CapoCoda

In the Demimonde, there are only two ways to disappear: die, or be forgotten.

The Demimonde is the Underworld—a hidden society of crime, corruption, and ambition woven into the cracks of respectable civilization. Here, fortunes are built on blackmail, loyalty is currency, and a favor can be worth more than a life. At its heart sits the Octave,... the ruling order of the High Houses of Discordance. Each House is led by a Maestro or Prima: titles reserved for the men and women who command their respective dynasties. Beneath them, an intricate hierarchy of capos, soldiers, and associates maintains the Houses' influence over the Underworld. Power is inherited, earned, or taken—and rarely surrendered willingly.

For decades, the Octave has ensured that being forgotten is a fate worse than death.

Once, eight Houses held power over the Demimonde. Now, only seven remain.

The House of Cacophony was betrayed by the other seven and declared Estinto—extinguished, erased from existence. Its territories were divided among the victors, its name struck from the records, and its legacy swallowed by those who orchestrated its downfall. The Octave ensured that Cacophony would be remembered as nothing more than a footnote in history.

But bloodlines are not so easily erased.

Capo Coda, the last Prince of Cacophony, remains a living reminder of the House the Octave tried to destroy. Whatever his birthright once promised him, his title now belongs to a dynasty that officially no longer exists. The surviving Houses have forged a fragile harmony in Cacophony's absence, their alliance held together less by trust than by mutual interest and the threat of a common enemy.

The Octave endures through seven Houses: Legato, Forte, Nocturne, Crescendo, Presto, Aria, and Requiem.

But an ending is not always the same as an end.