Calinezzi

House Calinezzi (Modern Euluska: Ylvala Kälanetzi) was a famous noble family of half-elves from the Horn coastline. One of the founding ruling families of the Euluskan Empire, the Calinezzis were involved in various historical events, including orchestrating the Disforza Conspiracy. They briefly held significant power in Felonil, and Sanctum. Since 1519, they have ruled the grand Duchy of the City of Brist, even into the Collapse Era where it was a grand duchy. 
== Overview - Timeline ==
Because this page jumps around a bit.
* -500s - A Lusken land survey attests the vekala-netziurroi, twenty-three whalers who live in a commune between Lusken and Brist.
* -200s - This whaling village has grown into the respectably-sized port of Vekalanetziu. It trades all along the coast and even with some Rakki explorers.
* -100s - The landowning and ruling nobles of this town come to be known as the Kalanetzi (Calinezzi). They levy an army, navy, and build castles.
* -32 - Regulus Kingmaker unites seven noble families, including the Calinezzi, into the Lusken Empire
* 331-390 - Zaharayas Calinezzi spends his life working on creating the largest monolithic stone statue ever, Lady of Light on her Steed. It depicts Maiona. He is canonised as a saint after his death in 390.
* Mid-1200s - Maria Disforza-Calinezzi dies after making a deal with Ormander to get revenge on mercenaries who killed her two cousins.
* 1500s and 1510s - Lucrezia Calinezzi and her family become mafia bosses in Felonil, making money from alcohol, gangs, and protection rackets
* 1510-1511 - In the Horn, Jakobo Calinezzi (cousin of Lucrezia) orchestrates the Disforza Conspiracy, ruining the family's name and wealth in a successful attempt to usurp them, take their power, and remove them from Lusken politics. The Disforzas are killed or go into hiding. The Calinezzis in the south become highly successful and influential in politics, control Sanctum and their hometown of Vekalanetziu, and have the Church in their pocket.
* 1519 - The Sack of Luskan occurs. The Empire splinters. The Calinezzis peacefully come to rule the city of Brist, but leave Sanctum now that it has become a Vortic puppet city.
* 1521 - Luka Calinezzi is shot and killed aboard a sailing ship in Rakkimar. His mother Lucrezia dies of shock hearing the news. The family calls a vendetta against the crew.
* 1522 - The two remaining Calinezzi nobles in Felonil are killed by the crew and their manor is levelled, ending the vendetta. The family in Felonil loses influence, and gangs and mafias snap up their properties and territory.
* 1561 - Machavellio Disforza visits Jakobo Calinezzi on his deathbed and bids him farewell as he dies in a world where the Disforzas rule over a tenth of the world's population. Despite the conspiracy's success, Max considers Jakobo to have failed in the long run. Max turns House Calinezzi in Felonil into a museum to Lusken nobility and ambition.
== Their Origins ==
=== The Whaling Clan ===
Most people with the Calinezzi name can be traced back to an occupational surname that originated on the coast about halfway between Lusken and Brist, on the coast near the Voyvod Woods in the shadow of the Caliveri alps. There was a small village of just under 180 people - twenty-three large families - which was surveyed in the fifth century before zero. The occupation that would become the name was recorded in the survey as follows:
The job vekala-netziurroi can be broken down into vekala ('hunter', from Old Euluska vekusa 'hunt') + netziurroi (from netziurra 'pilot whale' + -oi plural suffix). This village was named in the land survey as Vekalanetziu', a shortened version of of the whalers'. Eventually, parts of the name were dropped or shortened, and the people of the town eventually identified themselves as the clan of the Kalanetziu. The final -u sound was dropped sometime between Old Euluska and Middle Euluska. The Calinezzi family generally bore light brown or dark blonde hair in thick waves or ringlets, prominent brows, and sharp noses, with olive and light tan skin - the Euluskans ethnically had curly hair and tan-olive skin. I mean this is kinda inconsequential but i felt like writing down what they tended to look like.
