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Epilogues

Beatrice Caligari

Ah yes... the other NPC with the Cursed 3 Background.

Beatrice is off, looking for Duke Vincent Gaulle dul Motte. The strands hint that he'll be leaving the chaos of Montaigne for northern Castille. Eventually, she'll make it to Altamira, to a small, old monastery in the hills, where the Order of the Black Cross maintains a headquarters.

Beatrice has always tried to keep her baser emotions under tight control. They seem to be related to her black strands. That has prevented her from using their powers to the fullest - Marietta Lorenzo, who had no compunctions about indulging whatever urges took her, accomplished significantly more. For Marietta, using her strands was as natural as using her arms. Beatrice has tried to bind and restrain her strands, instead.

Until now.

In quick succession, she has been hit with passion for Angelo Donati, the grief of losing her home, the shock and anger from that destruction, the incandescent rage that came when she thought Angelo had betrayed her, more grief when she realized she could not save Morella and her sister died, and abandonment when her father retreated from his mainland fortress without her. Any one of these blows she might have handled, if she had the safety and security of a familiar darkened room and a good deal of quiet. But all of them together, combined with a terrifying retreat from Caligari Island and being hunted across the mainland, living a more dirty, tiring, and physically harder life than she'd ever experienced before?

She's angry with the Donati, she's angry with her father, and she's even angry with Theus for taking Morella (although at least He had the decency to take her vile husband l'Empeurer as well). And she's tired of their petty Game that doesn't matter, because it's all the same patterns over and over, just with different men's and women's lives serving as the warp of the fabric. Why should she care whose strands are caught up in which patterns during these particular years? She has the power to see the entire tapestry, to see its flaws... and to mend them.

The DKR in Altamira will hardly know what hit them. Beatrice is going to fix the hole where Caligari Island used to be, and they are not going to stop her. Vincent will assist, if she has to bind him in Rods strands to do it.

Brother Jacopo, who happened to be in Altamira reporting his successful recruitment of a new and Unbound member, will just barely be able to write a letter and see it posted to Angelo Donati. He fears - they all fear - that this sorcery will go horribly wrong, as Marietta Lorenzo's did 600 years ago. She means to pull an intact Caligari Island from the past into the present, somehow preserving those strands which ended during the sinking but not duplicating those which persisted. The complexity is enormous, and the possible repercussions of this unnatural alteration of fate and history are practically unthinkable.

(Beatrice did consider the simpler idea of removing Antonio Donati from history. But if it wasn't Antonio who did it, it would likely have been Tomasso, and if not Tomasso, then whatever Lorenzo descendant had learned the secrets of the island. And if she tried to remove the entire Lorenzo bloodline from history, she'd be removing Mad Queen Marietta, from whose journals she learned much of her advanced Sorte. So she wouldn't be able to learn the sorcery to perform the sorcery needed... a paradox she, even in her madness, recognized as something to avoid.)

The Nobles of Monfalcone

Prince Mondavi's unpopular edicts about rice exports make so much more sense now that there's a war on. Still, not everyone is happy about them... of all the families in Monfalcone, only the Donati are clearly poised to profit from the war.

The Barozzi are making tentative advances to reconciling with the Masacci. Bernardo Donati's position isn't in any doubt, but it's growing clear that Donati interests are going far beyond Monfalcone. The count is interested in growing more local allies. And since the Masacci and the Donati have traditionally hated each other, and since the viscount is former Donati, it seems like a natural pairing. Countess Morena, for her part, has hastened to reassure Salvador that she prefers carrots to sticks. As long as the relationship between the viscount and the count remains good, there should be no trouble.

The Masacci are happy enough to accept the Barozzi overtures. Old Giorgio is incredibly jealous of Antonio Donati's rising star, but the losses of Tomasso and Salvador have rendered the family weaker. Now, with the menfolk out of the city, he has practically free reign. His daughter is poised to become a bishop as well. He intends to increase his influence as much as possible in Antonio's absence, and prays that the fortunes of war will prove unfavorable to Vittorio's bastard son.

