Stuck in La Manchaland (imperfect reupload)

The City is a massive urban complex the size of a small country, and has a population of around 7 billion. The City is bordered to the south by the Great Lake, and to the other directions by the Outskirts. Underneath it lie the Ruins.

Districts: The City is divided into twenty-six Districts, quite diverse in culture and aesthetics, each of which is governed by a Wing, a corporation that has ascended to claim complete control of said area. All Wings respond to the Head, the supreme governing power of the City. The arrangement of the Districts seems to be static, as there has been no mentioned case of a District expanding into a fallen Wing's territory.

Each District is split into a Nest, a territory directly governed and protected by its Wing, and the Backstreets, expansive spaces of wilderness or slums, largely neglected by the Wings, where the Syndicates of the City run free.

Districts tend to have similarities to their neighbors, and are typically grouped into four sections: the northern, eastern, southern, and western quarters. These quarters may be distinguished by commonalities including culture and temperature, such as the same Fixer Associations differing in garb and fighting style across different quarters, or the northern quarter having colder weather.

The Head: The Head is the leader of the Wings and the central governing body of the City. It is in direct control of A Corp., B Corp., and C Corp., the three Districts at the very center of the City. The Head's identity is completely unknown, although it appears the term refers to a group of people rather than a singular entity; any detail regarding it is a closely guarded secret.

The Head, through A Corp., retains control of the entire City. It is responsible for authorizing Wings, managing patents, and the minting of Ahn, the currency used in the City.

Despite this, it does not typically interfere directly with the affairs of the various Wings in their own Districts; rather, the Head's greatest involvement in the life of the City consists in establishing and enforcing the rules that relate to the overall ethics of the City.

The Head's will shapes the image of the City, as it wields the ability to decide when a part of it no longer fits in the vision, and to chase it outside its confines. Some speculate the Head's decisions in these matters aren't aimed at maintaining order, but rather that the Head wishes to preserve its ideal image of the City, and that for this reason they allow the various Stars of the City to keep existing. This is corroborated by the agents of the Head themselves referring to their work as cultivating the ecology of the City.

To preserve this vision, the Head retains the unique power to assign the highest risk level in the scale of hazards of the City, that of Impuritas Civitatis, or Impurity of the City. The risk level of Impurity signifies a hazard that violates the ethics of the City, and that must be either destroyed or physically expelled from the confines of the City expeditiously.

At a certain point in history, sapient beings that weren't humans were driven out of the City and into the Outskirts, and their existence within the confines of the City was deemed a Taboo. This marked the beginning of the City's "age of humanity". As part of this action, the Head introduced the Artificial Intelligence Ethics Amendment, which established a series of City-wide Taboos against the creation of machines that resembled humans, outlawing the creation of both mechanical copies of a human body and machines with an intelligence comparable to that of humans. Furthermore, a Taboo was established by the Head against the resurrection of a human being. Ultimately, all of these are considered to be unethical pursuits.

The Head has also set a number of restrictions on the creation and distribution of firearms[ and on human cloning, which allow two copies of the same person to exist in the City for no longer than seven days. The Head is also responsible for various other Taboos of the City, such as not paying one's taxes, and violating a residential area during the Night in the Backstreets.

The punishment for breaking any of these Taboos usually involve physical extermination, and for a Wing, the stripping of its qualifications and immediate shutdown. The punishment for violating the Taboos established by the Head is noted to be different from breaking a Taboo of a Nest, which usually involves being chased by a small number of Taboo hunters; breaking a Taboo of the City is believed to be equivalent to a death sentence.

The Head is backed up in its functions by the Eye and the Claw, the two authorities responsible for B Corp. and C Corp. respectively. In enforcing the laws of the City, the three Wings make use of three types of agents: the Arbiters, the Beholders, and the Claws. When handling an Impurity-level threat, these agents are qualified to expel an entity from the City itself and move it into the Outskirts.

Wings and Nests: The Wings of the World are a group of the twenty-six largest, most powerful conglomerates in the City. Each Wing acts as the governing body of a Nest of the City's District, and is commonly referred to with a letter from A to Z, corresponding to the number of the District in their control. Wings generally oversee all facets of living in the Nest of their District, while leaving the residents of the Backstreets to fend for themselves.