=== Rise to Power ===
The town of Vekalanetziu grew in size, and by the second century before zero it had a few thousand occupants of varying creeds, names, and origins from across the Horn, Fallo, and Turmish. It was one of the largest towns on the coast between Lusken and Brist in its heyday, as an important seaport and fishing/whaling hub. A lot of ships travelling from Lusken to Brist would overnight or even winter at the town. It even traded with some further folk, who the inhabitants would have encountered whilst travelling on long voyages to hunt whales and bring them back. 
Vekalanetziu whalers who travelled east toward the coasts of the since-sunken continent of Bey actually encountered Rakki raiders! They traded - Rakki coins, walrus ivory, and meteoric iron axes have since been found in Vekalanetziu graves to prove it - and they also formed a pidgin language to communicate - Euluska-Rakki Whaling Pidgin. The town became rich from trade and whaling - whalebone, blubber and whale oil were in heavy monetary demand from inland and Fallo communities, because large populations of whales didn't thrive in the Fallo straits (too rocky and shallow). 
By the first century before zero, the town was fairly powerful and influential in local politics, akin to a city-state. The families with the most power - i.e. the nobility - were an interrelated group of some of the original lineages of the city - the Kalanetzi families. As the town's influence grew, so did their power - they levied a navy, army, commissioned castles, and more.
=== The Unification of Lusken ===
In the year -32, the patriarch of House Azoälda, King Olos, united seven noble houses - ylvaloi Azrapi, di'Svorza, Kalanetzi, Kätzalanteä, di'Zeditus, Azoälda, ö di'Zimus - or nowadays, Houses Azrapi, di'Sforza, Calinezzi, Atzalanta (I previously anglicised them as Cassalanter), de'Seditus, Azoalda, and Decimus. These noble houses, of which the Calinezzis were one, were the seven most influential and powerful dynasties across the Horn, southern Fallo, and southern Turmish. These families and their towns and lands became centralised in the Lusken Empire. They became the oligarchs who elected an emperor from amongst their families. From here on, the Calinezzi family's power was solidified as one of the founders of the Empire. They continued to rule over a large stretch of the coastline, reaching from east of the Troodos mountains to the cliffs of Vrest Bluff. The family became richer, funded wars, gathered income from whaling, trade, taxes, and more. They were now true nobility, and continued to be through history. Now we can look at some of their later important deeds and members. 
== Miscellaneous Interim History ==
=== Fourth century - St. Zaharayas ===
One of the Calinezzi cousins was canonised as a saint in the 390s. Zaharayas (anglicised as Zacharias) of house Calinezzi was a young and tortured artist who was born at the family estate in Vekalanetziu in 331, but studied fine art in Sanctum in the Fallo. At the age of seventeen in art school, he went on a field trip to the Holy City of Imola, where he gazed upon the holiest site in Euluskan religion - the halls where saints' bones were buried, where queens and kings were crowned, where countless wars had been fought over just to touch the ground. Whilst there, Zaharayas suffered a series of visions and dreams where visions of saints told him it was his destiny to carve the greatest statue known to the Luskens. In a fervor, he laboured from the age of seventeen trying to create a marble statue worthy of capturing the likeness of the main Euluska god, Maiöna. He went through tons of marble, granite, and other material. He broke his legs from falling from scaffolds. Several of his assistants died, went insane, or suffered life-changing injuries. He was the archetypal tormented artist. Finally, forty years of labour later, he finished his magnum opus. 
The Lady of Light on her Steed was, and still is, the largest monolithic (one-stone) statue in Indratera. It stood forty metres tall, depicting Lady Maiöna sat on the back of a rearing horse, resplendent as the dawn. She was carved of granite with gold veins that catch the sunlight, reflecting her solar beauty. She was carved from a huge glacial erratic (a stone deposited by glacial action) from the Caliveri alps, the mountains that define the Turmish landscape. The statue was moved to the gate of the Holy City of Imola upon its completion, and it still stands as one of the highest statues in the world, and definitely one of the most religiously significant. The Archoness (pope of the Euluska church) canonised Zaharayas as Patron Saint of Masonry after his early death at the age of fifty-nine. Zaharayas never got to see the statue placed at the gate of Imola - he died of lung disease caused by breathing in mineral dust fibres whilst the trackway was still being constructed to move it from Vekalanetziu to Imola. He was buried in the Holy City facing his creation.
