Game Log

Cristoforo is not a sentimental man. He wouldn't, for instance, especially object to the measures Antonio took to subdue the Caligari "rebels." On the other hand, sinking an entire island and killing hundreds or thousands? On purpose? That's beyond the pale, even by Cris's lights. He still hasn't forgotten that Antonio killed Tomasso, either. Even if Tomasso started it, that still counts for something.

On the other hand... what's he going to do? His brother Bernardo would encourage him to work with Angelo. The trip to rescue Beatrice Caligari was exciting, and he found some new respect for his brother, but Cristoforo also got to watch Father Donati "at work." He doesn't know how Angelo manipulates people and keeps getting away with it, and suspects that his brother isn't above similarly manipulating him. His pride makes that a tough pill to swallow.

But he's not going to take on Antonio by himself. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he's pretty sure his older half-brother could take him in a fair or unfair fight. Plus, there's a lot of politics going on, and the prince is involved, and Cristoforo knows he isn't good at navigating that. Pride, again, would keep him from seeking Salvador's assistance... at least until he realizes he doesn't have to think about it as "getting help from his turncoat youngest brother" and can instead "be getting assistance and making an alliance with the viscount." (But this is Cris, so don't hold your breath while waiting for that thunderbolt of inspiration.)

Antonio wants to keep him in Caligari lands, once Elsa Schuman leaves his service. Cristoforo may find himself recruited as an ally and confidant of Lady Donati, whether he means to be or not...

Cristoforo and Elsa: These two had a "love to hate each other" dynamic that archtypically ends up in bed together. Unfortunately, it was largely the result of Cris being a Vodacce chauvanist pig. While he may grudingly grant Elsa a measure of hard-won respect in the future, he's unlikely to change as a person, and I don't see that being acceptable to Elsa (at least as a long-term proposition).

I think the best story for these two climaxes several years in the future, while Antonio's and Salvador's agents are quietly at each others' throats. A chance meeting, more sparks, a liason... and then, within a few days, a violent confrontation (business, not personal) that leaves one of them dead. Which one? Hard to say... for story-building purposes, though, I would pick Elsa. Killing Cris might further disenchant Elsa with war, or at least with Vodacce, and send her out of the picture. Killing Elsa, on the other hand, might be a goad to Cristoforo's character and changing the nature of his involvement in the plotting going on.

Marco and Francesca

It's so far, so good for these two. It was simple enough to find a priest in Castille who could take them to a bishop who would annul Francesca's marriage to Antonio; the Castillian Church takes a generally dim view of the Vodacce custom of vedova anyway. The pair could then marry.

Sentimentally or stupidly, Marco did send a letter to his mother just before they departed on a ship for the islands. He wanted to ease her grief, and trusted that she would not tell his father - because then Antonio would kill him.

Their island paradise "happily ever after" started out with some rough spots. Even as a bastard son, Marco was a nobleman's bastard son and a favored one at that; Francesca was a lady born and raised. The islands of the Midnight Archipelago were distinctly lower-class affairs, except for any colonial officials who might be about.

When real, back-breaking work got old (which it did quickly), the pair gave up some anonymity to break into that small upper class. They presented themselves to the Castillians as Vodacce nobles in voluntary exile; the reasons were left unstated, so the locals could speculate their own horde of rumors. They did try to conceal their identities, but Francesca's classic Vestini beauty quickly had her pegged as being of that family. The local Castillian nobles were sympathetic to them (they seemed so young, and so nice, and she was so beautiful... possibly a dark-hearted prince coveted her, causing them to flee here?) and found Marco an administrative position in the local government. He's keeping his head above water (with Francesca's help) and she keeps tab on the too-small fishbowl of polite society on the island, navigating the changing daily dramas.

Zola

Zola could not easily leave her business to go with Antonio to Caligari lands. If the Prince permanently establishes him somewhere, and their relationship is still stable, she will move her courtesans to be with him.

The bad news for Zola is, of course, Gianina. Zola is past child-bearing years, and Gianina has finally started to produce children for Antonio. And she's young. But she's a strega, and Zola knows Antonio is uneasy around witches. If she feels threatened, Zola can play that unease into full-out paranoia.

The good news is that she's recently gotten a letter from Castille. She keeps it hidden in a copy of the Book of the Prophets and rereads it at least once a day.

It is from her son.

Teodora Donati

Unlike Angela, Teodora died in such a way as to come back as a true Unraveled. Her movements will not be restricted to be near her burial site and in fact, she will avoid consecrated churches.

While the Unraveled may start with targets whom they hated in life, they typically move on to anyone for whom they had strong feelings, and anyone who is somewhat like any of those people. (So if the strega hated her husband's courtesan, she is likely to attack any courtesan.) Teodora's ungrateful, willful children are all likely to be targets of her wrath: Bernardo for marrying that fat half-blooded bastardess, Angelo for not fulfilling her dreams for him, Cristoforo for not doing "more" to sabotage Tomasso's plans but also keep Tomasso alive, Salvador for leaving the family, and Anna for not being Angela. Her daughters-in-law, Gabrielle (an arrogant Senzavista with loose habits) and Lucia (the aforementioned fat half-blooded bastardess) could also be targets - but not so long as they have their children with them. Even as a deranged, vengeance-crazed spirit, Teodora will not be able to harm any of her grandchildren, Pietra possibly excepted. (If the willful little idiot had just listened to her grandmother, after all...) But the babies, and their mothers with them, are safe.

She'll want to get to Antonio eventually... after she's finished "disciplining" her own brood first. Her first duty has always been to her children.

If she is drawn to the family home, she'll find only Anna there. The most sensible thing for Teodora to do would be to reassert her control over Anna and use her to get to the others. Her deep relationship with her brother makes Salvador the likely next target.

Vanessa Janssen

The GM will freely admit to placing Vanessa in a Schrodinger's Box. Part of the genre says that if there's no body, there's no real death. On the other hand, it personalizes Antonio's villainy more if Vanessa and/or the harmless, amusing Caligari Island NPCs (Aldo Falisci and his blondes) actually died. Antonio did a Bad Thing and decent people got hurt and killed as a result.

Like Renato Vasari, Vanessa was fated to return or not based on what would be most dramatic. Her family's mission to spy and seek revenge upon Caligari was important to the Janssens, but (amazingly) not related to any other plot threads.

Anna Donati

Poor Anna.

Anna and Tigran: Tigran is more than capable of subtle cruelty. He was patient, gentle and kind with Anna, growing more passionate by turns as she did. It was, in short, an incredible night for her, and she is unlikely to ever experience its like again. If she marries well, her husband will probably assume that his young strega bride would be traumatized by such passion and keep all conjugal encounters as brief as possible - for her sake, of course. She's no longer ignorant of the fact that it could be different, but certainly can't admit that she knows that: it rather begs the question of how she learned it.

She also can't bring herself to hate Tigran, who was so wonderful and had been engaged to her. It certainly wasn't Tigran's fault that the engagement was broken, after all...

In the present: Anna is still grieving her losses: her oldest brother (about whom she still feels guilty), Francesca (who was friendly towards her) and Teodora (what will she do without Mother?). She is mostly alone in the Palazzo Donati; a cousin is overseeing things while Antonio, Cristoforo, and Angelo are all away. Bernardo is busy with his duties to the Barozzi, and Salvador... well. Word comes occassionally that suitors for her hand are presenting themselves to Don Antonio in Caligari lands, but she isn't taking much interest in the matter.

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