Siracusa
| Faction | Overview | Branches | Gallery | Trivia |
Siracusa, formally known as the Confederate City-States of Siracusa (Città-Stato Confederate Siracusane)[1] or the Siracusan Confederation for short (Confederazione Siracusana), is a Terran country bordering Kazdel, Laterano, and Leithanien. Home of many Lupos and Vulpos, Siracusa is a confederation of twenty-two autonomous city-states under the effective control of twelve mafia families, the Dodici Famiglie, with a unified leadership of a powerful Capo dei capi.
The Siracusan mafia could be traced back to the classical era when Siracusa was a confederation of manors until its annexation by Leithanien as its tenth autonomous Kreis. The modern nation-state of Siracusa was founded following its independence from Leithanien, but the nation quickly fell into decades of anarchy marked with open conflicts among the famiglie until the current Capo of the mafia, Signora Sicilia, unified them under a common law that regulates their activities and limits their political power.
Despite its lawlessness, Siracusa possesses a rich culture, many of which are foreign influences. The Siracusan cuisine is praised for its uniqueness and delicacy; the Church of Laterano possesses a strong influence on the Siracusan faith; its legal system is based on Columbian judiciary introduced by the Columbian famiglie; due to its Leithanian root, opera is beloved among the Siracusans from common folks to the nobilities.
The Siracusan language is identical to the Italian language in our world. However, both have distinct grammars and accents, even though both are mutually intelligible enough with each other.
History
The Famiglia era
The tradition of the mafia could be traced back to the ancient days when Siracusa was an underdeveloped, barren region. According to the founding myth, the tradition's origin could be traced back to the six children of the "She-Wolf," the leader of the Sette Colli tribe. Even though they were related by blood, her children often fought against each other over food and land. As they grew up to adulthood, they started to found their own tribes, worsening their relationship. Saddened by her children's bloody feud, the She-Wolf chose to "ascend into a moon's shadow."[2]
The ascension of the She-Wolf prompted the tribe to make peace with each other. They reorganized their respective tribes into "families," sometimes known by the term famiglia, and divided six of the seven hills equally to each other with the seventh, the Sette Colli City, dedicated to the She-Wolf's memory. Since then, the six Families are able to coexist in peace for centuries to come, leading to their expansion into the current Dodici Famiglie.[2]
Modern anthropologists suggest that the origin of the Siracusan mafia was likely the result of their direct conflict with the legendary "Signori dei Lupi" and their existing lupine Beast Kins roaming in the wilderness. These ferocious "beasts" and apex predators forced humans to band together to form the earliest tribes of Siracusa, and social dynamics within the tribes allowed them to develop a strong sense of hierarchy surrounding the famiglie, a status previously held by the famiglie's family members. For centuries, political negotiations and violent conflicts among the famiglie were a norm of the Siracusan tribal society, as constant threats such as famines led to disputes for resources.[3]
Autonomous Kreis of Siracusa
At the dawn of civilization, the threat of the Teekaz expanded eastward and threatened both the Leithanians and the Siracusans. In order to expel their common enemies, the Siracusans swore their allegiance to the nine tribes of Leithanien through negotiation, and the agreement led to the drafting of the Güldenesgesatz.[4] For the remaining millennium, Siracusa became a district of Leithanien under political autonomy of the famiglie.
For a long period of time, the Kreis of Siracusa was treated unequally by the remaining nine Kreise both politically and socially. Despite being granted strong autonomy, the Kreis of Siracusa was forbidden to elect their own Kurfürst or Kaiser. Even though the Siracusans slowly adapted to modern civilization and integrated to Leithanian culture, they were still perceived as primitive barbarians who did not weld musical instruments but swords and butchered trophies. Most importantly, Leithanien treated Siracusa as mere a frontline barrage against the Sarkaz, and they had been neglecting the Siracusans' suffering and distancing themselves from their political affairs.[1]
The grand crusade of Kazdel in the year 898 prompted the Siracusans to rebel against Leithanien as Leithanien suffered heavy casualties from the campaign. Calls for independence became louder in Siracusa throughout the remaining century.[1] The climax reached in the year 967 when several large famiglie deemed Siracusa's independence from Leithanien was inevitable. It began with a public demonstration at Montelupe's capital square. As a sign of its declaration of independence, the Leithanian flag and the tenth copy of the Güldenesgesatz stored in Siracusa were torn apart by a nameless, mentally-ill scavenger captured by a lumberjack. Despite the scavenger's odd-looking appearance resembling a lupine Beast Kin, he was seen as the legendary "Wolf-man" who lived with the "wolves" and was praised by the public as a "symbol of wilderness" and a "call of bloodline," though this scavenger no longer appeared in later history after the demonstration.[5]
The demonstration was seen as a provocation against Leithanian sovereignty, so the Kurfürsten dispatched troops to crush the separatists. To their demise, a larger-scale civil war quickly broke out that dragged the remaining nine Kreise to suppress other rebellions across the land. The civil war not only exhausted the Kurfürsten's resources and political ideology, but also, it almost resulted in the disintegration of the confederation as it violated the harmony provided by the Güldenesgesatz.[6]
The civil war lasted until the coronation of Herkunftshorn the Witch King in the year 979 who personally amended the Güldenesgesatz by removing the name of Siracusa from the constitution. After the amendment, the Witch King formally recognized Siracusa's independence, and stability finally returned to both Leithanien and Siracusa.[7]
Anarchy period
