Post by Nyctalgia on Jan 28, 2011 9:58:29 GMT -5
Based in my own setting for Pathfinder RPG.
I humbly thank Alessandro Mauriello for sharing with us the details of his and his twin sister's tragic existence together. Let us all benefit from the wisdom gleaned from their shared experiences. May their souls rest in peace.
By all accounts and according to the best estimates of ancient memories, Nicoleta and Alessandro are believed to have been born in the Campania region, probably near the city of Avellino. They never knew their birth parents. As infants, they had been left in the care of Brother Antonio of the Erathisian Order of Agnello, and later, Signora Lidia Mauriello, landed widow of a crusading condottiere, who took it upon herself to raise the children once they had become of age, as she had borne none and was late in life.
Translated as the Order of the Lamb, the progressive monastery provided education in various philosophies as the twins grew older. The wondrous curiosities of early youth were nurtured through the years and encouraged by their introduction to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics. The children embraced their studies and flourished.
Unfortunately, the days of the monastery were numbered. Although its methods and teachings were fully supported by the First Church of Erathisia and protected by Iounic Sanction, they had long since outgrown the traditional culture of Campania. Many of the society's leaders, led by their most revered luminary, Don Fanucci of Avellino, rallied the citizenry against the monastery and charged its monks with heresy, including such charges as performing blood rituals, conspiring with demons, kidnapping and sodomy, amongst many others. Fanucci's investigation would inspire the eventual formation of the Divine Inquisition.
The Don presided over the proceedings, finding the accused guilty of all crimes. The citizenry demanded just punishment and for their heresy, the monks were burnt at the stake. Following the conflagration of Brother Antonio, Don Fanucci reached into the ashes and raised high the monk's cross and famously pronounced thereafter it was every citizen's duty to report the religious infractions of any and all fellow citizens, and would be rewarded by Erathis for doing so.
Fear, paranoia, and blood followed. Don Fanucci would eventually be recognized abroad as the infamous La Mano Nera, otherwise known as the Black Hand. It was during this time, only two years following the destruction of the monastery, that an unknown rival of Signora Lidia, accused both her and her adopted children of similar crimes. It was not long before her assets were seized and the group were tried, found guilty, and sentenced to burn that very night.
However, unbeknownst to the accusers, Lidia had a secret suitor, Victor Venturi, a retired tapestry maker from nearby Volterra, and Victor had something of a secret of his own, and he had already heard of what was transpiring.
It was late evening and tied to stakes upon three kindling mounds, the condemned family was set alight by the vigilante gang. Moments later, Victor arrived as the sun's form sunk below the horizon, replacing the terrified screams of his lover and her children with those of their tormentors. The shock of his assault permitted a single rescue, that of Lidia, who immediately turned to free the children. As she struggled to free Alessandro from his bindings, Victor returned to his grisly work. Blades and bludgeons were used against him to no avail, Victor shrugging off each earnest blow and responding with grim violence, leaving fountains of blood where confident men once stood.
Even Victor's supernatural efforts could not defend the convicted from every defiant attempt at fanatical retribution. Beside the freed Alessandro, a hooded men clubbed Lidia to death. Splattered with the bloody remnants of her skull, the young boy was too stunned to defend himself against her murderer who then turned his attentions to him. His assailant struck him viciously, cracking bone with every blow until Victor leapt onto the man from behind, sunk his teeth into the man's neck and drained the life from his body until the man was but a husk. Meanwhile, Nicoleta burned.
Nicoleta wailed. Although freed from the inferno, the unsettling sounds of her agony echoed through the piazza. Alessandro, his body shattered, watched in unnerved silence as Victor leaned over his dying sister and whispered into her ear, supporting and comforting the poor girl with calm reassurance. Victor then suddenly bit his own wrist and brought it to Nicoleta's burnt lips. Before unconsciousness claimed her brother he witnessed Victor's blood dripping into his sister's mouth as she took her last living breath.
I humbly thank Alessandro Mauriello for sharing with us the details of his and his twin sister's tragic existence together. Let us all benefit from the wisdom gleaned from their shared experiences. May their souls rest in peace.
By all accounts and according to the best estimates of ancient memories, Nicoleta and Alessandro are believed to have been born in the Campania region, probably near the city of Avellino. They never knew their birth parents. As infants, they had been left in the care of Brother Antonio of the Erathisian Order of Agnello, and later, Signora Lidia Mauriello, landed widow of a crusading condottiere, who took it upon herself to raise the children once they had become of age, as she had borne none and was late in life.
Translated as the Order of the Lamb, the progressive monastery provided education in various philosophies as the twins grew older. The wondrous curiosities of early youth were nurtured through the years and encouraged by their introduction to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics. The children embraced their studies and flourished.
Unfortunately, the days of the monastery were numbered. Although its methods and teachings were fully supported by the First Church of Erathisia and protected by Iounic Sanction, they had long since outgrown the traditional culture of Campania. Many of the society's leaders, led by their most revered luminary, Don Fanucci of Avellino, rallied the citizenry against the monastery and charged its monks with heresy, including such charges as performing blood rituals, conspiring with demons, kidnapping and sodomy, amongst many others. Fanucci's investigation would inspire the eventual formation of the Divine Inquisition.
The Don presided over the proceedings, finding the accused guilty of all crimes. The citizenry demanded just punishment and for their heresy, the monks were burnt at the stake. Following the conflagration of Brother Antonio, Don Fanucci reached into the ashes and raised high the monk's cross and famously pronounced thereafter it was every citizen's duty to report the religious infractions of any and all fellow citizens, and would be rewarded by Erathis for doing so.
Fear, paranoia, and blood followed. Don Fanucci would eventually be recognized abroad as the infamous La Mano Nera, otherwise known as the Black Hand. It was during this time, only two years following the destruction of the monastery, that an unknown rival of Signora Lidia, accused both her and her adopted children of similar crimes. It was not long before her assets were seized and the group were tried, found guilty, and sentenced to burn that very night.
However, unbeknownst to the accusers, Lidia had a secret suitor, Victor Venturi, a retired tapestry maker from nearby Volterra, and Victor had something of a secret of his own, and he had already heard of what was transpiring.
It was late evening and tied to stakes upon three kindling mounds, the condemned family was set alight by the vigilante gang. Moments later, Victor arrived as the sun's form sunk below the horizon, replacing the terrified screams of his lover and her children with those of their tormentors. The shock of his assault permitted a single rescue, that of Lidia, who immediately turned to free the children. As she struggled to free Alessandro from his bindings, Victor returned to his grisly work. Blades and bludgeons were used against him to no avail, Victor shrugging off each earnest blow and responding with grim violence, leaving fountains of blood where confident men once stood.
Even Victor's supernatural efforts could not defend the convicted from every defiant attempt at fanatical retribution. Beside the freed Alessandro, a hooded men clubbed Lidia to death. Splattered with the bloody remnants of her skull, the young boy was too stunned to defend himself against her murderer who then turned his attentions to him. His assailant struck him viciously, cracking bone with every blow until Victor leapt onto the man from behind, sunk his teeth into the man's neck and drained the life from his body until the man was but a husk. Meanwhile, Nicoleta burned.
Nicoleta wailed. Although freed from the inferno, the unsettling sounds of her agony echoed through the piazza. Alessandro, his body shattered, watched in unnerved silence as Victor leaned over his dying sister and whispered into her ear, supporting and comforting the poor girl with calm reassurance. Victor then suddenly bit his own wrist and brought it to Nicoleta's burnt lips. Before unconsciousness claimed her brother he witnessed Victor's blood dripping into his sister's mouth as she took her last living breath.
