m (→Geography: linked to north arcade islands) Tag: Visual edit |
(→History: added more info and citations to history and politics) Tag: Visual edit |
||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
=== Dolorian Century === |
=== Dolorian Century === |
||
| − | Insulinde is commonly considered to have been discovered during the Dolorian Century.<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - "There is a term of endearment they coined for it. In the Dolorian century, when humanity was *high* on this world, discovering more and more of it -- these archipelagos included..."</ref> Insulinde was colonized at this time by the nations of Mundi.<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - "The nations who colonized this isola called theirs *Mundi*. The World. It was all they knew, all they thought would be. That there would be something more was a gamble. Akin to another world -- or life after death."</ref> The pale that separated Mundi and Insulinde was thought to be impenetrable. Despite this, the Queen of Suresne Irene La Navigateur sent eight expeditions into the [[pale]]<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - "The pale was thought to be impregnable, perpetual." She points northwest. "Irene La Navigateur, the Queen of Suresne, sent *eight* expeditions, one after the other, into the mass at the edge of the world. Five of the crews did not return. Two did, but had lost their minds."</ref> on the advice of [[Dolores Dei]].<ref>ENCYCLOPEDIA - It was on her advice that Irene La Navigateur sponsored a number of voyages into the pale. A costly, often tragic endeavour, ultimately vindicated by the discovery of the *New New World*, the piece of reality you're standing on...</ref> It is implied that these expeditions served a dual purpose to give Irene La Navigateur a way to purge her political rivals who would be serving as admirals on the expeditions.<ref>RHETORIC - Each of those expeditions would have been led by an admiral. Sounds like a purge. Like she was purging her political rivals.</ref> |
+ | Insulinde is commonly considered to have been discovered during the Dolorian Century.<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - "There is a term of endearment they coined for it. In the Dolorian century, when humanity was *high* on this world, discovering more and more of it -- these archipelagos included..."</ref> Insulinde was colonized at this time by the nations of Mundi.<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - "The nations who colonized this isola called theirs *Mundi*. The World. It was all they knew, all they thought would be. That there would be something more was a gamble. Akin to another world -- or life after death."</ref> The pale that separated Mundi and Insulinde was thought to be impenetrable. Despite this, the Queen of Suresne Irene La Navigateur sent eight expeditions into the [[pale]]<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - "The pale was thought to be impregnable, perpetual." She points northwest. "Irene La Navigateur, the Queen of Suresne, sent *eight* expeditions, one after the other, into the mass at the edge of the world. Five of the crews did not return. Two did, but had lost their minds."</ref> on the advice of [[Dolores Dei]].<ref>ENCYCLOPEDIA - It was on her advice that Irene La Navigateur sponsored a number of voyages into the pale. A costly, often tragic endeavour, ultimately vindicated by the discovery of the *New New World*, the piece of reality you're standing on...</ref> It is implied that these expeditions served a dual purpose to give Irene La Navigateur a way to purge her political rivals who would be serving as admirals on the expeditions.<ref>RHETORIC - Each of those expeditions would have been led by an admiral. Sounds like a purge. Like she was purging her political rivals.</ref> |
| + | |||
