor of the leadership of Archpriestess Anicia, who herself used the moment to justify her Matrimony’s public support of the Cricca cause. The Ziazzi still hold significant military superiority, as Count Largo’s forces have remained cautious and tightened the siege on a now-starving Alaescia, but the forces of the Cricca and Alaescia, although uneasy and circumstantial bedfellows, may yet prove to break Ziazzo’s growing stranglehold on Southern Valia.
Alaescia Public Changes:
+Alaescia now under siege!
+Various faction changes in Alaescia (Violets eliminated, Black Rose eliminated, Lilies and Cricca factions strengthened.)
-250 cuirassiers (Alaescia)
-50 cuirassiers (Nisimion)
-500 pikemen (Alaescia)
-1000 irregulars (Cricca)
-100 pikemen (Cricca)
-20 cuirassiers (Cricca)
-750 arquebusiers (Ziazzo)
-50 cuirassiers (Ziazzo)
+1000 irregular reinforcements inspired by Priest Renato di Wats marshal at Presta!
---
The Rising of the Cricca has now consolidated itself significantly, with major power plays that have now transfixed the south, and all the southern factions, as the crisis in Alaescia rapidly tips towards the boiling point. The first and most critical diplomatic coup was the decision of the Archpriestess of Santa Presta, the noble Anicia dei Cerva, to denounce Ziazzo and openly pledge her allegiance to Vitalon’s reforms - although rumors are that the powerful and canny local magnate was offered serious concessions for her support, some even going so far as to suggest she is playing Vitalon against Ziazzo for her own reasons.
Under normal circumstances such a widespread popular revolt against the secular powers would surely trigger some kind of official response from Saia, but Saia is in no position to do anything at the moment under its current Cariasi occupation. Some more bold radicals have even spoken of Assessor Vitalon as the promised Pontiff of the Church, now openly and miraculously returning from occlusion to usher in the promised Bright Kingdom, while others say the Four Goddesses have chosen him as Procurator to purge Saia and Valia at large of its sins.
After news of the Battle of Santa Presta reached Vecini, Grand Captain Paolo dei Soveca publicly denounced the rapacity of Ziazzo in attempting to annex Alaescia and Presta, and has more openly announced his admiration for Vitalon, albeit pragmatically maintaining Vecini’s formal independence for the time being. This realignment has also come alongside significant growth in Vecini and Pieterre, with the digging of a series of agricultural canals to water the crops around Vecini’s hinterland and to transport ox-drawn grain barges to the city center. A new paved road connecting Pieterre to Santa Hephastia has begun, winding switchback through the dry hills of the Pietstuppa, intending to traverse the mountains and ultimately descend to the green lowlands of Santa Presta after many more miles of difficult clear cutting and resurfacing.
Further afield, a new castle near the Cricca-controlled Matrimony of Testarocca now rises to guard the southern approaches of the mountainous ravines from an advance north out of Fortazia. The Assessor must come to terms with the fact that it was only his enemies’ distraction that kept them from capturing Santa Presta, and that the Cricca levies as they stand, a combination of ex-bandits, farmers and miners, are poorly suited for pitched battle with the Ziazzi.
Vitalon will have to balance the demands of the people to continue these long-needed public works, as Pieterre’s population booms with migrants seeking work on the road to Presta, with the imminent need to build a proper force for open war against Ziazzo - or perhaps to sue for peace and cut Alaescia loose. A hard autumn surely lies ahead for the Pietstuppa, as all sides gird themselves for blood.
Cricca Public Changes:
+Various factional changes in Vecini
+Vecini now Favors Cricca
+Matrimony of Santa Presta (Z) is now Loyal to Cricca
+Family chapel completed in Pieterre (+power)
+Canal under construction in Vecini (finished in winter)
+Fortress under construction in Testarocca (finished in winter)
+Road under construction from Presta to Pieterre (finished in winter)
+Captain and Priest-Captain pawns commanding troops present at Santa Presta and Testarocca (respectively)
+Various other pawns present in various other locations
Public Letters:
To the most noble and esteemed Agostin Palatani,
Your fine offerings to Titis befit your stature as a son of Vialta, the jewel in Her iron crown. Further, I have appreciated our acquaintance. The Serene Doge and his councils invite me to, on behalf of the Republic, invest in you a commission as Captain-Colonel of a people’s regiment. Any soldiers you raise are at your own expense, but for the typical division of spoils the state’s levy shall be waived.