The celebration for independence was however short-lived. Two days after the victory, Siracusa immediately became embroiled into chaos. The Confederate Capitol that remained unharmed for centuries during the Leithanian era was suddenly destroyed by a suicide bomber, killing every government minister in the building on spot. Following suit, several hitmen appeared with their crossbows to halt the firefighters' rescue mission. The bombing incident was seen as a declaration of war between the famiglie.[8]
Without a legitimate government, Siracusa fell into an era of anarchy that lasted for seventy years. The Dodici Famiglie openly conducted sabotages against each other as well as forced annexation of their respective cities. The anarchy lasted until the year 1039 when Signora Sicilia, the Donna of the once glorious Famiglia Sicilia, returned from Laterano after finishing her studies abroad and unified the Dodici under the Grey Hall to end such chaotic period through the religion of the Lateran Church and a new legal system called the "Pistole e Ordine," the "Guns and Order."[9] In the unification process, Sicilia seldom used violence to subjugate the rebelling famiglia, but she could go ruthless if the situation required. Being fearful of her wrath, the Dodici finally humbled themselves and negotiated peace and balance of power at the Grey Hall. Aside from ending the feud of the Dodici, Sicilia established a functional government under the Confederation Council that could protect the civilians from the mafia's affairs.[10]
Present days
For the next sixty years to the present days, Siracusa has enjoyed temporary social stability. The Grey Hall is checked by both the Siracusan Confederate Council and the Confederate Supreme Court, both of which are perceived as the extension of Sicilia's political power. There is a separation of power between the famiglie and the civilians in city administration when the famiglie are forced to hand in their power back to the people. However, such peace remains extremely fragile because there are some who question the legitimacy of Sicilia's system due to her lack of political position as well as Siracusa's famiglia culture born from its ancient tribal tradition.[10] Conspiracies and political schemes remain prominent behind the scenes despite Sicilia's iron-fist control. Nevertheless, there are newer generations who rebel against such unfair tradition, aiming to rebuild Siracusa without the famiglie.
As Siracusa's famiglie expands, their presence could be found across every corner of Terra. Notably, they found a strong foothold in Columbia since the Revolutionary War by establishing smuggling networks that brought wealth back to Siracusa. But since the purge of Famiglia Texas for their open rebellion in the year 1092, the remaining famiglie were ordered to return to Siracusa, ending an era of Columbian mafias.[11]
Notable people
| |||
| Expatriate |   | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Migrant |
| ||
- Salvadore Texas
- "The She-Wolf": According to legends, she was the progenitor of the six original founders of Siracusa, as well as the chieftain of the Sette Colli tribe. However, the six siblings always fought with each other for food, and later founded their own tribes. When one of the siblings tried to snatch food from the She-Wolf, she became delusional as she didn't want to fight her own child. Saddened, she lept to the sky, thus becoming the "Moonshadow". From that day afterwards every time the moon turns black, all Lupos should remember the She-Wolf's graciousness and anger.[2]
- Suzuran's mother?: A mafiosa and member of one of Siracusa's core famiglie. At one point after secretly bringing Suzuran to back Siracusa, she got herself caught herself in an incident involving unrest against another famiglia, which led to Suzuran having her left arm stabbed by an Originium shard hidden in a stuffed doll, thus becoming Infected. After leading an assasination attempt against her assailant's family, she was never heard again ever since. Although her whereabouts are unknown, it was implied that Lappland was involved in one way or another with the incident, hence why neither she or Suzuran should meet each other.[12]
- Martina: A Lupo Messenger that Angelina met after being rescued from the local famiglia following her departure from her hometown, Florentia. During the brief time they spent together, she taught her how to use space manipulation Arts. Her wisdom inspired Angelina to become a Messenger, but hasn't meet her again ever since.[13]
.png)
Enemies
| Normal |                 |
|---|---|
| Elite |        |
| Boss |  |
Places
Settlements
- Volsinii/Nuova Volsinii
- Montelupe: The capital of Siracusa
- Sicilia: Better known as City Confederation of Sicilia, it is an ancient Siracusan city-state founded by several small famiglie, which would be eventually united as the now defunct Famiglia Sicilia. The city-state was known in history for igniting the first Siracusan city-state war which ended in its victory, but its influence gradually dwindled following the seventy-year anarchy and finally Signora Sicilia's departure from the famigila.[10]
- Sette Colli City: The ancient city used to dedicate the She-Wolf by the Six Families in the legend of the She-Wolf. The city has its own rules set up by the Sette Colli Council. A century ago, it was incorporated by a larger famiglia into its territory.[2]
- Locomotiva: A nomadic city where Rhodes Island has one of its branch offices. Chiave and his gang once tried to seek refuge there after they fled Vite, but had to escape because he offended one of the city's big family figureheads.[14]
- Palermo: The city where Sussurro came from. It once experienced a severe Oripathy plague started by an explosion of an Originium factory. The plague almost depleted the local medical resources and paralyzed half the urban area.[15][16]
- Vite: The city where the Chiave's gang comes from, controlled by Famiglia Trin. After offending the family following an incident where he modified his former boss' car, Chiave and his friends had to flee the city.[14]
- Sorrento: The city where one of Penance´s acquaintances. former judge Bortolotti, comes from.[17]
- Vermeil: A town known for their hand-crafted cloaks of high quality, the one worn by the homonymous Operator being one of them.[18]
- Florentia: A large-scale Nomadic City where Angelina comes from, which had to leave after contracting Oripathy.[19][20][21]
- Trapani: A Siracusan nomadic city that Angelina visited hoping to see her mentor, Martina. However, it turns out that she already left by the time Angelina boarded the city.[22]
Schools
- Palermo Medical Academy: A medical institution where Sussurro graduated from.[10]
References
|