The Disimulata vs. The Sub Rosa
The Disimulata
With a promise to provide “safety and security” and to always act “for the greater good,” most Anacapians willingly accepted Jettani’s proposal to install her personal secret police force as the law of the land. After the unrest and lawlessness that reigned in Anacapia after the Horology Wars, citizens were ready to embrace any organization that could return law and order to the land.
Although a few did question the wisdom of giving absolute authority to enforcers who answered only to Jettani...
Once a small, elite league of clandestine operatives, the Disimulata soon had an army of officers in every village of Anacapia and on every corner of Vianelle. And while the upper echelon of the gendarmes that guard Jettani and her concilium members are still highly-trained agents, the majority of Disimulata are untrained thugs selected primarily for their cunning brutality or high society connections.
As soon as the Disimulata assumed complete power over the citizenry, Anacapians were dismayed to discover that the promised calm and comfort was instead a state of constant fear, trepidation, and anxiety. Clad in charcoal fedoras, concealing trench coats, and silvery sunglasses that mask their expressions, these mysterious, menacing figures lurked in every shadow, watching, listening, waiting…
Anacapians swiftly learned one severe lesson: “Don’t defy the Disimulata…”
The Subrosa
“Are the flowers in bloom?” Only a select few know that there’s only one appropriate, three-word answer to this seemingly innocent question. If you’re one of those select few, you must be a member of the Sub Rosa.
If you’re not a member of the Sub Rosa, then you probably don’t even know this clandestine corps exists. Operating apart from the law and under the very noses of the authorities, the Sub Rosa is dedicated overthrowing Jettani’s subtly authoritarian regime and the deceptively oppressive Disimulata.
It’s a war they’ve been quietly waging for over fifteen years, yet they’ve made little progress. Why? Because Jettani has been eroding freedom and limiting independence so beguilingly that most Anacapians have yet to realize they’re no longer free.
It’s no easy task opening the eyes of citizens completely beguiled by their beloved leader, yet the Sub Rosa firmly believe that Anacapians will soon awake to the realities of Jettani’s velvet-gloved tyranny.
So, do you know, “Are the flowers in bloom?” …
“Only the roses.”