Carnevale - Session Twelve: The End
The seven siblings had returned to Vanzenia at dawn on the last day of Carnevale. This was the day that Silvia Franco's plot was destined to come to fruition. Already they could sense the increased magic flowing about them due to the lunar convergence - the magic that Silvia would doubtlessly try to use. They were now sure that Silvia must have possessed dozens of people to be able to remain in Vanzenia, and that she next intended to possess the Saint and use her powers for evil.
The di Benicios knew that if they were going to stop Silvia and rescue the young saint from her clutches, they would need help. Antonio Rossi, Saint Maria's bodyguard, would be useful, but they did not know where he was, and doubtlessly where he was, Silvia would also be hiding. They did not want to reveal to her that they were alive yet. Adrianna's foster-father Paolo, who they now knew was secretly a brass dragon, could be a powerful ally as well. But he had gone to ground out of fear that his secret identity would be revealed, and they did not have time to find him. Their dragon patron, Gianetta, had vanished days ago. With very few options remaining, Chiara suggested that they return to the dwarven district and Rabbina Ahbor bat-Hadassah.
The streets and canals of Vanzenia were much more empty than usual as the group put on disguises and hurried to the dwarf quarter. Reaching the temple, they were quickly able to convince Ahbor to help them. She saw the revolution as not being dwarf business - nothing would ever change for them, no matter who was in charge - but the news that a demon was loose in Vanzenia and manipulating events to its own ends was a different matter. Soon, the sonorous church bells started to ring, calling the faithful to prayer, and to war.
While dwarves started arriving, the de Benicios had a little time to prepare. Chiara went to the closest market and bought a bag of fish guts. She used them to summon a small army of seagulls. Greta used her magic to talk to the (surprisingly foul-mouthed) birds. She offered them more food if they would spy for her, and try to locate Silvia - Via used her illusion magic to show them the faces of Silvia, Antonio and Saint Maria. Meanwhile, Adrianna wrote a quick letter to Paolo, and went to Dishan's Taverna, where the innkeeper passed it on to Jacan the smuggler, who would try to deliver it. Greta's gulls returned before long - they had not found Silvia, but they had found that all the people of Vanzenia were congregating in the Plaza del Draco, outside the Palazzo del Draco, where Morignus was still hiding. Doubtlessly Saint Maria, Antonio and Silvia were hiding somewhere nearby.
Ahbor gave a sermon, and the dwarves agreed to help the de Benicios. They made their way to the Plaza, moving in small groups to infiltrate the crowd. Meanwhile, the siblings intended to find their other allies, Fra Lucio and Bellina Fuoca. If they could find Silvia and force her to reveal her true nature in front of them, her plans would be thwarted. But when they met their friends, soldiers surrounded them and Fra Lucio, furious, ordered them to give up their weapons and surrender. During their absence, they had been framed as traitors, in league with Morignus' spymaster Gianetta (which was true!) and responsible for the death of Aksil of Sahel, the condottiere general (which was also true!) Rather than fight their friends, they stood down and were lead away to the Bridge of Tears prison.
After a few hours, Fra Lucio and Valeria, Paolo's lieutenant, arrived and set them free. Lucio had been thinking about some of the things that the de Benicios had said about Silvia and felt uneasy. But since then, Saint Maria had arrived and called Morignus out of the palace in the name of his creator. The weak-looking, senile dragon emerged and was easily captured. Now Saint Maria was parading him around the town, before returning him to the Plaza del Draco to be sacrificed. Fra Lucio felt nervous, though - Morignus' creator was not the Divine One, but Malifer. As soon as possible, he slipped away, relieved the guards of the prison, and freed the siblings.
But he was not the only one who had come here. Ornella Donati, Silvia's bodguard, and several elite soldiers had come to kill the de Benicios in their cells - and Silvia herself had followed secretly, revealed in her demonic form at last. In a terrible battle, Ornella was killed, but Silvia's magic was too powerful. Chiara cast a spell to cause letters in the sky, announcing the demon's position, as the siblings retreated inside. Silvia summoned one last gout of demonic fire, collapsing the Bridge of Tears prison on them, before fleeing. Before long, dwarves came and helped to excavate them, but it was too late for Matilde: she had been caught in the explosion and buried under falling rubble. She was dead. Her last act had been to use her protection magic to stop the rubble from crushing her siblings.
