The Gente

The GenteRome in the year 1794. For a hundred years vampires have made their home in the city ever since 'Great-hearted' Pope Alexander issued his famous Papal Bull proclaiming them worthy of the Church's compassion. Vampirism is the result of a mysterious condition known as 'The Affliction' which strikes a small number of children at puberty, transforming them into vampires and conferring upon them extraordinary, superhuman abilities. At the same time, their condition makes them vulnerable to sunlight.The haven of the Eternal City attracts vampire refugees from across Europe and beyond and the vast majority live at peace with their human neighbours. A faction, however, followers of a Transylvanian mystic known as Profet Walther believe that the vampires are destined to rule over Mankind. These 'Supremacists' are kept under surveillance by the Vigilanza, a lay order of the Roman Catholic church run by Cardinal Paternoster out of the Holy Office of Vampire Affairs.When one of the Vigilanza's leading investigators, Brother Aeneas McNeill returns to the city after an almost fatal encounter with a renegade vampire in the Carpathian mountains, Cardinal Paternoster informs him of a startling new development. Citizen Robespierre, presiding over the Terror in Paris has offered the French vampires equal citizenship hoping to enlist their support in the war against the enemies of France. This proposal, however, threatens to destabilise the Europe-wide tribe of vampires, collectively known as the Ruda. Only a parliament drawing representatives from the many vampire factions across the Continent can collectively decide whether to accept or decline Robespierre's proposal. This parliament is to be held in Rome, the safest place for the delegates to gather.When a high-ranking delegate to the parliament is assassinated it begins to look as if the Supremacists have embarked on a terror campaign. But to what end? Tensions in the city are running high as Brother Aeneas uncovers strange alliances being formed among the various political factions of Rome. But the truth is even stranger than Aeneas could have imagined.