Preparations - Prologue Y0 and chapters 1&2

[Suominoita]

Page 136&9: Emil sure is suspicious that Torb is trying to rip him off, isn't he? I wonder if there's a story there.  Also, regarding the books: I just had the thought that there should be copies of many possible books present in Iceland. Shouldn't there? Or did Icelanders eat/burn them during the first lean decades?

Yes, they likely are ripping off Emil seeing as they're making the deal with Tuuri and not him... Emil's occupation as cleanser apparently voided all the life insurance policies he had, if any and presumably going to the Silent Lands would do so as well so at least that leaves out one way they can use Emil to make cash...

I think the Icelanders did burn books -- at least history books and any that would somehow be seen as against Asatru. That is, basically any sort of reference to other religions like Christianity -- so Reynir definitely knows nothing about it. At least until meeting Pastor A in the dream-world and even that is a bit vague. They don't mind Finnish gods as they aren't interested in spreading their influence. (Estonians, Sami and Karelians maybe.) Their Finnish learning is not good based on Emil's failed interview avoidance.

[Jitter]

I’m catching up and I just can’t let the technology level thing go.

The decon facility at Mora arrivals is again quite hi-tech-y. Although of course he water jets may be operated by a bunch of humans? At minimum two operators per shower pod, I’d say? Which means the arrival either takes a very long time or is extremely labor-intensive (i.e. expensive). And the, um… horizontal escalator? What’s the name for the human conveyor belt? seems quite techy too.

Also, how do they know Tuuri has not been outside of safe areas? Are they just going to take her word for it, PLUS trust that the Finnish safe areas are actually safe? There didn’t seem to be any sort of vetting in Björköfjärden, so maybe they do trust, but it seems like a bit of a leap of faith? And Lalli of course has been outside of the safe areas, as has likely Emil too, but they are of course immune. Goes to show how extreme the quarantine procedure at the end of Adventure 1 is.

Other points. I was sure I remembered seeing computers in Siv’s workplace, but they aren’t here. Could it be some other part? There’s somewhere when she says her job is completely useless dead end, maybe there? On the other hand I also thought I knew of a public broadcasting radio somewhere outside of Iceland, and Emil describes it here.

And horses. Finland must have horses. Toivosaari would have had a couple or at least one, for plowing the fields. These would have been stabled on the Sheep and Farming Island, but surely Lalli has been there too. Maybe, just maybe, Keuruu doesn’t because all motorized machinery is there, but still, Lalli must know what a horse is.

I did notice there were some inconsistencies in the first read, but like Thorny said, it was just so so good that it didn’t matter. Now it’s a bit harder to ignore. On the other hand I don’t feel like it’s ruining the comic for me, perhaps I just like nitpicking (spoiler: yes I do)

[thorny]

They might have plowed the fields with oxen. Or even just with people; it can be done.

[Róisín]

Indeed, oxen, donkeys or several humans working together have all been ploughing options down the years.

[Jitter]

I know it’s possible. But it seems exceedingly unlikely, considering how Sweden seems to have lots of horses. And the Finns do have livestock, so it’s not taboo or anything.

[dmeck7755]

Also, how do they know Tuuri has not been outside of safe areas? Are they just going to take her word for it, PLUS trust that the Finnish safe areas are actually safe? There didn’t seem to be any sort of vetting in Björköfjärden, so maybe they do trust, but it seems like a bit of a leap of faith? And Lalli of course has been outside of the safe areas, as has likely Emil too, but they are of course immune. Goes to show how extreme the quarantine procedure at the end of Adventure 1 is.

Maybe, because they were going to Iceland, which in the prelude is quite paranoid?  Maybe they still are.

[tehta]

What I find shocking is the difference between the no quarantine for outer Mora vs proper quarantine for inner Mora. Which might make sense if all non-immunes lived inside, but we have Siv! Something weird going on.

As for the horses, hmm. I think it's possible that individual islands might not have them? Depending on their past luck? But, yeah, Keuruu... Or maybe Lalli was making a joke? I feel like the orphanage comment he makes to Emil could be one, because he has witnessed the scene where Emil's father was discussed.  Or maybe he HAS seen horses, but someone played a joke on him by telling him they were ugly moose?

Regarding b technology, I think it's more fun for me as a writer to assume that they have a fair amount of it and that the population statistics are messed up. Maybe many people evade the census...

