The world of Elysium is vast, multilayered and -- unfortunately -- mostly written in Estonian. This thread will be for setting details: some from the video game, some from the development blog and some from my own head.
What is Revachol?
https://discoelysium.com/devbl.../welcome-to-revachol
quote:
When middle class people talk about foreign places, they like to talk about “contrasts”. Travel magazines, financial journals, regional reports on the news… it’s all about those contrasts.
And what they mean by “contrasts” is that most people are pornographically poor while a few are obscenely wealthy. That’s what they mean by contrasts. East of the river, monetary organizations promote regional stability, west of the river cops collect tare for cash and junkies shake so hard their bones come loose from their sockets.
There is no city in the world with more contrasts than Revachol. The broken, magnificent, disgraced former capital of the world. A great sky on fire, reflecting off broken glass. Revachol the Suzerain, Revachol the Commune, Revachol the Administrative Region where all forms of government have failed. Revachol the Resolver, the answer to the great burning questions of history. How should we live? Will the horror ever end?
Revachol sits on a fertile island in the middle of the Insulindian Ocean, the world’s largest body of water; in the eye of a great archipelago called Face-A-La-Mer. To be from Revachol is to be Revacholian. To be deserted, destroyed. A drug addict with an immunodeficiency disorder. A joke and a clown and a loser baby.
quote:
The desk telephone is the single most realistic invention in the history of mankind. As powerful as the wheel, as boring as sliced bread. Normality is boring and there is secret power in that.
For instance, have you ever seen a horse in a city? That’s a moment in which anachronism is embodied. The horse immediately speaks of medieval knights and wild west cowboys, and even though today it is relegated to breeding ranches for annoyingly wealthy people, these embedded historic images surface, and seeing this majestic animal trotting down the street between gridlocked cars is amazingly jarring. And that’s the kind of feeling we want to take and multiply tenfold
-Disco Elysium Design Team, from 2017 Indiegaze interview:
https://www.indiegraze.com/201...-disco-elysium-team/
Most areas of Revacholian technology are roughly at the level of the 1970s in our world with certain exceptions. Some of the big ones include:
- Radio exists and is ubiquitous, as are movies but no television. When you rent a movie, it comes on reel-to-reel tape and you project it onto your wall. Music also comes on reel-to-real tapes, you can even check them out from the more progressive public libraries.
- Computers are weird, most of the processing is done on air in a cloud of radio waves by a centralized repeater station. Think of it as a public mainframe with a human telephone operator at the other end. Most computers in Revachol and the Occident run VOX, Graad prefers the Orbis programming language. The two are not compatible in the least and handle pointers very differently.
- Air travel exists, the most common passenger and cargo Aerostats are kept aloft via helium and powered by either rotors or jet engines. Aerostats are used for passenger travel, cargo transport and, of course, war. The Coalition Warship Archer patrols Revachol West on behalf of the Moralist International (which is not officially the world government but does sponsor many Interisolary and Global Organizations in charge of Trade, Economic Development and Police Cooperation).
- The prior three entries are weird because of the Pale. The nature of the Pale is a minor spoiler for the Disco Elysium video game but your characters will have learned all about it in school.
- Colored plastic, Instant Cameras, Hydrogen Streetlights, Turbo Noodles (just add water) and Artificial Fruit Flavors are all relatively new technology that have been introduced in the last 25 years. Despite the 45% literacy rate books and magazines (both glossy and pulp) are readily available and sold both new and used.
- The most common motor vehicle is the Motor Carriage. The Coupris Kineema, pride of the Coupris Motor Company of Vesper-Messina, costs more than you'll make in a decade but it steers like a dream. Assuming you can get used to the steering levers, no motor vehicle on Elysium uses a steering wheel. Motor Lorries are used for shipping goods, for Interisolary trade, the whole lorry goes onto the Aerostat and into the Pale. Public transit, where it exists, is generally either buses or light rail. Motorcycles also exist, but would you risk your life on one?
- Thanks to the FALN company of Graad, sportswear is as modern as it is in our world--if not moreso. FALN's liquid fit and trademarked performance crotch will ensure your survival in any environment: Urban or Party. Guaranteed noncarcinogenic.
- Guns exist, but jacketed ammunition is highly illegal, even for law enforcement. So if you do have a gun, and you probably shouldn't it will be a muzzle loader. It will, however, have a snazzy, bakelite stock in your choice of color. Artificial Woodgrain Brown, RCM Perseus Black, Tactical White and More.
- Over the counter medications are cheap and ubiquitous, many made by Saint Batiste Pharmaceuticals. Nosaphed is a nasal decongestant spray, Drouamine their OTC painkiller, Hypnogamma is the strongest sleeping pill you can get without a prescription and Magnesium is recommended for nearly any complaint under the sun. It's even chewable. You'll have to see a doctor for anything stronger, hopefully you have insurance. Or know someone who knows a disgruntled ward nurse.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:15, Sun 12 Dec 2021.
