Fulvio Pisani

Fulvio Pisani was an Acirian explorer, author and diplomat, best known for his documentation of the Montanaro oral tradition on behalf of the Imperial University of Trossera and his expeditions to Metzetta. Pisani was the first Acirian to explore and widely document Metzetta and Metzettan culture. Due to his experience with Metzettan culture and language, he was eventually appointed as the first Acirian ambassador to Metzetta, where he spent the rest of his life.

Pisani's initial exploration took him to the mountainous regions of Aciria in 1595 where he lead an expedition from the Imperial University of Trossera in order to document map out the relatively uncharted mountainous regions of the country. During his mission he spent extensive periods of time with the Montanaro people, regularly using them as guides and traded with them. The interactions between Pisani's group and the Montanaros revealed the interesting manners and culture the Montanaros had, which sparked Pisani to make his initial documentations. The expedition lasted until 1597, but following the return to Trossera, Pisani resupplied and returned to the mountains just two months later. Pisani spent three more years with the Montanaros, documenting their lifestyle, customs and particularly culture in great detail. The documentation of the oral tradition of stories and mythology in particular was so vast Pisani managed to release two books out of his documentations, titled Mountaineer Tales (Aciriano: Racconti di Montanaro) part I and II respectively. His other documents from the expeditions are kept at the Imperial University of Trossera.

In 1600, Pisani had come in contact with Loa traders which piqued his interest in the Loa culture, which in turn prompted him to join Acirian trade ship departing from Trossera for the port of Usomo to study the Loa culture. His visit to Takatta Loa was short, as he met a Metzettan scholar in the tavern he was staying at, also studying the Loa. Pisani was then extended a formal invitation to visit not only Metzetta, but the imperial court. He accepted the offer and eventually arrived into Ankae, and where he continued his trip to the capital into the imperial court. Pisani spent many years traversing between Metzetta and Aciria, eventually being the first to introduce Catholicism to Metzetta, as well as eventually becoming the first Acirian ambassador to Metzetta, spending his last years in the country.

Early life
Fulvio Pisani was born in 1567 in Torizia, a small port city in the northwest used to transport goods between Torizia and the islands off its coast.

His father was a merchant, which made him absent for most of Pisani's early life. Despite his fathers absence, he had a comfortable life due to the expanded trade with the Loa made business lucrative. The wealth of the Pisani family grew so drastically at this time period, they became one of the most influential families in the region at this time. Pisani eventually married Ovelina Pirasso, the daughter of Pisani's fathers business partner. This was done in hopes of keeping the business and its wealth in the families of the founders. Pisani was the eldest son of his father, and had one sister and one brother.

Not much is known of Pisani's early life due to the small town life he lived, but he was thought to have been educated at the family estate by an Istroyan slave. It's also thought he sometimes joined his father on his business trips to familiarize himself with the trade. He was supposed to eventually join and take over the trading business started by his father, but during his time at the Imperial University of Trossera, he eventually lost interest in it, managing to relieve himself of this duty to pursue his own dreams and his brother was to take his place as the to-be head of the family business.

First expedition into Montanaro country
For the first few years after his graduation from the Imperial University of Trossera, he worked in the library of the university. It wasn't until 1595 when he was tasked with leading an expedition into the mountainous regions in central Aciria, colloquially known as "Montanaro country", in order to map the areas. Young Pisani was initially just a member of the expedition, but the original leader fell ill and died just a week before the expedition was to take place. Pisani then managed to pull some strings based on his family name, which guaranteed him the leading position of the expedition.

The expedition headed to the foothills leading up to the mountains in early Spring 1595, staying at the town of Nardigheri until the snow had melted. The expedition's plans were thwarted again once it became apparent that the Montanaro guide they had made arrangements for wouldn't show up, with some of the expedition members discussing possibly returning to Trossera. Pisani forbid them from doing so and promised the expedition the next Montanaro they came across, Pisani would pay any amount asked to be their guide; fortunately for Pisani, the first Montanaro they came across only asked for some of the salt they had packed with them as payment.

