Meet Venice
Earlier than I visited Venice, I believed I understood the town effectively. However seeing it in particular person is a complete different stage, and it is clear there’s far more to Venice than what I learn in historical past books.
Venice is a metropolis in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto area. It’s constructed on a gaggle islands which can be separated by expanses of open water and by canals, lots of that are linked by bridges. It was a significant monetary and maritime energy throughout the Center Ages and Renaissance, and a staging space for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, in addition to an essential heart of commerce—particularly silk, grain, and spice, and of artwork from the thirteenth century to the tip of the seventeenth.
A Naval and Monetary Juggernaut
Venice was a powerhouse of commerce and commerce throughout the medieval and Renaissance durations, dominating the Mediterranean Sea with its huge service provider fleet. The town-state was identified for its political and financial independence, supported by a community of colonies and buying and selling posts. In contrast to typical feudal societies, Venice operated extra like a company, with a Doge elected by an elite class of service provider households who targeted on commerce, diplomacy, and naval energy. The wealth collected by means of commerce allowed Venice to construct a formidable navy, spectacular structure, and a novel social construction.
Each different area we visited (together with Dubrovnik in Croatia, Kotor in Montenegro, and Corfu and Zakynthos in Greece) made it clear that their societies spent lots of time combating, placating, or planning for an invasion by the Venetians. The idea of a service provider fleet appears surprisingly trendy and rife with adventuring alternatives each for characters employed by a Venetian-style metropolis or to struggle off a fleet outfitted with the very best weapons and armor cash can purchase.
Water, Water In all places
Venice is famously constructed on a collection of islands inside a lagoon, its streets changed by canals. Abstractly, the best of a “canal metropolis” is straightforward to grasp. However it’s far more than that, as Venice is actually inches away from the ocean always. This distinctive geography made the town tough to besiege, as any invading pressure would wish to navigate the complicated community of waterways.
Floods are a relentless concern, and with it a tradition the place it isn’t unusual to step out of your private home onto a ship. Thus, the enduring gondolas, piloted by gondoliers who, we have been politely instructed, don’t truly sing as a result of they should use their voices for shouting instructions at different boats.
Whereas Venice’s lagoon protects it considerably, it’s proper on the ocean — which is why, throughout the pandemic, dolphins have been noticed within the canals. The canals, with their murky waters, have all the time had an charisma, with legends of creatures lurking beneath the floor. Any related canal metropolis would most actually have one thing extra sinister lurking beneath it.
Carnival for a Day
Carnevale di Venezia, held yearly in Venice, is without doubt one of the most well-known festivals on the planet, identified for its elaborate masks, costumes, and events. Traditionally, Carnevale was a time when the inflexible social order of Venice was briefly upended—folks might behave with a stage of freedom and anonymity that was in any other case unimaginable. This “something goes” angle, nevertheless, was confined to the competition interval, after which the town returned to its strict social norms.
Carnevale is a superb alternative to introduce a “Day of Forgiveness” or a “Evening of Masks” in your setting (suppose “The Purge” however , the place all crimes are forgiven for a single day. This might result in chaotic, unpredictable gameplay because the gamers navigate a metropolis the place the same old guidelines don’t apply. The problem may very well be to outlive the evening, shield the harmless, or make the most of the lawlessness to realize a private aim.
In Your Marketing campaign
My very own Italian-inspired nation of Laneutia will definitely have a Venetian-inspired metropolis, however by far the very best recreation to seize the texture of Venice is not a tabletop role-playing recreation in any respect: Carnevale. Carnevale combines the licentiousness of a masked carnival, Lovecraftian horrors from the deep lurking within the canals, and the pugnacious nature of the decrease lessons with the decadence of the higher lessons right into a collection of superior gondola-hopping battles. Better of all, the foundations can be found on-line without spending a dime.