Venicia: Random Thoughts - Setting the Scene

I've tried to think of trying to explain Venicia in other therms than just its mechanical qualities. I wanted to get into the atmosphere, the people and the lives of those NPCs that live in my Venice. Try to give them expression so that the reality they live in is easily explained. Trying to explain the setting is one thing, but to hear it from someone who lives there is another. So I have tried to write what I could call something akin to a book blurb. Although I have yet to identify the voice of the speaker I thought I would share it with you and get a little feedback if possible.

I would welcome you to the court of Sanuto family and of Doge Ventura, but Venice is not for outsiders. Head this warning. The royal court is tainted with deceit, the merchants cut the purse strings of others and artisans would rather design death but this is just the earthly world.  There are as many layers to this place as there are canals but the squabbling of Venetians pales in comparison to what resides here with us.

Beneath the waters, beneath the many islands, the facade of beauty rots away. Many Venetians choose to ignore the 'other' world around us but some of must see what others hide from.  I have witnessed death and monsters, power beyond mortal control. Savage and exquisite constructs and artefacts that adorn the last underground bastions of long dead mystics. Shades, Djinn and monstrous beasts share that world below us while by our side, we walk ignorantly in the light with demons, devils and those that are soulless. Benevolence and camaraderie comes at the cost of coin, blood or power. 

 We Venetians do not fear the water, the creatures that dwell in it, or it swallowing our province whole. We are true Venetians, but we should fear what would reshape our world, destroy us or worse; infernally claim us. A blind eye marks us all. 

 If I could, I would turn back any ship that approaches our territory, even destroy it if it meant saving sailors, explorers and traders from our eventual fate. I pray to the Gods for strength and courage, I pray for their lives and all of our souls.  Elegance is arrogance and ignorance. We Venetians cling to it like sailors to flotsam; we drown ourselves in politics, in trade and art, only to be brutally savaged by the shadows we run from. 

 I wish you would forget what I have told you and sail back to your own province or country. Tell your royalty, your employers and your seers, Venice is soaked in blood, lies and the unnatural. But you won't, will you? You're just like the others. No matter where you came from, once you're eyes are open then they can never be shut, only by death or the Gods.   

The gilded promise of the untold is a sirens call. We do not have much land to bury our dead nor do we bury outsiders. You will not transcend if you die here. You cannot take with you in death what you have had in life. May whoever or whatever finds your soul, have mercy.    

Let me know what you think in the comments, or contact me via gmail through links on here or on twitter @proftesla

/Drew