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Description

After the Great War, Italy fell back to its pre-unification state of a bunch of small nations fighting each other, the current political landscape is marked by the intense rivalry between the Milan society and the Masquerade of Veneto which has over a century of war turned Verona into a massive open inhabitable graveyard. The exile of the papacy and rise of the Roman Republic has also changed the political landscape since the Holy See used to be the most powerful state of the peninsula and despite the Republic’s best effort, they have yet to regain the power the pontiffs used to hold. The question of reunification is also on every Italian’s mind, and with the progressive restoration of infrastructures, a massive war of reunification like France’s own might be approaching fast.

    ·       Milan society : The Milanese Society is a democratic faction valuing individual freedom, self-determination and equality between its citizens. Or so it would seem, because some brave souls who dug deeper into the Milanese deep state found that this perfect government has a lot to hide. Just before the investigators disappeared, they discovered that the city is actually ruled by a secret cabal, orchestrating the entire political life from the shadows and guiding their naïve citizens opinions according to their own elitist ideology. This cabal is thought to be descended from a free-mason lodge as it shares a lot of rituals and ideas with them. Despite the secret society’s great influence in the Italian wasteland, if that secret was to be made public, there is no doubt the powerful organisation would face a risk of collapse.

    ·       The Masquerade : Even though most of the old city of the doges is now under the water, its culture still influences the people of the Masquerade. The citizens see themselves as the height of European culture and have taken the habit of wearing ornate masks in public. The poorest citizens using masks made of old textiles and wood, while the richest one use pre-war Venetian carnival mask. Being seen without a mask would be like being seen pantless to the Masqueradians. The great annual banquet of Vicenze is renowned throughout the wastes, and everyone in Italy dreams of receiving an invite to eat the famed “Gatto alla Vicenzana” and drink a formidable amount of wine during the three-days banquet.

    ·       The Holy See : During the Great War, pope Innocent IX used one of the numerous vaults and secret passages to survive. Then, using the post war anarchy to his advantage, managed to carve himself a new papal state in the Latium. In 2245, after a series of famine, plagues and inefficient reforms, the pontiff was ousted by the Roman people and exiled himself to Corsica, where his loyal swiss guards cleared the local tribes and pirates. The authority of the pope is still recognized by various catholic groups throughout Europe, and he still holds considerable influence which he uses to hasten the return of civilization in Europe and hopefully one day reconquer Rome.

    ·       Roman Republic : The Eternal City, almost more of a legend or an idea than a real city, even it couldn’t be spared the horrors of nuclear devastation. After the war the pope reassumed control of the city before the Revolution of 2245 during which a popular insurrection drove him out. Now the city is ruled by 2 consuls elected by a senate representing the people. They have to deal with a rebellious people congregated in factions like the fighter’s guild of the Colosseum or the disciples of Esculape in the half-crumbled Pantheon. Though the Republic is one of the most powerful factions of the Italian Wastes on paper, its foundation is still shaky and only time will tell if they manage to reignite the flame of Ancient Rome and Pre-War Italy.

    ·       The Initiative : Located in the South East of the peninsula, the Initiative is a group of European scientist originally mandated by the European Commonwealth to work on top-secret advanced technology. The scientists stayed hidden in their vaults during the collapse of the EC and the Great War and re-emerged through the Fallout. The goal of the Initiative was to find a way to efficiently control the minds of the masses to quell any rebellious sentiment without them even realizing it. After two centuries, the scientists believe to have finally reached their objective, and intend to use this technology to their own advantage. The first grand-scale testing of this technology is being conducted right now in Greece by having unfortunate subject re-enact one of the founding works of Western literature without realizing it. This frightening technology could potentially turn the wastelanders into mindless slaves if nobody puts an end to it.

    ·       Bocchegrigie : The advanced state of destruction Naples is in nowadays isn’t really due to the nuclear bombs but rather the Vesuve’s eruption of 2100 which destroyed a great part of the city and buried the rest. This cataclysm has profoundly marked the locals, both physically and mentally. The inhabitants of Campania can be distinguished by their grey tone (hence the name, Bocchegrigie, Grey-faces) caused by the ash floating around the region and sticking to their face. The ash also destroys their lungs and vocal cords, giving them a raspy voice. The Neapolitans mostly survive through the cultivation of mushrooms and various plants able to grow in this hostile environment, they also started worshipping the volcano, sacrificing young virgins in its gaping pipe.

