[Notices] Lore
Great Houses (ones with current house seats)
"What makes you so great"
The great houses are essentially large families that run a wide selection of businesses. The city can be thought of as having three rings - the inner city being one, the outer city (the shanty town, the merchant's block, the wharves and the docks) being another, and the outer city that encompasses all the seized lands. These provide valuable raw mateirals that don't have to be imported and overland trade routes to a variety of villages, farms, mines, ext.
The Great Houses maintain absolute control over this area through their house forces and mercenaries. While the guilds provide a check on their power in the inner city, and the outer city is too important to keep the economy running, there is actual room for expansion and growth in the outer regions.
The fiercest battles take place between the guilds in the outer areas, but the political betrayal, intrigue and diplomatic wrangling that takes place in the city is practically an artform.
Lorenzi
Primary Focus: Money Lending, Insurance, Seafood
Symbol: Coat of arms with a fish, a coin, and a chest.
Motto: "Spread your net wide."
Lorenzi History: The Lorenzi were one of the 50 or so minor houses within the city and were focused on trading initially (as were most houses back then). The Lorenzi were the first to realize the implications when the empire that would become the Howler Tribes failed and utterly ruined the landscape. They sold off almost all their trade concerns to focus on (ofa ll things) fishing.
What they didn't sell had them squeezed out, but in the end it paid off: when trade was cut off by the devistattion, Lorenzi controlled the food prices. They played it well, not overly inflating prices, but gaining political favors and playing the houses against each other. They own the two largest fish markets, countless docks, and the mortgages on thousands of small fishing vessels.
The Lorenzi make far more money and prestige off complete control of this vital market than banking: the great hoses have their own money, after all, and even their own banks.
Personality: "Only a Lorenzi can be Lorenzi" The Lorenzi's general policy has been to be extremely low key, non political friends to everyone, but NEVER an ally, aiming for low risk manuvers. They are liked by no one, but hated by none, and that's an important distinction. Any of the other houses might try and use the fish monopoly to crush rival by refusing to cell, but the Lorenzi never do, just content to keep selling fish and taking loans. As a result, they have a reputation for being fair weather friends, but never taking anything too personally.
Recent History: The city and the Lorenzi in particular for the past 60 years have been trying to expend into howler territory, not with cities, but individual resource collecting camps. Their venerated house head died only last year at quite an advanced age, and they are in a bit of a rebuilding period as a result with few new ventures as Ernesto finishes establishing control and rebuilding threatened concerns. The third man in the room, his advisor and consigliari, is not mentioned in any books you are aware of.
Falchetto
Symbol: A whip, a sword, a sheaf of grain
Primary Focus: Agricultural Products, slaves, mercenaries.
Motto: We defend, We remember, We revenge.
Falchetto can trace their lineage back to when Vissio was Patrian territory, and were one of the military families from back then, and they are happy to let you know it. Not so much for a claim to nobility as a reminder of how they live their lives. The Falchetto have always considered themselves apart from Vissio, disdaining modern Vissian many forms of art in favor of Patrian classics and a life of austerity compared to the other houses.
They raise their children outside the cities in austerity and with military valor. Extremely conservative and bound to their ways, the Falchetto have few contacts with traders compared to many families. On the other hand, they have expanded their territory the old fashioned way - military conquest, and now have sizable shares in the farms across the scrubby plains.
Realistically, they don't make quite as much money as the other houses, but they don't spend nearly as much on trinkets, either. Despite not trading in artworks disdaining most of the patronage that functions as a powerplay among the houses, they still have a lot of political clout as the providers of the military prowess, and thus usually maintain a seat on the council, but have never come close to dominating it due to their failure to play the game. They generally win a seat when they deal with some external threat with a huge show of military force.
Personality: "They do not like magic, but I say Falchetto must be magicians. Howe else can a family be so fundamentally sharp and blunt at the same time." While the Falchetto lack in intrigues, they have a reputation for directness, violence and honesty that sometimes leaves the other houses a bit stymied when they do something heroic, brash, or downright violent. They take their word very seriously, and the head family have a tendecy to be shockingly forthright.
Del Schiavone
Symbol: A laughing jester's face, a wanderer with a brindle, a mountain
Primary Focus: Exploration and lore, magic, goat herding
Motto: Knowledge is the greatset gift
Del Schiavone was a minor family, once nobles of the fallen city Thiestra during the post sundering days when the city was new, before it had expanded far. Del Schiavone had virtually no land anywhere near the city, nor the wealth to secure major trading connections. They plied their trade as a family of magicians specializing in soothsaying and fortunetelling. They came to prominence a few centuries ago when the empire fell and became the Howlers, collecting outcast mages over the years from the few who fled the country as it fell, and gathering the artifacts of the previous world.
