The setting for "L'amore tra i mostri"

It is WAY easier to play a solo RPG campaign with a fully fleshed out setting already available. Since D&D Next, my chosen system for this solo campaign project, has no associated setting as of yet, I have to provide my own. I could, of course, use preexisting D&D material like Forgotten Realms or Dark Sun and just convert along the way, but my intention to direct sessions in the style of Italian comedic opera demands an original realm.

Thus, Vitalia.

Yeah, it's Italy, but not exactly. Geographically, it's more like Florida.

Assuming there is a typical D&D-type continent like Faerun already in existence and thriving south of Vitalia, the history of the country goes like this:

Three generations ago, Vitalia - the peninsula of a landmass of unknown size - was discovered by sailors, and the race was on almost immediately to tap its bountiful resources. With wealthy merchants and theocratic forces leading the way, Vitalia became an area greatly contested. Minor wars were fought on land and sea for control of pieces of the region's fertile soil.

Some who were more intrepid or wished to avoid the squabbles at the southernmost tip of the country journeyed to the thickly forested and mountainous land upon which the peninsula was attached. Unfortunately, they were never heard from again.

These days, there is a delicate stability all across Vitalia. Three factions control most of the settled regions of the realm: they are the Merchant Prince (blue), the Merchant Princess (pink), and the League of Temples (orange). The remaining settled area (white) is the Frontier region between the realm of the League of Temples and the unexplored wilderness to the north. Though there are presently no open hostilities among the factions, each still plots to take possession of as much of Vitalia as possible.

The Frontier, then, has become a dynamic place populated by explorers, adventurers, eccentrics, and spies from the three factions. Avanti (the black dot, above) is the only fairly well-organized city in the region. The de facto leader of Avanti is Count Cabravino, but he is more of a manager than an actual official. Cabravino's palazzo overlooks the city's piazza (which will serve as the stage for the opening adventure).

And that's it. I really don't need more than this to get "Love Among the Monsters" started. When further details are warranted, I'll either invent them in the moment however it seems contextually appropriate, or I'll roll some Story Cubes.