Synopsis

THIS ERA MUST TOO END
The outbreak of sickness marked a new act upon the world stage — this time, a dark one evoking fear and mistrust. plague ravaged every known land and, with each death, as entire kingdoms were ruined, a dark cloud descended that even prayers failed to lift. nobles presided over ghost towns; vineyards and graveyards alike were reduced to ashen rubble; famine took hold as fields lay barren. yet, these endless days of death and dying were not what they seemed: after several infernal years, there was light, refracting new colors to shatter the dim greyness.

waves of plague characterized the past thirty years, but now they have recently yielded a new era: the renaissance. from the westmost reaches of europe to the far east, new generations shook off the somber circumspection which characterized their predecessors. courts flourished, royals and nobles envisioned long lives, heirs were borne again of transnational alliances. gone was the danse macabre, replaced in glorious artworks by rosy-cheeked youths and merciful angels. wine, spices, textiles, and precious goods flowed freely as the east and west once again fused. trade routes — veins crisscrossing land and sea — pumped life into the previously frail, ashen world. this new era was one of music and art and celebration, one that would endure the intrigues of culture, faith, and the human conscience with equal parts rebellion and devotion. as never before, optimism ruled.

the possibility of global harmony reached its zenith in 1455, when the newly anointed pope callixtus iii summoned royals and commoners alike to florence, meaning to inaugurate the era. along with the european peace, the pope alleged a profound sense of goodwill for the powerful non-christrian states. however, the pope’s efforts merely plastered over the long-simmering conflict between his own cousins, the trastámaras of aragon, and the córdobans whose conquest deposed them. a intervening decade did nothing to assuage their pain and acrimony, yet the states gathered in florence endeavored to accomplish that work in merely a few months’ time. all seemed to move according to plan until florence erupted — once a tranquil host, it became a thrashing beast eager to shake off its guests like fleas. indeed, the epiphany day riots in 1456 sent the visitors scattering: a córdoban ambassador was dead under questionable circumstances; the people of florence were tired of the expensive spectacles; and, for the first time since their arrival, western and eastern leaders doubted whether global prosperity could ever be more than a fever dream.

two years later, the states gathered at the behest of the pope. this time, however, he meant not to manifest a fantasy but to salvage the tenuous peace which miraculously survived january 1456. this was a continuation or, more accurately, a RESET. unfortunately, tragedy and suspicion struck several months prior to the gathering: the trastámara monarchs, throneless but undeterred, were dead. the assassinations occurred inexplicably and, swiftly, fingers pointed to neighboring córdoba. rather than claiming the murders or declaring war, the córdoban emir asserted his innocence and doubled down on his intentions to participate in this second convocation. allies, enemies, and those few neutral parties found themselves in portugal beneath a cloud of suspicion. yet, despite the inauspicious start, the summit proved peaceful and even productive. in two years, more than just the trastámara assassinations had rocked the world. new alliances solidified while others were torn asunder; great powers’ influence has waxed and waned as factions battled for dominance; global culture, trade, and politics reconfigured, leaving the future wide open and full of riches for those willing to seize it. if florence was the pinnacle, states from east to west teetered dangerously close to the nadir in lisbon. ultimately, peace and harmony would prevail over the turmoil stewing — BUT,  FOR HOW LONG ?

I T IS NOW 1459.
france emerges like a dark horse, trumpeting a grand celebration worthy of the world’s participation—this, an occasion to overshadow the impressive showing in portugal and boast new preeminence in the vatican’s eyes. the late king ferrant is to be sanctified, and france intends to outdo even its own reputation for opulence and excess. still, the audacity and french closeness with rome alarms some key players on the world stage. with france’s ascendancy, aragon doubts the pope’s reliability in avenging its old losses to cordoba. the holy roman empire, shaking under the weight of a new plague, further convulses with rage as it is sidelined in the canonization process for the first time in history. worse still, as 1458 turns to 1459, word spreads of violence in the french countryside as peasants bemoan the injustice of celebrating in the face of poverty and pestilence. echoed warnings from distant florence go unheeded. instead, the anjous polish paris for the world’s gaze as roman cardinals orchestrate brutality and bribery—all for the radiance of france, for the holy see, for international harmony. soon, sovereigns and nobles descend again upon a glorious event with high hopes and higher stakes. as golden rays of winter cool the city’s busied cobblestone streets, nations’ residual misgivings will prove resoundingly true: the balance of power is shifting once more, and only some will emerge as victors.