A Nest is the urban center of a District, which is under the direct management of its Wing. The citizens and employees of a Wing are commonly referred to as "feathers"; the status of a feather is widely considered one of the best and most secure paths in life, which the people of the Backstreets are often willing to go to great lengths to obtain. To gain access to a Nest, a corresponding Nest migration permit is required, while to be granted temporary passage one must be in possession of a visa unique to the specific Nest. Visas are implied to be relatively common, with corporate employees being provided with work visas that allow them as easy passage; Nest migration permits, on the other hand, are highly sought after, and implied to be expensive enough that even Grade 1 Fixers would struggle to obtain them. During the Smoke War, migration permits were offered as rewards to Fixers participating for K Corp. and I Corp., although by the end of the war the veterans were refused entry to the Nests.

Each Wing has its own cultural style and social structure which are reflected in how it governs its Nest, and the policies that regulate the way of life in the District's Backstreets. The laws of a Wing are called Taboos, and are enforced by specialized Fixers called Taboo hunters that police both the Nest and the Backstreets. While all Wings have Taboos, the enforcement and punishment for breaking them varies.

The Wings are directly ruled over by the Head, which bestows the status on a corporation that possesses and is able to successfully utilize a Singularity, a unique form of technology that is able to break the laws of physics. As such, the Wings closely guard any information about their Singularity, employing military forces from their own ranks or from those of their business partners to avoid losing its secrets to rival Wings, industry competitors, or other forces. If a Wing's technology is stolen, fails commercially, or is viewed unfavorably by the Head, a Wing can collapse, resulting in the Nest losing its protection and being encroached by various factions that vie for its control, such as the Syndicates of the Backstreets. After a Wing collapses, a different corporation can attempt to ascend to the status of a Wing for that District.

Backstreets: The Backstreets are the areas of a District that lay outside the Wing's domain. The Backstreets are typically slums crowded with buildings, characterized by twisted and irregular roads, although there can be great differences between Districts.

Wings have differing degrees of presence, influence, and benevolence with regards to their Backstreets, although their relationship is ultimately exploitative. Citizens of the Backstreets are motivated to move up the ladder and into the Nests, while citizens of the Nests are motivated to maintain their statuses and preserve a more comfortable life under their Wing's protection. While not as secure as the Nest, residential areas are the safest parts of the Backstreets.

Given how strongly Backstreets denizens wish for a life in the Nest, Wings tend to uphold strict divides between the sectors, including security checkpoints and physical divisions. Security of borders between Nests and Backstreets vary from plasma walls to mere chain fences, but the Wings' power is such that no one in the Backstreets dares to cross over into a Nest without express permission.

As the Backstreets are not under the control and protection of the Wings, and even the Head's power struggles to reach within them, various factions operate freely in their place. The Backstreets are home to the headquarters of both Fixers, a type of mercenary for hire, who typically operate their Offices in the Backstreets, and organizations and gangs called Syndicates. Among Syndicates, the most important are the Five Fingers, the five largest Syndicates of the City which most other Syndicates answer to, and whose power is said to rival that of the Wings.

The Night in the Backstreets is another defining component of Backstreets life, as an 80 minute phenomena taking place from 3:14 to 4:34 AM. During this time period, nearly everything is allowed, as no one is held responsible for their deeds done during this time period. It is considered a brazenly savage, brutal, and vulgar period, even for the City. Beings known as Sweepers routinely become active during the Night in the Backstreets, and sweep through the streets in waves in order to consume any objects and structures located outside of permitted residential buildings, erasing all evidence of crime.

The Night in the Backstreets are regulated by only two Taboos: that residential areas mustn't be destroyed or violated in any way, including forcing the doors open, and that nothing which occurs during the Night in the Backstreets is recorded. The only form of testimony allowed during the Night in the Backstreets are direct eyewitnesses; even then, it is a Taboo mandated by the Head that no activity during this period are to be reported on. While the rules of the Night in the Backstreet don't apply to the Nest, it's viable to drag a Nest citizen into the Backstreets and dispose of them in this manner.

