Village (Resident Evil Village)

The Village is a small, unnamed, rural community located in a mountainous region of Eastern Europe (strongly hinted to be in, or close to, Romania). This locale serves as the setting of the video game Resident Evil Village.

History
There has been continuous or near-continuous human habitation of the mountain range for millennia. Although no exact age has been determined, Mediæval folklore would indicate the region was once the heart of a powerful kingdom so ancient that nothing else was known of them. Ruins left by this people included four towering statues called the "Four Kings". The village itself may have been founded considerably later, with four people in particular named in their folklore as the founders: Nichola, Berengario, Guglielmo, and Cesare, who was a Duke. The Pagan roots of this community are evident by Nichola's stone idol of a goddess, and a steel icon of the mythological Norse creature, Hræsvelgr. During the Late Mediæval Period, efforts were made by the emerging states to expand into the mountains. Although there was little interest in the people and their resources, control of the mountains were an important military endeavour. One such state was responsible for the construction of a castle to the south in the 15th century, later known as Castle Dimitrescu. The villagers were treated with suspicion and contempt by the more pious of soldiers who had set up their own fort to the west, who saw them as either heretics or pagans. Efforts continued over time to Christianise the region, however, as evident by Orthodox artwork in one of the ruined buildings to the east of the village. How successful these efforts were is uncertain, as even to the 19th century it was a refuge for people who were ostracized from their own communities for their religious beliefs.

Infection
In the early 20th century, a woman known as Miranda took up residence in the village. In 1909, she gave birth to a daughter named Eva, but the girl tragically died ten years later during the Spanish Flu pandemic. Driven to despair by her loss, Miranda contemplated suicide, venturing into a cave to die. However, she discovered within the cave an enormous fungal super-organism, becoming infected by it upon touching it. After coming into contact with the fungal hive mind, Miranda sensed the consciousness of Eva, whose body had been assimilated by the Mold following her burial and was among countless other minds that had been consumed by the organism. This convinced Miranda that there was a possibility of resurrecting Eva using the Mold.

After her transformation, Miranda returned to the village, which was still reeling from the Spanish Flu. She infected the villagers carrying the disease with the Mold, curing them. Proclaiming herself as a prophet of the "Black God", Miranda swayed the villagers to abandon their Christian faith and convert to a new pagan cult under her leadership. From then on, the villagers, under the mind-altering effects of the Mold, referred to Miranda as "Mother Miranda" and worshipped her like a deity.

Over the following decades, Miranda conducted many experiments with the Mold. She operated out of a makeshift laboratory within the caverns beneath the village, experimenting on both living and dead organisms. In time, Miranda would create the Cadou, a parasitic organism based on the Mold. She would produce many of these parasites and implant them in selected villagers, both peasants and nobility, hoping to produce a superhuman vessel for Eva. Most of the test subjects would die after implantation, or be transformed into feral, bestial creatures known as Lycans. Miranda would have the Lycans cast out of the village so as to keep the other villagers alive for her continued research. The banished mutants would make their den in the remains of the Medieval fort, only emerging on occasion to prey upon livestock. Miranda's most promising candidates for her Cadou research were the descendants of the Four Kings who ruled over the region - Alcina Dimitrescu, Karl Heisenberg, Donna Beneviento, and Salvatore Moreau. Although none were suitable vessels for Eva, Miranda recognized their ancient feudal rule over the region and they operated together as a council.

Destruction
In February 2021, Miranda finally discovered a suitable candidate for her plan: the infant Rosemary Winters. Her initial attempt to capture the child was thwarted by Chris Redfield, but she faked her death at his hands in order to violently abduct the baby and bring her to the village. She then divided Rose into four pieces that she split among the Lords, tasking them with keeping the pieces safe until she was ready to begin the resurrection ceremony.

Since Miranda's plan required a large number of sacrifices in order to empower the "Black God" containing Eva's consciousness, she had the Lycans slaughter everyone living in the village. She also lured Ethan Winters, Rose's father, into destroying the Four Lords and further fueling the Black God. When the master root awoke, the village was severely damaged by its emerging tendrils and the ensuing assault by the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance and the Hound Wolf Squad led by Chris Redfield. What little was left of the village was annihilated with the Black God when Ethan detonated a N2 Explosive on its core that Chris had planted earlier.

Points of interest
The following is a list of noteworthy areas around the village.


 * Village Proper - The central townscape consists of various small, rustic houses and barns for holding livestock. A larger house, owned by a woman named Luiza, could be found on the eastern side of the village. A small church was situated on the northern side of the village proper. By the time Ethan Winters came to the village, all of the residences in the area had been heavily damaged following repeated Lycan attacks.
 * Ceremony Site - Located west of the village proper, this site consisted of four large statues depicting the original feudal lords that governed the region in ancient times carved into the surrounding rock faces. The statues overlooked a dais where ritual sacrifices were held and where Miranda planned to carry out the resurrection of her daughter Eva.
 * Otis' Mill - A sawmill located to the north of the village proper. An Uriaș Drac resided here.
 * Stronghold - A dilapidated medieval fort that became the lair of the Lycan horde.
 * Castle Dimitrescu - An imposing medieval castle owned by the Dimitrescu family. From here, the family ran a wine-exporting business and carried out many sadistic murders in order to satisy their own thirst for human blood.
 * House Beneviento - An eloquent mansion overlooking a waterfall, located northwest of the village. Here, Donna Beneviento resided with her collection of finely-crafted dolls.
 * Reservoir - This site overlooks a long-submerged fishing village and is where the mutated lord Salvatore Moreau resides.
 * Factory - Originally built over a coal mine, this factory was repurposed into a weapons research facility by Karl Heisenberg. Here, Heisenberg would convert the bodies of dead villagers into bio-mechanical soldiers that he intended to use against Miranda.

Creatures
Below is a list of the mutations encountered in the village during the 2021 incident.


 * Mother Miranda - Ruler of the village and leader of its neopagan community; infected with the Mold in 1919, gaining awesome shapeshifting abilities as a result.
 * Alcina Dimitrescu - Head of House Dimitrescu; implanted with a Cadou that rendered her near-immortal and granted her regenerative powers as well as the ability to transform into a dragon-like beast.
 * Donna Beneviento - Last surviving member of the Beneviento family; mentally challenged and typically only communicates through her doll, Angie.
 * Salvatore Moreau - Deformed member of the Four Lords who transforms into a massive aquatic mutant; presides over the reservoir.
 * Karl Heisenberg - Member of the Four Lords who wields superhuman magnetic powers; runs the factory southwest of the village.
 * Lycans - Humans infected with the Cadou parasite that have de-evoled into feral creatures.
 * Vârcolac - Lycans that have mutated into a more wolf-like form.
 * Uriaș - A giant humanoid mutant that acts alpha male of the Lycan horde.
 * Uriaș Drac - A pair of giants similar to Uriaș. One roamed the woods near House Beneviento while the other took up residence in Otis' Mill.
 * Uriaș Străjer - The older brother of Uriaș, entrusted by Miranda to guard the Megamycete.
 * Moroaice - Ghoulish humanoid creatures created from the reanimated corpses of Lady Dimitrescu's victims.
 * Samce - Flying Moroaică mutations that nest on the roof of Castle Dimitrescu.
 * Soldats - Bio-mechanical soldiers built by Heisenberg using human corpses combined with industrial machinery.
 * Sturm - Uncontrollable bio-mechanical creature with a jet engine replacing its torso.