| + | The eighth of these expeditions returned, sane and intact, and reported to Irene La Navigateur and Dolores Dei of the new continent of matter they had discovered.<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - "The eighth expedition returned, sane and intact. They told of a new continent of matter. They told the queen and her councillor, Dolores Dei, that the pale had begun to condense, day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute." <br />JOYCE MESSIER - "Slowly raining down until it formed a vast ocean."</ref> They reported that the pale had begun to condense until it had formed a vast ocean. The crew at the time thought they were hallucinating. The mast-hand proclaimed 'L´Insulinde! L´Insulinde!' – the signal to wake up.<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - She nods. "The phenomenon has never again been encountered. For a time the crew thought they were experiencing a hallucination. The mast-hand proclaimed 'L´Insulinde! L´Insulinde!' -- the signal to wake up." <br />JOYCE MESSIER - "But they could not. They were sane and conscious, as islands began to appear on the horizon... There are 78,000 uninhabited islands in the Insulindian archipelago, officer. The freckled face of god," she smiles.</ref> However, they were awake. Soon islands began to appear on the horizon. When returning to Irene La Navigateur and Dolores Dei, they summarized their experiences as '*Après la vie, la mort, Après la mort, la vie encore! Après le monde, le gris. Après le gris, le monde encore!*'.<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - "'*Après la vie, la mort*,' they summarized it for the queen and Dolores Dei; '*Après la mort, la vie encore! Après le monde, le gris. Après le gris, le monde encore!*'"</ref> |
||
| + | |||
| + | During this time, around 380 years ago, settlers from the Occident began to colonize Insulinde.<ref>SHIVERS - On the coast of the Martinaise Inlet, in a small weather-beaten stave church built 380 years ago by settlers from the Occident, most likely to guard against an anomaly at its centre, an officer of the RCM is contorting his body into idiotically rigid shapes, as he invents the future of dance music... It's the *hardest* anyone has ever danced.</ref> |
||
| + | |||
| + | === Revacholian Suzerainty=== |
||
| + | At some point after the early days of settling the archipelago, Revachol achieved independence from the Kingdom of Suresne.<ref>ENCYCLOPEDIA - In the very, very early days of colonizing this archipelago, the Kingdom of Suresne, a precursor of modern Sur-La-Clef, used to own the city of Revachol. An obscure detail in the bigger picture, but still -- worth dropping.</ref> It became governed by a constitutional monarchy.<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - "Some were rich enough to stay with the Constitution; with monarchy -- *big mistake*. Others bet on the Revolution, they were called the Ultras, or ultraliberals. They fared well."</ref> During this period Revachol became the capital of the world.<ref>ENCYCLOPEDIA - Revachol is the disgraced former capital of the world, divided into zones of control under foreign occupation -- half a century after a failed world revolution. She is central to our moment in time.</ref> |
||
==Geography and Ecology== |
==Geography and Ecology== |
||
| − | ===Geography |
+ | ===Geography=== |
Insulinde is home to the world’s largest body of water, the Insulindic Ocean.<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - "Yes. We are on an island in an ocean. The world's largest body of water -- the Insulindic." <br />ENCYCLOPEDIA - Known to the early Revacholians as *les Immensités Bleues* -- The Blue Immensities.</ref> Early [[Revachol|Revacholians]] called it “les Immensités Bleues” or The Blue Immensities. The Insulinidan Archipelago has 78,000 islands<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - "But they could not. They were sane and conscious, as islands began to appear on the horizon... There are 78,000 uninhabited islands in the Insulindian archipelago, officer. The freckled face of god," she smiles.</ref> and has a population of 850 million people.<ref>ENCYCLOPEDIA - 850 million people live on these tiny dots. An oceanic world of culture and commerce, torn apart by history.</ref> |
Insulinde is home to the world’s largest body of water, the Insulindic Ocean.<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - "Yes. We are on an island in an ocean. The world's largest body of water -- the Insulindic." <br />ENCYCLOPEDIA - Known to the early Revacholians as *les Immensités Bleues* -- The Blue Immensities.</ref> Early [[Revachol|Revacholians]] called it “les Immensités Bleues” or The Blue Immensities. The Insulinidan Archipelago has 78,000 islands<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - "But they could not. They were sane and conscious, as islands began to appear on the horizon... There are 78,000 uninhabited islands in the Insulindian archipelago, officer. The freckled face of god," she smiles.</ref> and has a population of 850 million people.<ref>ENCYCLOPEDIA - 850 million people live on these tiny dots. An oceanic world of culture and commerce, torn apart by history.</ref> |
