Daniele Venturini | Epitome

Daniele Venturini

Libro e moschetto, fascista perfetto.

Italian Fascist occult researcher.

Italian Fascist occult researcher.

FP Ref Phys Ment Pneu
5 3 4 3

Basic information

Aspects

Skills

The Gate +3 The Empress +2 The Thorns -1 The Lighthouse +0 The Silence +1
The General +0 The Choice +0 The Terror +1 The Mask +0 The Orchestra +0
The Masterpiece +1 The Heroine +0 The Sword +0 The Night +0 The Witch +0
The Seeker +2 The Prosecutor +1 The Blood +0 The Prophet +2 The Machine +2
The Syringe +0 The Party +0 The Plunder +0 The Storm +0 The Cage +1

Stunts

Demagogue

I’m skilled at drawing distinctions between friend and enemy, and at unifying a group. I get a +2 when using the Heroine to encourage comrades or the Terror to enrage human enemies.

Practical Pneumologist

When working with Conduits, I can use the Seeker (+5) instead of the Soul (+3).

Eia! Eia! Alala!

When piloting a motorized vehicle, my Thorns becomes equal to my Masterpiece (+4).

Appearance

Bookish, gaunt Italian Blackshirt usually seen in his uniform. The researcher’s professional clothing sees less and less use these days. Cleanshaven with a tight undercut and wire spectacles that tend to hang low on his aquiline nose. Once a pneumonic researcher, his field work has revealed the true, occult nature of the substance he studied, as well as the disastrous consequences that its misuse can have. His time in the Americas dealt him injuries far beyond what one should expect for a man who grew up after the Great War, and he walks with a very slight limp from a broken shin. He speaks English fluently, but with an accent, and has a tendency to curse in Italian when under pressure. Knows a modicum of French as well. Carries a Beretta M1915 and a Blackshirt-issue knife, modified with a custom pneumonic accumulator. When appropriate, also carries a Carcano M1891 rifle.

Attire

  1. “Researcher” attire. White shirt, fasces lapel pin, grey slacks and dress shoes. A lab coat can complete the look, but rarely does. Knife clipped to the belt (it comes in handy more than you’d think). Shirt may be removed in times of intense concentration or stress to reveal the A-shirt underneath.

  2. “Blackshirt” attire. Black shirt, black tie, green-grey pants, black boots. A jacket, the same color as his pants, sometimes covers the black shirt. Garrison cap with the insignia of the University Militia. Carcano slung over one shoulder, Beretta in a holster at his side. Rank insignia, a gold cornet, on his left sleeve.

  3. “Soviet” attire. Woolen greatcoat in grey with a brown alpine hat and scarf. Only nod to his allegiances is a black shirt and tie under the coat. Doesn’t typically carry the rifle around in public in the Soviet Union but the greatcoat at least provides a place to stow his Beretta. Glasses tend to fog up because he’s not used to wearing winter clothes. Leather gloves.

Artifacts

Arditi’s Salute

- Tier 1 Conduit.
- Requires Terror 2 or Masterpiece 2.
- Performs a guaranteed ++ attack using either Terror or Masterpiece.

A standard-issue Blackshirt knife, with a strange apparatus fitted to the base of the blade. When its wielder lays his thumb on the crossbar, the black blade shimmers with pneumonic power.

Background

Eldest son of a trading family from Milan. Father fought in the Great War, and told him stories as he was growing up. Followed the activities of D’Annunzio in Fiume with great interest and joined the Party after the March on Rome, when he was in college.

Initially he focused his studies on radio, finding it both interesting in its own right and also something highly modern that Italy could put to use in imperial expansion. Pneuma was discovered as he was working on his bachelor’s in physics, and when he graduated he applied to a postgrad program in Rome that dealt with the new substance. Information on pneuma being so strictly controlled, he developed a decent rapport with the Italian secret police. Generally, while advancements considered militarily valuable are made secret, Daniele nevertheless kept up correspondence with pneumologists and pneuma engineers in other countries.

Fell in with Golden Butterfly after conducting some research abroad, and found himself not just confronted with the true nature of pneuma but thrust into the position of an occult society’s leader. After the Empress’s Game at Croce Manor, Daniele negotiated Italian protection for the now nearly-destroyed Golden Butterfly, and by default became the “Grandmaster” of Vittore Croce’s circle– a title he yet denies, feeling he lacks the knowledge and ability to fill the old leader’s shoes.