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Red Ribbons

Places

Mantua

Mantua is the name of the northernmost region of mainland Vodacce. It is divided roughly in thirds between the princes. The Mondavi hold the west, the Caligari the center, and the Vestini the east.

City of Monfalcone

Monfalcone is a city near the Eisen border in Mondavi lands. The rice trade is important here, with the rice grown in the nearby marshes brought in to be loaded and shipped to the Trade River via a local tributary. There is a good business in paper-making and printing as well; the city has three printing presses in operation. Finally, the Church of Sant' Ambrogio is among the oldest in northern Vodacce and a notable landmark and point of pilgrimage.

Palazzo Donati
The family home is a palazzo, a Vodacce palace that looks like an plain square fortress from the outside - and can be defended like one. However, the "square" is hollow, and a beautiful courtyard lies inside. The next images would be from inside the interior garden, hidden from outsiders.

Since the image owner is very firm about owning his pictures, I will just provide links to them on his site: daytime view and with the lights on at dusk.

Palazzo Visconti
The viscount's palace is across the center of town from the count's residence. Each new appointee tends to do a bit of redecorating and so while the palazzo's facade has remained unchanged for centuries, its interiors have undergone many revisions.

Viscount Salvador favors a tastefully opulent and sensual decor, although the truly titilating paintings are kept discretely upstairs. There are a few Montaigne and Castillian grace notes here and there, reflecting the viscount's travels. The palazzo's other novelty is its staff of servants, mostly attractive and willing young women hired from a Profeta Chiesa genne house. Viscount Salvador seems to be introducing a new level of decadence to Monfalcone, which is attracting attention, approving and otherwise.

The Church of Santa Sophia is Monfalcone's newest church, ably led by Father Donati.

The Church of Sant' Ambrogio is, on the other hand, the city's oldest church.

Le Tende
Literally, "The Tents," a shantytown of Eisen immigrants that has set itself up outside the walls of Monfalcone. They are from the neighboring koeingreich of Seiger, which has been chronically short of food since its Eisenfurst sowed its fields with salt to protest the Treaty of the Weissbergs. While there are women and children in Le Tende, it is mostly made up of men trying to establish themselves before sending for their families to come and join them.

City of Profeta Chiesa

Named "Prophet's Church," it is home to a splendid old cathedral that rivals Sant' Ambrogio in antiquity. It is also the home of the mainland governor (ostensibly Gallisus Mondavi, but the role is actually filled by his wife, Nemise du Arrent) as well as Bishop Davide Salberini.

City of Agitazione

Agitazione theoretically has a mayor, elected by the local nobility from within their own ranks every two years. It is the site of the prince's palace, though, so important members of the royal Mondavi family are often about and their whims deferred to.

Agitazione is on the main road from Numa to Castille, so the area's archbishop, Luigi Pioci, makes his headquarters here to broker influence. Young Bishop Sandro Valli is left to deal with the actual unpleasant business of negotiating the local politics and running the church.

Lorenzo Palace
This huge and ancient palace, built 1058 - 1078, is currently under renovation and restoration. Don Alessandro Mondavi, a distant cousin of the prince, was in charge of the effort until his strange disappearance. The current steward of the palace, responsible for maintaining it between the prince's visits, is Tigran "Lorenzo" Mondavi. In his frequent absences, the young lord Alfonso Mondavi, the prince's 15-year old nephew, tries to maintain order. Donna Katia Mondavi, the prince's oldest sister, makes sure the boy gets good advice. (Donna Katia is not Alfonso's mother.)

Numa

Mondavi Island

Mondavi Island is largely considered the most striking of the seven islands. Its central mountain peak soars over a mile into the sky, and aside from the main city of Chiarisa, it is only lightly dotted with pastoral shepherds' hamlets and fishing villages.

Chiarisa

The island's major city creeps from sea level, amid a small army of islets, toward the island interior. It backs up onto the main mountain itself, with Mondavi Palace clinging to its side nearly halfway up.

At the base of the mountain, in the heart of the city, there is at least one small, open park. This precious land has been cleared for the royal stables, where Prince Mondavi's horse-crazy son Riccardo can practice riding.

About halfway between the royal palace and the ragged outer edge of the city, down at the waterline, there is a charity hosptial staffed by monks. It is in Bishop Fidelio's district.

The catacombs in one of the worst parts of town until recently sheltered a group of Legion-worshippers.

Caligari Island

Caligari Island is mostly noted for its lack of interesting geography. Closest to the mainland, it is also the lowest of the seven islands, a mere hump or swell rising out of the ocean. Visitors are advised to stay in Reinascienza, and locals only leave their villages by well-marked roads or seaways. The prince has a habit of establishing unmarked testing areas for his artifacts wherever he pleases on his island, so a pleasant walk through the hills and fields can quickly turn deadly. If the artifacts don't kill you, the Caligari family scientists monitoring them surely will, on suspicion of attempted theft from the prince.

Reinascienza

Caligari's capital and the main route for visitors to reach the rest of the islands. Cargo ships sail from all Vodacce ports, but they are often uncomfortable for passengers. Ferries run regularly from Estivo della Verde on the mainland to Reinascienza, and dedicated passenger ships await in Reinascienza's ports to carry people further south.

Caligari Palace is a large, sprawling thing with many wings and courtyards. Syrneth artifacts practically litter the grounds: guards may be armed with ether cannon and small children can be seen playing with eldritch-looking clockwork toys. Inside, natural light is augmented by softly-glowing stones from Petit Charouse rather than candles or lamps.

Beatrice Caligari has nearly half of an entire wing to herself. Not that she especially needs the space - she occupies only three rooms. But no one is comfortable living or working too near her, and the space is available, so she has sequestered herself away from the main business of the palace at the end of a somewhat dusty corridor.