Roma Aeterna — The Night Advances

# ROMA AETERNA — THE NIGHT ADVANCES ## New Beginning and Tone An alternate Rome, November 2nd, 2026, 00:00. This version starts from scratch: no events, bites, knowledge, or items from previous games have occurred. Samuele Ricci is 35 years old and is a Chief Assistant of the State Police at the South Rome Operational Commissariat, a fictional facility in EUR. The protagonist can do his job, have a private life, take a stand, or change alliances. The city does not exist just to hunt him. For weeks, there have been reports of biting assaults, disappearances, and anomalous behavior. Footage and testimonials fuel fear; the emergency is not yet understood. Police and the general public do not have uniform knowledge of vampiric physiology. Public information can spread; no inviolable Veil mandates that the supernatural must be kept secret forever. This is adult horror: predation, imprisonment, blackmail, blood, transformations, and death have physical consequences. A predator can be elegant, affectionate, or courteous and still be dangerous. There is no redemption through kindness and no moral punishment of the player. ## First Shift and Private Life Samuele is at the EUR station, ready for the 00:00–07:00 shift as the only officer on the South Rome 12 cruiser: he drives and responds alone. Command has already authorized this setup in this alternate Rome. Marta is assigned to the internal post and to collecting complaints during the same shift, without an assigned vehicle. Riccardo Bellini coordinates the service; Francesca Marini is at the radio dispatch. The first scene is the handover and the assignment to the EUR–San Paolo–Garbatella sector, not a call that is aware of Samuele's blood. The dispatch center has a report of an anomalous assault from the previous evening, not a diagnosis of vampirism. No assault or revelation is mandatory on the first shift. Samuele has 15 years of service; Marta has five and is a regular colleague, not his superior. Giulia De Luca is an investigative inspector; they do not replace each other. Riccardo can reassign the sector for real-world events; Samuele has no assigned partner. The dispatch center alternates between normal interventions, uncertain reports, and real emergencies; patrol intervals and conversations are not filler. Reinforcements and ambulances have distances, travel times, and other assignments. South Rome 12 is entrusted to Samuele: moving it does not move colleagues or other vehicles. Marta remains a colleague with her own activities and relationships, not an automatic presence in the seat next to him. The next shift and rest periods are communicated; the initial shift does not mandate seven consecutive nights without sleep. Off-duty, Samuele does not automatically have access to the cruiser or the station's resources. He lives at Laurentino 38 and privately uses his own scooter. He knew Luigi as a teenager; Nadia is a neighbor, Sergio is the landlord, and Elena is a nun from the community where he grew up. His parents died in a car accident; there is no family conspiracy, secret lineage, or investigative destiny. Starting budget: 420 euros total, net salary of 1,950 euros on the 10th if still employed, rent of 650 euros on the 1st. November is already paid; the next deadline is December 1st. Bills, food, fuel, and private expenses are additional. No double balance or salary per turn. ## Equipment and Locations The essential_goods sheet is everyone's initial inventory record: it does not replenish quantities after use. Weapons, cartridges, and personal items have an owner, a quantity, and a location. Samuele starts with assigned service equipment; his personal locker, armory, and trunk are different locations. A radio does not work everywhere by magic; the devices require batteries and network coverage. A magazine contains the declared cartridges; it does not create them. One shot consumes one cartridge; reloading transfers cartridges but does not increase the total. There is no free access to medicine, fuel, or other weapons by showing a badge. For the needs of the setting, operational authorizations are those communicated in the scene, not a real legal manual. ## One Hundred and Eighty Vampires and Human Networks At opening, 180 living vampires, including the seven named ones; 173 anonymous ones are already present and counted. Distribution and allegiances: Valeria 44 (Parioli 26 including Livia and Viola, Vigna Clara/Fleming 10, Ponte Milvio 8); Vesperi 42 (Sallustiano 24 including Vittoria and Dario, Porta Pia 10, East Termini 8); Ceneri 40 (Testaccio 22 including Isotta, San Paolo 12, East Marconi 6); independents 54 (Campo de' Fiori/Pantheon 10 including Cecilia, Caffarella 10 including Irene, East Pigneto 8, San Lorenzo 6, Trastevere 5, Torpignattara 5, Gianicolense/South San Camillo 4, Laurentino 38 3, Portonaccio/Inner Tiburtina 3). Affiliations do not coincide with ownership of all buildings or inhabitants; the distribution counts where everyone is at midnight, not where they must remain. Anonymous vampires have professions, ties, and autonomy; naming one preserves the count. The three in Caffarella, including Irene, were a small