House Agnello

*"Men who have the grace of a lamb bear the teeth of lions."*

## **The Evangelist Zealots of Tuscany**

Starting Location: Duchy of Tuscany

Background:

The Agnello family history goes back to the time of Christ’s birth as a band of humble farmers living in Florence after these group of farmers would eventually lay the foundation to build their most valuable city of Florence at around 20 BC the Agnellos would hear of the tales of a man named Jesus Christ who was claiming to be the King of the Jews and preforming miracles only a god could do. knowing how one man could do such acts and claimed such a title the Agnellos could tell that this was no ordinary man this was a prophet sent by god himself after reading more of his doings and listening to more of what was said they became a highly zealous family one of their family could be disinherited from the Agnello name for refusing to read of the word of god these farmers even started to draw others to move next to them eventually after many years of very great harvests awful news would reach them Jesus Christ was crucified on April the 3rd in the year 33 however they didn’t morn for they knew this wasn’t the end of Jesus Christ so they worked harder in reaction to this news so hard that their neighbors were questioning if the Agnellos even believed in Christ however in 3 days he was risen again and when this happened they had a harvest from out of no where all their seeds grew into might plants after this they continued to work for 20 more years till finally the city of Florence was made and the Agnellos were named eternal rulers of this land…

1000 years pass and Giovanni Agnello was born in the Duchy of Tuscany, upon his birth he was raised by his father, the Duke of Tuscany as the superlative example of a Catholic. He constantly attended Church, he was a shy yet arrogant child, belittling others if they attempted to state that they were more Zealous than him. This of course caused issues, people who knew Giovanni's true nature saw him as a wrathful, lunatic who was a possible threat to society. However his father, and the Tuscan Marshal saw Giovanni for what he deemed himself to be, a potential grand general, and amazing strategist! Giovanni was trained day after day, eventually becoming an incredibly strong man when it came to martial weaponry. He even was able to be graced by his holiness the pope, who called him an incredible asset to the entirety of Catholic Civilization.

When Giovanni turned 19 his father suddenly and tragically passed away, something that greatly upset the family, but Giovanni even more so, he declared that this had occurred due to the Islamic influence that was creeping up towards his holiness in the papacy, at this point in time. Before Giovanni was to be crowned as the Duke of Tuscany, he quickly rallied a large group of the Tuscan people to support him in his quest to avenge his father, and "save the Catholic world from the evil of Islam. He took a small levy of 1300 people down to the Middle Eastern coast, specifically the Sheikdoms of Tripoli, and Beirut. Where he went on a small Massacre, which he dubbed the *"Agnello Crusade"* The Crusade lasted for around 3 weeks, where his army the Guardia di Giovanni razed the land and plundered gold reserves before leaving, this was such a sudden attack that the Fatimid Sultan had no time to retaliate with his massive army. Upon his return Giovanni was crowned the Duke of Tuscany, where he swore to expunge all heretics from the world. An agenda that the pope had deemed a sound plan.

Near the middle of his rule, he decided it was time to consolidate the North of Italia and together with the duchy of piedmont they took over the duchy of Lombardia, and after this only a couple of county’s remained most to all were land owned by members of the Catholic Church which he let keep their land knowing that the people who lived there were religious people who’s faith in god was pure another country was the most serene republic of Pisa rich and bountiful which knowing their educated populace they were grateful children of god it was a peaceful and zealous time until Italy was invaded however not by force.

A cult of heathens that were brewing in the cauldron of the Byzantine Empire finally boiled over into Southern Italy and it started to grow and threaten the Papacy. Without thought Giovanni alone packed his things and went to Jerusalem to seek guidance from his Lord and The Savior in this time of crisis

When he got there he sat in solitude for days on end priests were questioning his methods and he simply responded “It’s simple, The Father will speak to me regardless, either in this room or I die this room and he speaks to me in heaven” and truth be told he did answer, he said “Giovanni, you and your family are my wolfs… if any of my sheep refuse the protection and love from they’re to stray to far from the heard you are to pick them off and send them to me for justice…” and with those words Giovanni stood and returned to fulfill his duties of the Wolf of Christ.

By the time he got back the influence of these heathens spread their influence all the way to the pope’s border so Giovanni struck decisively and quickly, he conquered county by county liberating them of the heretical influence and giving putting them back in the embrace of the Lord. Eventually after all this pressure that was being held to the throat of the cultists their society collapsed. However something tragic was to was to happen during this time…

in the City of Florence it was a tragic day, it was a day that the realm fell to darkness. through the streets to the castle the people held their breathes in silence and prayed outside of Giovanni’s Grand Castle *La stalla dell'agnello* the air was still as everyone waited for the news, into the castle on an open balcony laid a sick and dying Giovanni Agnello his court and Children were surrounding him as he looked towards his eldest son and spoke” *Deus me vocat, ille me quieti pro officio meo confecit, officium nunc tibi committitur lupi*“ and with that he took his final breath as god took him to rest his breath went through the town of Florence and with that the bells in the churches rang out among the silence following his breath like a Knight following their Liege into battle…