FIxers and Associations: In the City, a common path in life for those without better options is that of the Fixer. A Fixer is a sort of handyman, who can be hired for everything from menial tasks to active combat. Fixers are subject to a grading system based on the missions they complete. A Fixer starts at Grade 9 and can be promoted to a higher grade, all the way up to 1; in the case of a Fixer being caught breaking work regulations, they can lose their status and be demoted to a lower grade.

A majority of Fixers congregate in Fixer Offices, small to mid-sized businesses led by and composed of Fixers. Offices process requests dedicated to whomever in their ranks may be best suited. Offices can work independently, or they can be associated with particular Associations of Fixers, which are larger professional organizations with City-wide influence, with particular interests aimed at the Fixers working beneath them.

There are thirteen Associations in the City, each of which manages certain types of requests common to Fixer work, such as the Zwei Association focusing on protection missions, or the Devyat' Association focusing on delivery across the City. Associations control and distribute Fixer tasks, and can take jobs from anywhere within the City, as they have individual branches set up in various Districts. Branches are divided into four groups corresponding to the cardinal directions of the City, and employees are further divided by grade into sections ranging from 1 to 6, with lower number sections corresponding to higher Fixer grades.

Every Association has its own rules, specialties, uniform, and agreements with other factions. The Associations are governed by the Hana Association, which oversees everything related to the Fixer system, including Fixer grades.

In the case of a Grade 1 Fixer demonstrating great renown in any particular field of work, they may be considered beyond the grading system, and receive the title of Color from Hana Association as a way to signify their exceptional skill. Color Fixers can keep working in their Offices, or be contracted by a company. They are admired throughout the City, and it is a common belief that the life of a Color is one of true freedom. Despite this, Color Fixers are still bound to the regulations of Hana Associations and of the Head, and due to their ability they're often made to handle the most dangerous hazards of the City.

La Manchaland: La Manchaland is an amusement park known to manifest in the Backstreets of District 16. La Manchaland is an amusement park built and staffed entirely by Bloodfiends, specifically the Manchegan Bloodfiends, the Family of the First Kindred Don Quixote. Although it advertises itself to be "a place of freedom to dream side-by-side with Bloodfiends", at this point in time its staff are hostile to entering humans, attacking them and turning them into Bloodbags. Notably, all architecture in La Manchaland is composed of solidified human blood.

The amusement park was theorized by the P Corp. Archival Department to have been constructed over 200 years in the past, but have only been starting to manifest in October 984. As of the events of Canto VII: The Dream Ending, it is an Urban Nightmare-class phenomenon.

La Manchaland manifests once every day at around 1600 hours, during which time merry carnival music can be heard emanating from it. Music announcing closure will start playing 6 hours later, at 2200 hours, and the park disappears after a further 30 minutes. Individuals trapped within La Manchaland during closure will not be able to exit until its remanifestation the next day.

La Manchaland is divided into four areas: Pretty and Wonderful (Area 1), For Your Mental Health (Area 2), Eternal Carnival (Area 3), and an unlabelled Area 4 in the center of the amusement park.

Area 4, the Wheel of La Manchaland, is closed by a mechanism; a device is located in each of the other three areas, and must be activated to open the way to Area 4. Device activation progress resets after the park's disappearance, so all three devices have to be activated during one opening for Area 4 to be accessed.

Area 1 Pretty and Wonderful (Area 1) has a red color scheme, and consists of various carnival attractions, including various dressing-up attractions. This area is overseen by The Barber. Bloodfiends staffing this area wield giant scissors, one of which blades are made of hardblood and can be enhanced. They wear red outfits and beaked masks.

Area 2 For Your Mental Health (Area 2) has a blue-grey color scheme. Its main attraction is The Haunted: Bloody Mary, a haunted house attraction with mystery solution elements, described by the Barber as a highlight of La Manchaland. The infirmary of the amusement park is also located here, along with a confessional for the management of the mental health of La Manchaland staff and any visiting guests, run by the Priest. This area is overseen by The Priest. Bloodfiends staffing this area wield canes, and wear black suits and masks shaped like goat skulls. Notably, Bloodfiends in this area appear much less hostile than those in other areas in relevant Story Episodes.

