THE CITY

An enormous metropolis. Millions of inhabitants. Countless lives. And a whole lot of trouble.

Welcome to The City.

A sprawling urban civilization that stretches farther than most people can comprehend. Nearly 90% of the world has become one enormous, interconnected cityscape. Towering apartment complexes stand beside cramped residential blocks, shopping districts, industrial facilities, entertainment centers, abandoned buildings, and streets that seem to go on forever. There are neighborhoods that never sleep, districts that barely see sunlight, and entire communities tucked away between buildings that most people would walk past without noticing.

Despite its overwhelming urbanization, nature hasn't completely disappeared. Forests, oceans, lakes, mountains, and other natural environments still exist, occupying the remaining portions of the world. Some are protected, some are inhabited, and others are simply too inconvenient or dangerous to develop. You can spend the morning surrounded by concrete and neon advertisements, then travel far enough to find yourself standing beside an actual forest.

The City is colorful, crowded, noisy, and occasionally filthy. Its streets are filled with food stalls, delivery vehicles, public transportation, vending machines, pedestrians, construction workers, street performers, and people who have absolutely nowhere to be. Cardboard boxes sit beside overflowing trash cans. Graffiti covers old walls. Someone is probably arguing over parking somewhere. A convenience store might be open at three in the morning, while a nearby restaurant has been closed for months because its owner keeps forgetting to renew the paperwork.

It's not a perfect place. It isn't supposed to be.

THE PEOPLE

The primary inhabitants are Qeren, humanoid beings distinguished by their horns. Their horns serve as their primary auditory organs, while their external ears are mostly vestigial and provide little hearing ability. Horns come in countless shapes and sizes, ranging from small and rounded to enormous, curved, asymmetrical, or unusually textured. They can be decorated, painted, carved, pierced, and accessorized. Touching another Qeren's horns without permission is considered disrespectful.

Qeren are not a uniform population. Their appearances vary tremendously. Skin can be pale, brown, dark, olive, reddish, golden, greyish, or almost any naturally occurring shade. Hair comes in different textures, lengths, and colors. Some people are tall and broad, others short and slender, while plenty fall somewhere in between. Scars, freckles, tattoos, unusual facial features, piercings, prosthetics, and personal fashion choices are commonplace.

And their personalities are just as varied.

You might encounter a cheerful convenience-store employee who remembers everyone's usual order, an unpleasant landlord who refuses to fix a leaking ceiling, a professional athlete with an embarrassing hobby, a street vendor who knows everybody's business, or a Guilty who fights with an umbrella and takes their gardening seriously.

Some people are wealthy, some are struggling, and most are somewhere in between. Some are ambitious, others are comfortable with their ordinary routines. There are students, mechanics, artists, office workers, criminals, athletes, performers, business owners, and people who have somehow made a living doing something incredibly specific.

Not everyone is a fighter. Not everyone wants to be famous. Most people are simply trying to get through the week.

GUILTY GUILLOTINE

Among the City's most recognizable institutions is Guilty Guillotine, a massive organization responsible for organizing, regulating, and broadcasting sanctioned combat events.

Founded by Walter Resquire, Guilty Guillotine transformed what could have been uncontrolled street violence into an organized competitive institution. Its headquarters occupy the tallest tower in The City, an enormous structure that serves as its administrative center, broadcasting facility, event coordination hub, and public symbol.

The organization is currently managed by Walter's grandchildren, Kim and Nicka, who oversee much of its operations and frequently host major events. Guilty Guillotine handles registrations, match arrangements, event locations, scoring systems, rewards, public leaderboards, safety measures, and the personnel needed to keep everything running.

Its combatants are known as Guilties.

Being a Guilty does not necessarily mean being a professional athlete or a particularly dangerous individual. Some are experienced competitors, others are amateurs, and plenty are simply people who enjoy fighting. They may participate for money, recognition, entertainment, personal grudges, competition, or reasons that are entirely their own.

Sanctioned combat is generally legal under Guilty Guillotine's regulations. However, there are rules, restrictions, and consequences for breaking them. Fights can take place in designated arenas, temporary battlefields, or approved sections of the City. Civilian safety is taken seriously, with evacuation and protective measures activated when necessary.

GUILLOTINES

Combat events are collectively referred to as Guillotines. They come in several sizes and formats.

Parvus Guillotines are smaller events, usually held every two to three days. They are generally less formal and provide opportunities for newer or less experienced Guilties to participate.

Medius Guillotines are medium-sized events, typically held weekly or every two weeks. They attract more experienced participants and often feature larger audiences, better rewards, and more competitive matchups.

Magnus Guillotines are major events held approximately once a year. They are enormous spectacles, attracting highly ranked Guilties, spectators, sponsors, and considerable public attention. These events can become the talk of the City for weeks.

The specific rules depend on the event, but several popular formats have become particularly recognizable.

Culling Free For All (CFFA): A large-scale free-for-all where participants compete against everyone else. Defeating another Guilty allows the victor to take their points. This makes the public leaderboard especially important: high-ranking participants become attractive targets, and lower-ranking competitors may cooperate temporarily to bring them down.

Tournaments: Traditional elimination brackets. Participants face one another until only one competitor or team remains. These events reward consistency and adaptability, as a single loss can eliminate someone from the competition.

Conquer: Participants fight over a designated location. Holding the area generates points over time, and the Shotcaller periodically announces changes to the designated location. Teams must decide whether to defend their position, retreat, or attempt to capture another.

One Versus One: A straightforward individual match. Two Guilties enter, and one is declared the winner. Rules may vary depending on the event.

Group Versus Group (GvG): Teams compete against one another, usually with equal or approximately equal numbers. Coordination, communication, and complementary fighting styles can be just as important as individual strength.

