I don't know what the spoiler tags are so, spam incoming.
Shadows of Europe:
GEMITO SPRAWL
QUOTE
GEMITO SPRAWL
The Spedal Administrative Zone of Genoa-Milan-Turin
(GeMiTo) was written off as a catastrophe zone when the authorities
lost control following the Five Days of Milan. The collapse of
central government and the end of the Republic left close to ten
million people abandoned to their fate. The region degenerated
into a lawless territory of burned-out office blocks and run-down
husks of buildings, ranging for hundreds of square kilometers.
Anarchy ruled and people made do as they could; thousands
died in those first years.
• It's hard to believe, but GeMiTo is a barrens the size of a small
country. Doesn't anybody give a damn about the waste?
• Fantosl
• Have you any idea how much it would cost to rebuild? Who's
going to foot the bill without any immediate benefits? Nah, the
corps like things as they are. Gives them a playground to do as
they please without interference.
• Skaven
Unlike their political counterparts, the corporate powers
weren't ready to write off a huge part of their manufacturing and
administrative assets in northwestern Italy. Companies like
Renault-Fiat, Fuchi PanEuropa, AG Chemie, Olgitech and Renraku
fortified and isolated their assets behind barbed wire and walls.
Guards patrolled these endaves to keep the masses out, but most
came under siege from the desperate people on the outside.
As months passed, the corps realized the situation couldn't
be sustained indefinitely. They struck a deal with some of the
various local powers emerging from the chaos. In return for
being left alone within their "domains," the gangs, slum barons
and dtizen groups are allowed to leech power, water and supplies.
Despite the truce, though, the endave walls have stayed
up. Today the corporate neighborhoods and industrial fadlities
are still patrolled by APCs and corpsec in milspec armor with
orders to shoot any trespassers. They get away with a lot
because they maintain the basic roadways and services evel}'body
else leeches from.
GeMiTo itself has changed, becoming an unwashed hive of
humanity with its own laws and rules. Rural areas are farmed by
small armed groups, while the derelict urban and industrial landscapes
are ruled by different gangs, family dans, centri socia/i
(collective sodal centers) and whatever organizations sprang up
spontaneously, each making do as they can.
Port of Genoa
Though the GeMITo coastline is ruined by pollution and the
derelict remains of real estate speculation, the port of Genoa is
still active, especially in "free trade" and piracy. The port is under
the firm control of the Cam orr a, who also run several sweatshops
and auto-hack facilities here.
• You'll hear praise for Naples and Trieste, but Genoa has no
security or customs at all except Camorra soldatl. The downside
is It's a buyers market.
• Gottardl
Socleta Thaumaturglca
Turin's old town center remains remarkably undamaged
despite the burnt-out ruins mere blocks away. Some say this is
thanks to what's hidden in the catacombs of the Grande Madre
Church, others daim the Holy Shroud still resides in the Guarini
Chapel protecting the area, while yet others wonder stranger
things. What is known, however, is that the center of Turin houses
the Societa Thaumaturgica, a free school for the Gifted run by
Sylvestrine friars.
• Many a street witch and mage has been tutored by the
Sylvestrines, and most alumni try to pay back the debt of gratitude
to the Societ6 by helping out when they can.
• Botolo
The Markets
Markets, known as Fiere, take place eve!}' three weeks,
alternating between what used to be central Milan, Genoa and
Turin. During the Fiere, market-goers are protected by a ceasefire
agreed upon by all the various factions. The markets themselves
use an amazing mix of barter and currency to sell a huge
variety of products needed to keep GeMiTo going. Enough
business is still conducted in and out of GeMiTo for euros to be
in use, but stick with the physical currency if you can. Few parties
carl}' a credchecker here. If you're looking for fuel,
firearms, basic medical supplies, water filtration gear, agricultural
produce from the outlying farmlands or even just information,
this is where to go.
• Most transactions are bartered. There's even a barter system In
place for labor. Real simple: an hour's medical treatment for an
hour's worth of a mechanic's work. Fail to pay up and you're
kicked from the system by word of mouth.
• Giovanni
If you known where to look or have a local guide, there's
also a lot of exotic merchandise for sale. These markets are the
only place I know, for example, where you can find telesma and
handcrafts from the Valle d' Aosta. The only thing you won't tend
to find are body parts and (meta)human slaves-the anarchists in
the area tend to disfavor trading in (meta)humans, and there's
enough of them that such business has been pressured out.
• The Valle d' Aosta is a meta-friendly but isolationist member of
the Confederation that broke away when GeM iTo crashed. Nestled
on the Franco-Swiss border in the Alpine valley of the same
name, Aosta later joined with the seceding Swiss Canton of Tielno
to form a thriving, yet Insular, metahuman community.
• Carabas
Managing the peace at some (but not all) markets and taking
a cut is the GeMITo branch of the N'dranghetta. The local
n'drise holds allegiance to Donna Allegra. They're the true
power brokers in many rough parts of the sprawl, enfordng their
deals with brutal force. Their bloody MO fits particularly well with
the lawless factions of GeMITo.