The Doge has informed me that he is certain your father will swell with emotion seeing you at the command of Pelucian troops, and that this will surely strengthen our connection with Vialta. A fifth part of the Pelucian armies, some two thousand troops, would be placed at your command under my authority, in addition to those you raise. Naturally a man of your stature need not take the field if a suitable proxy is named. I pray you give my regards to both Count Arrigus and the beauteous Tifana. I hope to call on your opera in the autumn when the war is won.
Alto di Paschi, Grand Captain and Senator of the Republic of Pelucia
To the Prioress Gertrudis di Cenilla,
May the Mother of Prosperity shine her warm light upon your face and those of your children. It has come to my attention that the Vale of Cenilla has long petitioned for elevation to Matrimonial status. It is a shame that this claim, which has great historic merit, languished unheard for so long.
A great crime has been perpetuated against the Church in Saia, Gertrudis. Our Serene Father Aureus has been driven out of Saia by a horde of infidel Cariasi. He now takes refuge in Pelucia, where I sit in the council of the Doge. I have spoken to him of Cenilla's claim, and I have his answer. Matrimonies are called upon to commit a levy to the Church's will, and the Church now faces the gravest threat of our time. If Cenilla shows its loyalty to the Serene Father and commits soldiers to his aid, her capacity for Matrimonial status will be demonstrated.
After the liberation of Saia, the traitor Matrimony of Santa Aurelia will be dissolved, and, if your conduct is meritorious, you shall be consecrated as Archpriestess of Cenilla. This is contingent on your vale's provision of no less than 1,000 men-at-arms to Pelucia as soon as possible. Let us act swiftly, that Euphrete's bounty never fade or falter in these dark times.
Archpriest Nestore di Taio, State Chancellor of Pelucia
Archotros,
I write you regarding the matter of Alaescia, and of your daughter Lydia. I must first outline the position of Ziazzo - Flora dei Cassiani is an illegitimate heir, and the Serene Mother of Zoa has given our Grand Duchy a dispensation to name a regent to rule Alaescia in the stead of the mad Duchess.
We further state that the rogue Archpriestess, Anicia dei Cerva, and her associates - the Cricca - are rebels and bandits attempting to overthrow the gods-given order of church and state, with the end of seizing Alaescia and its wealth for themselves. This too, has Saia condemned. We must stand against these Cricca if we are to retain our lands and our heads.
In the midst of this, your daughter now controls the palace, and the Duchess herself. Her initiative is commendable, but her purpose unclear. Instead of yet more blood between our families, I propose a compromise. If Lydia Nisimion opens the gates of Alaescia, she and her forces will be allowed to withdraw unimpeded. Furthermore, we shall render to her a tally of [100p] for the services of her company.
I am open to negotiation, but not to rejection. I have restrained the more aggressive impulses of Captain Ildobrando towards your daughter thusfar, but I will not bear responsibility for her ill treatment if he assaults the city. My messenger awaits your reply.
Largo, Conte di Tascara, Governor and Lord Regent of the Grand Duchy of Ziazzo
---
Spoiler Summer 1544 Map :
OOC:
Thank you for the patience on this update. It has indeed been a long, hot summer. Private reports and stats will be sent to each player individually within the next 2-3 weeks. I had hoped Commedia di Sangue might be a simple game, but as with all NESes, the worldbuilding and conflict resolution seems to get exponentially more complex with each update. In spite of that, I think that makes both the game and the world satisfying.
I may have missed certain details from your orders; I either decided these were more appropriate to write about privately (in which case you will hear about them in private reports) or I omitted something, in which case please inform me. With that said, please do not exhaust my capacity to continue updating with infinite questions.