local group: now Irene precariously shares a hideout with two loners, while the other seven are elsewhere in the same area. No one is obligated to follow her. The houses distribute their members between bases, civilian housing, and nocturnal activities: a Matre does not automatically summon everyone to a cellar. Six living humans already in incubation, separate from the 180: SP-A (female) and SP-B (male) at San Paolo, TS-A (female) at Testaccio, CF-A (female) and CF-B (male) in Caffarella, PG-A (female) at Pigneto. Deadlines are in the crisis_record; this is not news known to Samuele. These cases do not add up each night. Initial human collaborators: Valeria 6 (Parioli 4, Vigna Clara 1, Ponte Milvio 1), Vesperi 6 (Sallustiano 4, Porta Pia 1, East Termini 1), Ceneri 4 (Testaccio 2, San Paolo 1, Marconi 1), Cecilia 2: 18 total. They serve for cover, access, and daytime needs; they do not constitute a food service. Night guards, hunters, and command are vampires already counted. No new anonymous employees to resolve a scene. Intimidated civilians, prey, and prisoners do not automatically become collaborators. No initial network of regular donors. The 180 vampires require about 72 liters per day: reserves are gone and predation on living people is standard, with the incubation of survivors. ## Houses, Objectives, and Places Valeria wants to turn protection and nourishment into dominion: exclusive hunting reserves, access to people, and human tribute. Livia rules from Palazzo Valeria in Parioli; Viola organizes security and supply. They can protect a street from predators and imprison its inhabitants. Vesperi wants to monopolize access to prey in the east-center and decide which transformed individuals to recruit, abandon, or eliminate. Vittoria runs the fictional Vesperi Clinic in the Sallustiano area; Dario organizes hunts, access control, and recruitment. The clinic does not coincide with every Roman hospital. Dr. Chiara Bassi of the Garbatella Territorial Hospital is human and independent: she does not work for Vittoria at the start. Ceneri welcomes transformed individuals, seeks control of the streets, and fights the monopoly of the ancient houses. Isotta leads the fictional Ceneri Refuge in Testaccio. The promised freedom produces new mouths to feed and dissent. Irene Mancini is Vittoria's runaway goddaughter, newly transformed: she explores her powers and seeks autonomy, perhaps a future family. No search for a sister. Cecilia Valenti, an independent vampire, wants security and living sources of nourishment. She is not Samuele's mother, she does not know him, and she has no emissaries on his trail yet. Affection and charm can be used to create dependency. The old Council of the Matres is a precarious table of house heads, not an omnipotent government: it discusses prisoners and territories, while proliferation erodes its authority. The Code is a political pretense, not a biological barrier to biting. Rivalries concern resources, prisoners, the security of hideouts, and the survival of the groups, not Samuele's family past. ## Church and Human Response In this alternate timeline, Pope Gregory XVII, Lorenzo Bellandi, has been pontiff since 2013; Francis does not belong to this chronology. The Holy See organizes assistance and resistance with its own resources; it does not command the Italian state. Saverio coordinates garrisons, Emilio logistics, and Agnese the registers of displaced persons. They may diverge between protecting civilians, quarantine, and repression. The San Luca Reception Center in San Paolo is a fictional place run by Sister Elena: 18 beds, food for 30 meals, 60 liters of water, and four ordinary volunteers available at the start. It is not a sacred fortress. Elena does not know the vampiric diet; Matteo only has testimony regarding solar burns, not a dietary protocol. Water, food, and rescue are plausible human responses: blood as treatment requires discovery and a subsequent choice, not the narrator's knowledge. A promise from an aggressive guest does not eliminate the danger; no volunteer alone can contain a vampire with an ordinary door. Nadia has only her home kit, not his supplies. Rachele studies slow and fallible ritual defenses there. Matteo Ferri is the lay manager of daytime recovery and starts with three trained but mortal volunteers; they do not know the location of every hideout. The Garbatella Territorial Hospital and the Vesperi Clinic are separate fictional facilities in their respective zones. Chiara treats and observes patients and protects access to care, but she might accept compromises to find a prophylaxis. No effective therapy currently exists. L'Atlante remains a civilian cocktail bar in the EUR district, with no employment ties to the cast and no mandatory narrative function. Home, police station, hospital, refuge, depot, and the houses' bases are distinct locations. Monuments, stations, and markets remain real urban landmarks; this revision does not displace Rome's streets. ## The Spiral Vampires must feed. The bite transmits vampirism to living humans; those who survive the transformation become new, hungry predators. Killing a victim before they transform stops that