The dwarves managed to clear the rubble, but the hour was now late. They rushed back to the Plaza del Draco, where a massive crowd was assembled to hear Saint Maria's speech. A stage had been assembled at one end of the Plaza, where Saint Maria, Antonio, Silvia Franco (back in her human guise), Bellina Fuoca and other important people stood. Before the podium was Morignus, the immense red dragon, now bound with glowing bonds seemingly made from sunlight. With him were Gianetta and Carnelio, in their human forms, both in chains. They had been found imprisoned in the palace for rebelling against their father.
Saint Maria started to speak, her magically loud voice reverberating. Her words, however, were shocking and heretical. The Church had failed them, faith had failed them. She, Maria, had delivered the city from evil. Now she called upon everyone to do as they pleased, without regard to morality. While everyone was distracted, Chiara spoke into Antonio's mind, warning him that Silvia was responsible for everything, and to be ready. Meanwhile, Via used her new teleportation magic, which had grown stronger since her foray to Purgatorio. She and Adrianna stepped through a magical door to the podium, where they flung Ahbor's holy water at Silvia.
Silvia screamed. Smoke poured off her, and her skin sloughed off. Doubled over in pain, she could not continue the charade, and her demonic form was revealed. People screamed. Then Morignus began to laugh. The red dragon had never been poisoned by the aboleth slime; he had never gone senile; he had never been defeated by Saint Maria. He had simply been biding his time until all his enemies revealed themselves. He sat up and flexed, and the golden restraints around him shattered into sunbeams. People turned and fled as he took a deep breath and exhaled killing fire across the podium, instantly incinerating everyone on it. Silvia, Via, and the assembled dignitaries were no more.
But there were survivors. Glowing, Saint Maria ascended into the sky, as Morignus rushed at her, to duel for real this time. Adrianna had drunk the vial of dragon's blood that she had found at Carnelio's house weeks ago. With the increased magic, it scalded her throat and stomach, as it heightened her draconic powers, granting her a true dragon's resistance to flames. Bellina Fuoca's fire-blooded heritage partially shielded her from the fire - she was horribly hurt, but not dead. And somehow, miraculously, although his body was broken by the fire, Antonio was not dead either.
As Saint Maria and Morignus battled overhead, the other children of House di Benicio rushed to the stage, to use magical healing on Antonio and the others. Gianetta begged Adrianna to free her - her father was still a monster, and their only hope was to take him down, right now. Against her better judgement, Adrianna freed the dragons from their bonds. They took their dragon forms and joined the battle in the air. Meanwhile, Antonio, life surging through him from Chiara's ministrations, staggered upright and looked around for the holy lance Ascalon.
Saint Maria suddenly stopped glowing as she crashed from the sky, seemingly dead. But a new challenger barrelled into Morignus. It was Paolo! The younger brass dragon was smaller and weaker, but far faster, and with the help of Gianetta and Carnelio, he was able to hurt Morignus badly. But he could only dodge for so long: Morignus caught him in his claws, and then bit down hard upon Paolo's neck, before throwing his body from the sky.
Meanwhile, Saint Maria staggered to her feet, dazed but furious. Seeing the di Benicios around her, she laughed bitterly and cursed them - her siblings. For she was in truth Delila di Benicio, the eldest child of Gustavo di Benicio. She was truly a saint, but her faith lay with Hell, not to Heaven. After their father had been tricked into selling her soul to the Inferno, she had grown up there, and been reborn through Silvia when the time was right. Now, she drew the strength of Inferno into herself and transformed into a new, monstrous form, a being of hellish slime. Her plans had been foiled for now, but she would use alchemical explosives to sink the city! She would summon a gateway to the Inferno! And then her demonic form exploded as a silvery lance impaled her. Antonio, her greatest believer, struck her down... and was himself transformed.
