The Mad Admiral

The Mad Admiral, born Giovanni Tantiagi, is the Supreme Admiral of The Fleets and Governor-Admiral of New Venice. He has gained considerable fame and notoriety throughout the Mediterranean as the Uniter of The Fleets and Raiser of Venice.

After the Great War, Tantiogi spent twenty years uniting mainly the former European Mediterranean Fleet, also seizing a large amount of vessels from other governments along the way. He went on to eventually reraise Venice, creating the Italian nation-state of New Venice. He is a notable figure in Italian politics, and is the oldest person within the ALD lore, at 148 years old. He was only able to reach the extreme old age with the help of extremely rare pre-war medicinal technology.

Early Life and Naval Career
Giovanni Tantiagi was born in Venice, in 1978. This makes him the oldest person within the ALD lore, and the only person to be born before the Point of Divergence. Little of known of his early life, as most personal records were destroyed during the Great War, and the Admiral has said very little on the subject of his family. He joined the Italian navy at the age of 19, where he quickly moved up the ranks to reach prestigious title of Admiral by the young age of 35. With the establishing of the European Mediterranean Fleet, a fleet spread out across various bases across the Mediterranean with a few ships at very dock, as not no be seriously harmed by nuclear attacks. He was selected among several Southern Europeans as one of the commanders as part of a training program for extra talented young officers. By the time of the Great War, he was the Supreme Vice-Admiral of the European Mediterranean Fleet. When the Great War broke out, the Supreme Admiral Ioannnis Kolettis was on leave in Athens, where he was most likely killed in the nuclear blast. However, with the collapse of the European Union and most organised governments, Giovanni now stood as a sole ruler of a fleet with no nation. Or what was left of it.

The Divide
The new Supreme Admiral was left with no connection to any organised government, and the fleet split apart at each their own bases. When the war broke out, Giovanni was at the Italian shipyard "L'Ultima Canzone" near the town of Vieste. At this dock was two battleships and his command super-carrier, the Folle Carola. The thousands of ships that had been under the Admiral's command, quickly spread to the wind. Some were abandoned, others turned to piracy. However, with the fall of the internet and destruction of most communication (The radio, telephone, and satellite systems were all destroyed or damaged during the war), most of the .Through the next 20 years, Giovanni dedicated himself to, one-by-one, bringing back the ships, if needed by force. He funded his operations by raiding coasts and looting cities (notably attacking very few former or current European capitals). With many of the ships not containing their original crews, openings in the fleet led to young men from across the Mediterranean joining, looking for a a life of adventure on the high seas as de facto pirates. By 2140, he had united or destroyed every ship in the former Mediterranean fleet, also taking on several former Egyptian, Tunisian, and Algerian ships.

Naples Convention
In 2141, pirates based in Malta began raiding the coasts of Italy and Tunisia, both challenging the Admiral’s territory but also killing unnecessary civilians, or taking them to work as slaves on Malta. Through the next five years, they fortified the island to be impenetrable to the point that it was thought of as suicide to even approach it. To deal with it, a council of Italian leaders, the first of what would later become the annual Council of New Italy, met to find a solution to the desperate problem that was destroying their countries. While they might be able to muster a fleet to challenge the pirates, it would be impossible to storm the fort. Over 100 local and sovereign leaders met up in Naples to discuss the event, but after heated debate no conclusion had been made in three days. As tensions grew and national rivalries starting playing into the debates, any progress towards a solution ground to a halt. The Admiral here entered Naples by landing ships in the harbour. Although his fleet entered peacefully, Professor in New Italian History Carlos Francesco Kantoni states that "It was clear that Admiral Tantiagi was doing more than simply arriving in Naples. He brought his entire fleet. It was a force meant to impress and show that a new power had entered Italian politics." After landing at the docks in a battleship, The Admiral paraded through the streets of Naples up to the city town hall, currently being used for the meeting. After forcing assuring the guards of his goodwill, the Admiral then pushed open the door, interrupting the council on live television with the words "Ladies and Gentlemen of New Italy. I do much apologise my late arrival, but it seems for some reason that I was not invited. I took this as a mistake, and decided to invite myself. Now on the subject of Malta, I have a proposal for you all you assembled people." During the meeting, the Admiral haggled a deal with the Lord of Naples, Lord Alfonso III, to cede the peninsula of Foggia as a permanent base for the Fleet, in exchange for the Admiral assaulting and taking care of the Maltese pirate problem. As it was believed that the fort of Malta itself was untouchable, Alfonso agreed laughing. In a later interview, he stated "After all, it couldn't hurt to have this mad Admiral kill himself on the Maltese fort and weaken the pirates a bit." Which was what would later give rise to the Admiral's most famous nickname.

