Girolamo Pisano
Biographical Overview
Youth
Girolamo was born to a poor family in Caletta, in the the Litoric Islands, in 580AR. Like so many Caletti over the decades of the late Age of Rule, the Pisanos emigrated to Calettina in the Promenade, following the established maritime routes between the two cities."They hated that the water was bluer and cleaner here, that our flags were richer and more vibrant, that our people were friendlier and wealthier. They hated that we were different." - Girolamo Pisano, Follow the WindsIn the Promenade, Girolamo was brought up in the cooperative and innovative community of Calettina, where he was offered an education few would have cared to give him in the Islands or the rest of the city. While his father was away on whaling vessels, Girolamo was taught to read, write, and think by the women of Calettina. He would eventually put that knowledge to use, to his people's credit.
Early Career
Girolamo faced great adversity upon leaving the community of Calettina, though he felt he had to. An ambitious young man, he was raised on the stories of early Anharan heroes, and dreamed of belonging with the people of his adopted land. Trying to ingratiate himself into the greater world of the Promenade, Girolamo suppressed his accent for that of a middle class Anharan, and set out for the Banksdale. Armed with his education and knowledge of Anharan myths, legend, and culture from a youth of reading, he slipped in easily amongst the up-and-coming clerks of the most burgeoning district in the Landside."It felt as if the colors of the Litoric Islands were painted all over me. I needed to repaint my hull, so to speak, to fit in amongst the hustling and bustling young men of the Banksdale. If they figured me out, I would be sent back to Calettina in retreat." - Girolamo Pisano, Follow the WindsYoung Girolamo impressed his way into the growing Merchants' & Traders' Trust, headquartered at that time in the Banksdale. While he started at a desk conducting mundane administrative work, his natural intellect differentiated himself from his contemporaries and forced him to make a choice. Girolamo could either struggle upwards with the rest of the mediocre crop of clerks, or he could cast off his disguise as an average Anharan and utilize his Islander background to his advantage. Girolamo chose the latter, and presented the Swanns with an idea. The Swanns had decades of exposure to the Litoric Islands, and harbored less of a prejudice than their fellow Promineres. Further, their love of commerce left them predisposed to an idea from any group, so long as it offered profit.
The Exchange
Girolamo described to the Trust's leaders the Islander concept of Plankholding Families. In the Islands, a plankholding family is both one of the founders of the unified nation, and those first sailors who own a "plank" on a ship by being part of the inaugural crew. Girolamo had the idea of creating company plankholders, individuals who could purchase a starter portion of a company to help it get off the ground. These planks could be sold for, hopefully, a profit at the Exchange or held for a portion of the company's income over time."13 planks were sold for a profit of 145% in the Deepquest Northern Transport Company, due to the new Prominere report on population in Owin's Station" - Plank Posting in the ExchangeThe leaders of House Swann were impressed by the young clerk and his bold plans, and put him in charge of this new program. While the opposition Girolamo faced from the rank-and-file he surpassed cannot be minimized, he was given a generally free-hand by the Swanns. His pilot program first needed to get off the ground, however. This saw Girolamo take to the streets of the Landside to convince the middling merchants to purchase planks in Deepquest Whaling vessels. Through a mix of savvy and personal charisma, the young Girolamo succeeded in both generating a profit and interest.
"Those with whom I spoke before taking the ship from Meridia to The Promenade seemed to be under the impression the merchants at the Exchange were Cothrum himself. Never have I heard more pompous words with less actual meaning than here." - Isobard Quickquill, Decadence of the Upper HalfWith his success, at the age of only twenty, Girolamo Pisano was sent to what would soon be renamed the Exchange Center, to oversee the construction of a new headquarters for House Swann. As a Litoric Islander, he brought some architectural influence from his homeland to the Promenade. Straddling a wide canal across the peninsula of the Exchange Center, products flow directly through the middle of the structure. The exterior blends the already Anharan-Litoric hybrid architecture of Calettina with the clean marbled style of the Coquet Heights.
The Waterspout War
By 42AM, Girolamo was advancing in age and had secured for himself an unassailable reputation as one of the most iconic residents of the Promenade. While he had overcome the prejudice that came with being from Calettina, or more likely suppressed it through his success, his fellow Islanders did not. When the Litoric Islands attacked Anhara in the Waterspout War, those issues came to a head once again."Lord Prominere has issued a writ, ordering the city guard to isolate the leeches of Calettina, lest they spy for the enemy." - Podspot Herald, 42AMWhile most of the fighting in the Waterspout War took place west of the Promenade, as a coastal and sailing-based city it was on high alert against the world's foremost naval power. A constant guard of the city was organized, and Calettina fell under immediate suspicion as a source of spies and traitors. The neighborhood was shut off from the city and the Calettini faced sweeping legal restrictions. In 43AM, midway through the war, the neighborhood was suspected of harboring surviving Islanders from a naval battle off the coast. Outside the gates of the neighborhood gathered a mob of Seasiders, who with the indifferent guards looking on, began trying to force their way into Calettina. As this siege was ongoing, Girolamo made a desperate plea to the advisory council of the Lord Prominere, and failed to gain an audience with the sheltered lord himself. Instead, he turned to the young Lord Gilbert I Swann, deferential to this old friend of his father. At the head of the Swann force, Gilbert and Girolamo dispersed the crowd about Calettina. For their actions, he and the Swanns earned great acclaim within the neighborhood itself, but not in the greater Seaside.
Legacy
Calettina was unique in the Promenade for being without influence from any major gangs. Girolamo brought his aversion to gangs with him to the Exchange, and tried his best to keep the institution aloof from organized crime. However, even towards the end of his life, criminal influence began to seep in. Despite Girolamo's best efforts to keep gangs away from the Exchange, the proximity to the levers of power drew in criminal and black market groups to the neighborhood. Even with that in mind, the Exchange today is one of the few places in the Promenade dominated by an international merchant class, rather than local gangs."The classes were being taught to children clustered around a statue of a well-groomed man named Girolamo Pisano, founder of the Exchange." - Isobard Quickquill, Whale Whale Whale, What Have We Here?Given his efforts against gangs and in defense of Calettina, Girolamo has been elevated to a revered status in the Seaside. While at the time of the Waterspout War, Girolamo and the people of the Seaside were butting heads, as the Age of Men marched on, animosity towards the Calettini wound down. Instead, as a man raised in the Seaside, who went to the corrupt world of business in the other half of the city and kept his principle, Girolamo came to represent the ideal for a Seasider. Within Calettina itself, Girolamo was first viewed with great trepidation, as someone who forced aside his heritage to play dress-up as an Anharan. As he grew more successful, and safe in his position, Girolamo became the largest charitable donor in Calettina, and began to speak proudly of his heritage. Returned to the good graces of his people, Girolamo would securely hold the position of the greatest Calettini.
Ethnicity
Other Ethnicities/Cultures
Life
580 AR
65 AM
645 years old
Birthplace
Place of Death
Children
Gender
Male
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
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