The viscount, of course, is maintaining cordial and amicable relations with everyone (except perhaps Father Giulia Masacci, who is morally outraged over his behavior). Having two Montaigne noblewomen in residence gives him a significant advantage: as the Montaigne nobility begin to fly from their homes as the Revolution devolves into the Frenzy, the Vodacce nobility have been quick to welcome them. Their sense of subtlety and scandal exceeds even the Vodacce, who tend to be more direct and hot-blooded, so they are a welcome addition to any court. Despite Countess Morena's reassurances, he cannot be happy to see Count Enrico pursuing the Masacci, because it doesn't bode well for the future. He'll be discouraging that whenever possible. Don Attilo Masacci's behavior often provides opportunities for that sort of thing, but he'll find that Don Matteo Masacci is a skilled Game player as well. Driving a lasting wedge between the Barozzi and the Masacci won't come easily.

The Donati are largely absent. Donna Anna is in the family home, but it is being run by minor cousins at the moment. Don Bernardo, the obvious choice to oversee family business in Antonio's absence, has refused to absent himself from his judicial duties to do so. His dedication is admirable, but most are wondering what the real reason is. The most popular going rumor is that Antonio has set some sort of a trap into which Bernardo would fall if he took control of the palazzo and holdings. Bernardo is, after all, next in line to inherit the title and lands, and he has a legitimate son to carry on the family line. The Donati boys have been feuding for near to thirty years, after all: few in Monfalcone have really thought the "truce" was going to last.

The Mondavi Royal Family

Principe Alcide will be busy in the field well into Primus 1669 or later. Sieger's failure to capture or kill Vincenzo Caligari was troubling, but not problematical. The war continues, and Alcide can't help but smile to see the other Princes still fail to cooperate.

The principessa, once again in good health, continues to support her husband with Sorte readings. She would like to return to the island, to check on her children, but the war makes that too dangerous. While she would encourage competition between Gallisus and Oreste, they must not be feuding during this critical phase.

Gallisus is having a fine time governing the island. Celestina is proving to be diverting but also useful - she noted the machinations of several of the Lord's Hands before he did. The Hands are supporting Gallisus, but with an eye clearly on their own interests. Now he's keeping an extra eye on them - business as usual in Vodacce.

Nemise is madly busy, making twice-daily Porte circuits to keep the mainland, the island, and the front connected with information. She is also governing the mainland and finding time to attempt to perpetuate the Mondavi royal line. (Not much time is required; she and Gallisus are perfunctory about the matter.)

Oreste is watching his father's lands expand somewhat greedily. With holdings that large, surely two, or even three, governors will be needed... and the Caligari and Vestini palaces on the mainland would make a fine home indeed.

If there is one thing that Gallisus, Nemise and Oreste can agree on, it is that Antonio Donati is making them nervous. The mainland lord has unaccountably shot to high favor in their father's eyes and been given the position of military governor of Caligari lands. (Oreste in particular felt stung by that.) While they're all for their father having dependable allies, they're not too keen on allies who seem poised to absorb their patrimonies and power.

Pietra Donati

Pietra's Sorte power will begin to truly blossom as she gets well into puberty. Her skill is still sorely underdeveloped, however. It's a bad combination, and Lady Donati doesn't quite have the standing (in Pietra's eyes) to be the teacher the girl needs.

Pietra was greatly upset by Angelo's interest in Beatrice Caligari. His recent choices - to pursue her into danger, to aid her when she might threaten the family, and now to wait patiently for her to return to him - have absolutely flabbergasted her. Where's her old ambitious father? Why is he giving up on all his potential to go away and study occult tomes with Brother Jacopo?

She's also upset that he didn't tell her about her biological father. She sort of understands why - it is rather uncomfortable and she's still sorting out her feelings on it - but it seems like such a Big Important Secret that she can't believe he kept it from her. If she's reading the strands right at all, this is the sort of thing they could use to utterly destroy Antonio if they wanted.

