Revision as of 08:19, 7 July 2009

Baroness Lucia Ravanelli

Affiliations

Baroness Lucia Ravanelli is known among the world's nobility as the head of House Ravanelli, a noble family with lands and holdings dating back through the Italian Renaissance and well into the earliest days of the Holy Roman Empire. She is an active member of the Midnighters Club and frequently consults with mystics within that orders walls. In the thirteenth century she was affiliated with an ancient Italian order of mystics known as L'Ordine Antico e Magico di Hermes, the Ancient and Mystical Order of Hermes or OAMH. After the order was crushed by the Vatican's inquisitors in 1434 on charges of witchcraft, devil worship, and blasphemy, Baroness Ravanelli took the OAMH underground where it survived and publicly resurfaced in the 19th century. The OAMH also goes by another name, a name more indicative of its true purpose. For those knowledgable in arcane lore, this name is L'Ordine Antico e Malevolo di Hadeans, or the Ancient and Malevolent Order of Hadeans.

Backstory

To understand who Baroness Ravanelli is requires one to know the family she married into. The Ravanelli family was once a noble bloodline that flourished in the Italian Renaissance, but whose origins may date back to the days of the Ancient Egyptians. After the fall of the Mu mystics almost 14,000 years ago many of the Mu spread across the Earth, one such branch of survivors calling themselves the Hadeans. The Hadeans were always few in number but managed to spread across the known world, securing positions of security and power for themselves by remaining in the shadows behind the thrones of kings and emperors. As the Roman Empire was rising to power in 27 BC the Hadeans were there, quietly lending their arcane support to Ceasar and those who followed. During Rome's reign the Ravanellis were one of these Hadean families. They were often approached by Senators and officials who desired to utilize the power of the Ravanellis in pursuit of their ambitions. According to legend the Ravanellis were powerful necromancers, and they would frequently lend their dark powers to others in exchange for tribute. Although these tributes included lands, titles, gold, and slaves, the Ravanellis preferred one commodity more than any other - human souls. For centuries countless slaves, prisoners, and unfortunate rivals were quietly handed over to the Ravanellis, and although the Ravanellis grew tremendously in power they were unable to halt the decline of Rome in the 5th Century.

As Rome collapsed around them the Ravanellis managed to relocate to the Eastern Roman Empire, where they continued to survive and grow in power as they did in Rome. The Ravanellis returned to the West in 962, just as the Holy Roman Empire was consolidating its power across Europe. Due to the presence of the Catholic Church and their harsh positions against magic and science, the Ravanellis were no longer as open as they were during the time of Rome. Instead, in 965 they formed a secret society known as L'Ordine Antico e Magico di Hermes or OAMH, and only offered their services to those whose ambitions would find their work appealing. They presented their face to the world as a body of scholars, alchemists, scientists, and philosophers, but behind these interests lay their true power; necromancy. To the world's discredit, the OAMH was able to corrupt hundreds of nobles, royal, and even Church officials into utilizing the powers of the Ravanellis in exchange for temporal power, wealth, and human souls.

The OAMH grew immensely in power for several centuries, and it was during this time Baroness Ravanelli married into the family. Originally from a noble merchant family Venice, Lucia Vetrano married Baron Lorenzo Ravanelli in 1234, and almost immediately was she indoctrinated into the family business. Baron Ravanelli shared with his wife the necromantic arts of his family, and for the first century of her marriage to him she voraciously consumed as much knowledge as she could. For the next century Baroness Ravanelli honed her powers to perfection, forsaking a life she could have known for a much darker destiny.

Plague Walkers

By the early 14th Century the Ravanellis were gaining immense power, largely due to the fortuitious series of plagues that swept across Asia and Europe. The Ravanellis certainly seized every opportunity they could to be present during areas where the bubonic plague was rampant, starting as early as the 1320's in Asia and in Europe and Africa in the 1340's. The Ravanellis spread widely throughout Europe and Asia to capitalize on this event, claiming as many souls as they could while disguised as healers and clergy administering victims of the plague their last rights. Where historians estimate the deaths due to the plague around 75 million people, the Ravanellis may have easily claimed a few million souls for their own purposes because of this. The unfortunate losses due to the plague devastated Europe and Asia, but the Ravanellis grew terribly wealthy and powerful over the next century.

The Italian Inquisition

After tasting the power that was offered to her Lucia only demanded more, but unlike her husband she was far more patient and prudent in its acquisition. This became a point of contention between them, and they would argue over which direction to take the family. Lorenzo desired more temporal and secular power, having grown arrogant in his ability to corrupt others around hum, but Lucia preferred to remain in the shadows where few could ever find them. It was this difference that almost led the Ravanellis to being completely destroyed by the Catholic Church.