||
| Line 30: | Line 37: | ||
Sereglee is the southernmost island in the Seminine archipelago and borders the [[pale]].<ref>MEASUREHEAD - "IT SEEMS TO ME YOU ARE IN NEED OF A WARNING. HERE IT IS: IT IS ABSOLUTELY POSSIBLE TO RETURN TO THE PAST. YOU JUST NEED TO TAKE A TICKET TO SEREGLEE ISLAND, THE SOUTHERNMOST OF THE SEMENINE ARCHIPELAGO, ALSO KNOWN AS ILE DU FANTÔME. AND WALK INTO PALE."</ref> The [[North Arcade Islands]]<ref>MAP WALL - Ozonne, Laurentide, Face-a-la-Mer, Archipelagos, North Arcade Islands... all just specks of dust on the vastness of the Insulindic. On the edges of the map, the colour fades into a blur of dotted lines. Black and white.</ref> and the Near Pale Offshore Platform ‘Insulindico’ also border the pale in Insulinde.<ref>COALITION WARSHIP ARCHER - "Good. First question: Are you currently in the vicinity of Sereglee, the North Arcade Islands, or Near Pale Offshore Platform 'Insulindico'?"</ref> |
Sereglee is the southernmost island in the Seminine archipelago and borders the [[pale]].<ref>MEASUREHEAD - "IT SEEMS TO ME YOU ARE IN NEED OF A WARNING. HERE IT IS: IT IS ABSOLUTELY POSSIBLE TO RETURN TO THE PAST. YOU JUST NEED TO TAKE A TICKET TO SEREGLEE ISLAND, THE SOUTHERNMOST OF THE SEMENINE ARCHIPELAGO, ALSO KNOWN AS ILE DU FANTÔME. AND WALK INTO PALE."</ref> The [[North Arcade Islands]]<ref>MAP WALL - Ozonne, Laurentide, Face-a-la-Mer, Archipelagos, North Arcade Islands... all just specks of dust on the vastness of the Insulindic. On the edges of the map, the colour fades into a blur of dotted lines. Black and white.</ref> and the Near Pale Offshore Platform ‘Insulindico’ also border the pale in Insulinde.<ref>COALITION WARSHIP ARCHER - "Good. First question: Are you currently in the vicinity of Sereglee, the North Arcade Islands, or Near Pale Offshore Platform 'Insulindico'?"</ref> |
||
| − | ===Ecology |
+ | ===Ecology=== |
A wide variety of plants and animals are found on the Insulindian isola. |
A wide variety of plants and animals are found on the Insulindian isola. |
||
| Line 37: | Line 44: | ||
Plants that exist on the Insulindian isola include carrion flowers, mangrove trees,<ref name=":2" /> evergreen trees,<ref name=":3" /> oak trees,<ref name=":4" /> birch trees,<ref>COIN-OPERATED VIEWER - It looks as if it was abandoned quite some time ago, nothing but a rotten tooth remains of the anti-aircraft tower. A lonely birch tree grows out of it.</ref> hawthorn trees,<ref>SHIVERS - There is a hawthorn tree on Rue de Saint-Ghislaine, right next to the canal.</ref> blood beech trees,<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - "There was no one but the skua. The Liliacea. And the blood beech and the River Esperance. It was the New New World. The Mondials used it to amass the greatest concentration of wealth mankind has ever seen -- Revachol the Suzerain."</ref> and may bells.<ref>SHIVERS - Outside, the melting snow seeps into the cracks in the walls and the cobblestone streets. All the way down into the sewers... Above ground, the first May bells blossom. You can feel it. A great cold. Then the shiver passes.</ref> |
Plants that exist on the Insulindian isola include carrion flowers, mangrove trees,<ref name=":2" /> evergreen trees,<ref name=":3" /> oak trees,<ref name=":4" /> birch trees,<ref>COIN-OPERATED VIEWER - It looks as if it was abandoned quite some time ago, nothing but a rotten tooth remains of the anti-aircraft tower. A lonely birch tree grows out of it.</ref> hawthorn trees,<ref>SHIVERS - There is a hawthorn tree on Rue de Saint-Ghislaine, right next to the canal.</ref> blood beech trees,<ref>JOYCE MESSIER - "There was no one but the skua. The Liliacea. And the blood beech and the River Esperance. It was the New New World. The Mondials used it to amass the greatest concentration of wealth mankind has ever seen -- Revachol the Suzerain."</ref> and may bells.<ref>SHIVERS - Outside, the melting snow seeps into the cracks in the walls and the cobblestone streets. All the way down into the sewers... Above ground, the first May bells blossom. You can feel it. A great cold. Then the shiver passes.</ref> |