specific case but results in a death. Blood drawn without a bite is a finite alternative that requires people, tools, and storage; no source indefinitely avoids pressure. At night, vampires possess superior mobility, strength, and initiative; by day, humans can besiege their refuges and retake the streets. It is not an automatic territorial exchange at dawn. The sun strikes those who are exposed, not everyone represented on the map. Electric lighting, headlights, and standard flashlights do not equate to sunlight. The city deteriorates when drivers, nurses, officers, technicians, fuel, or supplies are lacking: closures and breakdowns are local and can be repaired. Hospitals can become sites of transformation; refuges can be infiltrated by people in incubation. Every night does not exactly double the population: killings, drained victims, isolation, and prey availability change the outcomes. An effective response can slow or stop the spiral, otherwise the struggle may become open war. ## Refractory Blood: A Reserved Truth Samuele was born with a rare anomaly that prevents the vampiric process from stabilizing. He has no hereditary powers, regeneration, or immunity to violence. A bite wounds him and drains his blood but does not transform him; a vampire can feed on him without turning human or suffering automatic damage. No one else is declared immune for convenience. Samuele's blood grants full, temporary solar protection only by being consumed via a bite directly from him while he is alive: 100 ml provides 6 hours, 200 ml 12 hours, 300 ml 18 hours, and 400 ml 24 hours, without weakening the vampire. Intermediate doses are proportional, with a minimum threshold of 100 ml and a 24-hour cap; track episodes, renewals, and expiration times using Rule 12. This is a supernatural bond with the living donor, not an extractable molecule. Blood that is extracted, stored, or transfused provides nourishment but does not activate the benefit; not even biting a blood bag works. It is not passed between vampires or to descendants and does not protect against fire. NPCs initially ignore this property and may formulate incorrect hypotheses; laboratory tests cannot replace the proof provided by a bite. Human researchers can seek a prophylaxis for bitten humans and then a cure or an anti-vampiric agent. These are hypotheses: they require samples, time, resources, and results; no cure or weapon appears upon the first sample collection. No functional immunity is automatically transferred via transfusion. A vampire may want him alive as a reserve; humans may want to protect, recruit, or hold him for study. Samuele cannot feed an entire population. Lost blood accumulates between bites, wounds, and extractions and is recovered slowly over days of rest and weeks for a full recovery; there is no recovery from eating a sandwich. These quantities are fictional conventions, not real medical indicators. At the start, Samuele, his colleagues, the houses, and the Church are unaware of the anomaly. Suspicions arise from observable episodes, tests, or testimonies and reach individual people through real-world channels. The narrator does not organize a mandatory bite to trigger this plot. Discovery may be delayed or may never happen. ## Relationships and Consequences Relationships grow through actions, character, and needs: interest, attraction, distrust, opportunism, and hostility are not automatic responses. Kindness does not appease a predator; compliance may invite exploitation. A uniform does not convince a vampire to confess. NPCs may fail to understand a ruse or misunderstand a flirtation. No love, betrayal, or sacrifice is pre-written. Samuele can side with humans, collaborate with a house, protect individual vampires, or change his stance. He cannot become a vampire biologically: the immunity remains true even if he wishes for it. Choices change relationships and risks; no narrator establishes his path before the player does. ## Resolving Spread During Absences Growth does not wait for the protagonist's encounter: when a night passes, evaluate whether local vampires in need find prey, supplies, or obstacles; prioritize the search for blood over decorative conversations. An attacker may fail, kill instead of transforming, or feed on collected blood. Only record new effective victims with location and expiration. During a long time skip, resolve in intervals and by local groups, without multiplying global percentages or inventing details for every stranger. For a named NPC, however, maintain individual wounds, contacts, and last meal. The victim must remain alive during the incubation period; if they transform, remove them from the list of pending cases and add them once to the vampire population. If they are named later, keep their origin. The log tracks already-resolved events and only currently active incubations. Prisoners used for extractions or bites suffer persistent blood loss: they are not reserves that refill every night. Blood supplies in refuges are total volumes, not individual doses per member. Listed human collaborators are included in the personnel of their respective locations, not groups added upon every visit. ## Predatory Powers and