Casa Latanzio

by Carmen A. Tanzio

>Carmen Italian on origin? I would'nt have guessed! Sounded more spanish.

Carmen of Estalian origin? I don't think so. My father's family hails from the Miragliano region of Tilea. There you will find the family name Latanzio to be very old and respected with a firm tradition in the arts, especially painting and opera.

(OK, they are actually house painters who like to sing, but a little embellishment won't hurt the story.)

There are the usual traditions about famous Skaven Fighters, since Skavenblight is so close to that area, but little can be proved. The stories of scandalous womanizing by the men, and power-hungry social climbing by the women are better documented.

(Everyone enjoys a good tale of whore-mongering cowards and gold-digging sluts. Just look at all the press Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky are getting.)

At the turn of the century, some members of the family joined an adventuring party to seek fame and fortune along the eastern shores of Naggaroth. The "La" part of the surname was dropped because it sounded too Bretonian.

(As we all know, real men do not sport Bretonian surnames!)

One member of the party, Michele Tanzio, returned to the ancient city of Remas with tales of glittering gems and black elfs, but little else. He met and fell in love with the 15 year-old daughter of the Doge of Remas, Angelina Miani. Angelina was tall, dark and beautiful. She was also pledged to the Convent of Myrmidia, but that did not deter Michele from pursuing her. When the Doge discovered the relationship, that did not deter him from pursuing Michele with an army of hired Sartosa assassins. The couple fled Tilea, and spent several years trying to escape the wrath of the Doge.

(So what would you do if you discovered a 30 year old bum had deflowered your 15 year old daughter in a convent?)

Michele and Angelina found refuge in a small town outside the far northern city of Erengrad, where they settled and raised a family. They had four children: three daughters named Antonia, Maria and Minia, and a son named Giovani.

(Tilean tradition keeps the wives at home, barefoot and pregnant. Let it never be said a Latanzio broke honored family tradition!)

Giovani was the youngest, but as is true of all Tilean families, was hopelessly pampered by his three sisters and his mother. He was barely out of diapers when tragedy struck. Michele was killed in an accident in the Erengrad shipyards, and the fortunes of the family took a bad turn.

(Never, ever drink while on a job, especially if it involves walking along high scaffolds!)

The young boy's idylic life had a rude awakening. He was forced to sell papers and fruit in the slums of Erengrad. The boy passed into manhood, and through hard work was able to purchase a modest residence for his mother and sisters.

(What? You don't think it is hard work managing the money of your mother and three spinster sisters? You try it!)

This branch of the Latanzio family tree might have passed into peaceful obscurity, were it not for a chance encounter, and the passionate blood coursing through the veins of all Latanzio males.

(Some say it is a curse, others a blessing. You be the judge.)

Giovani was walking through the central square of Erengrad when an elaborate coach passed by. Through the windows he caught a vision of beauty: Afia Pankava, daughter of the Royal Cobbler. She was seventeen at the time, with flowing, auburn hair and a dramatic smile. Eye contact was made. A quick, blushing glance, but it was all that was needed.

(Women simply cannot resist a leacherous smile!)

When the coach paused, Giovani rushed to the door, knelt on one knee, and presented a bouquet of flowers he was bringing to his sisters. Secret rendezvous, passionate vows and stolen kisses ensued, until the relationship was discovered by Teodore Pankava, Afia's father.

(Luckily, Giovani's sisters have given him money to buy flowers for a dinner party, or this might have been the end of our story!)

Teodore was a broad, passionless man who was consumed with his social status in Kislev Royal Society. Despite his connections among the Kislev elite, he was, after all, still a shoe maker. And this was a constant source of feelings of inferiority. To have his daughter marry a commoner, and a commoner not of Kislev blood was unthinkable!

(So what would you do if you discovered a 34 year old bum had deflowered your 17 year old daughter in your best coach?)

Charges of Chaos worship began to circulate, and in the realms of Kislev, even the hint of Chaos is all that was needed to to ruin a reputation, or forfeit one's life! A single man living at home with his mother and three older, unmarried sisters fueled the stories of Slaaneshi orgies. Like his father, Michele, before him, Giovani was forced to gather up his true love, Afia, Angelina, Antonia, Maria and Minia, and abandon his home. The entire family fled south to Marienburg on the Empire's western coast, but the charges followed them.

(Hey! They didn't know those were Slaaneshi rituals! Honest!)

Giovani placed his family on a boat bound for Bilbali. It was all he could afford. He joined a merchant ship and set sail for the high seas. Armed with a faded treasure map his father had given him, he vowed to return to his family rich, or not at all!

(I am sure four months on horseback with five nagging women had some influence on his decision.)

After a harrowing, two month voyage, Afia and her in-laws arrived safely in Bilbali. Afia was with child, and her in-laws secured various housekeeping positions to support the family. Afia used the cobbler skills learned from her father, and together the entire family was able to make a prosperous and secure life for itself. Eight months after their arrival, in the heat of the Estalian summer, Carmen Miani Pankava Tanzio was born in the city of Bilbali, Estalia. That is me.

(Oh! I guess Carmen is of Estalian origin. I never realized that before...)

True to his vow, my father never discovered the treasure and so never returned to the family. I can only hope that I have the same strength of character as he, and his father before him!

Carmen