||
| − | In addition to the confirmed animals on the Insulindian isola, there are some unconfirmed cryptids on the isola. The Nnong Okk is an owl cryptid rumored to exist on the [[Semenine|Semenine Islands]].<ref> MORELL, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST - "A flightless *cursor owl* found in the Semenine isles. Its long legs permit the Nnong Okk to run faster than any other avian, perhaps any other *animal*, who knows?"</ref> The Insulindian Phasmid is thought to be a cryptid, but can be discovered through the course of the game by [[Harrier Du Bois|Harry du Bois]].<ref>INSULINDIAN PHASMID - I have stayed hidden through four forms of government and two scientific revolutions. Until I was accidentally discovered by a detective of the Citizens Militia in Revachol, district of Martinaise, March, '51.</ref |
+ | In addition to the confirmed animals on the Insulindian isola, there are some unconfirmed cryptids on the isola. The Nnong Okk is an owl cryptid rumored to exist on the [[Semenine|Semenine Islands]].<ref> MORELL, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST - "A flightless *cursor owl* found in the Semenine isles. Its long legs permit the Nnong Okk to run faster than any other avian, perhaps any other *animal*, who knows?"</ref> The Insulindian Phasmid is thought to be a cryptid, but can be discovered through the course of the game by [[Harrier Du Bois|Harry du Bois]].<ref>INSULINDIAN PHASMID - I have stayed hidden through four forms of government and two scientific revolutions. Until I was accidentally discovered by a detective of the Citizens Militia in Revachol, district of Martinaise, March, '51.</ref> |
==Politics== |
==Politics== |
||
| + | Currently, Insulinde has many countries and regions each with their own politics. |
||
| + | |||
| + | The Free State of Semenine is involved in a new round of free-trade negotiations with [[EPIS]] nations.<ref>LA FUMEÉ, VOL. 1 NO. 4 - This section includes a long, tedious critique of the latest round of free-trade negotiations between the EPIS nations and the Free State of Semenine.</ref> |
||
==Culture== |
==Culture== |
||
Revision as of 07:12, 23 May 2021
Insulinde is an isola on Elysium.[1] It is to the east of Seol, the west of Samara, the south of Mundi, and the southwest of Graad.[2]
History
Pre-Dolorian Century
During the neolithic era, there was a 4000 year-old Seraseolitic civilization on the Insulindian isola.[3] They used stone tools and silk, and they existed before the Insulindian Phasmid developed parthenogenesis.[4] Evidence of their civilization remains undiscovered.
Thousands of years before the Dolorian Era, Semenese islanders migrated from Iilmaraa to Insulinde.[5] They did not stay on Le Caillou,[6] but Semenese islanders are indigenous to the Insulindian isola.[7]
Dolorian Century
Insulinde is commonly considered to have been discovered during the Dolorian Century.[8] Insulinde was colonized at this time by the nations of Mundi.[9] The pale that separated Mundi and Insulinde was thought to be impenetrable. Despite this, the Queen of Suresne Irene La Navigateur sent eight expeditions into the pale[10] on the advice of Dolores Dei.[11] It is implied that these expeditions served a dual purpose to give Irene La Navigateur a way to purge her political rivals who would be serving as admirals on the expeditions.[12]
The eighth of these expeditions returned, sane and intact, and reported to Irene La Navigateur and Dolores Dei of the new continent of matter they had discovered.[13] They reported that the pale had begun to condense until it had formed a vast ocean. The crew at the time thought they were hallucinating. The mast-hand proclaimed 'L´Insulinde! L´Insulinde!' – the signal to wake up.[14] However, they were awake. Soon islands began to appear on the horizon. When returning to Irene La Navigateur and Dolores Dei, they summarized their experiences as '*Après la vie, la mort, Après la mort, la vie encore! Après le monde, le gris. Après le gris, le monde encore!*'.[15]