=== Thirteenth century - Maria Disforza-Calinezzi ===
In the mid-1200s, the Disforza and Calinezzi noble families were united through marriage. Maria of house Disforza and Ryberto of house Calinezzi married in the Holy City of Imola in St. Aurelia's Cathedral. A few years into their marriage, Maria's two male cousins Galeatzus & Torio Disforza were accused of being usurers (predatory moneylenders) by people during a visit to the Deralth town market. Galeatzus and Torio challenged the accusers to a nonlethal duel and won. Later in the Deralth inn, the mercenaries who had accused them snuck in and hit Torio over the head with a stone, killing him. Galeatzus fought back but was killed. Understandably, Maria and Ryberto were distraught by the news, so Maria sought to avenge her cousins' deaths. She and her husband summoned the god-fiend Ormander to beg for power over fire so that she could avenge her cousins. Ormander granted her wish verbatim, and with it, an internal body temperature hot as the fires of hell, which rapidly melted her to a pile of smouldering bones. Ryberto fell mute after the event and never remarried.
== The Disforza Conspiracy ==
 Article link here
In 1510 and 1511, the Calinezzi family's most evil moment, their most darkest deed, was wrought. In the years leading up to this, the Disforza family had led several conquests to stamp out rebels and heretic armies in the Horn and Turmish, some successful, some not. The way the Lusken armies worked during this time was really focused on glory and honour. Whenever the Emperor or Empress (who at the time was Regulus the Thirteenth) desired for a Just War (a war on the grounds of faith or suppressing rebels), it would be a great honour for a member of a Lusken noble family to lead the army. They would hold a Diet (a meeting of representatives from noble families) to decide on the plan. Upon their return, they would be granted boons, power from the rulers, land, titles, money, and more fame. You have to understand that the Lusken Empire was very much founded on honour [more comparable to Ancient Chinese empires than to European monarchies]. The patriarch of the Calinezzis at this time was Jakobo Euvristhim Calinezzi, a cunning and snake-tongued man who was ambitious beyond reason. 
In late 1510, the Holy City of Imola was occupied by Fallonese pagans. Emperor Regulus the 13th selected Colombo Disforza, the bearlike patron of his family, to lead an army to reclaim it, much to Jakobo's anger. Jakobo wanted a chance to elevate his family status and prove the Calinezzis were not just whalers and lords of the coast, but could lead armies too. General Disforza chose several other noble families to aid in his conquest - the de'Ferrva family, the Fioretta family, and the Montefiori family. Interestingly and to much controversty, Colombo Disforza refused to wait for the Archon (pope)'s saintly blessing for his expedition, because he worried it would slow things down for the pope to have to travel to where the army was mustering. This was unheard of, refusing the pope's blessing.
Another person who shared Jakobo's anger at being passed over was Lady Valaneä de'Seditus, a copper-skinned ivory tiefling. United by a shared passion, Jakobo and Valaneä also began an extramarital affair in between their plotting. As if they couldn't get any worse.
There was another factor that contributed. In late 1510 whilst the Disforzas, Deferrvas, Fiorettas and Montefioris began their siege on Imola, there was a crisis of succession in the cardinalcy of Cessalia, third largest city in the Horn after Lusken and Brist. The previous archcardinal of Cessalia, Cardinal Manara, died without any heirs. Normally they'd pass her title to her daughters, or then her sons, but she had no family. Therefore, the noble families of Lusken were needed to convene another Diet to resolve this. Jakobo hoped that the Diet would see the merits of his nephew-in-law, Bishop Erulekion Calinezzi-Decimus and choose him as archcardinal, thereby allowing the Calinezzi family influence among the Cessalian church and upper echelons. Erulekion's main competitor was none other than Bishop Iliyaka Fiexo-Disforza, the cousin of General Colombo, It was an evenly matched lead-up. 