Eventually, they established their household at the edge of the great mountains, and traded with the countless nomads, fighting off raids from all comers. This also meant they were some of the first to encounter the remnants of the old magic houses of the Howlers, and numerous mages fleeing the Oasis states. They made it a policy to accept small families of mages as "cadet" members in this endevor, and have numerous secrets from refugees and criminals from those empires (a fact that those nations have not forgotten).
Eventually, this attracted a few potent mages who wanted a nice place to study and research that was free from material wants and not loaded with eldritch abominations. Del Schiavone started a polytechnic institute called the Collegium to act as a center of learning. While it teaches a number of disciplines to scions of the city, it's true focus is magic.
As a result, Del Schiavone possesses four times as many magic users as any of the other houses. They prefer small groups of mages and adventurers rather than hiring large armies.
Personality: Del Schiavone's default would be "the quiet one in the corner with a smile that states he knows more than you." Del Schiavone feel that their scholarship and magic give them unique insight, and dwell in worlds that the other houses, bless their moneygrubbing hearts, just can't understand. They tend to be quiet except in matters of scholarly debate, throwing in some key bit of knowledge, or a magical artifat that solves everyone's problems only very reluctantly once everyone is at their wits end. The fact that they do this makes them insufferable to the council. The fact that they are able to do this makes them utterly indispensable to the council.
Recent History: None of the other houses like the idea that Del Schiavone effectively own the college of magic. It's an element that exists entirely outside the city proper, and thus gives Del Schiavone the same sort of immunities against economic attack enjoyed by the Lorenzi (because no one messes with the food supply) or the Falchetto (because they will kill you if you mess with them).
Mongiello
"There is more to life than life"
Symbol: A hammer, a rose held by a woman, a sunset (sometimes a drop of blood from the rose)
Tyr Mongiello's was reputedly a heroic warrior engineer of Patria who settled down after being tired of the endless war with Dublinai, along with (as legend goes) a captured Dublinai bride he'd fallen in love with. The Mongiello's specialty was engineering, and in particular, art. The Mongiello's were responsible for the city's basic construction (though the wall itself was a vast, joint effort) and their family were involved in many of the city's great arcticetural projects.
As space inside filled up, Mongiello's focus shifted from vast engineering and architectural projects more to improvement of existing ones, in particular, carving artwork and making every exposed wall became an obsession for them as Vissian culture distinguished itself from Patria. During the rebellion, Mongiello played an instrumental role in shaping the early days of the culture, applying the same mathematics and engineering knowledge to many developing fields.
They also bankrolled the development of virtually every guild. The major families may not be permitted to hold guild master positions, but there are a lot of non-guild crafts that are thoroughly dominated by Mongiello workshops. Sufficiently advanced artisans, musicians and writers will likely be patronized by them. As owners of the concert halls and play houses of the city, the Mongiello's also became the originators of the cultures and procedures for Vincio Alla Sabia's social events. They are also highly influential patrons of the city's university, though this has been somewhat supplanted by the Collegium.
The Mongiello's do not need a large standing army as most of their assets are located inside the city, and the house is adverse to martial, soldierly matters... but not combat itself. Mongiello were early adopters of the dueling blades common among in the city, approaching the study of the blade just like every other art. They have a lot of fencing schools inside the city, and most fencing schools are on good terms with them and can loan them fighters, in a pinch.
Personality: The Mongiello's are perfectionists in their craft, and that heavily influences their personality and reputation. Those hosting soirees for nobles find them good hosts, but dishonest, for a good host values politeness over brutal honesty. Their duelists have a reputation for pride, because a duelist needs a degree of pride to be victorious. A decision made by a Mongiello is probably made in relation to one's art form and how to perfect it.
Relations on council: The Mongiello are a fairly conservative bunch- understandable, as most of their activities take place within the city, and they see no need to upset the apple cart. They are in a weird spot, because while they utterly despise each other's entire philosophy, they find themselves frequently allied on most council matters, as both are fairly conservative, and have non-competing business interests.
Power Base: Lots of guilds in side the city, control of the few local mines and quarries, various guilds, importers of "traditionally Vissian" products from other cities, old school money, many friends in minor families.
Zustignan
"On and Between the lines"
Symbol: A Scale, a book, a long straight blade
When the interfraction nature of the city threatened to break into open war and anarchy, the Zustignans were the ones who suggested universal laws of public accommodation in business, an established set of scales, weights and measurements, and ironed out the responsibilities between guilds. This was eventually parlayed into a degree of power: the Zustignans have intigrated themselves into the city's government, with many powerful positions coming from their ranks.