During this time, around 380 years ago, settlers from the Occident began to colonize Insulinde.[16]
Revacholian Suzerainty
At some point after the early days of settling the archipelago, Revachol achieved independence from the Kingdom of Suresne.[17] It became governed by a constitutional monarchy.[18] During this period Revachol became the capital of the world.[19]
Geography and Ecology
Geography
Insulinde is home to the world’s largest body of water, the Insulindic Ocean.[20] Early Revacholians called it “les Immensités Bleues” or The Blue Immensities. The Insulinidan Archipelago has 78,000 islands[21] and has a population of 850 million people.[22]
Le Caillou is the largest of the fertile islands in the northeast of the Insulindian archipelago.[23] To the north, 6000 kilometeres away, is the start of the pale. The pale exists further away in the south, east, and west.[24] It is the fourth largest island in the world.[25] On its north coast, built around the vast delta of the river Esperance,[26] is the city of Revachol.[27] Revachol has a radius of 80 kilometres.[28] To the east of the Esperance are rolling hillsides.[29] The Bay of Revachol has a depth of up to 1200 meters,[30] and feeds into the Insulindic ocean.[31]
Just off the southwest coast of Le Caillou is the island of Laurentide.[32] Deora-of-the-Seven-Seas is a major city on the island.[27] The island groups of Ozonne and Face-à-La-Mer neighbor Le Caillou.[25] Ozonne is 80 kilometres[33] and two day's travel from Revachol.[34] The cities of Fond de l'Air and Virmandeux are on Ozonne.[27]
Betancourt is a location 20 kilometres from Martinaise.[35]
The Semenese Islands (also called Ile du Fantôme) are in the southwest of Insulinde.[36] Banatial is one of the inhabited Semenese archipelagos near the pale and covered in jungle.[37] Olduvai,[27] Casherbrume,[38] and Ulunbuir are all cities on the Semenine Islands.[39]
Croyant-Morain and Villiers are located on Archipelagos.[27]
Résurrection is an island way beyond Martinaise.[40]
Sereglee is the southernmost island in the Seminine archipelago and borders the pale.[41] The North Arcade Islands[42] and the Near Pale Offshore Platform ‘Insulindico’ also border the pale in Insulinde.[43]
Ecology
A wide variety of plants and animals are found on the Insulindian isola.
Animals that exist on the Insulindian isola include tigers,[44] monotremes, megabats,[45] wolves, dogs,[46] cats,[47] rats,[48] horses,[49], cockatoos,[50] gulls, and skuas.[51]
Plants that exist on the Insulindian isola include carrion flowers, mangrove trees,[45] evergreen trees,[46] oak trees,[49] birch trees,[52] hawthorn trees,[53] blood beech trees,[54] and may bells.[55]
In addition to the confirmed animals on the Insulindian isola, there are some unconfirmed cryptids on the isola. The Nnong Okk is an owl cryptid rumored to exist on the Semenine Islands.[56] The Insulindian Phasmid is thought to be a cryptid, but can be discovered through the course of the game by Harry du Bois.[57]
Politics
Currently, Insulinde has many countries and regions each with their own politics.
The Free State of Semenine is involved in a new round of free-trade negotiations with EPIS nations.[58]
Culture
The great Skua is the symbol for the discovery of the Insulidian isola.[59]
References
- ↑ JOYCE MESSIER - "*Isola* is a Messinian word for a continent of matter, enveloped on all sides by the pale. Also: isolation, or land mass. We used to believe there was only one. In the last four centuries we have discovered seven..."
JOYCE MESSIER - "Mundi, Seol, Samara, Iilmaraa, Graad, Katla, and this -- Insulinde." - ↑ MAP WALL - The ocean breaks apart into a tangle of cosines and azimuths, all pointing into pale nothingness. *Mundi* is the north azimuth; *Graad* is the northeast azimuth; *Samara* is the east azimuth; *Seol* is the west azimuth. *Isolas*, they're called.
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - And the 4,000-year-old Seraseolitic civilization buried so deep in the sediment that you do not even know it is there -- they too did not see me.
- ↑ YOU - Was there an ancient Seraseolitic civilization? INSULINDIAN PHASMID - Yes -- with stone tools and silk. They too missed me, although I had not developed the mutation needed for parthenogenesis yet, and scoured the neolithic hinterland as distinct individuals, not clones.