In 1434 Baron Lorenzo Ravanelli was arrested by inquisitors on charges of witchcraft, devil worship, and blasphemy, while his lands and holdings were seized by the Church. The Ravanellis throughout Italy, Germany, and France were also arrested on similar charges. The Ravanellis were found guilty of the charges brought against them, and those who didn't die during torture were burned alive at the stake. The only known member of the family known to escape this purge was Baroness Lucia Ravanelli, and there are two reasons scholars believe this happened. The first story claims that she was out of the country when the Inquisition came looking for her husband, and by the time she returned she had nothing left to be considered a threat. The Inquisition claimed that she was a victim of circumstance not responsible for the unholy actions of her husband, and by confining herself to a convent for the rest of her life she could repent her sins to God.

The second story is far more sinister, and claims that even though Baroness Ravanelli spent some time in a convent it was not so she could repent for anything, but to keep out of the public eye and disappear from history. Baroness Ravanelli may have entered a convent, but legend has it that she convinced the Vatican to allow her to continue her family's business. According to this version of the story, Baroness Ravanelli never reconciled with her husband over which direction House Ravanelli should pursue; where her husband wanted more temporal power, she prefered to remain in the shadows safely conducting the family's business. As Baron Ravanelli's arrogance grew so did the resentment of the noble and royal families throughout the Empire, resentments that eventually reached Rome. When Baroness Ravanelli feared this growing resentment would destroy everything the family had worked centuries for, she made an appeal to the Vatican and swayed them to understand exactly why the Ravanellis were a necessary evil.

Baroness Ravanelli convinced unnamed officials within the Vatican that the business of trafficking in human souls was a serious one, that if the Ravanellis were eliminated either another family would pick up the pieces or the world would suffer an even worse fate. Baroness Ravanelli swayed the Church officials that human souls were in fact the most valuable commodity known to exist, on this world and across many others, and that without someone to control the supplies of them the Earth would be overrun with all manners of evils seeking to consume or claim every human soul that existed; none of these souls would ever reach Heaven. With a family like the Ravanellis regulating this supply of human souls, or at least someone like Baroness Ravanelli, the vast majority of souls on Earth would remain under the authority of the Church and safely live out their lives. It isn't known exactly how Baroness Ravanelli convinced the Church officials to listen to her and not charge her with heresy or witchcraft - but they didn't, and according to this story the Baroness was able to strike an unholy and unforgivable agreement with the those in the Church who listened to her appeal. As part of this alleged agreement she made with the Vatican, in 1434 Baroness Ravanelli betrayed her husband, children, descendants, and most other family members to the Inquisition, effectively removing them as a threat to the Holy Roman Emperor and the Catholic Church. In exchange for this, Baroness Ravanelli was allowed to safely retreat her family's work back into the shadows and continue their unholy trade in human souls.

Return to the Shadows

Scholars aren't sure which story they should believe as there is little to no evidence of what happened to her after she was sent away to a convent. There are records of her death in 1468, and she allegedly bore several children with the Ravanelli name who were spared persecution. As plagues continued to ravage Europe the Baroness was left to her own devices, quietly working through intermediaries and gathering the souls of diseased and dying people across the continent. There are no records, of course, but scholars familiar with the Baroness' work estimate that singlehandedly she may have stolen thousands of souls throughout several centuries; the dark robed apprentices who traveled across Europe on her behalf easily increases these estimates tenfold.

As the decades passed and turned into centuries Baroness Ravanelli continued to exist using a myriad of identities, eventually resurfacing as the Baroness Monica Ravanelli in the 19th Century as a mystic in the revised L'Ordine Antico e Magico di Hermes in 1823. After Monica's "death" in 1893 she resurfaced again in 1913 as Baroness Sophia Ravanelli. Scholars suspect that as Sophia Ravanelli the Baroness may have assisted Benito Mussolini's rise to power in Italy a decade later, but whether she worked with Arachnos or independently to achieve this goal remains unclear. Sophia Ravanelli was also reputed to have made contact with members of the Thule Society in Germany, and through them connections with occult researchers within the Nazi Party. Considering the work the Baroness engages in scholars fear that she may have had some role in the Holocaust, preying upon hundreds of thousands of lost souls at the hands of the Nazis. No direct evidence has ever been found connecting Sophia Ravanelli to the atrocities of the Holocaust, but it seems logical that such an event would present a ripe opportunity for someone with a past like hers.

Sophia Ravanelli officially died in seclusion 1983, but the Baroness resurfaced once more as her descendant Lucia Ravanelli in 2003 during the wake of the First Rikti War. In this current identity, Baroness Ravanelli continues to carry on her family business of trafficking in human souls, but despite the vast holdings her family has throughout Europe she has been spending a lot of time in the Rogue Isles.

