Speranza — Lore

The oldest contrada in Toledo, an underground city built into limestone sinkholes beneath post-apocalyptic Italy. Year 2180. ARC machines harvest the surface. Raiders go Topside to scavenge what the machines haven't taken. The Tube network connects the contrade. Speranza means hope, and they mean it.

The Fall — How the World Broke: The Subsidence — How Toledo Fell Beneath the Earth

ORAL HISTORY — Recorded at the Canteen, Speranza SPEAKER: Nonna Grazia, age 94, original Subsidence survivor RECORDED BY: Lina Russo, Tube Network, for the Contrada Archive DATE: Year 143 of the Underground (sound of a spoon against a bowl — the tomato soup is always the same, and Nonna Grazia alwa...

The Fall — How the World Broke: Year One — Founding of the Contrade

CONTRADA BULLETIN — Speranza Historical Archive WRITTEN BY: The Archive Committee (eleven contributors, four of whom disagree with each other on every major point; this is considered healthy) OCCASION: The 143rd Anniversary of the Founding DISTRIBUTED: All contrade, via Tube post TO THE CITIZENS OF...

The Life — How We Live Down Here: The Slingshot & The Tube — How the World Moves Underground

TECHNICAL MANUAL — Tube Network Operations WRITTEN BY: Lina Russo, Slingshot Operator, Third Class (she will not let you forget the Third Class part; she earned it) INTENDED AUDIENCE: New operators, curious civilians, and anyone who thinks the Tube is "just a train" WARNING: The Tube is not a train....

The Raids — What We Take From the Sky: Raid Log — Cinghiali Squad, Entry 147

RAID LOG — CLASSIFIED: OPERATIONAL SQUAD: Cinghiali (Wild Boars) SQUAD LEADER: Capitana Rosa Ferretti ENTRY: 147 OBJECTIVE: Salvage run, Grid Reference T-14 (former industrial district, northeast sector) DURATION: 4 hours 12 minutes (surface exposure) WEATHER: Overcast, wind from the west, visibilit...

The Community — What We Build From What We Find: The Guild of Gears — On Taking Apart the Things That Hunt Us

GUILD OF GEARS — APPRENTICE ORIENTATION DOCUMENT WRITTEN BY: Enzo Moretti, Master Mechanic, Guild of Gears DISTRIBUTED TO: New apprentices, Year 143 intake (four this year; we are selective, but not unkind) READ ALOUD AT: The Gear Forge, with the furnaces going, because everything sounds more import...

The Hope — What Grows Underground: Speranza — A Word We Mean

FOUND: Painted on the wall of the Hub amphitheater, refreshed every year on Founding Day AUTHOR: Attributed to Lucia Speranza, though four other contrade claim it for their own founders TRANSCRIBED BY: Every child in Speranza, at age seven, as part of the Remembering Curriculum — There is a word w...