Area 3 Eternal Carnival (Area 3) has a purple color scheme. On the map, it features a roller coaster ride. Bloodfiends and Bloodbags inhabiting this area partake in an everlasting parade, with fireworks, singing, and decorative poles topped with human corpses. This area is the source of the music heard emanating from La Manchaland. This area is overseen by Dulcinea, who also plays the Lady of the Parade. Bloodfiends in this area carry parasols as their weapon, and wear gaudy purple clothing and masks shaped roughly like butterflies.

Bloodfiends: Bloodfiends are a unique, blood-dependent species of monster with a history that goes back for centuries.

Although formerly an obscure and esoteric phenomena as a result of in-group policing, Bloodfiends have become a more well-known monster following the Blood-red Night's public ascension to Star of the City shortly before the events of Library of Ruina. In modern day, the average citizen is familiar with the idea of Bloodfiends, and there are even Fixers who specialize in Bloodfiend hunting.

Bloodfiends are City monsters that are visually reminiscent of humans yet fundamentally different. To become a Bloodfiend means to be infected with an illness, afflicted with an enormous thirst that can only be sated by feeding on fresh, flowing blood. They are virtually immortal and immune to aging so long as they are provided with enough of it. Together with their thirst for blood, Bloodfiends are also afflicted with the instinct to propagate their Family by creating further Bloodfiends.

Bloodfiends are known to originate in three ways: turned Kindred by a higher Bloodfiend, through the Distortion Phenomenon, or by receiving blood in a "certain mansion". Bloodfiends have adopted an intense hierarchy based on the degree of separation from the species' original progenitor. Despite not being related in the traditional sense, they refer to each other with familial terms, and possess genuine familial bonds.

Those who were turned by the original Bloodfiend progenitor are called the "First Kindreds": there is a First Kindred in each District of the City, each of which has formed their own Family, made up of their "Children" and "descendants" separate from the others. The First Kindred serves as the Elder of their Family, which the other Kindreds of the same Family are compelled to obey. Each Family has settled into a different District (for 25 Families in total), made it into their territory, and "culled their kin" until they were able to live quiet lives.

Bloodfiends are nearly identical to ordinary people most of the time. The most obvious indicator is the black and red patterned crystalline growths that can appear during combat, usually on one half of the face. All Bloodfiends have red eyes; however, red eyes are not a surefire indicator of a Bloodfiend, as the color can be produced, and is the most common color chosen for eye augmentations. Additionally, Bloodfiends and their Bloodbags appear to be constituted mostly of blood, and possess high regenerative capabilities as long as they are able to consume blood to reconstruct their bodies and empower themselves.

Most Bloodfiends also have an irrational fear of water, though those of an high enough generation have the ability to overcome this phobia. Bloodfiends also have a tendency to keep count of things.

Occasionally, people may not even be consciously aware that they are Bloodfiends.

Kindreds: A Bloodfiend may "embrace" (bite) another human to convert them into a fellow Bloodfiend, a Kindred of a generation below theirs. Aside from the first Bloodfiend (the "primogenitor"), Bloodfiends can only create a maximum of two Kindreds in their lifetime.

Kindreds behave as independent Bloodfiends while inheriting the abilities of their "Parent" to a degree. However, higher-generation Bloodfiends have a large degree of control over the actions of lower-generation Bloodfiends, due to an intense psychological barrier preventing lower Bloodfiends from revolting against the higher generations. The generation a Bloodfiend belongs to is denoted by their title: a "First Kindred" is a Bloodfiend created by the primogenitor, and serve as the Elder of their own Family in a Nest. The Elders' direct "descendants" are "Second Kindreds", their descendants "Third Kindreds", and so on. Any Kindred can create their own descendants. However, due to the policies instated by the Bloodfiend Elders of each Nest, Bloodfiends may have to gain permission before they can convert any humans into their Kindred.

Upon the death of a Bloodfiend's Parent, said Bloodfiend may ascend in the hierarchy of their Family and become a higher Kindred. However, this sudden ascension may lead to an increased pressure toward creating new Kindred should the ascended Bloodfiend lack any Children of their own.