    ·       Cosa Nostra : Even before the war, the Sicilian mafia was the de facto ruler of the isle. The collapse of the EC and the nuclear fallout only officialised their rule. The Cosa Nostra is divided between 3 families: the Corleone, mostly pre-war ghoulified mafioso, rule over the Eastern part of the isle, the Greco were driven out of Messina by the former and rule over Catania while the Mistretta, who rose to prominence post-War, hold onto the North-East. The families spend a lot of time fighting amongst themselves but occasionally reconcile and make pacts in Santa Maria, a new settlement considered neutral ground.

    ·       Toscan league : Partly modelled after the Provençal league, the Toscan League hasn’t yet attained its counterpart level of success due to the high tensions between the constituent cities, who each would like to take the leadership of the alliance, and there’s nothing a Tuscan hates more than another Tuscan. The rich league members are recognizable due to the ragged curtains they use as togas, believing it gives them a distinguished renaissance look, while most strangers believe they look like beggars.

    ·       Il Giro : The unusual geography of this faction is explained by the fact that bikes are the centre of their political life. The main highway around which Il Giro is built has been renovated and is used by the nomad government and the army to reach any part of the country in record time. The government strictly controls the sale of bikes, and will discern bike-privileges to worthy, loyal (or rich) citizens as a way to keep the common people slower than the army in case of rebellions.

    ·       Italian neo-fascist Front : As the name implies, this Piemontese faction has embraced a special form of fascism born after the war, along with the usual authoritarian, populist and nationalist elements, a special focus is put on the reorganization of society and the reconstruction of the country. Radiations are considered the embodiment of decadence and a relic of the Old-World mistakes, the noble purpose of the state and the mission around which the regime’s propaganda is built is the elimination of every trace of atomic energy in the Wastes. To achieve this, nuclear batteries, ruined power plants, cars etc. are systematically destroyed along with mutated animals and ghouls. This makes for a cleaner wasteland but also a population slightly obsessed with cleanliness.

Description

After the Great War, Italy fell back to its pre-unification state of a bunch of small nations fighting each other, the current political landscape is marked by the intense rivalry between the Milan society and the Masquerade of Veneto which has over a century of war turned Verona into a massive open inhabitable graveyard. The exile of the papacy and rise of the Roman Republic has also changed the political landscape since the Holy See used to be the most powerful state of the peninsula and despite the Republic’s best effort, they have yet to regain the power the pontiffs used to hold. The question of reunification is also on every Italian’s mind, and with the progressive restoration of infrastructures, a massive war of reunification like France’s own might be approaching fast.

    ·       Milan society : The Milanese Society is a democratic faction valuing individual freedom, self-determination and equality between its citizens. Or so it would seem, because some brave souls who dug deeper into the Milanese deep state found that this perfect government has a lot to hide. Just before the investigators disappeared, they discovered that the city is actually ruled by a secret cabal, orchestrating the entire political life from the shadows and guiding their naïve citizens opinions according to their own elitist ideology. This cabal is thought to be descended from a free-mason lodge as it shares a lot of rituals and ideas with them. Despite the secret society’s great influence in the Italian wasteland, if that secret was to be made public, there is no doubt the powerful organisation would face a risk of collapse.

    ·       The Masquerade : Even though most of the old city of the doges is now under the water, its culture still influences the people of the Masquerade. The citizens see themselves as the height of European culture and have taken the habit of wearing ornate masks in public. The poorest citizens using masks made of old textiles and wood, while the richest one use pre-war Venetian carnival mask. Being seen without a mask would be like being seen pantless to the Masqueradians. The great annual banquet of Vicenze is renowned throughout the wastes, and everyone in Italy dreams of receiving an invite to eat the famed “Gatto alla Vicenzana” and drink a formidable amount of wine during the three-days banquet.

    ·       The Holy See : During the Great War, pope Innocent IX used one of the numerous vaults and secret passages to survive. Then, using the post war anarchy to his advantage, managed to carve himself a new papal state in the Latium. In 2245, after a series of famine, plagues and inefficient reforms, the pontiff was ousted by the Roman people and exiled himself to Corsica, where his loyal swiss guards cleared the local tribes and pirates. The authority of the pope is still recognized by various catholic groups throughout Europe, and he still holds considerable influence which he uses to hasten the return of civilization in Europe and hopefully one day reconquer Rome.