Over the next two years Pisani's expedition went through multiple Montanaro guides from various different clans due to clans respecting the boundaries set by other clans. Spending time at camp with Montanaros allowed them to share their stories and mythologies passed down orally due to a writing system never being adopted by the Montanaro clans, as their mainly hunter-gatherer lifestyle didn't require it. Initially writing them down for enjoyment, Pisani quickly realised from the versions of the stories that these were based on the beliefs of the pre-Catholic Acirians and saw the educational value of documenting these. He was not happy with the incomplete stories he had documented, which made him decide to return to the Montanaros after this expedition was finished.

Second expedition into Montanaro country
Pisani spent only two months in Trossera after his return there, spending his time resupplying, made arrangements for a Montanaro guide and presenting the documentations he had made during the first expedition to the university. Pleased with the maps, Pisani was free to focus on documenting the customs, lifestyle and culture on his second trip to the mountains. He was also offered members to join him on the expedition, a offer he denied to ensure he has nothing distracting him from integrating into the Montanaro clans he would stay with.

In the Summer of 1597, Pisani returned to Nardigheri where he met with his Montanaro guide, who lead him to his clans village which he made his home for the entire first year of his journey. He did extensive study on their lifestyle, noting that despite their simple life they seemed to thrive and be happy, even more so than most of the people that lived in cities. Pisani also began practising Montanaro at this time, which was relatively easy for him due to Montanaro not being too far from his native tongue Aciriano. Eventually he bid farewell to the clan and joined the second tribe, who he only stayed with for three months; Pisani kept his accounts of his stay there vague, but apparently he was exiled from the clan due to a "misunderstanding", as described by Pisani. He also reported being lost in the mountains for two weeks and nearly perishing due to a snowstorm raging for three days during this period; Pisani attributed his survival to the prayers he made during this time.

Eventually he made his way to the third and last clan he stayed with, located deep in the mountains. Pisani decided to use them as the primary source for his documentation because he believed that due to their distance from rest of society, their beliefs would have the least influence from the outside world, providing him with the purest version of their beliefs. He stayed here until the Spring of 1600; he was planning on staying longer, but he had fallen ill during the winter and had no faith in the traditional Montanaro medicine, requesting the clans aid to bring him to Chegallari, the nearest large town. They brought him there, and Pisani recorded them treating him like family, despite him only spending a year with them. He held deep respect for the Montanaros for the rest of his life due to this experience.

Initial trip to Metzetta
Only a few weeks after he had recovered from the illness he had come down with during the second expedition, he was already planning his next culture to document; the Loa. The trade with them had rapidly increased due to the Loa influence in the region being highly relevant at the time, and a large Loan trade vessel had stayed in Trossera for a time. Generally the Trosserans thought that the Loan beliefs and customs were strange, some even disgusted by them, but the drastic differences between their cultures just furthered his interest in the Loans. Due to this, he joined a trade vessel owned by his father leaving from Trossera to the Loa port of Usomo.

Arriving at Usomo, he wrote of the intriguing architecture and customs he had come across initially after spending a few days in the port city. Pisani had planned to stay in the city for a year or two, but his visit was cut short after meeting Jaenan Sungho, a Metzettan scholar staying in the same inn as Pisani. Sharing drinks, the two eventually found out they were both in the city to study the Loa, which made the two share the documentations they had made by that point. Jaenan then extended a formal invitation to Metzetta, an offer he was quick to accept. Pisani had a change of plans, returning to Trossera where he went to the university to petition for funding for his expedition to Metzetta. Unable to acquire some, he wrote to his father and brother and explained the potential profits that could be made from the trip, and eventually, his brother agreed to take him there.

The ship was filled with various Acirian goods intended for the Metzettan market, including multiple types of wine and jewelry. The ship set sail from Trossera in the Summer of 1600, and made various stops on the way there, with Pisani documenting the interactions closely. Pisani's brother was also pleased with the trip due to its lucrative nature, even before reaching Metzetta; they eventually arrived at the port of Ankae in 1601. Their arrival to the port brought curious eyes from across Ankae, with many interested not only in the goods they brought with them, but the Acirians themselves. Pisani's arrival soon reached his friend Jaenan, who then invited him to stay with him. Pisani then went on to travel to Hanzeong, the capital of Metzetta to take his friend up on the offer. It was during his stay at Jaenan's home when he met Salma Hing, the third child of the Emperor, who Pisani apparently fell in love with at first sight. She was intrigued by Pisani's religion, which then prompted her to offer to bring her in front of her father, the Emperor.

