L'Astuzia Superiore? (Collab: Part VII)

[W Navarre]

Previously...

The Architect's Ascension: Part VII

“Ilazio! Traitor!” Arama said in disbelief, reproach in her voice.

She screamed as the guards dragged her and Luca, the former Rego, who showed no emotion towards his surroundings, lost in deep thought, further into the depths of the remote Varlyrian castello. Panic surged through her. 

“What are you going to do with us?”

He could throw her from the top of the tallest peak in the west. They could both die with their bodies left in pieces at the base of the rocks.

Ilazio didn’t answer. 

Luca stared at Arama in shock. For the first time he heard her speak to Ilazio as though she knew him, like she had an understanding with him. What had she done? “What do you mean ‘traitor?’” he said coolly. Was she even on his side?

Tears welled into Arama’s eyes, and for the first time a burst of fury passed over her. She shook her arms and jerked herself out of the hands of the guards until at last her wrists were red with the chaffing of the hard rivets and she fell upon her face on the hard stone flags. She turned her face up and looked at Ilazio Moccenigo piteously. 

Arama cringing behind Luca.

“You promised Luca and me amnesty,” she said and her voice broke. “What did it all mean to you then? Nothing?” Her lip trembled.

“Che?” Luca looked at her curiously. 

“I did,” the new Rego replied calmly. “You and Luca are safe from the popolazione, who would have torn both of you into pieces, and they are safe from your deception.”

“My deception?” Arama cried, turning herself over and pushing herself up with her hands. “Moccenigo, what about peace?”

“Oh, there will be pace now.” 

Arama looked so hurt, Ilazio felt sorry for her again now. But he didn’t show it. He just slowly pushed open the heavy metal door overlooking the neighboring towers. 

Arama looking out over the desert wasteland.

There from the tallest stone tower, hung from an over jutting beam of wood, sagged a rope, upon which swung a noble looking guard, with the epaulets of the Captain of the Rego’s Old Guard. It was Aluysio De Cioto. The pale blue sky behind him stretched out far over the desert, and a cold wind whipped through the stony chamber. 

Aluysio De Cioto, hanging between the desert and the sky.

“What about no bloodshed,” Arama asked, terrified and trembling, kneeling in front of Ilazio, Luca’s hand keeping her up. Her eyelids quivered with tears for her brother.

“There are other ways to kill,” Ilazio smiled and he looked at her with cold, hard eyes. “As far as I can see,” he said, “this is only fair.”

Arama knew it was. She had used the same tactics when she had betrayed Råiden and Brabantio for Luca. She had begged her brother to swear allegiance to Ilazio, to support the new Rego—but he had refused. 

She looked at Ilazio Moccenigo mutely. Did she see remorse in the repentful man’s eyes, or just cold calculation, the same he had used to cut her down on the rooftops? She felt something pressed over her eyes. 

“Arrivederci, Luca di Carlo e Arama di Athena De Cioto,” Ilazio said in a calm voice. 

She felt a rope wrapped about her neck and then she heard the tramp of the guard filing towards the wall.

“Pronto!”

Arama cringed and a low cry of fear escaped her. She only knew one thing: she wasn’t ready to die!

Ilazio put his hand on her shoulder and lifted her up to her feet. She leaned sickly against the wall as her blindfold fell from her eyes. 

“Take them below, and keep them there,” Ilazio said with a smile, “safe.”

Arama opened her eyes with a bitter, painful feeling of relief and regret. She was breathing hard. Luca put his hand into her hair, and she twisted her head to look at Ilazio one last time. 

“Addio, Arama,” Ilazio said.

And with that, the pair were dragged beyond the sight of Ilazio Moccenigo, deep within the vaults of the old desert castle of the west. Luca and Arama were thrown into the same cell, deep beneath the surface of the sand.

The architect of their ruin had traded them blow for blow. 

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 

Back in Illaryian, in the unfinished Palazzo Vincenzo, as the newly crowned Rego of Varlyrio, I wandered the halls that mio padre had prowled at night when he first discovered the secrets that had led me here, secrets now known across all of Varlyrio. 