- ↑ MEASUREHEAD - "THE AREOPAGITES ARE THE MASTER RACE OF THE IILMARAAN DESERTS. THE SEMENESE ARE DESCENDANTS OF THE AREOPAGITES. WE CAME HERE DURING A *HEROIC MIGRATION* FROM IILMARAA TO INSULINDE. THOUSANDS OF YEARS BEFORE THE LACTOSE INTOLERANT, MAUN-RIDDEN OCCIDENTALS DISCOVERED THIS PLACE."
- ↑ INSULINDIAN PHASMID - I went unnoticed by the first settlers and the land surveyors of the suzerain. Also by the soldiers of the Revolution and the officials of the occupation. Even the Semenese islanders who came here first, but did not stay, have not seen me.
- ↑ MEASUREHEAD - "THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF THIS, THE INSULINDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. THE SEMENESE INHABIT THE SOUTHERN ISLANDS..." He gestures toward the South, across the ocean. "*I* AM SEMENESE -- FROM THE STOCK OF ULUNBUIR ON ILE DU FANTÔME."
- ↑ JOYCE MESSIER - "There is a term of endearment they coined for it. In the Dolorian century, when humanity was *high* on this world, discovering more and more of it -- these archipelagos included..."
- ↑ JOYCE MESSIER - "The nations who colonized this isola called theirs *Mundi*. The World. It was all they knew, all they thought would be. That there would be something more was a gamble. Akin to another world -- or life after death."
- ↑ JOYCE MESSIER - "The pale was thought to be impregnable, perpetual." She points northwest. "Irene La Navigateur, the Queen of Suresne, sent *eight* expeditions, one after the other, into the mass at the edge of the world. Five of the crews did not return. Two did, but had lost their minds."
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - It was on her advice that Irene La Navigateur sponsored a number of voyages into the pale. A costly, often tragic endeavour, ultimately vindicated by the discovery of the *New New World*, the piece of reality you're standing on...
- ↑ RHETORIC - Each of those expeditions would have been led by an admiral. Sounds like a purge. Like she was purging her political rivals.
- ↑ JOYCE MESSIER - "The eighth expedition returned, sane and intact. They told of a new continent of matter. They told the queen and her councillor, Dolores Dei, that the pale had begun to condense, day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute."
JOYCE MESSIER - "Slowly raining down until it formed a vast ocean." - ↑ JOYCE MESSIER - She nods. "The phenomenon has never again been encountered. For a time the crew thought they were experiencing a hallucination. The mast-hand proclaimed 'L´Insulinde! L´Insulinde!' -- the signal to wake up."
JOYCE MESSIER - "But they could not. They were sane and conscious, as islands began to appear on the horizon... There are 78,000 uninhabited islands in the Insulindian archipelago, officer. The freckled face of god," she smiles. - ↑ JOYCE MESSIER - "'*Après la vie, la mort*,' they summarized it for the queen and Dolores Dei; '*Après la mort, la vie encore! Après le monde, le gris. Après le gris, le monde encore!*'"
- ↑ SHIVERS - On the coast of the Martinaise Inlet, in a small weather-beaten stave church built 380 years ago by settlers from the Occident, most likely to guard against an anomaly at its centre, an officer of the RCM is contorting his body into idiotically rigid shapes, as he invents the future of dance music... It's the *hardest* anyone has ever danced.
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - In the very, very early days of colonizing this archipelago, the Kingdom of Suresne, a precursor of modern Sur-La-Clef, used to own the city of Revachol. An obscure detail in the bigger picture, but still -- worth dropping.
- ↑ JOYCE MESSIER - "Some were rich enough to stay with the Constitution; with monarchy -- *big mistake*. Others bet on the Revolution, they were called the Ultras, or ultraliberals. They fared well."
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - Revachol is the disgraced former capital of the world, divided into zones of control under foreign occupation -- half a century after a failed world revolution. She is central to our moment in time.
- ↑ JOYCE MESSIER - "Yes. We are on an island in an ocean. The world's largest body of water -- the Insulindic."
ENCYCLOPEDIA - Known to the early Revacholians as *les Immensités Bleues* -- The Blue Immensities. - ↑ JOYCE MESSIER - "But they could not. They were sane and conscious, as islands began to appear on the horizon... There are 78,000 uninhabited islands in the Insulindian archipelago, officer. The freckled face of god," she smiles.