Jakobo hatched a plan. He sent Valaneä to sneak into the army at Imola and set gunpowder beneath the mercantile district, hopefully decimating Colombo's strike force. Such an event would seem like a partial defeat or setback at Imola and hopefully shake the faith of the Diet, thereby allowing Erulekion to win. Valaneä set the trap, but was interrupted by General Minka Fioretta and her friend, Colombo's daughter Anaïs who had snuck in to join her father's conquest. The bomb went off early, killing Minka and wounding Valaneä and Anaïs. Colombo's army avoided the blast, and successfully routed the pagans from Imola, returning victorious the day before the Diet. Faith was restored in the Disforzas, who returned to fanfare and celebration. Ilyaka Fiexko-Disforza won by a landslide - and what's more, Anaïs now knew that there was a conspiracy against her family. Jakobo needed change, and fast. With the power of the Calinezzis, his priestly nephew-in-law's connections to the Decimus family, and his extramarital mistress's De Seditus family, the three noble families plotted and came up with a plan. 
Jakobo approached the Archon of the Euluskan church, Anxara Verreion. Verreion tried to project herself as a neutral pope, but she had personal loyalties, like we all do. Jakobo knew that Verreion highly coveted power over the diocese of Sanctum, the historic home of the Disforza family. Sanctum was the most powerful port on the west coast, and the Disforza family often resisted the attempts of the church to influence it. In addition, Verreion had a bad taste in her mouth with the Disforzas, since General Colombo had refused the pope's blessing for his expedition to Imola. Jakobo reasoned that with the Disforza family out of the picture, Verreion could appoint Erulekeion Calinezzi-Decimus as cardinal of Sanctum, and he would do the Archon's bidding. It was a tempting offer. The Archon responded carefully to Jakobo, officially stating that she could not show bias, but implying heavily that she would lend whatever help was needed in the plot. The Archon's word was law, second only to the Emperor. The stage was set. 
The conspirators - Jakobo Calinezzi, Valaneä de'Seditus, Erulekeion Calinezzi-Decimus, and Archon Verreion - orchestrated their final act on Saint Elias's Day 1511. Condottiere (mercenaries) of the Decimus family ambushed the Disforzas' private militias on the forest roads in the Horn and rained arrows upon them, killing several of them. These allies were on their way to church for the Saint Elias' Day feast. Spies of the de'Seditus family entered the Disforza manor and planted documents suggesting that Colombo was planning on assassinating the Archon - killing the pope would be high heresy. Other de'Seditus spies disguised themselves as minor members of the Disforza family and appeared in Sanctum, giving speeches to the Saint Elias' Day revellers about the 'tyranny of the Archon' to provide a false narrative of premeditated betrayal. The final act was a cunning one of sacrifice. Jakobo's right-hand bodyguard volunteered to be Polymorphed into the likeness of the Disforza family militia captain; the real captain had been kidnapped and killed by Valaneä de'Seditus that morning. The transfigured bodyguard emerged from the crowd when the Archon was walking up the steps to the Sanctum Cathedral to lead worship for Saint Elias' prayers. The bodyguard stabbed the Archon in her hand, as pre-agreed. Then, Jakobo Calinezzi emerged from the cathedral in mock surprise, drew his sword, and killed the transfigured guard. The Archon's security guards moved the body before it could revert back to its true form. 
It was a master stroke. The family's militia was ostensibly killed by pagans and bandits as revenge for taking Imola. The family house was full of further evidence to convince the public and the Emperor of the Disforza family's betrayal, which was 'conveniently' found rather quickly. And the Archon, the mouthpiece of God, had been almost killed (apparently) by the Disforza's chief of security. Jakobo was a mastermind. There was no hope for the Disforza family. An angry mob broke into House Disforza on the outskirts of Sanctum after Jakobo whipped them into a frenzy. General Colombo, his wife Prella, and his sister-in-law Arronda Maia were dragged by the mob out into Sanctum's Mornala Square. As the bells rang for Saint Elias's Feast, they were hanged by a cheering crowd after the Archon and Jakobo gave a fervent speech about their evils. Colombo's brother Gianluca was seized, but because he was a savant and mathematician, he was sent as an indentured labourer to serve the Governor of Lakay. Colombo's four children managed to avoid being found, though it is said some of them witnessed their parents' hanging. These four children were Machavellio, Anaïs, Isilen, and the illegitimate Inigo. Machavellio and Anaïs fled together for a time before they were separated. Isilen was quite simple and managed to blend into a crowd and take passage on a ship. And Inigo was a half-Disforza, so they were able to fit in for some time. What happened to them is another story, but we're here for the Calinezzis. 