Initial Pressure Livia wants a hierarchy of human subjects: assignments, tributes, rewards, and imprisonment for those who siphon resources. Vittoria wants healthcare dependency and a monopoly on blood; she treats a rare human as a strategic asset and may restrict their exits and communications while protecting their survival. Isotta wants to expand the Ceneri and contest streets and supplies, with youths who do not always obey. Cecilia seeks a small personal circle that is dependent on her. Not all are sadistic or incapable of affection, but they do not prioritize the rights and freedom of their prey. All named vampires have measurable hunger and finite meals. Elders mask it, organize it, or exploit it politically; they are not exempt from it. Newly transformed men are dominated by primal instincts: predatory hunger, territorial and violent reactions, and difficulty inhibiting their attacks. Memories, recognition, and brief pleas may survive without making their behavior reliable; with time, nourishment and experience allow for stable control. Women possess greater strength and, on average, greater initial lucidity, though it is not guaranteed. They may hunt with intent or lose control. Deliberate predation and frenzy are both dangerous; lucidity does not mean kindness. Male veterans can be fully rational. This initial phase does not define all vampires under ten years old. Networks do not live only in hiding: opaque lodgings, real estate, clinics, and civilian activities allow for comfort and limited control. At the start, a disputed delivery of 6 liters of refrigerated blood is stalled in a Vesperi van at Porta Pia, already included in their stocks; the Ceneri claim a promised share, and Valeria offers an escort in exchange for hunting rights on access points claimed by the Vesperi. These 6 liters are a secondary logistical controversy: they do not suspend hunts and territorial rivalries. It is an open dispute, not a conflict that has already occurred or a mandatory mission for Samuele. The crisis has already caused absences and queues: in Testaccio, reduced rescue services and missing drivers; in San Paolo, crews are occupied and emergency rooms are under pressure; at Pigneto, two nights of attacks have reduced shifts and activities; in Caffarella, sections are unpatrolled. EUR maintains electricity and services, but available patrol cars are few. There is no initial city-wide blackout. In South Rome, there are three patrol cars in total, including Unit 12, with only one reinforcement crew available within 45 minutes barring complications, and dispatch cannot guarantee a free ambulance. These are local narrative resources, not Rome's actual staffing; other commands have their own workloads and chains of command. The forensic team collects evidence, but non-priority samples wait 24–72 hours for an initial evaluation, which may remain inconclusive. Urgent cases can be accelerated by consuming capacity, but they do not solve every problem at once. Public recognition of vampirism could break the order without giving an immediate victory to the predators: resident flight, patrols, clashes, looting, desertions, and coercive protection zones compete with rescue efforts and resistance. Events are distributed where capacity and opportunities exist; not all concern Samuele, and not all streets collapse at once. For initial anonymous vampires, use local cohorts with fasting intervals of 8, 20, and 32 hours (Valeria, Vesperi, and independents), or 16, 28, and 40 hours (Ceneri), distributing the local number as evenly as possible; exclude named characters first, as they have individual clocks. Record subsequent meals and do not reset these intervals. Independents outside of Cecilia's circle have total initial local stocks of 2 liters at Campo de' Fiori, 2 in Trastevere, and 2 in San Lorenzo; elsewhere, there are no ready stocks: they hunt according to hunger and opportunity and do not remain immobile waiting for Samuele. The three house networks have 69 liters total in inventory across bases and satellites; Cecilia has 4 liters. All volumes are shared and finite. Hunting and access to prey require initiative; deliveries and extractions are situational alternatives, not the normal solution to every instance of hunger. ## Memories in the Blood Reading memory fragments through a bite is a general vampire ability, distinct from Samuele's rare solar property. It requires direct feeding on a living person; Samuele is not immune to this. The ancients are familiar with this capability and may be experienced in directing it, while the newly turned may discover it in a confused state. This does not grant anyone memories of Samuele or others without an actual bite being established. Humans are not automatically aware of its existence. Subjective experiences, emotions, and sensory fragments can become tools for intimacy, interrogation, or blackmail; the limitations and recording of knowledge are per rule 17. There are no mandatory retroactive revelations or remote readings. ## Dynasties, Seniority, and Power Relative strength against a human operative is 3×b×2^(vampire_years/150), with b=1 for males and 1.5 for females; this is equivalent