Until the Early Modern period‚ this region was home to a religious group known as Los Iluminados‚ which worshipped parasites known as Las Plagas․ The cult was destroyed in a Catholic crusade led by a nobleman‚ Salazar‚ whose family administrated the region for generations from a nearby castle․［note 1］ Local village matters‚ however‚ were handled by a village chief․ The villagers adopted a culture of preserving their lifestyles through generations‚ and restricted their use of modern technology․ By the twenty-first century‚ they lived in an anachronistic life some two centuries behind the rest of Spain․［1］［2］ At some point at the start of the twenty-first century‚ Ramón‚ the 8th lord‚ was converted to a neopagan religion taking the features and name of Los Iluminados‚ and was followed by Fr․ Bitores Mendez‚ the village chief and Catholic priest․ The leader of this neopagan group‚ the Prophet Osmund Saddler‚ succeeded in obtaining samples of Las Plagas for bioweapons research‚ and created a new subspecies of parasite that would command the others․ The villagers were then converted to Los Iluminados through Fr․ Mendez‚ and willingly accepted Plaga parasitisation through the guise of an elaborate baptismal ceremony․ Now loyal to the Prophet and under his direct control when in his presence‚ the villagers followed orders from the Prophet and Fr․ Mendez almost without question‚ and began murdering outsiders‚ who Saddler feared were spies․ Following the death of Osmund Saddler at the hands Leon S․ Kennedy‚ the village area was completely sealed off by the Spanish government to prevent surviving Plagas from spreading‚ though refugees who fled from Los Iluminados were parasitised when they returned home․