[Other OPEN] Venice: Masks & Monsters [IC][M]

[Dusty]

ARC I: The Mask Auction

July 7th​

Giorgio Velancis was enjoying himself. He was reclining in a high backed chair overlooking the rest of the study. Books lined the shelves, some in pristine condition, others looking like they were about to fall apart. Outside the night was deep, and it felt like the darkness itself was pressing against the windows, trying to invade the house. The four candles in the room, two on the wall holders, and two on top of the desk were the only things keeping the darkness at bay. Giorgio was stuffing a pipe full of red weed and slowly sipping from a wonderful vintage of wine grown up farther north in Italy.

He lit the pipe carefully using one of the candles, then breathed the intoxicating drug deep into his lungs, enjoying the smoky flavor of the smoke. Sinking back against the chair even further, he allowed himself to relax. His eyes were half closed when a soft voice called out behind him, "You're in my chair Giorgio." Immediately Giorgio bolted upright, quickly pulling his legs off the table and placing them under him on the floor. His pipe dropped to the floor, spilling a small amount of red weed a few feet away.

He cursed and bent over to pick up his pipe, happy to see that the weed inside was still burning. He took another couple of puffs before saying, "Welcome back sir, how did business go?" The man before him was an intimidating figure. Slightly over six feet tall and well built, the man was strong. But even more frightening was the mask that covered his face at all times. One half was pure white gold, the other a pure black. It suited his master well, the man seemed to have two personalities, one a soft spoken and courteous man, the other well and truly a monster. You never immediately knew what kind of mood he would be in.

The man did not immediately respond, taking his seat first and picking up the crystal wine glass Giorgio had left on the desk. He swirled the dark red liquid around for a moment, then brought it up to his masked face. Out of a small gap where the mouth would be, a thin snake-like forked tongue darted out into the wine glass. "Hmm, a good vintage, as always Giorgio. Fine taste, as always." He lowered the glass, staring at it. "The Prodigis are not paying. The city smelt blood when the old man died, and the family has lost nearly everything. Other families take their territory, stores, and enterprises, and the thieves loot the corpse of the dying family." He took another tongue sip of the wine.

Giorgio remained silent. His master was in a bad mood tonight. "We will auction off their remaining goods, take what money we can get. The old man handled his debts well, never missed a payment. Those three sons of his are buffoons of businessmen." With disgust he hurled the crystal into the fire grate, where normally a roaring fire would be burning. Giorgio couldn't help but feel the effect would have been better if the fire had been there, and regretted not lighting the fire earlier.

The masked man's second in command, for that's what Giorgio was, cleared his throat and hesitantly said, "It has not even been a month sir. Surely the Prodigis will recover, this is merely a transitional period for them. I can't help but feel that you are nipping in the bud a family which might grow wealthy in the future, and they are already in your pocket." After a moment he added a "sir", keeping formal.

"No, I've decided. The Prodigis are done. Their debt will be collected. Send Bavaldie to notify the family that we are seizing their goods. They are to hold an auction two weeks from today, selling all they have. Their house, furniture, everything in their storehouses, all of it. They can take…" the masked man thought for a moment, "three percent. They can have three percent of all sold to support themselves. Go and have the rest of the families notified, two weeks from today, at the Prodigi estate."

Giorgio turned to leave through the door, but turned back when the man called his name again, "Giorgio. I need a thief, one not affiliated with us. Find one for me." Giorgio merely nodded, then turned and left through the door, closing it quietly behind him, leaving his master alone in his study. Without a doubt in his mind, he thought, Dragano Falone was the most dangerous man in the city. Leader of the criminal organization Fug, he dealt in both legal and illegal ventures, and controlled over half the city, with as many of the families in his pocket as well. The Prodigi family was a proud family with a long history, but even they would not dare go against the Fug.



TWO DAYS LATER

"An auction, huh?" Four men were seated around a table in semi-darkness. Only a few candles lit the cellar they were in. Music drifted from the ceiling above them, several stringed instruments, and the sound of drinking, talking, and other sounds came with it. "Hard to believe those Fug bastards are selling out the Prodigis so soon."

Another man, a well bearded man with far too many rings on his hands coughed and replied, "Well, it seems our plan to undermine the Prodigis did far better than we thought. Turning the other families against them in their weakness was a far better plan than we anticipated."

The third man cried out, "You imbecile, our plan would have taken at least a year to have any serious effect on the family. We may have turned the city against them, but they still had enough wealth to survive for quite a while. Some other plan is underway here."

The first man piped up again, "Well, it seems the plan is simple. Disrupt the auction as much as we can. Steal as much as we can beforehand, and do as much as we can at the auction to hurt both the Prodigis, and more importantly the Fug."

The fourth man remained silent, merely staring at his drink and playing with a gold coin, flipping it end over end and dancing the coin over his fingers. This was a chance, to make it big. To possibly even overthrow Fug. The chance was there, but what were the odds. He closed his fist over the coin and smiled.