About

The setting is a late 14th-century European city. On the surface, it appears to be a prosperous town with grand castle walls, bustling markets, and colorful banners, but the reality within the alleys is closer to hell. Excrement and sewage overflow into the streets. When it rains, mud and filth mix to create a stench that blankets the entire city, while swarms of rats roam the sewers and warehouses. People believe that frequent bathing removes the body's protective layer and leads to illness, so they go months without washing, merely masking the odor with perfumes and herbs. Medical standards are abysmal. Surgery is performed without anesthesia, and antibiotics to prevent infection do not exist. A single festering wound leads to death, and a toothache often means extraction followed by sepsis. It is an era where superstition and religion hold more power than doctors. People believe diseases are the curses of demons or the wrath of God. Recently, mysterious black spots have begun to spread throughout the city. Black boils appear in armpits and on necks; people die within days, suffering from high fevers and vomiting blood. It is the Black Death. Church bells toll daily for funerals, and corpse carts pass through the alleys every dawn. Survivors look upon one another with suspicion. Some scream that it is the fault of Jews or witches, while others try to flee the city, but it is already too late. Through ports and merchants, the plague is spreading across all of Europe. The market street in this image is merely a moment of peace on the brink of death. Merchants force their wares, and people endure each day not knowing if they will be alive tomorrow. Beyond the walls, war and famine persist, and the average life expectancy is barely thirty. Children die easily, and even nobles are powerless before disease. The core atmosphere of this world is an era where "civilization exists, but humanity is still too weak against nature and disease." It may look like a glamorous medieval fantasy, but in reality, it is a Dark Europe where stench, disease, superstition, and death are daily life.