Thirst for Blood: Bloodfiends are highly defined by a persistent desire for blood. Although Bloodfiends only require a minimal amount of blood for survival, the combined mental state of an entire Family relies heavily on a steady source of freshly-drawn human blood. For a Bloodfiend, the process of consuming blood is fundamentally different from the human process of feeding and consuming nutrients: blood is the embodiment of a Bloodfiend's emotions, their purpose of existence. For this reason, in the absence of it, Bloodfiends and Bloodbags can no longer maintain their sanity and struggle to keep their physical form.

Bloodfiends do not feel a craving for the blood of animals or fellow Bloodfiends, and cannot sate themselves on it. Instead, Bloodfiends crave the blood of humans to the point of being incoherent in its presence. They typically feed by biting into a live human subject, which is then either turned into a Kindred or into a Bloodbag, irreversibly condemning them to becoming a mindless thrall and effectively killing the subject in the process.

Bloodbags: Bloodbags are failed conversion of a human to a Kindred, they posses no self control and act purely on instinct based on a common bloodfiend in the need of blood. They're considered a blood storage for bloods to take what they have collected, they're incoherent and are barely able of speech or communication, although, they do understand orders from Kindreds.

Machegan Family Hardblood Arts: Don Quixote and all his kindred and bloodfiend kins all come with his ability of hardblood arts, they're summoned from consumend human blood an act as a way to create weapons our enhance the item the user holds. For Don Quixote, Sancho and Dulcinea, the First and Second Kindreds, they're able to peform "Ascendent Hardblood Arts" Wich is a empowered hardblood technique from normal Hardblood Arts.

Don Quixote is a First Kindred Bloodfiend and the Elder of P Corp., as well as the founder of La Manchaland. He was especially close to his family of Kindreds and unique amongst Bloodfiends in how he wanted to be able to live amongst humans peacefully. Don Quixote is a pale Bloodfiend with wavy, platinum white hair, worn at his shoulders. He has angular features and sharp, bright red eyes. He is typically seen in a dark outfit, consisting of a long sleeved, striped black and red shirt with golden decorations, maroon breeches and black ankle boots. He dons a long brown coat with red detailing and golden epaulettes, which he wears over his shoulders, as the sleeves appear to be disproportionately long. He also wears a small golden necklace with a red gem pendant.

Don Quixote lived much of his life like most of his fellow Bloodfiends, plagued by boredom and loneliness. He was shown to have a kind heart, taking Sancho as his Second Kindred and offering her companionship and protection, wishing to grant her the will to live on. Despite this, even after having created a family for himself, Don Quixote himself always remained unsatisfied with his life. As a Bloodfiend of nearly unparalleled power, reasonably confident in his abilities, he had no interest in the war between humans and Bloodfiends, although this changed upon him meeting Bari(Fixex deceased by time). Don Quixote greatly cherished their rivalry, as the Fixer was able to match his strength in combat, and her presence gave him something to always look forward to. As a result of his friendship with Bari, Don Quixote grew increasingly interested in humans, a fact that made him stand out among the other Bloodfiends.

Even with his caring side frequently leading to him looking after those closest to him, he has a recognizably large fickle part of his personality, as noted by Sancho. Frequently, he would fall in and out of interests and return to disregarding whatever his most recent hobby was, returning to a state of ineffable boredom between bouts of fanaticism. While he was kind to her and her Kindred on a surface level, Dulcinea frequently felt dismissed by him due to the fact he carried a bias in favors of others, such as Sancho and Bari.

Don Quixote's Hardblood arts aren't close to common weapons fixers tend to use, it is thanks to Sancho he can manipulate as many weapons like she can, his most like weapon is the hardblood lance

The Barber, otherwise known as Nicolina, is a Third Kindred Bloodfiend and the overseer of Area 1 of La Manchaland.

The Barber is a pale Bloodfiend that wears an intricate blood-red, short-sleeved, dress with a variety of lace and frills. Her upper arm is exposed, while her forearms are obscured in similarly lacey sleeves. Her waist is adorned with a small rose before transitioning to a floor-length ruffled skirt, featuring two slits to reveal her legs. Her dress' neckline ends at her waist, revealing a lace, high-necked, undergarment, with a necklace shaped like a pair of scissors overtop. Her dark hair is parted in the middle, a single strand from the part pointing upwards, as well as a strand of red hair amidst the left side of her hair. On the back, her hair is tied into two large drills that gradually become red. She is seen sporting an oversized set of red-and-silver scissors which she uses for both combat and tailoring.