The Chiaro boy had brought me my crown in good time, once it had been removed from Luca di Carlo’s brow, and I had personally conveyed the late Rego and Arama De Cioto far out into the west, together with several other dangerous traditori politici. 

It had been necessary to lock the pair up in the strongest, deepest castle in the realm, far away across the mountains in the wastelands, for even there, they could still cause caos if given the chance, and I was afraid that wouldn't take much. The rest of the traditori would never trouble Varlyrio again… that was certain.

I gave a slight smile as I looked off into the sunset towards La Tigre di Illaryian. Although there still remained mia famiglia to restore, that could wait; for my vendetta had succeeded. I was satisfied!

It was the same feeling I had received after my first commission, aided by my wise and shrewd father, that I won against the dastardly Edmondo Ziccardi, albeit narrowly and through un piccolo legal knothole. Even though those responsible for la morte di mio papà were still alive, I felt better this way! Perhaps it would do them good. 

Maybe, I had a thing or due to learn from mio nipote, Aurelia. I could never completely abstain from shedding blood, but rule with giustizia e il mio ingegno; my blade would only shine bright red when it was required to maintain the peace of the realm, and perhaps to construct a better Varlyrio. 

I laughed. No Rego could do that, even Sana Argenta herself hadn’t been able to quell the storms that bashed our guild… but one could hope. 

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Spoiler

It's so epic to finish this collab! What a ride the story has been, it was a pleasure working with you, Talus, thanks for the invitation, and in the future, maybe distant but still  , I sure hope to work on more collaborations! Great builds and great job on the story and writing you did, keep up the good work! And... watch your back too  !

I added a better picture of this vignette now that I got the chance, I really like how it turned out, let me know your thoughts in the comments below :) .

 

Edited July 18, 2022 by W Navarre

[Simon_S]

Wow great build! I love all the different colours and the texture of the tower.

[TalusMoonbreaker]

Like di Athena de Cioto, these complex conspiracies, get my blood pumping! I was really intrigued to see what lay ahead for this final build and it’s cool to see it last unveiled! As usual epic figs and nice details, so much fun stuff in a cute small space, compliments I give to all of your vignette trio (More comments for the build on Flickr, no need to repeat). I’m m really glad that you agreed to going on this crazy, adventurous ride with me, was a pleasure to work with you too and tandem-write this story! Thank you so much for inviting to that first collab back in August or September (posted before November), I can’t exactly remember; Ilazio wouldn’t be half the character he is if it weren’t for you (and Arama!). I look forward to the future although there’s a giant target on my back now, but that’s the fun part! (I’m so excited to see what your dear Cioto makes of this situation!) 

Grazie mille mio compagno di cospirazione! Viva Varlyrio! Verso il futuro! 
 

[Kai NRG]

This is a great vignette to round out the story, from the cute little rat on the sand dunes at the bottom, to the crown on the forestman's hat, to the spike on top of the flag!  Really neat blend of colors on the tower as I said on Flickr, and so many great level variations with all those brackets and stuff!

[W Navarre]

On 7/8/2022 at 12:08 PM, Simon_S said:

Wow great build! I love all the different colours and the texture of the tower.

Thank you, Simon! You were amongst my GoH inspirations from the long ago, so I'm happy to hear this from you :) . Glad you like the experiment! Maybe on a larger scale it could be even more impactful! 

On 7/8/2022 at 9:22 PM, TalusMoonbreaker said:

Like di Athena de Cioto, these complex conspiracies, get my blood pumping! I was really intrigued to see what lay ahead for this final build and it’s cool to see it last unveiled! As usual epic figs and nice details, so much fun stuff in a cute small space, compliments I give to all of your vignette trio (More comments for the build on Flickr, no need to repeat). I’m m really glad that you agreed to going on this crazy, adventurous ride with me, was a pleasure to work with you too and tandem-write this story! Thank you so much for inviting to that first collab back in August or September (posted before November), I can’t exactly remember; Ilazio wouldn’t be half the character he is if it weren’t for you (and Arama!). I look forward to the future although there’s a giant target on my back now, but that’s the fun part! (I’m so excited to see what your dear Cioto makes of this situation!) 

Grazie mille mio compagno di cospirazione! Viva Varlyrio! Verso il futuro! 
 