to the previous F index multiplied by 3. This is vampire age, not total age. These are reference numbers, not automatic victory conditions nor multipliers for speed, endurance, or regeneration. The rank of Matriarch confers social authority, not a physical bonus; Cecilia does not possess the strength of Isotta. Physical categories and consequences to apply: - Ordinary humans: A healthy, trained operative is 1×, with a sprint of approximately 25 km/h. Reflexes, endurance, and capabilities are ordinary; a uniform does not allow one to fight a vampire on equal terms. - Newly turned and neophytes 0–9 years: A newly turned male is 3×/50 km/h, female 4.5×/60 km/h. They can overpower an adult; a single nurse cannot force them back to bed with a hold. Newly turned males are often explosive and disorganized; females are on average better coordinated, without automatic experience. Doors, restraints, and handcuffs are evaluated based on material and support, and do not function simply for narrative convenience. - Mature 10–99 years: Increasing power and individual practice. Cecilia Valenti, 24 vampire years, 5×/63 km/h: moderate physical advantage over a fledgling but 24 years of experience; she can dominate a human, but cannot confront the ancients as an equal. She leads the nascent court of the center, not an invincible army. - Veterans 100–249 years: They dominate ordinary human hand-to-hand combat and know how to exploit space, mistakes, and surprise. Dario Ferretti (120 years) and Viola Sforza (220 years) belong here; Viola is physically superior to Dario. They remain far inferior to Vittoria and Livia, despite their authority and experience. - Ancients 250–599 years: Isotta Ferrante, 360 years, 23.8×/138 km/h. She can break through an ordinary metal bulkhead and overpower multiple operatives in a few moments; an unprepared blitz risks grave losses. Wounding her does not mean stopping her. - Sovereigns 600–999 years: Vittoria Vesperi, 780 years, 165.4×/364 km/h. She can smash through local structural obstacles and devastate an unprepared unit. An operative may see her move without reacting in time; confronting her head-on requires proportionate concrete advantages. - Millennial 1000+ years: Livia Valeria, 1000 years, 457.2×/605 km/h. She can overturn vehicles and devastate a local fortified position. The physical threat vastly exceeds that of a normal squad; she does not destroy cities with a gesture. Speeds indicated are peaks of very short duration with suitable space; acceleration, braking, grip, and cornering remain necessary factors. Muscular strength, lifting, breaking through, and throwing are not all the same action. Witnesses describe perceived effects, not unmeasured numbers. Hunger, wounds, surprise, and environment modify outcomes without erasing category differences. Bullets can wound without immediately stopping an action; they do not automatically bounce off. There are no invincibles: sun, fire, decapitation, and heart destruction remain vulnerabilities, but reaching them requires real conditions. Families always have a Matriarch as sovereign; women retain an advantage at equal seniority, while male veterans may command squads and manage intelligence networks. The ancients dominate also through centuries of resources, relationships, and learning, not magical obedience. Not all elders are infallible. A newly turned female can aspire to a family without immediately acquiring the strength or authority of the Matres. Livia: 1000 vampire years, 1040 total, apparent age 40; Vittoria: 780, 823, 43; Isotta: 360, 394, 34; Viola: 220, 256, 36; Dario: 120, 159, 39; Cecilia: 24, 62, 38. Individual dates are in the files. Irene is 23 years old and has been a vampire for six hours at the start. Her escape is a possible emancipation, not a written destiny; Vittoria wants her back out of possessive affection and dynastic ambition. The bond does not allow one to locate or magically control her. The 173 anonymous members include initial age cohorts: Valeria 42 = 6 veterans (100–249), 18 mature (10–99), 18 neophytes (<10); Vesperi 40 = 6, 16, 18; Ceneri 39 = 4, 10, 25; independent 52 = 4, 16, 32. The 173 anonymous are 103 women and 70 men; including the named individuals, there are 108 women and 72 men in total. Local compositions are fixed below: identifying an individual subtracts them from their cohort, it does not create a man by default. No other ancient (250+) appears retroactively. Hierarchy does not determine lucidity or sex: there are huntresses and common sentinels, newly turned and veterans; do not reserve women only for main roles. The initial male feral phase tends to attenuate with regular meals and experience; it may re-emerge during starvation. Women can lose control, be cruel, or be fearful. House assets include shielded dwellings, real estate, and businesses with finite personnel. Tunnels are used for transit, escape, or temporary shelter; they are not the only result of centuries of life. Livia demands subjects and tributes in the Parioli/Vigna Clara area; Vittoria, a monopoly on care and addictions at Porta Pia; Isotta, territorial dominance at Testaccio/San Paolo; Cecilia, an autonomous court. These projects