    ·       Roman Republic : The Eternal City, almost more of a legend or an idea than a real city, even it couldn’t be spared the horrors of nuclear devastation. After the war the pope reassumed control of the city before the Revolution of 2245 during which a popular insurrection drove him out. Now the city is ruled by 2 consuls elected by a senate representing the people. They have to deal with a rebellious people congregated in factions like the fighter’s guild of the Colosseum or the disciples of Esculape in the half-crumbled Pantheon. Though the Republic is one of the most powerful factions of the Italian Wastes on paper, its foundation is still shaky and only time will tell if they manage to reignite the flame of Ancient Rome and Pre-War Italy.

    ·       The Initiative : Located in the South East of the peninsula, the Initiative is a group of European scientist originally mandated by the European Commonwealth to work on top-secret advanced technology. The scientists stayed hidden in their vaults during the collapse of the EC and the Great War and re-emerged through the Fallout. The goal of the Initiative was to find a way to efficiently control the minds of the masses to quell any rebellious sentiment without them even realizing it. After two centuries, the scientists believe to have finally reached their objective, and intend to use this technology to their own advantage. The first grand-scale testing of this technology is being conducted right now in Greece by having unfortunate subject re-enact one of the founding works of Western literature without realizing it. This frightening technology could potentially turn the wastelanders into mindless slaves if nobody puts an end to it.

    ·       Bocchegrigie : The advanced state of destruction Naples is in nowadays isn’t really due to the nuclear bombs but rather the Vesuve’s eruption of 2100 which destroyed a great part of the city and buried the rest. This cataclysm has profoundly marked the locals, both physically and mentally. The inhabitants of Campania can be distinguished by their grey tone (hence the name, Bocchegrigie, Grey-faces) caused by the ash floating around the region and sticking to their face. The ash also destroys their lungs and vocal cords, giving them a raspy voice. The Neapolitans mostly survive through the cultivation of mushrooms and various plants able to grow in this hostile environment, they also started worshipping the volcano, sacrificing young virgins in its gaping pipe.

    ·       Cosa Nostra : Even before the war, the Sicilian mafia was the de facto ruler of the isle. The collapse of the EC and the nuclear fallout only officialised their rule. The Cosa Nostra is divided between 3 families: the Corleone, mostly pre-war ghoulified mafioso, rule over the Eastern part of the isle, the Greco were driven out of Messina by the former and rule over Catania while the Mistretta, who rose to prominence post-War, hold onto the North-East. The families spend a lot of time fighting amongst themselves but occasionally reconcile and make pacts in Santa Maria, a new settlement considered neutral ground.

    ·       Toscan league : Partly modelled after the Provençal league, the Toscan League hasn’t yet attained its counterpart level of success due to the high tensions between the constituent cities, who each would like to take the leadership of the alliance, and there’s nothing a Tuscan hates more than another Tuscan. The rich league members are recognizable due to the ragged curtains they use as togas, believing it gives them a distinguished renaissance look, while most strangers believe they look like beggars.

    ·       Il Giro : The unusual geography of this faction is explained by the fact that bikes are the centre of their political life. The main highway around which Il Giro is built has been renovated and is used by the nomad government and the army to reach any part of the country in record time. The government strictly controls the sale of bikes, and will discern bike-privileges to worthy, loyal (or rich) citizens as a way to keep the common people slower than the army in case of rebellions.

    ·       Italian neo-fascist Front : As the name implies, this Piemontese faction has embraced a special form of fascism born after the war, along with the usual authoritarian, populist and nationalist elements, a special focus is put on the reorganization of society and the reconstruction of the country. Radiations are considered the embodiment of decadence and a relic of the Old-World mistakes, the noble purpose of the state and the mission around which the regime’s propaganda is built is the elimination of every trace of atomic energy in the Wastes. To achieve this, nuclear batteries, ruined power plants, cars etc. are systematically destroyed along with mutated animals and ghouls. This makes for a cleaner wasteland but also a population slightly obsessed with cleanliness.