The Zustignan family also is one of the more technologically devoted ones. Though the city is not on the forefront of clockwork accumen, this family owns numerous workshops that create clockwork marvels, including the popular "wound" scales and clocks which will shatter if tampered with, and a number of other cottage industries that earn the Zustignans a healthy profit. They also have an absolute monopoly on printing presses and libraries, ensuring that writers are properly credited and that records are accurate. They don't make the ridiculous clockwork marvels that geniuses in other cities make, but they have established something incredibly rare: consistant mass produced items of minor quality. They do not sell clockwork arms, but you can actually buy an alarm clock from them that will not fail.
Between these laws, and their unique products, the Zustigans have integrated themselves into the economy. Badges, ship chronometers and sextants, clocks for shifts, measuring components... you know that if you cannot produce them yourself, that the Zustigans can sell you a product that will work, and that they will not try to cheat you or sabotage them. If a dispute comes up, a Zustigan is a good candidate to mediate.
Personality: The Zustigans are not overly ambitious compared to the other houses, but are known to be sticklers for truth and forthright dealing. This sometimes annoys people, as the Zustigans do not "play ball" nearly as much as the other houses.
Position on Council: The Zustigans call things exactly as they see them, typically even if it doesn't benefit them. The other houses think them slightly mad, but recognize that it's extremely useful to have someone like this on the council. That isn't that the Zustigans aren't ENTIRELY lacking in political sense, it's just that having a reputation for being a-political has been their family's stock and trade, so they value their reputation for honesty and integrity very highly in dealings between the houses. This has, in the past, sometimes resulted in them getting run out of the council on a number of occasions. It also makes them the usual go to choice when a major family gets ejected.
Unofficial Powers
The Minor Families <b>
There are aproximately 50 "noble familes" in Vissio. Of these, 20 are entirely ceremonial and only have tiny holdings, 20 are reasonably wealthy, and 10 are powerful and influencial enough that they could conceivably serve as a major family.
Most notable are the Barbarson, who have ties to the Theives Guild, Calco, who are best known for their ties to the church, and Sanudo, who supply steel and tin.
<b>The Major Guilds
With territory within the city completely limited and filled to the brim, competition for street space was a major issue, and there was a tremendous battle between professions for space that threatened to rapidly get out of hand. Further, the houses had their hands in various businesses, and in one particular near civil war, managed to bring the economy screeching to a halt as the professions refused to co-operate with one another due to a series of family embargos, a few years after the city's founding.
The major families had enough saved resources that they could ignore the economic damage, but the associated workers within the city began to starve as the city's day to day operations collapsed: repair crews were kicked off the street by the guards, who could not get food from the innsa and larders (except Lorenzi, who kept supplying fish as faithfully as they could, a fact they brnig up at least once a month on the council).
The proposed solution was to create a formal guild, with licensing systems for aprentices and journeymen. These guilds would have three purposes.
A) Ensure that the correct number of people required for the position in the city were trained and licenced.
B) Establish a series of measures and standardss for
C) Run the day to day operations of the city and ensure that there were no massive shortages or issues.
D) Ensure that the workers and city have all the tools, food and needed items so that the basic economy of the city can continue.
The Guilds, essentially, handle the day to day operations of the city that are far too small to bring to the council's concern. The houses have their spies in every house and varying levels of control, but, by large, the guild is made up of working professionals.
In practice, the guilds don't have THAT much power compared to the houses. For any significant expense, the guild must get funding from the council (who are loathe to do so), or their guild members (who typically don't have the money to do so). Still, they ensure that the houses do not own every single business within the city, and the guilds responsible for the infrastructure of the city help ensure that the city continues to run when the council becomes a nightmare of infighting.
The Church / The Cathedral
Once very powerful politically, the church is still a huge influence on life within the city. The peeling bells of the cities cathedrals, and the churches across the city, ring as one when masses are going to begin. The church bears an important function as peacemakers in the city, organizers of social activity, and providing moral guidance. It's also absurdly wealthy: the church takes a 10% tithe from all citizens (no matter what denomination you are). Within the city, the Church is typically referred to as "The Cathedral" as the local Archbishop controls church policy from this location, and it's certainly the center of power for the church.
However, a few years ago, the Church attempted to gain power over the city by creating a military force out of the old church that was once located outside it's borders. This earned the wraith of the council, who immediately curtailed the church, forcing a large debt upon them and stripping them of their land outside the castle (and giving it to the Saints, an act which the Cathedral will not forget.
This isn't totally wasted, however. The church provides burial services, education, runs orphanages, and even does some science in the city's largest internal university. They are also said to help direct the Razors.
The Customs House
Customs is an odd organization. The problem is that the city is so reliant on trade and imports that the other houses are utterly
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:26, Sat 20 June 2020.