At midday on 2 September 1319, a Venetian sailor leapt from the bow of a massive ship––aptly named the Innocenza––and crawled onto a gondola, appearing to cut through the murky waters of the Moskva with a sabre as he propelled himself toward the planks of its foremost wharf. Seafarers, merchants, and courtesans who lingered by the port watched from a distance as the Venetian unsheathed his sword, clearing a path for his cronies to follow. By the dozen, Venetians began to spill out from the belly of the Innocenza and into the emerald-green water, slithering through the canal like guileful serpents, their tunics painted in the crimson-red cross of the crusades. Fear-mongering mystics drove onlookers away in great hordes, declaring the end was nigh––the forerunners of the Antichrist had arrived; they would plunder their dwellings, violate its maidens, shatter its relics and, like they’d done in Constantinople a century prior, sack the ancient city of Moscow until it was no more than an echo of its former glory. The tenth Crusade had begun ... or had it?
By the early afternoon, a great fleet of Venetian ships had arrived in Moscow, leisurely yet relentlessly nearing the its harbour––which was, by now, a liquid reflection of Moscow itself: of the depth of its fear, the murk of its uncertainty, whirled by the September wind and the billowing white sails of the Venetian’s formidable armada. The piercing sound of brass trumpets and the dull boom of the ships’ gongs thrummed across Moscow, trembling the walls of the Kremlin, where terror gripped the Tsar’s royal guests as they made quick work of caching their valuables and absconding into their private chambers, awaiting the pillage––awaiting the carnage. Venetian sailors were now proudly teeming at the wharf, mingling with and, at times, brusquely confronting other European seafarers, who feared the Venetians would seek to plunder their own vessels.
As the last of the warships moored in the lagoon––each brightly-painted, emblazoned with the Doge of Venice’s magnificent crest, and cramped with high-status warriors packed tightly together––silence descended. The man whose intelligence, riches, and foresight controlled this mighty fleet then dismounted onto Russian soil and, in chivalric tradition, swayed to his knees to bless the ground beneath him. This man, Enrico Dandolo, hailed from continental Europe’s most unforgiving city: carved out by dark waterways where suspicions abound and his enemies litter the seabed, where his citizens are wealthier than Croesus and where Constantinople’s long-looted relics glint beside the spoils of a maritime empire––he is, in the year of 1319, the richest man in Europe. As he rises, he is greeted by the sight of two men, flanked by armies that appear to glitter like beaten brass in the late summer sun. These men are Maximilian, Holy Roman Emperor, and Alexander, Tsar of all Rus’.
The Doge is quietly and prudently escorted to discreet lodgings, in an unmarked location within the fraught city of Moscow, where the three rulers speak in hushed tones. Time appears to stand still, and above the pitiful wailing and writhing of the city’s inhabitants, the call to prayer lifts into the balmy air. It is not until Enrico, Maximilian, and Alexander appear at the crenelated walls of the Kremlin that prancing heralds reveal a truce had been sealed, sanctified by the Tsar’s white-robed patriarchs. Guests of the Doge––including bands of nobles, autocrats, holy men, their servants, soldiers and eunuchs––begin, with the Tsar’s blessing, to seep out from the underbelly of the Venetian flotilla, pouring into the city and breathing in an air humid with both prophecy and song. They are driven toward the gates of the Palace where they are received, both by the Vasilyeviches and their guests, in state: a magnificent feast awaits them to mark and celebrate the Venetian–Muscovy Pax Romana.
2 September 1319––one of the most momentous days in Moscow’s history––was ending, and it would crescendo with dancing, revelry, and sumptuous feasting ... or so the Doge, and his guests, were led to believe.
𝑰𝑵 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑫𝑬𝑻𝑨𝑰𝑳𝑺.
WHEN: 2 september 1319.
WHAT: a flotilla of venetian warships arrive in the moskva canal at mid-morning; once a truce is reached, the tsar hosts his new guests at a banquet in the palace of the facets.
WHERE: the harbour (morning–afternoon); palace of facets (evening).
WHO: all guests of tsar alexander.
𝑶𝑶𝑪 𝑫𝑬𝑻𝑨𝑰𝑳𝑺.
THE VENETIAN INVASION is an event to mark the start of AMETHYST: CHAPTER II. All muses are invited to feast and make merry with the Tsar’s newest guests, members of the Venetian League and Bavarian Alliance. This event will last a week, beginning on 9.2.22 and ending on 9.8.22. All members are encouraged to participate in this trend and write-event related threads ... and get into the action before we release our forthcoming plot drop ... Please tag any event-related threads, graphics, and other paraphernalia with #amethyst.invsion. Please also note that this event is concurrent with the promotion of our newest crop of characters, which will be officially released this evening at 4PM EST.
The event will mark the opening of Amethyst, set to begin tomorrow, 2 SEPTEMBER, @ NOON EST.