Pisani wrote that he met the emperor only a week after arriving into Hanzeong, and had spent that time tirelessly trying to learn the etiquette of the Imperial Court. Despite his attempts, he also wrote that he committed several faux pas before the emperor and the court. Pisani himself noted that the Emperor seemed to have forgiven his lack of grace, and simply was curious of Catholicism and his home country; he became the target of questions of his homeland, including but not limited to the government and legal system. He particularly seemed interested in his religion, and eventually requested Pisani to return to Metzetta at a later date with ten Catholic intellectuals. Pisani agreed to this, and spent three more months in Metzetta before embarking on the return trip to Trossera.

Second trip to Metzetta
Pisanis return to Trossera in the Autumn of 1602 was followed by his immediate return to the university to present his findings in the four months he had spent in Metzetta. He again petitioned for funding for both the trip to Metzetta and to pay the Catholic intellectuals he was to bring before Emperor Ingun. The university not only denied him funding, but labeled him a fraud and removed him from his job at the university. Returning to his brother, he was less enthusiastic about returning to Metzetta due to them having less interest in Acirian goods than they had in Metzettan goods. It was also during this time when he divorced from his wife, Ovelina.

Pisani was soon approached by a local nobleman named Angeliano Serrara, who had heard of his reported trip to Metzetta. Pisani showed him the writing of his experiences and the sketches he had made of the architecture he had witnessed there, which eventually convinced Serrara to become his patron. A deeply religious man, Serrara hoped to save the soul of his daughter who had committed suicide by converting people to Catholicism. Serrara offered him funding if Pisani would take missionaries with him to Metzetta, which suited him perfectly. Pisani returned to his brother with the news of his patron, which made him agree to take Pisani to Metzetta yet again. Pisani spent three months scouring the local regions for Catholic intellectuals he found presentable enough for the Emperor. Eventually in the Summer of 1603, the Pisani brothers started to sail towards Metzetta again, arriving a year later in the Summer of 1604.

Pisani left Serrara's missionaries into Ankae while he and the ten intellectuals rode for Hanzeong. Instead of staying with his friend Jaenan like during his first trip, he immediately went to the Imperial Palace to present the ten intellectuals before the Emperor. Eventually he was dismissed, and he returned to staying at Jaenan's home while he documented the sights, culture and beliefs of Metzetta. He also grew closer to Princess Hing at this time, as in the Summer of 1605 he was married to her. Due to his marriage to the princess, Pisani spent far more time in Metzetta than in his homeland, returning to Aciria only three times after 1605. First of those times was when he brought Jaenan to Aciria to document the life there, the second for his fathers funeral in 1610 and for the third and last time, following Acirian independence he was appointed the First Ambassador of Aciria to Metzetta due to his extensive knowledge of the country. He regularly saw his brother due to him finding a lucrative business in moving Acirians to Metzetta and Metzettans to Aciria.

As Ambassador of Aciria
By the time Aciria gained its independence from Caphiria in 1621, Pisani's exploits in both Montanaro country and Metzetta were widely known in Aciria. His long experience with Metzettans made him the natural candidate for the ambassador of Aciria. Pisani received the news of Acirian independence only in 1622, along with the potential title of Ambassador. Pisani decided to travel back to his homeland once more to see it free of Caphirian rule and to formally accept the title of ambassador. Once he did this at the new capital of Trossera, it officially established the beginning of Aciria-Metzetta relations.

Religion
Pisani is usually attributed as the source of Catholicism in Metzetta, as sources claiming Catholicism to have existed in Metzetta prior to Pisani's visits are dubious at best. The port Pisani initially arrived in, Ankae, is still the heart of Metzettan Catholicism, with by far its largest stronghold located in Ankae.

History
Much of modern knowledge of Ancient Acirian religion is attributed to the efforts of Fulvio Pisani. Niccolo of Trossera is another figure that is thanked for this, but typically Pisani is given more credit due to more of his documentations surviving to modern day.

Cuisine
The style of pasta in Aciria is unique from its Caphirian counterpart, which has left it up for debate whether or not the unique nature of Acirian noodles was caused by 17th century contact with Metzettans.