@Polybius, a first-pass character sheet for your perusal :) .
Name: Giovanna di Mora
Title: Marquise of the Reach
Age: 26
Residence: Palazzo Moravese. A sprawling fairytale palace in the heart of the finest district of Veranth, near to the ducal seat itself, this is the home base of House Mora. It is the nerve centre of the familial financial empire and its landed interests both, the dynamo of the House’s beating heart.
An expression of the family’s power and influence, of Moravese patronage of the arts, the palace is richly decorated and extravagantly furnished in the new Baroque style – sweeping aside the more modish styles of the recent past. As a result, the fine white marble of the Palazzo Moravese has been delicately and painstakingly carved into filigree lacework by the finest stonemasons, whilst beautiful caryatids support its graceful colonnades and covered loggias. Fresco-work delights the eye with sumptuous scenes from myth and history, gold leaf flashes from its roofing finials and window casements, and exquisite bronzes dot the splendid formal gardens which cloak the Palazzo from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Few who arrive here could ever mistake the place for anything other than what it is, but nonetheless shields and sculptures bearing House Mora’s distinctive double-headed dragon crest are discreetly placed to catch the eye – from weathered stone shields, artistically half-choked in bougainvillea at the end of a shaded garden walk, to the haughty draconic gargoyles and grotesques staring down from the Palazzo’s many spires.
Personality: Giovanna is a Mora through and through, with two principal concerns: the family and the city, and in that order. The head of a powerful banking dynasty, her power is not measured by the number of men she can call to her banner, nor by the blood-soaked deeds of her ancestors. Instead, Mora power and success is measured in promissory notes, in bills of exchange, in constellations of discretionary deposit accounts and insurances and – not least – in the bullion on which the Bank of Mora rests. Her fountain pen could, conceivably, do more damage than a brigade of soldiers, albeit in a roundabout fashion.
For all that, though, Her Serenity the Marquise of the Reach is a charming woman indeed. Erudite and witty, she is a noted patron of the arts and the sciences which have flourished in Veranth, away from the restrictions imposed by the heavy hand of the Church. Her parties and balls are legendarily magnificent; she entertains widely and well, having a lively appreciation that business is not only done in the boardroom, and that many a lucrative deal has been struck over champagne and fine food - particularly when your compatriot is well into their cups and your own wine has been heavily watered down – perhaps with theirs subtly fortified, too, for good measure.
Exquisitely mannered, bright and brilliant, all that many see is the shimmering froth hiding the predator beneath. Giovanna di Mora is ruthless in her business dealings; competitors and other banking houses are quietly targeted, investigated, infiltrated and then gutted, their assets stripped and their businesses – and any promising employees - discreetly transferred to the Bank of Mora.
Ambitious and cunning, Giovanna has her sights set on lofty goals. The family bank is powerful, true, on the Lassan peninsula, but she dreams of reaching further and faster, of a wider and wider network of Moravese bank branches and mercantile interests spreading beyond the city-states and quietly eclipsing the powerful, ecclesiastical Dukes of Mersolan – the House’s main competitor - in wealth and power.
Looks interesting, I must say :) . A couple of questions, if I may? 1 - would characters be required to be male? It fits with the Renaissance theme, of course, but I'm not sure how closely you're following that. 2 - By naming convention, do you simply mean the choice of Italianate names, or are there further specifics?