Only weeks ago, Antonio had been a dock-worker struggling to deal with his gambling debts. But since his rebirth, he had found faith. He had slain the shadowy dragon on Isola della Mortanera, he had found the holy lance Ascalon. Now, when the figure of his faith betrayed him, Antonio realised that it didn't matter. He still had faith in the higher power that she represented. And his faith was now so strong and so pure that he himself now wielded the power of a true saint, the power that had let him defeat Delila.
Meanwhile, Paolo was dead, but it had left Morignus gravely wounded. Gianetta managed to fly up behind him and sink her long claws into his eyes, blinding him, before digging her talons deeper into his brain. The mighty red wyrm thrashed about, but plummeted from the sky, dead, crushing part of the Burned District under his bulk. Supports toppled, and the area sank. Morignus' fires were finally extinguished by the rushing waters of Vanzenia.
The battle was over. The news of Morignus' death would leave the city vulnerable to its enemies, and if word came out that the city had overthrown its dragon ruler entirely, the other cities would unite to destroy Vanzenia rather than admit its freedom. Gianetta was acclaimed the new ruler. She used blackmail to keep her monstrous brother in line. Officially, 'Maria' would be recognised as a saint who had defeated her father and then anointed her as the next leader - the demonic truth would be erased from history. To pacify the revolutionaries, Gianetta declared that the city would become a republic, to be ruled by council rather than a tyrant. In private, however, she admitted that she would retake power soon enough - but perhaps she was less of a monster than her father was. After all, she dreamed of a bright future for Vanzenia, an imperial future. It was time to make Vanzenia great again...
House di Benicio was restored. Stefano di Benicio became its new lord, as well as Gianetta's prince consort. Greta decided to return to Sahel with Bellina Fuoca, who had become her new lover. Adrianna returned to the city's underworld to take over Paolo's organisation. She was still conflicted about her father, but she would carry on his legacy of good work. Deltorro was not ready to stop fighting against the demons and the plague. He took holy orders in his dead friend's name, and joined the Inquisition. And Chiara left the city, taking Antonio with her. His divine power had left him after the final battle, and he now intended to live out his last days as a hermit. But she intended to travel to the birthplace of La Salvatrice, to find herself and come to terms with what had happened. Once she had the answers she sought, she would come back, maybe.
Back to Vanzenia.
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The di Benicios knew that if they were going to stop Silvia and rescue the young saint from her clutches, they would need help. Antonio Rossi, Saint Maria's bodyguard, would be useful, but they did not know where he was, and doubtlessly where he was, Silvia would also be hiding. They did not want to reveal to her that they were alive yet. Adrianna's foster-father Paolo, who they now knew was secretly a brass dragon, could be a powerful ally as well. But he had gone to ground out of fear that his secret identity would be revealed, and they did not have time to find him. Their dragon patron, Gianetta, had vanished days ago. With very few options remaining, Chiara suggested that they return to the dwarven district and Rabbina Ahbor bat-Hadassah.
The streets and canals of Vanzenia were much more empty than usual as the group put on disguises and hurried to the dwarf quarter. Reaching the temple, they were quickly able to convince Ahbor to help them. She saw the revolution as not being dwarf business - nothing would ever change for them, no matter who was in charge - but the news that a demon was loose in Vanzenia and manipulating events to its own ends was a different matter. Soon, the sonorous church bells started to ring, calling the faithful to prayer, and to war.
While dwarves started arriving, the de Benicios had a little time to prepare. Chiara went to the closest market and bought a bag of fish guts. She used them to summon a small army of seagulls. Greta used her magic to talk to the (surprisingly foul-mouthed) birds. She offered them more food if they would spy for her, and try to locate Silvia - Via used her illusion magic to show them the faces of Silvia, Antonio and Saint Maria. Meanwhile, Adrianna wrote a quick letter to Paolo, and went to Dishan's Taverna, where the innkeeper passed it on to Jacan the smuggler, who would try to deliver it. Greta's gulls returned before long - they had not found Silvia, but they had found that all the people of Vanzenia were congregating in the Plaza del Draco, outside the Palazzo del Draco, where Morignus was still hiding. Doubtlessly Saint Maria, Antonio and Silvia were hiding somewhere nearby.