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - 850 million people live on these tiny dots. An oceanic world of culture and commerce, torn apart by history.
- ↑ JOYCE MESSIER - "On Caillou..." She studies your reaction. "The Pebble, the largest of the fertile, uninhabited islands of the northeast Insulindian archipelago. Four centuries and two revolutions later."
- ↑ JOYCE MESSIER - "No, detective, we're safe." She points to the sea. "It begins there, 6,000 kilometres to the north, and even more to the south, east, and west. You are in the middle of the isola."
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 ENCYCLOPEDIA - Technically, the neighbouring Ozonne and Face-à-La-Mer island groups are archipelagos, while Le Caillou, by contrast, is a single, fertile land mass, the fourth largest island in the world. It is not an archipelago.
- ↑ MAP WALL - The north coast of a verdant island is shattered by the delta of a river. It is the River Esperance. Countless bridges put the shards back together, connecting city blocks to river islands. *La Delta*, says a great, artificial heart in the centre, teeming with lifeforms and construction.
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 MAP WALL - You can. On Caillou -- Revachol, a single black star; on Ozonne -- Fond de l'Air and Virmandeux; on Archipelagos -- Croyant-Morain, Villiers; on Semenine -- Olduvai. And on Laurentide -- Deora Of The Seven Seas...
- ↑ SHIVERS - Radiating outwards from you -- the Suzerain Revachol. With a radius of 80 kilometres. Still, the crown jewel of this isola would be barely visible.
- ↑ MAP WALL - To the east, rolling hillsides: Le Jardin, Stella Maris, the suburbs of Saint-Batiste, swallowed up into the megacity. They sound *rich* to you. This is Revachol East.
- ↑ SHIVERS - The Bay of Revachol, vastness, great depth -- over 1200 m at its deepest. Water, air brinier than here. It is crisscrossed by huge cargo ships bearing company logos: Wild Pines, ZAMM, Moriyn.
- ↑ JOYCE MESSIER - "It's not really a sea. It's the Bay of Revachol. And the bay feeds into the ocean."
- ↑ YOU - "What's in the southwest?"
[...]
TOMMY LE HOMME - "Deora-of-the-Seven-Seas. It's on the other end of Le Caillou, pretty much -- on another island, called Laurentide, off mainland. We've got a little place there. I can almost hear my kid laugh, when it snows..." - ↑ THE DESERTER - "...huddled on the floor. The artillery was eighty kilometres away in Ozonne but I *knew*, I knew the Commune would fall. We would all be turned into ash. So I said I was going to the map room..." He looks east.
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - Ozonne is an archipelago two days' travel away from Revachol. Its moneyed residents, used to posh restaurants and upscale boutiques, rarely have reason to visit Martinaise.
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - Betancourt got bombed in the war. It used to be quite near. Circa 20 kilometres from here.
- ↑ MAP WALL - This large map displays archipelagos. You see a constellation of small dots on the light blue emptiness of the Insulindic ocean. The largest, in the northeast, is "Le Caillou" (you are here). Another, far away in the southwest -- "Semenese Islands (Ile du Fantôme)".
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - Banaital is one of the inhabited islands of the Semenese archipelago, near the pale. Covered in jungle. It was the anchor point for the Semenese nationalists -- in the proxy war held on the islanders' territory.
- ↑ THE DESERTER - "Her passport. And tickets to Villiers." He coughs. "And from there to Casherbrume."
ENCYCLOPEDIA - In the Free State of Semenine. Hidden away at the edge of the Earth, near the pale. - ↑ MEASUREHEAD - "I AM A DESCENDANT. THE NARROW STREETS OF ULUNBUIR ARE WITH ME IN MY GENETIC DREAMS, I SEE YOUNG SEMENESE WOMEN WALK INTO THE GREY MASS ON *ILE DU FANTÔME*, WAITING ON IMMACULATE CONCEPTION FROM THE PALE."
- ↑ SHIVERS - Further out, the lights burn bright on Résurrection; way beyond Martinaise -- a popular spa destination for ample-bodied Ozonne kids with equally ample pockets.
