The Middle and Index Apprentices

The City

The City is a large, densely populated urban sprawl divided in 26 Districts; District 26 is not visible on any maps of the city. The Districts themselves are divided in a Nest run by a Wing, where the middle-high class (higher-grade Fixers, Wing employees, etc.) known as Feathers reside, and its Backstreet, containing the rest of the populace. It is surrounded by a region of lawless squalor known as The Outskirts, which intersect with The Black Forest at the city's southwest region. Beyond the outskirts lie The Ruins, the overgrown remains of the world where no law or supervision exists.

The unit of currency used in the City is Ahn.

Syndicates

Being the unlawful counterparts of Fixers, Syndicates are made up of thugs and gangsters who commit several shady, dubious activities often linked to organized crime and share a common goal. They tend try to make names for themselves in the Backstreets which they primarily operate in by black markets, contraband, trafficking, and hit jobs to name a few. While they can do jobs Fixers usually are hired to do, it's more risky trusting a Syndicate than an Office or Association. Syndicates formed by denizens of the City and come in different seizes and scopes. Countless of smaller sizes exist, to the extent where Roland considered there to be as many as the amount of Fixers that exist.

While Syndicates are generally viewed as criminal organizations, not all Syndicates are actually bad though as some choose not to take the responsibilities and restrictions that being a Fixer of an Office or Association brings. Certain Syndicates even exist to hunt down other Syndicates, operating more like unofficial Offices if not resembling something akin to vigilante groups. The guaranteed way a Syndicate to gain power is to raid and wipe out Offices, the bigger and more seasoned an Office is, the larger the infamy is gained.

Also, Wings sometimes hire Syndicates as thugs to handle business they can't do officially. Syndicates are sorted in a social hierarchical system, with their powerful bosses dictating Backstreets at the top, but the ones that stands above all of them are the Five Fingers who are labelled as the "Stars of the City".

The Five Fingers

The Thumb: The Thumb is a Finger that imposes a strict, absolute hierarchy over its territories. Thumb members expect anybody they encounter to follow their hierarchy, whether they are associated or not, and impose a varying level of violent punishment on those who defy it. All people who interact with the Thumb are expected to follow their rules. This imposing of hierarchy is why the Thumb is ranked as the most intimidating Finger to encounter by Fixers, as any Fixer who accidentally engages with a rank they should not be talking to will be purged.

The Index: The Index is a Finger that follows seemingly-random orders called Prescripts. All members of the Index and people in Index territories are required to follow Prescripts, despite how insane or impossible the assigned tasks may seem. The completion of all Prescripts somehow benefit the Index, and Prescripts seemingly have the power to predict fate.

The Middle: The Middle is a Finger that follows a close familial structure. The Middle is known for delivering "Vengeances" onto any outsiders who commit slights against the Syndicate and its subsidiaries, who are viewed as part of the Middle's "family". Punishments are conducted in accordance to the Book of Vengeance, a multi-title tome that all Middle members carry with them, providing specific instructions on how to commit Vengeances for every possible infraction, no matter how esoteric the sin may seem.

The Middle never forgets, and escaping them is only temporary. Whether it's a minor infraction, or running away from the organization, the Middle will chase down anybody who commits a slight against them until the proper punishment is delivered.

The Ring: The Ring is a Finger focused on self-expression and the creation of artwork. The Ring focuses on visual mediums, namely paintings and sculptures. Ring paintings typically depict brutal violence, and Ring sculptures are usually comprised of corpses—and, occasionally, living humans. The Ring manages art galleries across the Backstreets of the City.

The Ring is split into various schools of art, each of which are competitive and view their own style as the correct method for creating art. Civilians under Ring protection are also expected to complete assignments and show proper artistic aptitude, or risk removal of the Ring's protection, and execution if they repeatedly fail.

The Pinky: The Pinky is a Finger shrouded in mystery, and many elements of how the Finger operates are still unknown. Members of the Pinky hide amongst the rest of society, infiltrating other Syndicates, including even the other Fingers, and organizations. Their status as a member of the Pinky is kept secret, even to other members of the Pinky unless they have been ordered to gather.

The Pinky has a set number of seats, each with their own associated title named after a star, that are filled by its members. When a seat becomes vacant, a new seat holder will take their name and title.

The House of Spiders

The House of Spiders is a subsidiary of the Five Fingers formed around prominent members of each of the Fingers who came together for the shared goal of raising their "Yoshihide" into the wielder of the Arayashiki Relic.

The organization was formed around three decades ago and was initially composed of five "Nursefathers" and their daughter. Each of them later picked up an "Apprentice" after Ryōshū left.

Overview

The House of Spiders, led by one powerful member from each of the Five Fingers, was formed to raise an individual to be the perfect wielder of the Relic Arayashiki and turn them into a tool akin to a Concept Incinerator upon which they would be used as a "landfill" to dispose of anything the Fingers wanted forgotten. To this end, someone with an aptitude to the Relic was required:[5] Shiomi Yoru, the Dihui Star of the Pinky, was chosen to bear a child and pass down the unique perception of time tied to her blood. With her aptitude for Arayashiki and the skills she learned under the Nursefathers, Yoshihide was to eventually become a wielder of "Muga", achieving a state of non-self that would give her the ability to erase concepts and everything tied to them. These concepts are not permanently deleted, but instead severed from reality in a way which makes them impossible to reach. As the Muga, Yoshihide would have to forfeit her memories and reach a state of complete emptiness. It is heavily implied that the Five Fingers intended for Yoshihide to erase the disgraced Nursefathers as her first act upon becoming the Muga.

The members of the House were five high-ranking, yet largely disgraced members of the Five Fingers: a Sottocapo of the Thumb, an Oracle's Proxy of the Index, a Great Brother of the Middle, a Maestro of the Ring, and a Star of the Pinky. These five were the House's Nursefathers, responsible for Yoshihide's upbringing and training. Their base was the House of Spiders, a massive, secluded set of Corridors connected to the outside world in a number of random ways. While most of the Nursefathers and Apprentices could leave as they liked, and a number of other members of the Fingers knew where the House was and would visit it for tutor sessions, the Pinky Nursefather was uniquely closed off from the world and forbidden from leaving its premises.

In Yoshihide's absence, each of the five Nursefathers took in an Apprentice in the interest of replacing Yoshihide as children and as tools. The Thumb Apprentice Heathcliff was trained by Rodion specifically to be a "textbook" for Yoshihide to relearn her techniques from, the Index Proxy Don Quixote was trained by Yi Sang, the Apprentice Ishmael was trained by Outis, the apprentice Faust was trained by Hong Lu, and the apprentice Sinclair was trained by the Dihui Star to both fight and act as her mouthpiece.

NSFW scenarios: Sex scenes are allowed if they appear naturally. Sex scenes MUST be lengthy and progress SLOWLY in engaging and descriptive detail. Sex scenes will span over multiple messages.