Jakobo Calinezzi's evil deeds stayed silent for some time. The Archon ruled with one hand and never let slip what she had agreed to, being killed eight years later in the Sack of Lusken as the final pope of the united Empire. Erulekeion became archcardinal of Sanctum and ruled as the Archon willed, just a puppet for the Decimus family's will. Valaneä de'Seditus stepped back into the shadows, her task done, her family quietly expanding its influence where the Disforzas had left gaps. And Jakobo was pleased with his handiwork. From 1511, he kept silent, and the Calinezzi family in Brist enjoyed a life of luxury, powerful allies, and a prosperous rule. Yet, in his old age in 1561, when he heard that Machavellio Disforza, the son of Colombo and the Lakayan revolutionary hero, had become Lord Governor of Felonil-now-Halcyon, he suffered a nervous break and suffered from intense guilt. He fell quite ill from nerves. Upon his deathbead, Jakobo was visited by Machavellio Disforza. Jakobo was haunted by this sight; Max looked just like Colombo, huge and bearlike with a hairy mane of curled brown hair. Jakobo confessed his role in the conspiracy as he lay dying. His last words were "Know everything I did, I did for my family". Machavellio stood, delivered his final piece to Jakobo, and left him to die with dignity: 
== Industrial Revolution Era History ==
=== Felonil's Greatest Mafiosos ===
In 1498, Jakobo Calinezzi's sister Lucrezia established her and her side of the family with a small estate on the southern shores of the city of Felonil. This side of the family didn't deal too closely with the Bristi Calinezzis - they both had their own things going on. They were able to do so thanks to pulling strings with other local nobles like the Decimuses and other arms manufacturer families. The important members were the power couple Amalfo and Lucrezia Calinezzi, their family accountant/scribe Mathjas Grante, and their three children - Luka, Coronita, and Blancho Artaglio Calinezzi. 
Here in Felonil, the Calinezzi family focused on two main sources of income. First, alcohol. Their name became synonymous with two very popular types of drink - Melograno, an overproof pomegranate gin popular with high society for its potent and fruity bite, and Black Buzzard, a whiskey favoured by much of the working class for its decent price and strong bitter taste. The second thing the family made money off of in early industrial revolution-era Felonil was protection. They forced bookmakers and hotels to pay them, running a protection racket. The family gained a reputation as a brutal mafia, akin to the real life Italian Mob. They were closely allied with The Thavians, (Felonil Thieves Guild), who carried out dirty work for them. As the Prime Minister put it in the 1510s:
Amalfo died of a heart attack in the 1510s brought on by eating too richly and lavishly (his waistband was enormous). Luka, the eldest son, took over the estate in the mid 1510s when his mother began to exhibit signs of declining health. He was a hot-headed mobster who bullied to get what he wanted, even going so far as to threaten the Prime Minister of Felonil, Amelio, into signing over his company, Cassalanter Industries. From this deal's signing in 1520 until their fall two years later, the family was the richest in Felonil However, Luka's perceived invincibility got the better of him. 
=== The Failed Vendetta ===
In 1521, after closing a business deal in Kalyr in Rakkimar, he booked passage aboard The Spear with the notable crew. He wanted to get home fast after learning that his mother Lucrezia had fallen seriously ill. On the journey, he bullied several crewmembers including Mori, Soot, and the captain, M&C Arnaud duPont Leroux. Luka also began a romantic relationship with the ship's head engineer. Incensed by his behaviour, the mate Soot shot him dead in his sleep with a revolver. 
