presents...
When foreigners thinks of Vodacce, they think of dark and bitter plots of revenge, back-alley violence, treachery and double-cross. It's men like Tomasso Donati who keep that image alive. Tomasso has never forgiven his father for preferring his bastard son Antonio to himself. This isn't about the money. It's only a little about the power. Mostly, it's about Tomasso's wounded pride. Up until 1660 (eight years ago), Tomasso grudgingly went along with his mother's advice to be patient and wait. He, like his brothers, assumed that she was doing some fate-magic to ensure an early demise for his half-brother. But Vittorio Donati died first (at sixty-eight and apparently of natural causes) and Antonio, then serving as a Lord's Hand for Principe Mondavi, returned home to take up the mantle of Lord Donati. Tomasso expected the widowed Teodora to change her theme of patience then; but she did not. Unwilling to just wait any longer, Tomasso gathered his younger brothers together to scheme and plan. All was going well until 1665, when Cristoforo unexpectedly backed out of the deal. He agreed not to tell Antonio about how far their plans had gone, but threatened that he would if his brothers continued their plots. Since Cristoforo was captain of the family guard, the plan could not easily proceed without him. Tomasso was so enraged by all of this that he practically missed his wedding to Gabrielle Blanchard du Rachetisse the same year. In the three years since then, Tomasso has been absolutely absorbed in both seeking his revenge on Cristoforo (whom he considers to be a vile traitor to the family) and on overthrowing Antonio. He scarcely noticed the birth of his first child, a daughter. When maneuver after maneuver was stymied, Tomasso began to suspect his mother's influence, working the strands of Fate against him. Slowly, he's bringing his schemes around to somehow removing his mother first, and then pursuing his other vendettas. He's not sure how he will do this; scheming conniver or no, even Tomasso shrinks from the idea of the outright murder of his own mother. Anna's engagement and the sudden presence of his sister Angela's ghost (which was trying to kill him) brought the Donati schemes to a head. Angelo arranged for Antonio to be targeted by the ghost; Tomasso was supposed to come to the church to finish him off. Alas, while the ghost was strong in Sorte, it was not proof against a blessed blade and Antonio was not hurt as badly as had been hoped. Still, things may have worked out for Tomasso if Marco hadn't been protecting his father and if Francesca and her throwing knives hadn't been protecting Marco. Actually, no, they wouldn't have: Angelo had also arranged for Tomasso to be killed off by a hired mercenary once Antonio was finished.
Tomasso's most important Sorte strand was a large Swords strand between himself and Antonio. He had the Proud Arcana.
Photo Credit: Portrait of Ippolito de Medici, Titian, 1532.
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