==Arachnos and the Rogue Isles== Baroness Ravanelli has some ties with Arachnos even though she is not a direct agent or operative for Lord Recluse. She has spent considerable time in the company of Ghost Widow and was allegedly involved in a plot to prevent Ghost Widow from coming back to life - something a powerful necromancer like Baroness Ravanelli could certainly accomplish. Even if this is true, Baroness Ravanelli is a frequent guest at Ghost Widow's tower and is often accompanied by a Fortunata Mistress at Ghost Widow's request. The exact nature of their relationship is unknown, but it may have something to do with Baroness Ravanelli originally coming from a Venetian family named Vetrano in the 13th Century.

The Rogue Isles is currently the focus of Baroness Ravanelli's attention. Within the Isles the Baroness has set up several operations that enable her to quite easily obtain the human souls she requires to conduct her business. There are many lost and forgotten souls already wandering the Isles desperate to find a way out, and just as many ambitious criminals and villains looking for new ways to get rid of old enemies. An agreement the Baroness has made with Doctor Aeon is to keep the Architect Entertainment facilities throughout the Isles stocked with a steady supply of soul trapped gems, an agreement that even extends into Paragon City.

The Second Rikti Invasion

Baroness Ravanelli kept a low profile during the Second Rikti Invasion, and she did not reveal herself during the early conflicts that began in July, 2007. In the years that followed, the Baroness has shown an increased interest in the Rikti invaders, hunting them directly herself or gathering information on the Rikti from other sources. When the Baroness learned that the Rikti were descended from humans in an alternate dimension she was thrilled; despite their outward physiology and genetics their souls were still human. Baroness Ravanelli had found the perfect source of human souls that the rest of the world wouldn't blink at eye at if they all went missing, and she has been working on procuring more Rikti souls since then. The Baroness is allegedley working with both Lady Grey from Vanguard and Ashley McKnight of the Midnighters in pursuit of the Rikti; where Vanguard wants to prevent Rikti technology from falling into the hands of criminals and the Midnighters want to defend magic from destruction at the hands of the Rikti, Barones Ravanelli only wants one thing - the souls of the Rikti.

Powers

Dark Blast

Baroness Ravanelli is believed to be able to draw upon the forces of the Netherworld to lash out at and strike down her foes. By channeling this dark energy through her she can wield powerful, life draining forces across a distance, slowly sapping away the life essence and the very souls of her targets. Victims whom she kills using these powers are not truly killed; where their bodies may die, Baroness Ravanelli is said to be able to claim the victim's soul for herself to use as she desires. This almost always involves trapping the soul into a specially prepared receptacle such as a gemstone, creating the soul trapped gems that are coveted by magicians, sorcerors, witches, demons, and even the world's heroes and villains for use as power sources in their arcane rituals or artifacts.

Dark Miasma

Baroness Ravanelli can also manipulate dark energies at will, creating fields of darkness that can slow or ensare her victims in pits of blackness or tendrils of dark energy. Using the forces of the Netherworld against her victims, she can feed upon their life energies and souls as a form of sustenance, much like a vampire can feed upon the blood of human victims to survive. There is no evidence that Baroness Ravanelli is a vampire or that she can only be nourished by life or soul energies, but her ability to do so allows her to recover quickly from injuries and appears to be partly responsible for her extensive lifespan.

Longevity

Baroness Ravanelli has lived for nearly eight centuries due to her vast knowledge of necromancy and her ability to sustain herself on the soul energies of her victims. Unlike some beings who completely consume and destroy souls to sustain themselves, Baroness Ravanelli feeds upon them much more slowly. Although ordinary food and drink sustains her body, the soul energies she feeds upon actually retards and perhaps reverses the aging process. A single soul can, according to the Baroness, sustain her for an eternity due to the energies it generates, energies that can be contained and drawn upon from the soul trapped gems she trafficks in. A side effect of this longevity is that Baroness Ravanelli's health and stamina are much greater than that of an ordinary human, allowing her to recover more quickly from fatigue and injury even when she cannot steal the energies of victims around her.

Flight

Baroness Ravanelli can attain wingless flight using her powers. She is likely able to draw upon the soul energies of her victims to carry her through the air as she desires. For those who have the ability to perceive spirits, when Baroness Ravanelli is flying she is often accompanied by several disembodied spirits who appear to be carrying her through the air.

Soul Mastery

Baroness Ravanelli is an ally of Ghost Widow and has learned some of her darkest secrets. Although the Baroness was already a powerful necromancer in her own right, the secrets she learned from Ghost Widow on how to further use the souls of one's victims as weapons in the temporal world can only make the Baroness a more frightening enemy to confront.

Contact Information

Baroness Ravanelli may be contacted on Triumph by e-mail using her name, Baroness Ravanelli. Her global channel that is valid across all servers is @Major Paragon.