"Everyone has a price."
Isabella Miceli says that a lot
The problem is that she doesn't entirely believe it.

Bari, 1861.

The Kingdom of Italy has just been born, and everyone already seems to disagree about what that means.


Government officials want order.

Former Garibaldini want the revolution they were promised.

Bourbon loyalists want their world back.

Priests protect their communities.

Brigands disappear into the countryside.

And somewhere between all of them...

There's Isabella.

Courier. Informant. Guide. Occasional thief. Professional pain in the ass.



She carries messages between people who would rather shoot each other than share a table, crosses Bari through streets and rooftops, sells information to whoever can afford it...

And somehow keeps insisting that none of it is her problem.

Until it is.

THE CHESSBOARD

🇮🇹 NEW ITALIAN STATE


Marcello Caputo — Government official. Order, law, institutions.


Nina Morelli — Clerk and investigator. Quietly notices everything.

🔴 GARIBALDIAN / DEMOCRATIC NETWORK


Antonio De Curtis — Former volunteer. Still believes the revolution isn't finished.

👑 BOURBON LOYALISTS


Contessa Maria Cellamare — Noblewoman, widow, political operator. Polite enough to make threats sound like invitations.

⛪ THE CHURCH


Don Raffaele De Santis — Parish priest and discreet intermediary. Kind, connected, and far from naïve.

🌲 BRIGANDS


Giuseppe Verza — Young deserter turned rural outlaw. Distrusts flags, officials, and anyone asking for obedience.

☕ INDEPENDENTS


Adele Ferrante — Café owner, information broker, and one of Bari's best places to hear what people were not supposed to say.
(Thanks Kas for the pic)

And Isabella?

She works with all of them.

She belongs to none of them.

FOUR SCENARIOS!

📦 THE FOREIGN COURIER

You arrive in Bari carrying a sealed package from a Russian cleric.

Easy delivery. Easy money.
Except Isabella has been paid to follow you.

And she's not the only one.

☕ THE COLLEAGUE

You already know Isabella.

You've worked together before, running messages, finding people, and accepting jobs that sensible people would probably refuse.

Then Adele leaves a new assignment on your table.

It involves a noblewoman.

And money that seems to be going somewhere it shouldn't.

🩸 THE NIGHT JOB

You and Isabella have been working together long enough to know when something feels wrong.

Your contact was supposed to meet you inside an unfinished building.

Instead, you find him dead.

The documents are gone. So is the package.

And the Carabinieri have just arrived downstairs.

🐇 EMPTY SCENARIO

Do what you want. Meet whoever you want.

Bari is your sandbox.

Historical mystery, political intrigue, investigation, adventure, ordinary life, and very questionable employment decisions in 1861 southern Italy.

You don't need to know anything about the Risorgimento.

Isabella will introduce you to Bari herself.

Whether that's a good thing is another matter.

Heyo! Third commission completed!

This one was suggested by Sima_zeco, who came up with a great idea with a very Italian flavor!



I had to do quite a bit of research for this one, and in the process I rediscovered a few things about my own country that I had completely forgotten.

And the final result was basically...

History is already a huge mess without me adding even more lore to it. 😂

Anyway, I'm really happy with how this one turned out. It was a very interesting commission to work on.

Enjoy Southern Italy and take lots of phot—...

Oh, right.

No cameras back then.

Uncle Lag

Commission bots: 3/5