Ahbor gave a sermon, and the dwarves agreed to help the de Benicios. They made their way to the Plaza, moving in small groups to infiltrate the crowd. Meanwhile, the siblings intended to find their other allies, Fra Lucio and Bellina Fuoca. If they could find Silvia and force her to reveal her true nature in front of them, her plans would be thwarted. But when they met their friends, soldiers surrounded them and Fra Lucio, furious, ordered them to give up their weapons and surrender. During their absence, they had been framed as traitors, in league with Morignus' spymaster Gianetta (which was true!) and responsible for the death of Aksil of Sahel, the condottiere general (which was also true!) Rather than fight their friends, they stood down and were lead away to the Bridge of Tears prison.
After a few hours, Fra Lucio and Valeria, Paolo's lieutenant, arrived and set them free. Lucio had been thinking about some of the things that the de Benicios had said about Silvia and felt uneasy. But since then, Saint Maria had arrived and called Morignus out of the palace in the name of his creator. The weak-looking, senile dragon emerged and was easily captured. Now Saint Maria was parading him around the town, before returning him to the Plaza del Draco to be sacrificed. Fra Lucio felt nervous, though - Morignus' creator was not the Divine One, but Malifer. As soon as possible, he slipped away, relieved the guards of the prison, and freed the siblings.
But he was not the only one who had come here. Ornella Donati, Silvia's bodguard, and several elite soldiers had come to kill the de Benicios in their cells - and Silvia herself had followed secretly, revealed in her demonic form at last. In a terrible battle, Ornella was killed, but Silvia's magic was too powerful. Chiara cast a spell to cause letters in the sky, announcing the demon's position, as the siblings retreated inside. Silvia summoned one last gout of demonic fire, collapsing the Bridge of Tears prison on them, before fleeing. Before long, dwarves came and helped to excavate them, but it was too late for Matilde: she had been caught in the explosion and buried under falling rubble. She was dead. Her last act had been to use her protection magic to stop the rubble from crushing her siblings.
The dwarves managed to clear the rubble, but the hour was now late. They rushed back to the Plaza del Draco, where a massive crowd was assembled to hear Saint Maria's speech. A stage had been assembled at one end of the Plaza, where Saint Maria, Antonio, Silvia Franco (back in her human guise), Bellina Fuoca and other important people stood. Before the podium was Morignus, the immense red dragon, now bound with glowing bonds seemingly made from sunlight. With him were Gianetta and Carnelio, in their human forms, both in chains. They had been found imprisoned in the palace for rebelling against their father.
Saint Maria started to speak, her magically loud voice reverberating. Her words, however, were shocking and heretical. The Church had failed them, faith had failed them. She, Maria, had delivered the city from evil. Now she called upon everyone to do as they pleased, without regard to morality. While everyone was distracted, Chiara spoke into Antonio's mind, warning him that Silvia was responsible for everything, and to be ready. Meanwhile, Via used her new teleportation magic, which had grown stronger since her foray to Purgatorio. She and Adrianna stepped through a magical door to the podium, where they flung Ahbor's holy water at Silvia.
Silvia screamed. Smoke poured off her, and her skin sloughed off. Doubled over in pain, she could not continue the charade, and her demonic form was revealed. People screamed. Then Morignus began to laugh. The red dragon had never been poisoned by the aboleth slime; he had never gone senile; he had never been defeated by Saint Maria. He had simply been biding his time until all his enemies revealed themselves. He sat up and flexed, and the golden restraints around him shattered into sunbeams. People turned and fled as he took a deep breath and exhaled killing fire across the podium, instantly incinerating everyone on it. Silvia, Via, and the assembled dignitaries were no more.
But there were survivors. Glowing, Saint Maria ascended into the sky, as Morignus rushed at her, to duel for real this time. Adrianna had drunk the vial of dragon's blood that she had found at Carnelio's house weeks ago. With the increased magic, it scalded her throat and stomach, as it heightened her draconic powers, granting her a true dragon's resistance to flames. Bellina Fuoca's fire-blooded heritage partially shielded her from the fire - she was horribly hurt, but not dead. And somehow, miraculously, although his body was broken by the fire, Antonio was not dead either.