• Ultraviolence is their trademark. I saw a crew drop a fully armed
seven-man AG Chemie squad that strayed onto N'dranghetta
turf. They ambushed the squad close quarters, moving like
greased lightning. A bloody massacre it was. The N'dranghetta
didn't fire a shot and came out without a scratch. I for one am
not forgetting to pay my pizza!
• Skaven
• Yeah, but In other markets the N'dranghetta aren't even
allowed In-the other factions cooperate to keep them out and
arrange their own local justice. So check up on the local situation
before you do anything foolish.
• Antagonist
NewVara
NewVara is the largest of the various tendopoli (tent towns)
with almost 500,000 inhabitants. It abuts the neighborhood
where the Grande Fiera is held in the old Milan train station. It is
collectively managed by one of the more benign powers in the
sprawl, an anarco-leftist group called the "Leonkavallo."
• There are a bunch of these centri soclali in GeMiTo, dating
back more than a century. Who would have thought these anarchist
and leftwlng squatter communes and collectives would
ever amount to anything!
• Pierrino
The Hole
This hilly district is a triangle between three corporate oases:
Renault-Fiat Complex 1, AG Chemie's processing plant and Shiawase
Industrial Facility IX. The area is a scavenger's paradise,
since all three corps use it as a dumping ground for the materials
they're supposed to be recycling and disposing of under other
countries' environmental laws. The corp-run enclaves are beyond
any government control and anything goes here. I'm sure most
of the horror stories you hear aren't entirely true, but sometimes
you'll find the byproducts of illegal experimentation, failed production
runs and just plain toxic waste thrown "into the hole."
• Trash-diving heaven, if you're willing to take the risks. Half the
stuff that gets dumped is actually still useful in some way, but
there are also fun things like biohazard waste. The devil rats that
prowl the Hole are bigger than corpsec cybermutts, not to mention
the other mutant critters that have survived "disposal" or just
found the place an inviting spot to live.
• Skaven
ROME
QUOTE
ROME
Rome is known as the Eternal City, an expression that
means little until you've been there. This is a place where the
cobblestones are steeped in age-even if SOTA fiberoptics now
run underneath them. The city breathes history with its old architecture,
museums, historic sites and an omnipresent sense of
nostalgia. Even the corp districts among the old city streets are
completely integrated; strict city planning limits modern construction
in central Rome. The city's low-built buildings hug the
rolling landscape, giving the impression that the city sprawls for
kilometers in every direction when in fact it is smaller than many
modern metroplexes. The narrow streets of the older quarters
make traffic a nightmare.
• Roman traffic laws are more like optional guidelines-no one
uses GridGuide unless they have to. Don't be surprised if parked
cars block In your getaway vehicle, or if your shortcut down a
one-way is suddenly blocked by someone going the wrong way.
• Charioteer
Rome has a thousand sites to visit and not all of them are
the mundane tourist stuff. The Coliseum, for instance, appears
complete and lit from within on some nights of the year. A mage
acquaintance of mine tells me St. Peters' Chapel is a religious
experience if seen on the astral.
• Sunday mornings in Rome are amazing. Everybody goes to
church and the city looks empty until about noon, and then the
doors open and the crowds flow out after Sunday Mass. Enterprising
sinners know when to make the best of the situation.
• Gea
The most powerful corporations, and those that can afford
them, keep their head offices in the prestigious downtown districts
surrounding the Piazza di Spagna. Given the limited space
available, corps keep the bulk of their high-rise offices and miniarcologies
beyond the dty center. In the downtown districts,
many of which are closed off to traffic you'll find the headquarters
of the Agnelli group, Renault-Fiat, lndex-Axa but also Renraku,
Ares and Shiawase (inherited from Fuchi).
There's also both a sense of peacefulness and urgency on
the streets of Rome during the day; probably the sight of saranmen
dodging crowds of tourists and the troupes of priests and
nuns that you seem to come across every few minutes.
By night, all bets are off. Red light districts spring up round
unexpected corners, places where the Mafiosi keep their own
violent peace and dealers and joytoys sell their wares within
walking distance of St. Peter's. Rome seems to thrive on this
seedy underworld and it's not uncommon to see the dty's rich
and powerful among the darker types that populate the night.
The influence of the Camorra and the Cosa Nostra is eveiYWhere
in the shadows, their tentacles reaching all levels of sodety, from
street dealers to bishops.
• The Camorra's top dog in Rome is Luigi Cattani. Note no use of
the term Don-Cattani dislikes the title, as he's a self-styled modern
Mafioso. He leads the families within the Roman branch and
has ambitions regarding the rest of the syndicate.
• Never
• I'd heard the rumors, but thanks for the heads up. It explains why
Don Feretti's been courting Bonelli and the Neapolitan branch.
It's in his best interests that the Camorra doesn't come together.
• Buscettino