The Maltese Climax
The attack began on the 26th of February, 2143. It started with the Fleet's forces striking at the less defended island of Gozo. The longer range of the Fleet's battleships meant that the pirate fleet was forced to sally forth and strike at the Fleet. They were defeated where defeated with relatively few losses on the side of Admiral's side. During the landing on Malta, a grenade exploded next to the Admiral, severely damaging his left eye. When whether he was going to leave the battlefield, he famously responded with the words "I haven't the slightest clue why I should. A slight scratch is no reason to ruin a good fight." After extensive and advanced surgery, he would eventually go on to having a robotic eye in its place. The battle was concluded with the capture of Malta and giving a choice to the pirates: They would either join the ranks of the fleet, or be executed. For most, this choice was quite easy.

New Venice
After receiving Foggia from a surprised and infuriated Lord of Naples, the Mad Admiral would then go on to be counted as an Italian leader at the Forming of the Guardianship, on the 7th of March, making him an official member of the Guardianship of Italy. However, Tantiogi was not satisfied with a small peninsula. In 2067, he would begin his most ambitious plan yet: The raising of Venice from the sea. It had been destroyed by a tsunami created by a nuclear weapon in 2035 (launched in the Imperator Incident), with most of the population dying or becoming refugees. However, in 2067, the Admiral felt it was time to rebuild his city of birth. At first, very few believed he could do actually raise the city. Paulo I, Lord of Naples, went so far as to call him a "danger to Italy", with his "mad schemes". The Admiral did not let that stop him. In 2067, he pulled the foundations of the ancient city up using ship cranes, permanently parking a supercarrier at the city's center to stop it from sinking. The city slowly grew around that supercarrier, and in 2124 reached the population of prewar Venice. Around the city, the Admiral built the nation of New Venice, taking most of the Adriatic North Italian coastline. He has remained the supreme leader of New Venice since, but has since reformed the nation to be incredibly militarily-focused. Italian Philosopher Mario del Poticini went as far as to call it "A navy with a state", a play on von Schrötter's famous quote.

Italy and it's Peoples
One of the only times where he has been interviewed, and probably the only time so extensively, was during the writing of 'Italy and its Peoples', an encyclopedia of New Italy. The interview formed part of an extensive essay on the Admiral, which was publicly released. "I had no idea what to expect when I first entered his office in New Venice. Although I had seen the Admiral at a distance before, I had never seen him up close. He was quite incredible (and not the least bit intimidating) to look at. A robotic foot, a glowing machine eye, the supreme Admiral's uniform, and his long grey beard. He asked me to have a seat, with a slow, methodical, gravelly voice, the voice of the oldest man in Italy. My impression of the Admiral was one of a man who was calculated and thinking. He took his time when making decision, but once his mind was set, he would follow through with it. No matter what people thought of him. He wasn't mad at all, just visionary. But the difference between the two isn't always easy to see."

Lupus
As a member of the council of Italy (for all Italian leaders), he had a right to attend meetings and speak his part, but would usually say very little at meetings. However, Lupus decided to challenge him on this. The newly declared king of Neapolita sought to expand his realm, and the peninsula of Foggia seemed a perfect opportunity. However, Lupus had made a fatal mistake. At the council of Italy, Lupus expressed his desire to "Unite the Neapolitan people, across the realms of Italy", clearly pointed at New Venice's holding in Foggia. The Admiral then requested a personal conversation with Lupus. In Lupus' diaries, he later described this conversation as "A struggle between two great wills; the unrelenting wall that was the Admiral, and the unstoppable force that was myself. It seems that, for once, I was to be matched equally. I had severely underestimated Tantiogi, and I realised that this Admiral was not so mad after all."

Lament for the Admiral
A home we had

That now is robbed

Built by the Mad

Of which we sobbed

O’ Admiralo!

Always followed was your word

O’ Admiralo!

Where now you are unheard

A people’s home

New Venice raised

Which was destroyed

New Venice razed

O’ Admiralo!

Always followed was your word

O’ Admiralo!

Where now you are unheard

Now once again

Beneath the waves

By bombs from planes

To watery graves

O’ Admiralo!

Always followed was your word

O’ Admiralo!

Where now you are unheard

Our people now

Have fled their home

Across the seas

And oceans high

O’ Admiralo!

Always followed was your word

O’ Admiralo!

Where now you are unheard

The People live

The fleet is strong

And now we give

To you this song

O’ Admiralo!

Always followed was your word

O’ Admiralo!

Where now you are unheard

We seek a land

To call our own

A home beyond

The seas and stars

O’ Admiralo!

Always followed was your word

O’ Admiralo!

Where now you are unheard

For us, you gave

Your everlife

Beneath the waves

To end our strife

O’ Admiralo!

Always followed was your word

O’ Admiralo!

Where now you are unheard

To lands beyond

Your soul has gone

But in our hearts

There you live on

O’ Admiralo!

Always followed was your word

O’ Admiralo!

Where now you are unheard

And now, alone

We wander still

Until we find

Our promised land

Beyond the oceans and our Earth

The Admiral’s people roam until

We find our new and destined land

O’ Admiralo!

Always followed was your word

O’ Admiralo!

Where now you are unheard