Old World Monsters

[Marcao]

Name: Francesco Mancini

Monster Type: Wizard

Physical Description: Francesco is roughly five feet and ten inches in height and weighs about one hundred and seventy pounds. He wears his hair short, his green eyes and goatee the most prominent facial features. Although as a wizard he possesses an enviable amount of might, Francesco understands that the body is not something that he can afford to ignore. To this end, he is remarkably fit.

Background: The Mancini family is widely known and respected throughout most of Italy. This was especially so due to the actions of Cipriana Mancini quite possibly the best known Italian wizard of the last five hundred years. For the three hundred and eighty years of her life, Cipriana was one of the best known and respected wizards of the known world. Her devotion to the Catholic Church was well known, her conflicts with other monsters well documented and always spectacular to behold. For two hundred and seventy five years Cipriana was synonymous with magical prowess and devotion to her religion and family. It was then that Cipriana slowly began to change.

The perils of embracing too much power were widely known. Cipriana herself had always been well aware of the risks. It had been her belief that embracing the power that flowed through her methodically and slowly was the best way to prevent any sudden changes and as such keep their corrupting influence at bay. Cipriana incorporated her faith and her family directly into her life, using them both to fight the increasing allure of unlimited power. Unfortunately, it seemed that Cipriana herself for all the might and wisdom that she possessed was unable to completely halt the apparent unavoidable spiral that all wizards must at one point come to terms with.

The changes within her were gradual. There was no single instance of a visible outburst were Cipriana lost control of her abilities and her power ran amok. Instead, over the last twenty years of her life she began to withdraw further and further away from her family. She masked this withdrawal beneath an apparent attempt to root out the supernatural enemies of the church throughout the country. The further she went away from the Mancini strongholds located towards the south of the country, the more collateral damage seemed to occur. People began to disappear in the general areas that she traveled never to be seen again. In several occasions, entire swaths of land were poisoned all vegetation and animal life appearing to have died as if something or someone had commanded it.

The last five years of Cipriana’s life were tumultuous ones. By this time, even the Catholic Church could no longer deny that one of their most powerful agents was succumbing to madness. By this time, Cipriana’s body count could no longer be hidden and the disappearances and oddities that transpired on her journeys could not be ignored. Several attempts were made by the Catholic Church to reach to the wizard and bring her to Rome. All were rebuked, a personal letter from the Pope was sent. The messenger and his bodyguards did not return. Faced with the prospect of Cipriana’s increasingly hostile actions not only to her enemies but anyone and anything around her steps are begun to end the threat.

During the next two years a war occurs in the shadows of the Italian country side as various agents seek to end Cipriana’s threat. All attempts are unsuccessful. At the height of this conflict, Cipriana is ambushed outside a small town near the western coast of Italy. Convinced that the people of the town had assisted those that sought her life, Cipriana retaliates by ravaging the surrounding area. Every living thing in the town and within three hundred yards of it in all directions dies shortly there after. It is this incident that attracts the interest of a couple that was traveling through Italy at that time.

Cipriana’s end would eventually come at the hands of this couple roughly two months after that fateful day. Blackthorne Tahalshia and his wife Massiel had been traveling through Europe, and were drawn towards Italy due to the increasing reports of unusual activity in the country. They reached the decimated town two days after Cipriana had carried out its destruction and were immediately appalled by what they saw. Through the utilization of their gifts they began the process of stalking Cipriana through the Italian country side. The process was hindered by Cipriana’s apparent ability to travel relatively long distances quickly while taking great care in obfuscating her magical powers.

Cipriana and the Tahalshia couple finally met in a clear night with only the full moon bearing witness. The clash was immediate, Cipriana at this point could barely differentiate between friend and foe and Blackthorne himself had noted earlier that her movements while erratic were taking her ever closer to the population centers of various Italian Kingdoms. The magical duel lasted a little over four hours; the energies released being such that other wizards sensitive to such energies managed to become aware of the conflict as far as France and Turkey. In the end, Cipriana was mortally wounded. Lying on her back, her hands clutching her body in an attempt to prevent her life’s blood from tumbling into the grass beneath her Cipriana’s eyes focused on the full moon which dominated the night sky. As she took her final breaths, her emerald eyes seemed to be entranced on the moon above.

At the exact moment that Cipriana Mancini took her final breath in a lonely clearing in the Italian countryside, Francesco Mancini took his first. Francesco was born to Isabella Mancini, daughter of Adrianna Mancini who was a direct descendant of Cipriana’s only daughter Chiara. Francesco’s eyes caused quite a stir as he was born for his eyes were not blue like the eyes of most children, twin emeralds stared at his mother as he was held. Francesco was raised as nobility, and received every advantage that could be expected due to his family’s wealth. He was taught by some of the greatest teachers and artists in all of Italy as he was groomed to become one of the eminent figures in Italian society. Those plans changed however when his power began to manifest itself.