To avoid cluttering the map, Matrimony names will remain on a separate map, which you can find on the front page, unless they are an Archmatrimony controlling a city. I will set an orders deadline after all of the stats are updated, but it will likely be some time in mid-August. Enjoy the summer warmth, the clear sky, and the company of your friends. And if it storms, let the rain fall on your face.
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Angst
Rambling and inconsistent
Thlayli
Le Pétit Prince
I have made a few small map edits, mostly just updating a few public pawns, building locations, river names and other minor housekeeping.
The only minor political change is the addition of the canton of Jentac, center of the rich Val de Jentac and the source of most of Iggy's Taricien population, currently being contested in a low level political struggle between Cambren and Lugenz which was referenced in the update. (Also a similar etymology to one of Iggy's vales which lies near it.)
I will be working on the public stats this weekend, which are currently out of date. Great city factions, army sizes, and so on. Private reports will start trickling in to most of you over the following week.
The only minor political change is the addition of the canton of Jentac, center of the rich Val de Jentac and the source of most of Iggy's Taricien population, currently being contested in a low level political struggle between Cambren and Lugenz which was referenced in the update. (Also a similar etymology to one of Iggy's vales which lies near it.)
I will be working on the public stats this weekend, which are currently out of date. Great city factions, army sizes, and so on. Private reports will start trickling in to most of you over the following week.
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TheMeanestGuest
Warlord
A Letter to Alto di Paschi
To the most distinguished and honorable Senator di Paschi,
As an upright and loyal citizen and as a gentleman of means I am solemnly duty-bound to accept your offer of the Senate's commission. I will do all that I might to protect the Republic and its people, and to restore the rightful Holy Council in Blessed Saia. Indeed, my prayers of late are bound to Titis, for I have feared that such ill tidings as these might come to pass. As Captain-Colonel I will raise a company of soldiers to enjoin the regiment, and a staff of officers organized by the Priest-Errant di Trasta and my captain Matteo Octani di Ravua.
I have likewise enjoyed our acquaintance, and recommend your sentiment to both my illustrious father and the beatific Signorina. It is my firm desire that we have the brutish Cariasi well in-hand by the close of the season, and have thoughts as to this matter. Further, with prevailing circumstance I extend my invitation to sit as a guest of honor for the Grand Pellatene's premier performance of Lady Vivace's forthcoming Attias, and I anticipate your attendance and consideration.
- Agostin Palatani, Lord of Espara and Citizen of Pelucia
To the most distinguished and honorable Senator di Paschi,
As an upright and loyal citizen and as a gentleman of means I am solemnly duty-bound to accept your offer of the Senate's commission. I will do all that I might to protect the Republic and its people, and to restore the rightful Holy Council in Blessed Saia. Indeed, my prayers of late are bound to Titis, for I have feared that such ill tidings as these might come to pass. As Captain-Colonel I will raise a company of soldiers to enjoin the regiment, and a staff of officers organized by the Priest-Errant di Trasta and my captain Matteo Octani di Ravua.
I have likewise enjoyed our acquaintance, and recommend your sentiment to both my illustrious father and the beatific Signorina. It is my firm desire that we have the brutish Cariasi well in-hand by the close of the season, and have thoughts as to this matter. Further, with prevailing circumstance I extend my invitation to sit as a guest of honor for the Grand Pellatene's premier performance of Lady Vivace's forthcoming Attias, and I anticipate your attendance and consideration.
- Agostin Palatani, Lord of Espara and Citizen of Pelucia
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thomas.berubeg
Wandering the World
- Pentatext (c. 1556) depicting the discovery of the New World, excavated at the Puerte Mazzica dig in Delgoda. It is a copy of the murals painted within the great atrium of the Basilica of Perizza by the famed artist Annabella di Saia. This was likely sold in the markets of Perizza for devout pilgrims to use as a portable shrine. Like all Pentatexts, this one was designed to hinge around a square, to be closed when not in use. The relief on the outside is of a daffodil, a common Zoan symbol.
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