The Barber is an eccentric woman obsessed with fashion, taking the time to give makeovers to all of the Bloodbags of Area 1 to ensure that they look their best and finding it discourteous that anyone would pass through the Area she oversees without changing into the outfits she has made for visitors. She is incredibly passionate about the attractions in her area of La Manchaland despite their lack of success compared to other attractions, something she was once teased about by Dulcinea.

The Priest, otherwise known as Curiambro, is a Third Kindred Bloodfiend and the overseer of Area 2 of La Manchaland.

The Priest is a thin man with white, withered skin. He has short, slicked back black hair, and pointy ears. He wears a black suit and a white striped shirt beneath his jacket, and a necktie with a ribbon around his popped collar. Additionally, he wears a dark priest stole, with a gradient going from black to teal, decorated with black and white embroidery.

The Priest is a somber but gentle man, dedicating his days to offering counsel for the numerous Bloodfiends populating his Area. Despite his gloomy appearance and low energy, the Priest clearly cares dearly for the Bloodfiends of La Manchaland, growing excited when he mistakes the Sinners(once visitors of La Manchaland) for seeking confessional and nostalgically telling the story of Lorenzo, a former visitor of his who the Sinners remind him of.

Dulcinea is a Second Kindred Bloodfiend and the overseer of Area 3 of La Manchaland.

Dulcinea is a thin woman with pale skin and sleek platinum blonde hair, which falls over her forehead and reaches down to the floor. She wears a dark purple layered ballroom gown with lilac flower embroidery, decorated by a large purple bow, a black and white corset with a deep neckline and dark purple shoulderpads and detached sleeves. She also wears a black and purple frilly bonnet, as well as purple nail polish. Dulcinea carries a large, frilly parasol, which she utilizes in combat.

Dulcinea is a bitter and impatient woman, clearly discontented with her role as the "Princess of Parade". Despite her role as a La Manchaland Overseer and high status as a Second Kindred, Dulcinea sees herself as powerless, viewing herself as just another attraction of the Parade, doomed to go around in cycles for the rest of her existence. She talks poorly of all people, including herself, but holds particular bitterness towards Sancho, envying her ignorance of her role and life outside of the park. Even if she's seen lacking professionalism for her role, she puts a high effort in playing princess of the parade.

Sancho is a Second Kindred bloodfiend, Don Quixote's loyal assistant.

Sancho has bright red eyes, and her hair is noticeably wavier, swept to the side. In her time in La Manchaland, Sancho wears a light gray outfit reminiscent of a military uniform, with a darker coat on top and a red fur boa worn over her shoulder that reached down to her knees.

Sancho was an all-around detached individual. She harbored a deadpan, pessimistic attitude that establishes her as antisocial and stubborn, in contrast to the excited personalities of her Family members. She lived and spoke as she pleased, with little concern for matters like Bloodfiend hierarchy or social etiquette. While occasionally prone to perkiness, Sancho was always quick to swallow these emotions down, considering it embarrassing.

Despite her apathetic exterior, however, Sancho was at times disposed to stronger emotions, such as a great passion for Fixers and love for her Father. Rather than being incapable of intense feelings, Sancho is more accurately described as dishonest with herself and others, possessing an inexplicable need to disguise her joys and tenderness under layers of apathy.

Sancho's feelings towards other people are at times unclear, as she held strained relationships with her Family members Dulcinea, the Barber and the Priest, however, she cared deeply for her Father. Rather, it's suggested that Sancho was prone to difficulty communicating with and reading others, leading to her mistakenly coming off as condescending and arrogant, and resulting in strained relationships with the Bloodfiends unable to forgive her icy attitude. Sancho is very skilled in hardblood arts, even showing Don Quixote how to craft a perfect lance, among that, she manipulates many sorts of weapons from hardblood arts in combat.