- ↑ MEASUREHEAD - "IT SEEMS TO ME YOU ARE IN NEED OF A WARNING. HERE IT IS: IT IS ABSOLUTELY POSSIBLE TO RETURN TO THE PAST. YOU JUST NEED TO TAKE A TICKET TO SEREGLEE ISLAND, THE SOUTHERNMOST OF THE SEMENINE ARCHIPELAGO, ALSO KNOWN AS ILE DU FANTÔME. AND WALK INTO PALE."
- ↑ MAP WALL - Ozonne, Laurentide, Face-a-la-Mer, Archipelagos, North Arcade Islands... all just specks of dust on the vastness of the Insulindic. On the edges of the map, the colour fades into a blur of dotted lines. Black and white.
- ↑ COALITION WARSHIP ARCHER - "Good. First question: Are you currently in the vicinity of Sereglee, the North Arcade Islands, or Near Pale Offshore Platform 'Insulindico'?"
- ↑ HALF LIGHT - Please just agree with him -- you're in the cage of a Semenese tiger. At his mercy. He can *end* you any time he chooses.
- ↑ 45.0 45.1 MEASUREHEAD - "GREAT TIMES WERE HAD HERE, FILLING IN THE GREAT COLOURING BOOK OF THE SEMENINE FLORA AND FAUNA. THE CARRION FLOWERS AND THE MONOTREMES. THE MANGROVE FORESTS AND THE MEGABATS."
- ↑ 46.0 46.1 SHIVERS - The Pox is completely wild now. Evergreen thickets covered in snow and industrial dust. Feral dogs and even wolves roaming in packs. The police try to keep the deepest corners cordoned off.
- ↑ PERCEPTION (SIGHT) - Downstairs a cat crosses the yard, disappearing into the bush.
- ↑ SHIVERS - Layer upon layer of sand poisoned with industrial run-off. The storm drainage. Hidden bunkers. Rats scuttle...
- ↑ 49.0 49.1 COALITION WARSHIP ARCHER - "Oh, it looks quite lovely from here. From our porthole, we see rolling hillsides, a public park filled with grand oak trees, men and women going about on horses..."
- ↑ FROM A TO ZRRIEEK! A GUIDE TO A WELL-BEHAVED COCKATOO - Despite its *banging* name, the bang-bang cockatoo is actually the shyest of the species. Common in almost all Semenese forests, as well as zoos and homes all over the world, its plumage is mainly grey and white. The Semenese name *bang-bang* is thought to be of onomatopoeic origins.
- ↑ BIRD'S NEST ROY - "Gulls and skuas. But shhhh." He raises a pointer finger and inclines his head toward the speakers. A new, very high-pitched, shivering sound emerges amidst the others.
- ↑ COIN-OPERATED VIEWER - It looks as if it was abandoned quite some time ago, nothing but a rotten tooth remains of the anti-aircraft tower. A lonely birch tree grows out of it.
- ↑ SHIVERS - There is a hawthorn tree on Rue de Saint-Ghislaine, right next to the canal.
- ↑ JOYCE MESSIER - "There was no one but the skua. The Liliacea. And the blood beech and the River Esperance. It was the New New World. The Mondials used it to amass the greatest concentration of wealth mankind has ever seen -- Revachol the Suzerain."
- ↑ SHIVERS - Outside, the melting snow seeps into the cracks in the walls and the cobblestone streets. All the way down into the sewers... Above ground, the first May bells blossom. You can feel it. A great cold. Then the shiver passes.
- ↑ MORELL, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST - "A flightless *cursor owl* found in the Semenine isles. Its long legs permit the Nnong Okk to run faster than any other avian, perhaps any other *animal*, who knows?"
- ↑ INSULINDIAN PHASMID - I have stayed hidden through four forms of government and two scientific revolutions. Until I was accidentally discovered by a detective of the Citizens Militia in Revachol, district of Martinaise, March, '51.
- ↑ LA FUMEÉ, VOL. 1 NO. 4 - This section includes a long, tedious critique of the latest round of free-trade negotiations between the EPIS nations and the Free State of Semenine.
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - This is a great skua. The seabird is the symbol for the discovery of the Insulindian isola, the part of the world you are in right now.