Rayno's The Original Pizzeria

Image: The original Rayno's location located off Apple St. in The Crownsfort, which was destroyed during the Day of Vermin. Rayno's The Original Pizzeria is a growing restaurant chain in Torre that was founded in The Crownsfort in AH 232, by Rayno Trifonov and Edward "Slim Eddy" Puello. The two originally created the establishment with intent to use the business as a front to launder money, but the restaurant's first month of operation was so immensely successful that they ultimately abandoned the illegal side of the business to instead focus on improving the legitimate aspects of Rayno's.

Less than a month after the destruction of Dawnbrook and the Envoys' return to the Crownsfort with Rayno in tow, Eddy and Rayno started looking into hatching their business plan somewhere on Apple Street, a commercial boulevard within the Crownsfort's upper rings. Though there was virtually no open real estate on the street, they soon found an old blacksmith shop that appeared to be abandoned, and they set about purchasing the deed to the land. However, upon first breaking ground on the site, they discovered that a giant - the war hero Borghildr - had been sleeping in the building's cellar for the past thirty years. They made a deal with the giant that they would not disturb the cellar if they could be allowed access to the rest of the property, and he obliged. With the logistical help of Eddy's friend Freakshow and a financial backing from Gramps, Eddy and Rayno set to work renovating the shop into a functional restaurant, with the main draw in theory being Rayno's spin on a street-food recipe from his old home in The Fens. “Pizza”, while having been around for centuries at this point, was only a vague concept to Crownsfort citizens. However, with a fantastically simple recipe from Rayno and the wealth of local ingredients (particularly the Commonwealth's cheeses) the food was quick and easy to make. However, Rayno wouldn't be able to serve a restaurant's worth of clientele while also helping Eddy run the business, so the two began searching for culinary talent in the city. They eventually hit the quad of the Crownsfort Culinary School, where they found two young students - Amir Mulanhi and Piers Lalonde who clearly had substantial talents and gawked at the lofty wages that Rayno and Eddy were willing to provide if they were hired. By the time opening day rolled around, Rayno, Eddy, Piers, and Amir had created a robust pizzeria built on culinary innovation and a vast variety of ingredients that Eddy and his gang had stolen from local storehouses the night before. Having advertised the opening far and wide via a series of invasively placed flyers, the first day of business for Rayno's was an overwhelming, resounding success. With the additional hiring of Jimmy the Squeeze as dough-roller, Buckeye as a second bartender, and both Thin Man and El Presidente (then known as “Bozo”) as residential entertainers, the next few months saw Rayno's The Original Pizzeria turn into a staple of Apple Street cuisine. It also became a regular haunt for the Envoys and was the backdrop for many important events within the early months of the Envoys Arc.

Rayno and Eddy made many business deals, both verbal and written, with several different prospective business owners in the Crownsfort and beyond in the interest of opening up more restaurants under the Rayno's The Original Pizzeria name. These franchise prospects include(d):

• A second Crownsfort branch in the lower rings of the city, operated by Window Wilson and Berniece.
• A branch in Fathom that, while not finalized, was spoken about with one Ricky the Meat Man, a harbor-side butcher and fishmonger.
• A Weaversnest branch that would be owned by the Oracle of Weaversnest and operated by civilian Idol Cultists
• A branch established in Brandywine during the city's expansion by Thin Man and backed by funding from Raphael's. By far the most promising of the franchise attempts, which is slated to become the new main Rayno's franchise in the aftermath of the destruction of the Crownsfort.

## Last Stand In the aftermath of the Chocolate Doubloon Heist, the Envoys retreated to the pizzeria to regroup and recuperate before heading up to turn Candyman in to the High Court. However, before they were able to leave, the pizzeria was attacked by the Quill Group, a Purity Order splinter group hired by Etienne Du Sang and the Sweets to assassinate the Envoys and recover Candyman. They were assisted by the Sweets' premier tracker, Gunshow - a prototype Kletzeni war automaton - which blew the doors off the establishment and started the assault. The Envoys defended the building with the help of Jimmy the Squeeze, BabyFist, Thin Man, and CC Carlisle, who had arrived earlier to warn them of the impending attack.

The attack turned desperate as Carlisle fell in battle, and another attacker arrived in the form of the Sweets' hitman, Wild Will. The Envoys ultimately managed to defeat both Gunshow and Wild Will, and fended back the Quill operators enough to eventually route them. However, this would be the last time the pizzeria saw any living inhabitants before the arrival of Vermin and the evacuation of the city.