Italy

**Spoiler Warning**: This page has been edited since the release of *Kingdom of the Feared*. Proceed with caution.

### Inhabitants

di Carlo Family
Antonio
Claudia
Domenico Nucci Jr.

**The Kingdom of Italy**, specifically **Palermo**, is the home of Emilia and Vittoria. It is sometime in the 1800's.

## Description

Unknown to Emilia and Vittoria until they break their spell-lock, the Italy that they know is, in fact, not Italy at all. Instead, it is the Shifting Isles, which mimicks the appearance and lifestyle of Italy from the 1800s.

In what they believe to be Italy, Emilia and Vittoria live in a city called Palermo. The city smells like plumeria and orange. The main road of the city leads to the market, the castle, and the monastery. In mid-July it is stiflingly hot, even at night. It is also the time when the holy day and festival La Santuzza, or The Little Saint, occurs. It honors Santa Rosalia, celebrating the victory of life over death she brought.

Palermo is a city that "worships the night as much as it basks in the glory of the day." There always seems to be some occasion worth celebrating, especially with food and drink. The marketplace is always abuzz with information. The vendors know everything and everyone. Customers from all over the city are in and out of their stalls all day, trading information and gossip while they shop.

Women are taught that sexual wants are evil and wrong. Men can indulge in their “baser needs”, and no one calls them ungodly. They are considered scandalous but not ostracized for their behavior. A man with a healthy sexual appetite is full of vitality and thus a prime catch. Meanwhile women are taught to remain virginal and pure, as if their wants are dirty, shameful things.

## Notable Locations

### Sea & Vine

Sea & Vine is the di Carlo family trattoria, or restaurant, and is known across Sicily for its delicious food. It's full of patrons every night, with lines forming beginning in the late afternoon every day no matter the weather. The entire di Carlo family helps in the kitchen and with service. Emilia dreams of taking over Sea & Vine and eventually having enough money to buy the building next door and expand.

### The Capuchin Monastery

The monastery is the home of the holy brotherhood. It is located near the di Carlo family home. It's less than a mile from Sea & Vine. It relies heavily on donations and charity, so once or twice a month Emilia makes dinner for the brotherhood on behalf of the family restaurant. The members of the brotherhood are given the title Fratello, meaning "brother." They devote themselves to chastity. The brotherhood also aims to end superstitions and belief in the supernatural, such as witches and shape-shifters. Thus, the brotherhood is an enemy of the *streghe*.

The monastery is a dark, stone building. It's made of limestone and glass. The entrances are wooden doors set deep within shadows with iron hinges. There's a small kitchen area with a cupboard and a tiny table. It's a darkened chamber in a near-forgotten section of the building. Windows are set high up near the ceiling. Torches line the long corridors, which have chambers branching off. The monastery is one of the most beloved buildings in Palermo due to the catacombs located within its walls. The corridors are lined with mummies. They're posed in standing positions and dressed in garments of their choosing, their clothing dating back hundreds of years.

### The Cave

When Emilia first summons Wrath, it is in a cave by the coast outside of the city. She describes it as cold and dark. Vittoria loved coming to it as a child. The night Emilia summons Wrath, she picks it as the spot for the spell because it draws her to it. It's dank and the ground is made of packed dirt. A closed-off tunnel is near the very back.

Wrath then spends three days trapped here, with Emilia coming and going, bound by the spell she cast. He is released just in time to leave and save her from the Viperidae. The next time the pair of them visit the cave, it is when Emilia goes to Wrath to complete the deal between her and Pride. Wrath has her sign a contract before he magically teleports them away from the cave and into the Seven Circles, also known as Hell.

### The di Carlo Family Home

The di Carlo home is the family's ancestral home in a little quarter of Palermo. The di Carlo family home is within walking distance of Sea & Vine and the monastery. It's a small, crowded home with two stories. Their home is made out of stone and has a trellis covered with plumeria over the front door. The front steps are carved into the front of the house and a window looks out onto the street. Emilia and Vittoria share a room on the second floor. On the first floor is Nonna Maria's bedroom. The living room and kitchen are connected. The kitchen has a tiny stone island, and a side door off the kitchen is where the family brings in supplies for cooking. There's also a small dining room. Dried orange slices are laid out in even rows on the windowsill in the living room. Herbs such as lavender springs hang to dry over the mantel, which has a clock on it. Nonna Maria has her rocking chair by the fireplace in the living room, and she keeps another chair near the window in the kitchen.

Emilia attempts to have Claudia ward the house to help keep the princes of Hell away from her family. Unfortunately it doesn't work, and Claudia falls ill. Envy forces Claudia to remove the wards, giving him access to the inside of the home. Nonna Maria is able to banish him, but she must use an enormous amount of power.

### Castello della Zisa

Nicknamed La Zisa, it's a sprawling Moorish palace that mostly sits in ruins now. The king who’d had it built was called Il Malo, or “the bad one,” so it is more than fitting that Wrath takes up temporary residence here. It’s located on Piazza Zisa and Via degli Emiri. It has a rear garden, and several desolate yet ornate rooms. There’s also a front lawn and reflecting pool. The palace had been built in such a way that cool air filters through it like an ice box. On the third floor, down the end of an elegant hallway is a bedroom Wrath gives Emilia. It’s five times the size of her bedroom at home. It has ice blue walls with a sunshine-colored tapestry and a massive four-poster bed. A tiled bathing chamber with a sunken tub and floor-length mirror is attached.

### Miscellaneous Palermo Locations

* The Castle
* Piazza Zisa
* Via degli Emiri
* Piazza Bigliena
* Quattro Canti: a baroque square
* Grimaldi Home
* Cathedral
* Kalsa District
* Piazza Vigliena
* Old Town: a district
* Ballarò Market: located around the royal palace

### Miscellaneous Italian Locations

* **Sciacca**: a port town facing the Mediterranean Sea and is almost directly south of Palermo. It's a little jewel on an island filled with visual treasure according to Emilia. A week before the events of the first novel, a young witch was murdered in Sciacca.
* **Modena**: Uncle Nino travels to the area for supplies for Sea & Vine, such as a new thick balsamic.
* **Friuli District**: After the Inquisition comes through, people begin telling fantastical tales of shaper-shifters.
* **Calabria**

## Known Inhabitants

* Emilia di Carlo (formerly)
* Vittoria di Carlo (formerly)
* Nonna Maria
* Nicoletta di Carlo
* Domenico Nucci Jr.
* Antonio Vincenzu Bernardo
* Claudia
* Carolina Grimaldi
* Sofia Santorini
* Nino di Carlo
* Signor di Carlo
* Domenico Nucci Sr.
* Signora Nucci
* Signora Bernardo
* Valentina Rossi
* Giulia Santorini
* Salvatore: a "thief parading as a vendor" with an extraordinary source of gossip
* Fratello Carmine
* Giovanni: an old man who sells granita near the cathedral and likes to gamble.
* Francesco Parelli Sr.: one of Pride's messengers
* Angelica Parelli
* Bibby: a dockworker
* Angelo: makes ricotta near the palace
* Isabella Crisci

## Trivia

* The cathedral is a mishmash of styles, including gothic, baroque, Moorish, Norman, and neoclassical architecture.