Luka's death led to Lucrezia dying of a heart attack from the shock. Her children buried her in Ławglasqaqquit, the neolithic stone age barrows beneath Felonil. These two deaths prompted the surviving Calinezzi family in Felonil (Coronita & Blancho, and Mathjas Grante) to call a vendetta against the crew of the Spear. They had several skirmishes and sent bounty hunters after them, until the crew returned to Felonil to finish things in Summer 1522. Here, the crew agreed to the family's terms and attended a peace talk to bury the hatchet. However, it was a clever trick by the crew to ensure that Coronita, Blancho and Mathjas were in the same place at once. They called in a bombardment from their ship's new mortars, which struck with precision, demolishing House Calinezzi. Arnaud duelled Coronita and disintegrated her with a lightning bolt. Meanwhile, the mortar bombardment killed Blancho and Mathjas. The crew had won the vendetta, and the family was crushed. Their influence crumbled. 
=== Legacy of the Mafia ===
Without leadership, the Calinezzi mafias in Felonil splintered into their own factions. These successor mafias ran amok for a few years with varying degrees of success. The Calinezzi's industries and wealth (which included the Cassalanter/Atzalanta's industries) were also up for grabs. Two factions rose from the ashes to win big from this. First was the Brackian Mob (a large mafia from Bracken), known as the Di Lamendolio Family. Second was the enterprising bookmaker gang known as the Loveridge Family, who became Industrial Revolution Felonil's next most famous gang and were well known in in the 1550s.
The crew of the Spear fled after bombarding the Calinezzi estate in New Bristi. On the same day by pure coincidence, an oil factory in the Vreilands east of the city was bombed by native Vreigardt revolutionaries. The two events were conflated, since without explanation of the Spear's motives, the city believed two explosions in one day on Calinezzi industrial property must be connected. The Spear escaped scot free, but the ensuing Prime Mininster after Amelio, named Lord Don Zaretti, was a draconian man who was elected based on his promise to stop this sort of thing happening. He, and his successor Arthur 'The Sober Dwarf' Axehelm, were both ministers who passed a lot of anti-adventurer and anti-gang legislation to curb events like this happening again. The Calinezzi family vendetta that ended in explosions can be blamed for the crackdown on crime in the 20s and 30s, which led to the economic deprivation of the 40s, and the significant gang wars and widespread riots in 1552-3 where tensions finally boiled over and led to a several-month-long period of genuine and total anarchy in Felonil. It was so bad that the Carmogan Army was almost called to invade the city and reestablish law and order, until most the gangs and mafias united, defeated the anarchist agitator gangs, and agreed on peace.
The Calinezzi family did not pursue business in Felonil after the failed vendetta for quite a while. Understandably so. They kept their influence to Brist and the Fallo, and only barely dipped their toes half-heartedly into the city's industry again when it became Halcyon in the 1560s. The original site of House Calinezzi was rebuilt into a museum to Imperial noble families and their history.
== Control of Brist / Vristhim ==
So, the Calinezzi family historically held dominion over the coast between the Troodos mountains and Brist, where Vekalanetziu was. They also controlled Sanctum from 1511 to 1519, thanks to the Disforza Conspiracy's success, and they had major Church influence from 1511 to 1519. 
After the Sack of the Lyskeiön Capital Territory in 1519, the Empire was finished - it had been in decline for quite some time, but this was the cutting of the head of the eagle (as it was known in Euluska). With power decentralised and factions scrambling for control, the Calinezzi family extended their historical influence eastward and amicably took charge of the city of Brist. It wasn't a hostile takeover - they had historic links to the city, influenced a lot of its economy, and had connections, so they simply stepped forward as a force of stability in the turbulent time. From 1519 to the Collapse era, the Calinezzi family's home and base of power has been in the City-Duchy of Brist. They also stopped controlling Sanctum, since the invading Vortic army established their own control over the city instead. 
=== Collapse Era Notability ===
In the Collapse the family ruled the Grand Duchy of Vristhim (Brist). In 146 C, tragedy struck the family. They were visiting the monarchy of Halcyon under King Vilnyuz II Rythenfiexko. The heir to the grand duchy’s throne, Princess Espereranzza Calinezzi, and her royal court teacher, Quintus Yetalnius (an ex Halcyian professor), were swept overboard whilst sightseeing-boating in the bay. People say Yetalnius spent every day by the sea but the Princess never returned. He soon became a shut-in and disappeared from the public view. Unbeknownst to many, Yetalnius spent years alone then building an automaton facsimile of Esperanzza, which escaped and named herself as the adventurer Kala Netzi. 
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