Aware that his power allowed him to have walk a different path than he had originally expected and feeling a certain amount of responsibility to utilize this gift granted to him by God, Francesco began to become more involved in the church. It did not take long for him to realize that he had the ability to touch people and perform “miracles.â€

[Charon]

Looks good Marcao.

Welcome to the group.

[The Silence and I]

Mmm, life magic...

Welcome to the group, avoid the other mage as he might bite.

[The Village Idiot]

A Catholic life mage... Forget Manfred, your my biggest fear. hehe

[rhoenix]

A Catholic life mage...

With Correspondence. Don't, by any means, forget the Correspondence magic.

[Charon]

People underestimate the power of Correspondence.


And Entropy. People REALLY underestimate what affecting chance can do.

[rhoenix]

People underestimate the power of Correspondence.

And Entropy. People REALLY underestimate what affecting chance can do.

Off topic slightly, but when I played M:tA, I nearly always had both. I really couldn't resist. The other Spheres were almost as much fun, but Correspondence followed closely by Entropy were my favorite, for so many things.

[SirNitram]

It's hard to match the fun of the proper combination of Prime, Entropy, and Time effects. Properly twined together, you get hanging effects which ramp up the chances of paradox backlash at unpleasant times.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Mmm, life magic...

Welcome to the group, avoid the other mage as he might bite.

might bite? MIGHT? No no no. WILL bite. me AND a set of jaws comprised of ice

[Marcao]

A Catholic life mage... Forget Manfred, your my biggest fear. hehe

I am flattered that you are so mindful of Francesco already. It should be fun after I figure out the best/easiest way to get him involved in the story. ^_^

might bite? MIGHT? No no no. WILL bite. me AND a set of jaws comprised of ice

Aooo, and here I was hoping that we could be friends. Ah wells, if your wizard is far gone enough that he WILL bite get ready for some spectacular role playing. :P

[Rukia]

Nice way to twist your words so you *just* avoid saying the same thing I just did, Ben.

[rhoenix]

Also, though I really don't like doing this, I should for posterity.

Charon reminded me that the room all characters are in right now has no air-flow, thus making Agrilos a little claustrophobic.

True, that could be explained away with simple claustrophobia - but the more worldly people there will likely have suspicions as to what he is (especially given his odd hair color / eye color combination), despite not being in his natural form.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Nice way to twist your words so you *just* avoid saying the same thing I just did, Ben.

Honestly I hardly noticed, and based it upon more... and I dont think it is a distraction per se. if it were, they would do something to get the church involved directly

[Comrade Tortoise]

Aooo, and here I was hoping that we could be friends. Ah wells, if your wizard is far gone enough that he WILL bite get ready for some spectacular role playing. :P

Indeed... and he is only going to get nuttier... as circumstance and his quest for power allow... But he will be friends with you... until he feels threatened at least.

[The Village Idiot]

Edited cause CT cried =P. Fair call.

[Charon]

I'm thinking of writing some more short stories. So any ideas are welcome, as well as which of the following you would like to see most:

Sphynx at the battle of Thermopylae (Battle where the 300 Spartans et al. held off the Persians in a tiny pass.)

The Death and Rebirth of the last Templar grandmaster. (Templar's were dissolved as heretics and the Grandmaster was burned at the stake.)

Werewolves at the Battle of Teutoberg Forest (The battle where three roman legions were slaughtered by Germanic forces.)

Stopping the Second Plague (The second "super" black plague in my history.)

Holding the Theodisian Wall. (The great wall of Constantinople during the siege of 1453.)

[LadyTevar]

All of the above. In chronological order.

[frigidmagi]

I would like werewolves.

[rhoenix]

I'm thinking of writing some more short stories. So any ideas are welcome, as well as which of the following you would like to see most:

Alright.

Sphynx at the battle of Thermopylae (Battle where the 300 Spartans et al. held off the Persians in a tiny pass.)

The Death and Rebirth of the last Templar grandmaster. (Templar's were dissolved as heretics and the Grandmaster was burned at the stake.)

Werewolves at the Battle of Teutoberg Forest (The battle where three roman legions were slaughtered by Germanic forces.)

Stopping the Second Plague (The second "super" black plague in my history.)

Holding the Theodisian Wall. (The great wall of Constantinople during the siege of 1453.)

Yes.

In order.

[Charon]

We didn't miss much. So I'll just do the a general "And evryone convened at the inn!" post to fill in the 11 days lost.

[The Silence and I]

To those John was talking to (i.e. Manfred, and possibly Per): do you want to reconstruct that brief convo/assume it still happened or just move on?

[Comrade Tortoise]

I would reconstruct... particularly because I had just gotten there and had not gotten a chance to do anything before the board imploded

[Comrade Tortoise]

Is Paul after Ale and Whores?

[Comrade Tortoise]

I knew it! Ale and Whores

[rhoenix]

This immediately makes me think of porn music - but porn music played with instruments of the age.

That would be interesting.