In the view of the Concenzia Faith, Cenzi is the only god worthy of worship (Vucta being considered by the Concenzian scholars to be more an all-pervading spirit rather than an entity), and it is His laws, given to the Moitidi, that the Faith has codified and now follows. The gods worshipped by other religions within and without the Holdings are those cowardly Moitidi who came out of hiding when Cenzi left and have deceived their followers into thinking they are true gods. The surviving Moitidi remain in mortal fear of Cenzi’s return and flee whenever Cenzi’s thoughts turn back to this world, as they do, reputedly, when the faithful pray strongly enough.
The truth of this is shown in that the laws of humankind, wherever they may live and whomever they may claim to worship, have a similarity at the core-because they all derive from the original tenets of Cenzi.
The Divolonte:
The Divolonte is a loose collection of rules and regulations by which the Concenzia Faith is governed, the majority of which derive from the Toustour. However, the Divolonte is secular in origin, created and added to by the various Archigi and a’teni through the centuries, while the Toustour is considered to be derived from Cenzi’s own words. The Divolonte is also a dynamic document, undergoing slow, continual evolution through the auspices of the Archigos and the a’teni. Many of its precepts and commands are somewhat archaic, and are ignored or even flaunted by the current Faith. It is, however, the Divolonte that the conservative element within the Faith quotes when they look at the threat of other faiths and belief systems, such as that of the Numetodo.
A RECENT HISTORY OF NESSANTICO:
YEAR 521 (the events of A Magic of Twilight): This is Kraljica Marguerite’s Jubilee Year-under her half a century of rule, Nessantico has flourished. However, in the spring, Kraljica Marguerite is assassinated. Kraljiki Justi (her son) takes the Sun Throne. Archigos Dhosti dies; Archigos Orlandi becomes head of the Concenzia Faith. Hirzg Jan leads the army of Firenzcia into the Holdings, intending to take Nessantico. Archigos Ana becomes head of the Concenzia Faith after Archigos Orlandi defects to Hirzg Jan at Passe a’Fiume. Nessantico is attacked by Firenzcian forces. Allesandra, daughter of Hirzg Jan of Firenzcia, is taken as hostage by Archigos Ana and Kraljiki Justi. Firenzcian forces retreat.
522: Orlandi formally declares himself Archigos in Brezno-the Concenzia Faith is sundered. A son, Fynn, is born to Hirzg Jan and Greta ca’Vorl. Hirzg Jan refuses to pay ransom for Allesandra, and declares Firenzcia independent of the Holdings. Semini cu’Kohnle marries Francesca ca’Cellibrecca, daughter of Orlandi.
523: Envoy Karl ci’Vliomani of the Isle of Paeti is elevated to Ambassador and given the rank of cu’. The Numetodo influence begins to grow within the Holdings. Sesemora secedes from the Holdings and allies with Firenzcia-the first country within what will be known as the Coalition of Firenzcia. Hirzgin Greta ca’Vorl dies under “suspicious” circumstances; the Numetodo sect is blamed.
524: Miscoli and East Magyaria join Sesemora in seceding and joining the Coalition of Firenzcia. War is declared between the two rival Holdings. It will drag on for years without a decisive victory by either side. The Eastern and Western branches of the Concenzia Faith declare each other heretical and invalid.
525: Kraljiki Justi marries Marie ca’Dakwi of Il Trebbio, daughter of the current Ta’Mila (local ruler) of Il Trebbio. Justi takes the ca’Dakwi name (as is proper and expected in their society). Archigos Orlandi of Brezno dies of natural causes. A’Teni Semini ca’Cellibrecca becomes Archigos there.
526: A first child is born to Justi and Marie, a son. He will die within three months. Hirzg Jan formally declares his son Fynn to be the A’Hirzg-the heir to his throne. This leaves Allesandra in limbo, no longer the official heir to her vatarh’s throne.
527: A second child is born to Justi and Marie, a daughter. Like her sibling, she will die within three months
529: A third child is born to Justi and Marie, another daughter who is named Marguerite. She is stronger than her siblings and lives. She becomes the A’Kralj (heir).
531: The Treaty of Passe a’Fiume is signed, ending open hostilities between Nessantico and Firenzcia. As part of the negotiations, Allesandra (now 21 years old and having lived nearly as long in Nessantico as in Firenzcia) is finally ransomed and returns to Firenzcia.
532: Allesandra marries Pauli ca’Xielt of West Magyaria, son of the Gyula (local ruler) of West Magyaria. West Magyaria secedes from the Holdings and joins the Firenzcian Coalition.
533: A male child is born to Allesandra and Pauli: Jan. This will be their only child. Their marriage is rumored to be “troubled.” In Nessantico, Marie dies bearing the fourth child of Justi, another son. Though sickly, Audric will survive.