As Saint Maria and Morignus battled overhead, the other children of House di Benicio rushed to the stage, to use magical healing on Antonio and the others. Gianetta begged Adrianna to free her - her father was still a monster, and their only hope was to take him down, right now. Against her better judgement, Adrianna freed the dragons from their bonds. They took their dragon forms and joined the battle in the air. Meanwhile, Antonio, life surging through him from Chiara's ministrations, staggered upright and looked around for the holy lance Ascalon.
Saint Maria suddenly stopped glowing as she crashed from the sky, seemingly dead. But a new challenger barrelled into Morignus. It was Paolo! The younger brass dragon was smaller and weaker, but far faster, and with the help of Gianetta and Carnelio, he was able to hurt Morignus badly. But he could only dodge for so long: Morignus caught him in his claws, and then bit down hard upon Paolo's neck, before throwing his body from the sky.
Meanwhile, Saint Maria staggered to her feet, dazed but furious. Seeing the di Benicios around her, she laughed bitterly and cursed them - her siblings. For she was in truth Delila di Benicio, the eldest child of Gustavo di Benicio. She was truly a saint, but her faith lay with Hell, not to Heaven. After their father had been tricked into selling her soul to the Inferno, she had grown up there, and been reborn through Silvia when the time was right. Now, she drew the strength of Inferno into herself and transformed into a new, monstrous form, a being of hellish slime. Her plans had been foiled for now, but she would use alchemical explosives to sink the city! She would summon a gateway to the Inferno! And then her demonic form exploded as a silvery lance impaled her. Antonio, her greatest believer, struck her down... and was himself transformed.
Only weeks ago, Antonio had been a dock-worker struggling to deal with his gambling debts. But since his rebirth, he had found faith. He had slain the shadowy dragon on Isola della Mortanera, he had found the holy lance Ascalon. Now, when the figure of his faith betrayed him, Antonio realised that it didn't matter. He still had faith in the higher power that she represented. And his faith was now so strong and so pure that he himself now wielded the power of a true saint, the power that had let him defeat Delila.
Meanwhile, Paolo was dead, but it had left Morignus gravely wounded. Gianetta managed to fly up behind him and sink her long claws into his eyes, blinding him, before digging her talons deeper into his brain. The mighty red wyrm thrashed about, but plummeted from the sky, dead, crushing part of the Burned District under his bulk. Supports toppled, and the area sank. Morignus' fires were finally extinguished by the rushing waters of Vanzenia.
The battle was over. The news of Morignus' death would leave the city vulnerable to its enemies, and if word came out that the city had overthrown its dragon ruler entirely, the other cities would unite to destroy Vanzenia rather than admit its freedom. Gianetta was acclaimed the new ruler. She used blackmail to keep her monstrous brother in line. Officially, 'Maria' would be recognised as a saint who had defeated her father and then anointed her as the next leader - the demonic truth would be erased from history. To pacify the revolutionaries, Gianetta declared that the city would become a republic, to be ruled by council rather than a tyrant. In private, however, she admitted that she would retake power soon enough - but perhaps she was less of a monster than her father was. After all, she dreamed of a bright future for Vanzenia, an imperial future. It was time to make Vanzenia great again...
House di Benicio was restored. Stefano di Benicio became its new lord, as well as Gianetta's prince consort. Greta decided to return to Sahel with Bellina Fuoca, who had become her new lover. Adrianna returned to the city's underworld to take over Paolo's organisation. She was still conflicted about her father, but she would carry on his legacy of good work. Deltorro was not ready to stop fighting against the demons and the plague. He took holy orders in his dead friend's name, and joined the Inquisition. And Chiara left the city, taking Antonio with her. His divine power had left him after the final battle, and he now intended to live out his last days as a hermit. But she intended to travel to the birthplace of La Salvatrice, to find herself and come to terms with what had happened. Once she had the answers she sought, she would come back, maybe.
Back to Vanzenia.
Art: 'View of the Bacino di San Marco, Venice.' Gaspar van Wittel, c. 1652.
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