Angelo is furious that Antonio unleased Mateo to assassinate Beatrice and then lied to him about it, so Pietra may suggest that they do try and revenge themselves upon him. (Not because she cares about Caligari and indeed, she hopes Mateo is successful, but because she wants a scheming project to work on with Dad, like old times.) But those efforts on her part are likely to be interrupted by her new ties to the Mondavi. New territory to administer means her fiance Oreste has a new field to play out his own ambitions. Furthermore, Principessa Mea Mondavi may eventually insist on seeing to the future baronessa's continued Sorte education herself. The small but stern Atropos has enough iron and experience in her to compel some sort of respect from Pietra, but the lessons she is likely to learn at Mondavi's knee will only feed into the darkest parts of her nature.

Bernardo and Lucia Donati

Lucia gave birth to their son Tomasso in Octavus, and mother and baby are doing well. Caring for little Tomasso provided Lucia a welcome distraction from her unease over Bernardo's strange new behavior.

With his priestly brother's blessing, Bernardo left behind any lingering guilt over his new activities. For the first time in his life, he isn't plagued by his demons and has some measure of peace. It hasn't occurred to him that the dark urges that grew from his childhood on might continue to grow, past the point where his current opportunities can satiate them.

Bernardo's backstory: (When I wrote Bernardo up for the very first time, I gave him the "Cursed" Background at 3 with this in mind. Lorenzo and all.) It all went back to 1640. Teodora had caused Vedette, Vittorio Donati's courtesan and Antonio's mother, to leave the house and take up with a violent man from Numa. When Vedette's friends sent word to Vittorio that the man had killed her, he went personally to Numa to collect the fellow, taking Antonio with him. At home, Teodora used this "favoritism" to start driving a wedge of jealousy between Tomasso and Antonio.

Vittorio and Antonio soon returned, and Vittorio retreated to the "haunted" garden shed. It spooked the boys, who would dare each other to run up and touch it. This time, twelve-year old Antonio was taken inside with his father (against his own wishes). He and Vittorio emerged two days later, and - despite ten-year old Tomasso and seven-year old Bernardo's curious entreaties - would not speak of what was in there. Tomasso, determined not be left out, decided to go inside to see for himself, and Bernardo tagged along, not wanting to seem cowardly.

They found the hatch and the stairs to the underground chamber, where the body of Vedette's killer still hung chained to the wall. Taking in the scene, Tomasso was sick and stopped to retch. Young Bernardo, however, was calmly fascinated by the tableau, and by the strange implements laid out on the table. Understanding only in broad strokes what had happened there, he curiously picked up one of the items and experimentally prodded the body with it.

Tomasso, recovering, slapped the blade out of his hand and dragged his brother up and out of the shed. Tomasso's reaction taught Bernardo quickly that he'd somehow done something wrong. But something in him was awake now - he would simply learn to hide it better as he got older.

As a youth, he found some peace in writing. He and Angelo, always fairly close, were both favorite targets of older, stronger Attilo Masacci. He still has hundreds of pages of script, detailing exactly what he wanted to do to Attilo in retaliation.

He really did have a desire to work for justice as a lawyer. He also had a desire to hear from criminals' own mouths exactly what they did and how they did it. He was, for a time, able to more or less live out his violent fantasies vicariously through them. Eventually, that wasn't sufficient, but then he got his judgeship. That was a new experience: power, of life and of death. People literally begged him, in open court, to find a murderer guilty or to spare someone's life.

The judgeship might have contented him for years if not for the unfortunate Eisen bandit who came into his prison. He'd been hired by Angelo to kill Teodora, and mistakenly thought he should appeal to another Donati for aid. Bernardo heard him out and realized that this man had to go away or else it would be Angelo hanging for attempted matricide. So he strangled him.

There just wasn't any way of going back after that.

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