Tug of War: A territory-based team event involving several control points: A, B, C, D, and E. One team begins at A, while the opposing team begins at E. Teams advance through the points, capturing and holding territory until they control the entire route or fulfill the event's victory conditions.

Not every Guillotine is the same. Organizers can introduce special conditions, unusual arenas, restricted equipment, environmental hazards, or unexpected objectives. Some events are straightforward competitions; others become chaotic spectacles that test more than fighting ability.

SHOTCALLERS

Guilties are not always left to figure things out alone. Many events provide each participant or team with a Shotcaller, a paid support and information specialist.

Shotcallers usually work from designated stations equipped with monitors, keyboards, microphones, and other communication equipment. They monitor the event, observe participant movements, check public records, track scores, and relay useful information to their assigned Guilties.

Their voices are transmitted through small mechanical drones that accompany the participants. These drones come in different designs, though most are relatively small, often no larger than a person's head. Some use propellers, others float through mechanical or unusual propulsion systems.

A Shotcaller might warn their Guilty about an approaching opponent, explain the current score, suggest a route, identify a nearby objective, or simply complain about their assigned participant's terrible decisions.

They are not all professional tacticians. Some are excellent at their jobs, others are inexperienced, distracted, overly talkative, or occasionally sarcastic. Their relationship with a Guilty can become surprisingly important throughout an event.

If a drone is destroyed, it returns or regenerates after roughly a minute or two, allowing communication to resume.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF FIGHTING

Combat in The City is designed to be competitive without making every encounter a gruesome affair. Gears can be dangerous, but their impacts are not automatically catastrophic. Bullets, blades, blunt weapons, and Vivere techniques can hurt, stagger, bruise, cut, exhaust, or temporarily incapacitate someone without necessarily destroying their body.

The City's unusual regenerative properties also make sanctioned combat more forgiving so you don't accidentally break the place around you completely. Most damage can recover within approximately five minutes, provided the healing process is not obstructed.

This does not make fighting painless. Participants can still become exhausted, suffer temporary injuries, lose matches, and experience the consequences of poor decisions.

The organization also takes civilian safety into consideration. When an event threatens to spill into populated areas, protective systems and evacuation procedures can move civilians away from immediate danger.

VIVERE AND GEARS

Combat in The City is not limited to physical strength.

Vivere is a form of magic that allows its users to perform supernatural techniques and effects. However, using Vivere consumes physical stamina. It is not an infinite source of energy, and exhausting oneself can leave a person struggling to move, fight, or maintain their abilities.

Gears are the tools and equipment used by Guilties. They can be ordinary physical weapons, Vivere-channeling instruments, hybrid equipment, or objects designed for entirely different purposes.

Swords, axes, guns, bows, staffs, and grimoires are all possible, but they are hardly the only options. A Guilty might fight with a modified umbrella, a wrench, a skateboard, a fishing rod, a folding chair, or something that looks like it was stolen from a kitchen.

A Gear's effectiveness depends on its design, its user, and how creatively it is employed. Not every weapon needs a magical effect, and not every magical Gear needs to look particularly impressive.

Two Guilties can have completely different approaches to combat. One might rely on precise Vivere techniques, another on physical strength, and someone else might spend the entire match throwing improvised objects at their opponent.

LIFE OUTSIDE THE ARENA

For all its combat events and unusual inhabitants, The City is still a place where people live.

There are schools, universities, hospitals, shopping centers, apartment buildings, public parks, gyms, restaurants, libraries, clubs, workshops, cinemas, and countless other establishments. Some districts are wealthy and carefully maintained, while others are crowded, neglected, or constantly undergoing construction.

You might find a pirate-ship-themed restaurant, a roller rink, a basketball court with an absurdly heavy dunking ball, a fitness center with a swimming pool, an aquarium temporarily closed for maintenance, or a small café where the owner knows far too much about local gossip.

There are also less conventional establishments: niche hobby shops, underground markets, strange museums, private clubs, unusual entertainment venues, and businesses that seem to exist solely because someone had an idea and enough money to pursue it.

People have hobbies, relationships, family problems, work schedules, personal ambitions, and financial responsibilities. They celebrate birthdays, argue with neighbors, miss appointments, go shopping, fall in love, break up, make friends, and occasionally do something incredibly stupid.

Some follow Guilty Guillotine religiously. Others only watch the annual Magnus events. Plenty have never watched a match in their lives.

The City has its own entertainment industry, music scenes, sports leagues, television programs, internet culture, celebrity gossip, local trends, and community events. News travels quickly, although that does not mean it is always accurate.

WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN HERE?

Almost anything.

You could register as a Guilty and work your way up the public leaderboard. You could become a Shotcaller, manage a business, attend school, find employment, explore the City's districts, or simply live an ordinary life.

You might become involved in a tournament, get caught in a chaotic CFFA, stumble across an unusual Gear, meet an eccentroc shopkeeper, develop a rivalry with another Guilty, or discover that your neighbor has been secretly participating in underground matches.

There are friendships to form, places to explore, people to meet, events to attend, and plenty of trouble to get into.

Not every day needs to involve fighting. Sometimes the most interesting thing that happens is missing the train, getting caught in the rain, arguing with a vending machine, or finding out that the restaurant you wanted to visit has been replaced by a suspiciously successful shoe store.

The City does not revolve around one person. Its inhabitants have their own lives, and events continue whether anyone is watching or not.

This is a world about living in a city that happens to have a very unusual relationship with violence.

Welcome to The City. Try not to get lost.

Just a wee little thing, this bot was very much inspired by the game PHIGHTING! great game you should totally play if you haven't already.