Italy

The modern Italian Republic, Repubblica italiana, claims an ancient heritage as a center of the Western world for centuries, influencing politics, religion, art, culture, technology, philosophy, and exploration. The city of Rome became the center of a great empire that controlled much of the known world at its height before crumbling and falling prey to invaders.
Italian civilization declined during the Dark Ages, preserved almost solely in the strongholds of the Catholic Church, before flowering again during the Renaissance. The Italian states produced some of the world’s greatest scholars and artists, while Italian explorers discovered routes to the Far East and the New World, ushering in the Age of Discovery.
A unified Kingdom of Italy quickly industrialized at the end of the 19th and into the early 20th century, expanding Italian territory and influence, but a reversal of economic fortunes led to the rise of a fascist government, which allied with Germany and Japan as part of the Axis Powers during World War II. The modern Italian Republic was founded in 1946 after the war’s end, becoming a part of the European Economic Community and later the European Union.
VATICAN CITY The Stato della Citta del Vaticano, or Vatican City State, is the smallest recognized independent state in both area (about 110 acres) and population (just under a thousand at any given time). It is also one of the few remaining absolute monarchies, with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope of the Catholic Church, as head of state. Vatican City is the seat and sovereign territory of the Holy See (Sancta Sedes) of the Catholic Church.
The current status of Vatican City was established in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, establishing it as a separate and sovereign state. The walled grounds of the Vatican contain some of the most historic and holy sites in Catholicism, including Saint Peter’s Basilica, St. Peter’s Square, the Apostolic Palace, and the Sistine Chapel. More than half of its territory is occupied by gardens established during the Renaissance, some of which were originally orchards and vineyards.
THE ORDER OF ST. CYPRIAN Although the Catholic hierarchy plays down the matter of all-too-real demons—and diverse otherworldly evils—it does maintain the practice of exorcism to safeguard against them. In secret, it actually does a great deal more, and has for centuries, through the Order of St. Cyprian, patron saint of sorcery.
Cyprian of Antioch was himself a sorcerer, supposedly a practitioner of the darkest arts, prior to his conversion to Catholicism some time in the third century. In truth, while Cyprian did turn away from the most evil temptations of the occult, he remained a masterful wizard, and followed in the footsteps of Master Mage Simon Magus in helping to protect the world from dangers from beyond.
The Order that bears his name has functioned secretly within the Church hierarchy at least since the time of the Inquisition in Europe, when they fought true occult terrors, before the witch-hunts were co-opted for political purposes and ran out of control. Cyprian monks and nuns (the Order includes both) are guardians of the Vatican’s extensive occult library and collection of artifacts (one of the largest in the world) and continue to practice magic in secret, in order to wield its power against invaders from hellish netherworlds and those humans who would misuse it. Of particular concern to the Order is the identity of Earth’s future Master Mage, and ensuring that the role does not fall into the wrong hands, since that would mean all of reality descending into chaos.
The current Grand Master of the Order of St. Cyprian is Mathieu Lundi, a French priest and occultist with many years of experience as an exorcist, monster hunter, and scholar.
THE ORDER OF ST. DRAUSINUS Unbeknownst to the world at large, Vatican City also has the highest per capita population of superhumans in the world, largely due to the influence of the secret Order of St. Drausinus. It is the creation of Father Martin Sylvestre, a French priest and member of the French Resistance during the Second World War, who inexplicably gained virtual invulnerability after praying at the shrine of St. Drausinus, the patron saint of champions and the invincible. Unlike many of the more colorful heroes of the 1940s, Father Sylvestre kept his powers secret, using them to aid the resistance, and “faking” his own death on multiple occasions.
After the war, Father Sylvestre prayed for guidance and chose to disclose the existence and origin of his powers to his religious superiors. The unusual nature of the case drew the attention of the Vatican, allowing Sylvestre to offer a proposal: Surely the guidance of St. Drausinus was a sign, and there might well be other members of the community of the faithful who would develop strange new powers or abilities in the future. If so, then the Mother Church had a responsibility to seek out those people and give them moral guidance.
So it was that the Pope himself invested Father Sylvestre with the authority to create a secret schola to find, teach, and train super-powered Catholics, the Order of St. Drausinus. In the decades since, the Order has done just that, covertly finding and contacting those of the faithful blessed with miraculous powers, and helping to guide them in the responsible and Christian use of those gifts. Some of the Order’s students entered religious orders, and few ever became costumed vigilantes—much less criminals—although there are numerous urban legends of mysterious miracle-workers aiding those in need in places around the world.
Father Sylvestre ably navigated the treacherous waters of Church politics, particularly keeping his Order out of the hands of those who would seek to exploit it, and those who placed their trust in it. He maintained the mission of the Order was one of responsibility and mercy, not opportunism or indoctrination. Still, his legendary invulnerability did not extend to the ravages of time, and the founder of the Order passed away more than a decade ago. Father Sylvestre’s successor as head of the Order is Father Emilio Huamán, a psychic “sensitive” originally from Peru. His extrasensory powers allowed him to help detect and locate potential students of the Order for many years as Father Sylvestre’s trusted aide.

Type

Geopolitical, Country