535: Nessantican forces push farther westward in the Hellins (and also on the Isle of Paeti, which they will come to control).
537: Southern Fever rises again in the cities. Marguerite ca’Dakwi, vacationing in Namarro, is infected and dies. Audric becomes the a’Kralj in her place.
540: The Commandant of the Holdings forces in the Hellins, Petrus ca’Helfier, is killed by a Westlander after ca’Helfier either “rapes” a Westlander’s daughter or the two of them fall in love (the truth here will probably never be known). The new Commandant, Donatien ca’Sibelli, takes the murderer forcibly and executes him without trial; the Westlanders protest. Retaliations escalate, and there is suddenly open war-and Commandant ca’Sibelli finds that there are new forces with the Westlanders: soldiers with faces marked by tattoos and spellcasters with skills that match those of the teni. In the Coalition, A’Hirzg Fynn, now 18, leads the Firenzcian army successfully against Tennshah, taking land in the east for the Holdings of Firenzcia.
542: There are attacks by Westlanders inside the Hellins frontier-the magic used by the Westlanders proves formidable. Westlanders win a large-scale battle with Holdings forces in the Hellins. The towns around Lake Malik and Lake Udar are lost, as is control of the western frontier. The Hellins Holdings are reduced to thin strips of land around the cities of Tobarro and Munereo.
543: Hirzg Jan suffers a heart attack. His health begins a slow, steady decline.
544: Justi, realizing he is dying, names Sergei ca’Rudka as his choice for Regent until Audric reaches his majority at 16. Kraljiki Justi dies, and Audric becomes Kraljiki at age 11.
YEAR 548: (the events of A Magic of Nightfall): Hirzg Jan of the Coalition dies; Hirzg Fynn crowned. Archigos Ana of Nessantico assassinated, Archigos Kenne crowned. Assassination attempt on Hirzg Fynn fails. Sergei ca’Rudka deposed as Regent by Kraljiki Audric and imprisoned. The White Stone assassinates Hirzg Fynn; Fynn’s nephew Jan (son of Allesandra) becomes Hirzg Jan II. Sergei ca’Rudka escapes from the Bastida aided by Numetodo and flees to the Coalition. In the Hellins, the capital of Munereo falls to the Tehuantin Westlanders. The Tehuantin send an invasion force to the Holdings; Karnor razed. Kraljiki Audric assassinated by ensorceled offizier; Kraljica Sigourney crowned. Coalition troops march into the Holdings from the East. City of Nessantico taken by Tehuantin, burned and plundered; Kraljica Sigourney commits suicide. Coalition forces sweep away the Tehuantin army. The White Stone kills a Tehuantin spellcaster, saving Hirzg Jan’s life. Allesandra is named Kraljica.
YEAR 549: Rochelle, daughter of the White Stone and Hirzg Jan II of the Coalition, is born. Archigos Semini is stripped of his title upon Hirzg Jan’s return to Brezno, though he accepts the lesser position of A’Teni of Nessantico. A’Teni Karrol ca’Asano of Malacki is elevated to Archigos, and the Concenzia Faith is reunited, though the new seat of the Archigos is in Brezno, not Nessantico. Karl ca’Vliomani marries Varina (becoming Karl ca’Pallo). Sergei ca’Rudka is named Special Ambassador to Firenzcia for the Holdings.
YEAR 550: The Numetodo become an official political entity within the Holdings. Varina is named as their head (A’Morce), and becomes a member of Council of Ca’.
YEAR 551: Jan ca’Vorl marries Brie ca’Ostheim of Sesemora-as is customary in this society, he takes her name and becomes Jan ca’Ostheim.
YEAR 552: Kraljica Allesandra, despite the protests of the Faith and A’Teni Semini, declares that the Numeteodo may not be prosecuted or harmed for their beliefs within the Holdings. Semini commits suicide in protest. Soleil ca’Paim is named the new A’Teni for Nessantico. Jan and Brie’s first child is born, a girl named Elissa.
YEAR 553: Pauli ca’Vorl, Allesandra’s estranged husband (and Hirzg Jan’s vatarh), becomes Gyula of West Magyaria when his vatarh dies.
YEAR 554: Due to diplomatic efforts by Kraljica Allesandra and Ambassador Karl ca’Pallo, the Isle of Paeti rejoins the Holdings. A son Jan (nicknamed “Kriege”) is born to Hirzg Jan and Brie.
YEAR 556: West Magyaria secedes from the Coalition (but does not rejoin the Holdings. Caelor (son) born to Jan and Brie.
YEAR 557: The army of Firenzcia invades West Magyaria. It quickly becomes obvious that the army of West