[dmeck7755]

Regarding b technology, I think it's more fun for me as a writer to assume that they have a fair amount of it and that the population statistics are messed up. Maybe many people evade the census...

It could be selective technology (medical, certain manufacturing, batteries anyone?? Food processing)

I would think that is the biggest need in a post-apocalyptic  world.

Iceland has huge geothermic energy.  I can see the entire island being one huge greenhouse.  They would even power grow lights.  After adventure 1, where the danger of the Ghosts has been dispelled, Denmark will become a breadbasket also. 

People would avoid census (especially to avoid taxes.), or they did not bother to count people in the country or  borderland

[JoB]

And the, um… horizontal escalator? What’s the name for the human conveyor belt?

If you want fancy, try "travelator".

What I find shocking is the difference between the no quarantine for outer Mora vs proper quarantine for inner Mora. Which might make sense if all non-immunes lived inside, but we have Siv! Something weird going on.

Siv worked in a lab that, for security reasons, is most certainly not on Sollerön. And if that house is their (last) leftover from more fortunate times, moving it over after she quit likely wasn't an option.

[thorny]

What I find shocking is the difference between the no quarantine for outer Mora vs proper quarantine for inner Mora. Which might make sense if all non-immunes lived inside, but we have Siv! Something weird going on.

As for the horses, hmm. I think it's possible that individual islands might not have them? Depending on their past luck? But, yeah, Keuruu... Or maybe Lalli was making a joke? I feel like the orphanage comment he makes to Emil could be one, because he has witnessed the scene where Emil's father was discussed.  Or maybe he HAS seen horses, but someone played a joke on him by telling him they were ugly moose?

Regarding b technology, I think it's more fun for me as a writer to assume that they have a fair amount of it and that the population statistics are messed up. Maybe many people evade the census...

I think it's more likely just Minna not thinking it through. She thought it was funny to have Lalli think the horses were ugly moose; so she didn't bother thinking through how likely he was to have seen horses or at least pictures of horses (or donkeys, which look enough like horses that he'd probably have thought they were oversize or possibly ugly donkeys, not moose.) She wanted high tech for some bits of the story (consider the magical runs-on-anything cat tank) and not for others; I doubt that she worked out which areas they had high tech in and which they didn't, either by location or by type of use. And I agree that the quarantine setup and lack of it makes no sense; but I think she just didn't want to stick quarantine into that part of the story.

She's really good at doing the stuff she cares about. (Some of the time, anyway.) And the stuff she doesn't care about -- she doesn't care about.

[tehta]

I too am convinced that Minna did not think things through. But I like patching the holes, and the idea of Lalli being pranked by a colleague seems decent to me... As does the idea of the info pages being prone to some sorts of errors (like census evasion, or using old statistics).
We already know some of the info pages were written by... biased... individuals.

[thorny]

Oh, definitely. And at least some of them -- and therefore maybe all of them -- were written by people who had limited information, and who therefore might have been in error for that reason.

And also definitely that it's fun patching the holes; and seeing how other people try to do so.

[JoB]

And I agree that the quarantine setup and lack of it makes no sense; but I think she just didn't want to stick quarantine into that part of the story.

Nor would the quartet, who was eager to get the expedition out the door. If (Outer) Mora had been anything but a walk-in walk-out place, it wouldn't have appeared in the comic until the Västerströms returned to "HQ" from Öresundsbro Base, with Taru and Trond staying under Admiral Shouty's nose until the Västerströms got out of quarantine and had picked up the ball, and only then following them to Mora. Which, in turn, would have delayed Onni joining the HQ by the 4+ weeks of the two quarantine phases, yadda yadda.

[Jitter]

Perhaps Sollerön is just the very privileged government types and ultra rich, largely because of the exclusivity? Or having lived there when the world ended, resulted in the person / family becoming privileged? So that money only isn’t enough to buy access to live there? Or the Västerströms could have gone there ro live but chose not to, for example because of a family business requiring frequent travel which would be overly complicated with a two week quarantine every time.

We have discussed this same about the Saimaa islands too, it makes sense for the returning scouts to quarantine but for people traveling between settlements there must be some other system (travel permits for immunes only?) or trade and therefor transportation between them would be impossible.

[Jitter]

P122 panel 5: someone in the comments says “is that a black lady in the background” and surely looks like up on closer inspection! There is a brief exchange about would this be possible/ likely but unfortunately no comment from Minna. Still, the complexion could be due ro shadows, bun combined with her hair?