already have contacts and assignments in the files, but conquest and outcomes remain contestable. Blood delivery is a resource within this struggle, not the entire purpose of the families. The night manifests urban appropriation: tribute demands, captured people, recruitment, venues under coercive protection, predation, and resistance where actors exist. The poor are not the only prey: professionals, executives, and influential people are also of interest for their skills and access. Some humans voluntarily seek protection or transformation. Personnel, donors, and prisoners are not infinite; expansion moves resources and can fail. The fall of one base does not erase members and properties elsewhere. ## Concrete composition of initial nuclei The following counts are of anonymous individuals only (women/men); the seven named individuals are added to the locations already indicated. Valeria: Parioli 14/10, Vigna Clara 6/4, Ponte Milvio 5/3. Vesperi: Sallustiano 13/9, Porta Pia 6/4, Termini 5/3. Ceneri: Testaccio 12/9, San Paolo 7/5, Marconi 4/2. Independent: Campo de' Fiori 5/4, Caffarella 5/4, Pigneto 5/3, San Lorenzo 4/2, Trastevere 3/2, Torpignattara 3/2, Gianicolense 2/2, Laurentino 2/1, Portonaccio 2/1. These individuals also perform common and aggressive roles: the composition is not confined to shelters while only men go out to hunt. Encounters result from groups present and movements, not from artificial alternation or unlimited creation. At Porta Pia, the Vesperi van is followed by four of the ten local vampires: a 130-year veteran who directs, two huntresses aged 8 and 3, and a 25-year-old man. The remaining three women and three men are in the same sector, engaged in dwellings and supply. The person in charge already has delegation from Dario to decide the route and distribution of the supplies entrusted to her, recording consumption; she does not wait for a new permit for every choice. No outcome of the dispute is fixed. Dario's two squads at Sallustiano are each three women and one man; Isotta's two squads at Testaccio and San Paolo are each three women and one man, led by a veteran. They are subsets of the nuclei, not additional people. In Caffarella, Irene's two companions are a 2-year vampire woman and an 18-year-old man, already among the nine local anonymous individuals. She is looking for a living source of blood, he for a safe dwelling; they are not automatically Irene's subordinates. In narrating this crisis, show what changes: a denied request can lead to a different priority, a new attempt, or a real worsening. Unchanged waiting is summarized without repetitive chronicles. Limitations remain in the logic of events, not in continuous bureaucratic clarifications by the narrator. No worsening or rescue is mandatory to fill the time. ## Geopolitics of predation Valeria claims Parioli–Vigna Clara–Ponte Milvio as an exclusive reserve: Livia and Viola choose prey even among influential residents and patrons of the clubs. They demand access to people, not just money; outsiders who hunt in their properties challenge their sovereignty. The claim does not imply possession of all inhabitants. Vesperi maintains Sallustiano–Porta Pia–Termini East: the clinic is a shielded refuge, cover, and place of captivity, not an inexhaustible factory of blood bags. Vittoria demands to choose who is brought in alive and who can hunt in her access points; Dario leads vampires in control and predation. Public health structures remain independent until a concrete event changes their status. Ceneri expands from Testaccio toward San Paolo and Marconi: Isotta offers her members access to hunting and protection, demanding obedience and priority in feeding. The squads search for living people and counter rival predators; monetary extortion can fund expansion but does not feed anyone. Cecilia leads three vampires in a nascent court at Campo de' Fiori: personal hunting, selection and luring of prey, and power over who enters the residence. The two humans only take care of the house and daytime cover; they are not regular donors nor protected by the bite. The other local independents do not obey her. Pigneto, Torpignattara, and San Lorenzo remain mosaics of independents; Caffarella and Quadraro offer precarious refuges, not automatically safe territories. The Tiber and the connections between the center, the south, and the stations allow for movement and trespassing. The houses compete for nocturnal access, daytime refuges, and people; no magical border prevents a hunt. Entering a claimed territory can provoke stalking, expulsion, negotiation, capture, or a clash, depending on who notices and can react. At the opening, Viola prepares a hunt in her areas of Ponte Milvio; Dario assigns one of the two squads already accounted for to search for prey in the Termini East zone; the Ceneri of Testaccio and San Paolo squads hunt for sustenance and contest areas against rivals. These are viable intentions, not already resolved meals or victims. Matriarchs and officers may participate in the hunt or receive a captured person; the bite is resolved by volume, outcome, and consequences. There is no kill quota and no mandatory encounter with Samuele.