Pietro Villanova - Explorer and Scoundrel
Picture by Toos

Pietro's (& Reinhard's) Twenty Questions

1 - What country are you from?
[speaking in Eisen] I was born in the port city of Hafen in the north of Eisen.

2 - How would you physically describe yourself?
I can’t afford much in the way of good clothes or anything, but I hope my looks make up for that. I have long, black hair, which I tie back to keep it out of my eyes. I don’t wear a beard or moustache – even though I’m 25 facial hair makes me look like a kid trying to appear older than he really is. My colouring is a darker than most Eisen. Mum told me my father was either Castillian or Vodacce, just one of many nameless, forgettable paying customers.

3 - Do you have any recurring mannerisms?
Not that I’m aware of.

4 - What is your main motivation?
See the world. Make a bit of money. Have some fun before I die. That’s why I joined the Explorers. They have fun: the dangerous kind.

5 - What is your greatest strength, and weakness?
I’m good with a sword and a bow. I can hunt and track. I can sneak up behind people and have a knife to their throat before they know I’m there. I never learned to read, which is a pain. I should try, but I’m kind of worried I won’t be any good at it right away. Don’t want to look stupid or anything, you know?

6 - What are your most and least favourite things?
Most: Exploring: some of the best fun I’ve had has been when I was travelling to remote parts of Eisen with Nikita Korov looking for the truth behind the legends of monsters and demons in local folklore. We didn’t always find what we were looking for, but we always found something interesting.
Least: Bossy bastard nobles who push you around and act all stuck up and arrogant just ‘coz some ancestor of theirs found some Dracheneisen. Doesn’t make them any better than the rest of us, just richer and luckier.

7 - What is your psychology?
My what? What’s that supposed to mean?

Hey, wait a minute! Am I meant to be answering these questions or is Pietro?
I thought I was talking to Pietro.
[in Vodacce] Oh. Well, I suppose we’d better start again then, hadn’t we?

1 - What country are you from?
Vodacce. My father is Prince Giovanni Villanova’s cousin.

2 - How would you physically describe yourself?
I think Reinhard already covered that, except I have far better dress sense.

3 - Do you have any recurring mannerisms?
I don’t know. I don’t think so.

4 - What is your main motivation?
Curiosity. I want to know everything. The Syrneth, for example: we’ve been studying them for ages but we’re only just starting to really figure anything out about them at all. There’s so much we don’t know, so much yet to discover. It’s fascinating. I’d love to make some kind of great discovery that advances our knowledge of them.

5 - What is your greatest strength, and weakness?
My strengths: I’m clever; I’m good with languages; I’m an accomplished swordsman (Villanova School); a crack shot with the bow; and not bad at hunting and tracking.
I am very similar to my father in many ways and mostly that’s not a bad thing, but there’s one trait I seem to have inherited from him that’s not quite so laudable. You see he’s never been able to resist a pretty, young courtesan, and, well… I’m similar; except it’s not just the ladies I’m interested in, if you get what I mean?

6 - What are your most and least favourite things?
Most: I have the same passion for exploration and discovery as Reinhard. What else? Good wine, the intimate company of someone special, or failing that, the intimate company of someone I’ve paid for.
Least: Dog mess, frizzy hair, wasps…

7 - What is your psychology?
I’m not crazy if that’s what you think! I know who I am.

8 - What is your single greatest fear?
Rejection.
I have this nightmare where I go home and my family don’t recognise me. No one recognises me because I am actually Reinhard masquerading as Pietro: I met the young Villanova during the war and we became friends but he was killed. I assumed his identity because who wouldn’t want to be a noble-born Vodacce if they could get away with it, rather than the impoverished son of an Eisen dockside jenny?
Don’t give me that look! It’s just a nightmare, all right!

9 - What are your highest ambitions, and greatest love?
Make a great discovery for the Explorers’ Society – something truly amazing! Something that would change the face of Théah, or something that would change our understanding of the world and how it works.

10 - What is your opinion of your country?
Vodacce is a great country. If only we could stop fighting amongst ourselves. If Vodacce were united we’d be unstoppable. I haven’t been back in five years and I miss the place terribly, especially Dionna Island where I grew up.

11 - Do you have any prejudices?
I don’t know. I'm not too keen on the Caligari...

12 - Where do your loyalties lie?
With my family, really, and the Explorers’ Society. I’m not sure what I’ll do if those loyalties ever come into conflict. I’ll just have to ensure they don’t.

13 - Are you in love, betrothed or even married?
Err… next question?
Are you in love, betrothed or married?
This is complicated. I always fall for the wrong people: whether they’re unavailable, hate me, are just not interested, or turn out to be evil, shape changing demons (don’t ask, because I don’t want to talk about it), it never works out.
Right now I’m in love with two people. One of these is a very good friend, probably my best friend apart from Korov. We haven’t known each other long, but we have so much in common and get on so well it feels like we’ve been friends for years. The problem is that I want to take things further than ‘just good friends’ but he keeps saying he’s not interested [sigh]. If I wasn’t sure I can convince him to change his mind I’d give up now before I wreck everything.
Then there’s Fiora. Everything was fine and romantic until someone told her I was married. Now she wants nothing to do with me. I thought she really liked me but it seems all I was to her was a potential marriage prospect. She used me. I still love her, though… I think.

14 - What is your family like?
My father and I have quite a good relationship. We share many common interests, and he was always around to give me help and encouragement (or a slap around the head when I deserved it). He funds a lot of research at Dionna University and oversees many projects himself. I suppose that’s where I must get my Explorer’s curiosity.
I don’t ever remember having seen my mother smile. She never recovered from the loss of my two younger brothers, neither of whom lived more than a few hours. Even the birth of my sister Alessia did nothing to improve her state of mind. I rarely saw her. Occasionally she would send for me and ask me questions about trivial matters while she picked through my fate strands, her face set in an expression of mild distaste. After a while she would suddenly dismiss me as though I’d done something to offend her.
My sister was only ten when I left home, so I doubt I would recognise her if I met her now. She is ten years younger than me and showed all the signs of growing into a powerful fate witch. My most lasting memory is of her sat behind my mother just staring at me with these huge, dark, unblinking eyes.

15 - How would your parents describe you?
Wayward? Good for nothing? Gone? Perhaps they miss me. I don’t know. Why don’t you ask them? I should return home and find out how they are, but I keep putting it off. I’m going to be in so much shit when I get back.

16 - Are you a gentleman/woman?
Of course I am a gentleman. I am a Villanova, and all Villanova are gentleman. To suggest otherwise would be to offend the family honour.

17 - How religious are you, and which church sect do you follow?
I don’t really think about religion, much, although I do go to church when I can. And confession. I’m Vodacce, so obviously I’m Vaticine.

18 - Are you a member of a guild, gentleman’s club or secret society?
The Explorers’ Society, of course.

19 - What do you think of sorcery?
Fascinating but dangerous. I’d like to find out more about how it works and where it really came from… Most of the women in my family are quite powerful fate witches, you know. Also, I’d like to find out why my fate strands aren’t quite like other people’s.

20 - What advice do you need to hear?
Hey, I’m already good enough at screwing up my own life, I don’t need anyone else’s help!