Ah, sì, davvero, il mio compagno, I appreciate the invite! Maybe not till next year, but I do hope to do another one some time! Yay! Mwahaha! We shall see ;) . Also, I was half worried you might be throwing in some extra twist without letting me know, like hanging Arama or some thing, so I was relieved to find out that that didn't happen  . She still has a lot to live for....! And I tell you the truth, I am fond of her!

On 7/9/2022 at 1:39 PM, Kai NRG said:

This is a great vignette to round out the story, from the cute little rat on the sand dunes at the bottom, to the crown on the forestman's hat, to the spike on top of the flag!  Really neat blend of colors on the tower as I said on Flickr, and so many great level variations with all those brackets and stuff!

Hehe, thank you! I tried to go with lots of details, although I liked the desolate look with less figs, and perhaps better to have had no one on the top of the tower, but I figured the details were fun for sure, even if not 100% the best artistic choice always (sometimes that's so hard to tell!) Also, I really wanted another brown turban, but I am grateful to Isaac, who traded me the brown one for three conquistador helmets (and I told him I was sure to use it soon  ).

[LordDan]

I love the texturing in this tower! Theres a wide variety of colors, from sand green, nougat, dark tan, and tan, and dark and light bley, and normally I feel like they would clash and look out of place, but it fits really well! I also really like the various techniques you use to create the dark bley mortar between the bricks. I also really like the contrast with the bottom portion, where everything fits together so smoothly, with the rough texture of the middle. Beautiful build!

[Grover]

Nice build!  I really like the inverted slopes to make the inverse corner at the base of the wall.  It looks great.  Kind of a bloodthirsty story, but it fits Varlyrio well.  The texture on the tower is very good, although to my eye there may be one too many colors.  They're all muted so it blends all right, but it's just a little too busy.  I can't tell what I'd remove, the green or maybe the tan, but I think I'd try it with a little less.  Overall a very nice job, and I look forward to more of yours!

[W Navarre]

On 7/14/2022 at 7:05 PM, LordDan said:

I love the texturing in this tower! There's a wide variety of colors, from sand green, nougat, dark tan, and tan, and dark and light bley, and normally I feel like they would clash and look out of place, but it fits really well! I also really like the various techniques you use to create the dark bley mortar between the bricks. I also really like the contrast with the bottom portion, where everything fits together so smoothly, with the rough texture of the middle. Beautiful build!

Thank you very much! I figured it would be key to really feel like you are in a hard, destructive desert! 

On 8/10/2022 at 11:15 AM, Grover said:

Nice build!  I really like the inverted slopes to make the inverse corner at the base of the wall.  It looks great.  Kind of a bloodthirsty story, but it fits Varlyrio well.  The texture on the tower is very good, although to my eye there may be one too many colors.  They're all muted so it blends all right, but it's just a little too busy.  I can't tell what I'd remove, the green or maybe the tan, but I think I'd try it with a little less.  Overall a very nice job, and I look forward to more of yours!

Thank you! I appreciate your advice and criticism, and will remember it for the future! This was almost like a wild experiment, so it's been great to have people's thoughts on the colours and the textures. 

[Grover]

On 8/12/2022 at 9:41 AM, W Navarre said:

Thank you! I appreciate your advice and criticism, and will remember it for the future! This was almost like a wild experiment, so it's been great to have people's thoughts on the colours and the textures. 

As I look at this again, it occurs to me that the red/orange background may be pulling that color out.  Maybe a white, black, or grey background might change the colors?  It's kind of nitpicky since you and all the others on here build so well, but I try to give the comments I like to receive, which is to help me learn new techniques, so hopefully this helps!

[W Navarre]

On 8/13/2022 at 7:32 PM, Grover said:

As I look at this again, it occurs to me that the red/orange background may be pulling that color out.  Maybe a white, black, or grey background might change the colors?  It's kind of nitpicky since you and all the others on here build so well, but I try to give the comments I like to receive, which is to help me learn new techniques, so hopefully this helps!

Yeah, thank you for sure! Well, I did try that and I recall it was a little more garish. However I can tell you it looked pretty nice in real life with the white background, but it just didn't turn out in the photo, I thought. But will keep in mind for the future.