Survivor communities outside the known world

[Fimbulvarg]

This thread is for discussions about survivors outside of the Known World in the year 90. Where might survivors be found, how do they get by and what level of organisation might they have reached.

Keep in mind that just because one would expect there to be survivors somewhere else that doesn't mean that the comic is flawed because it doesn't include these survivors. SSSS is not a book or a franchise, it's a webcomic with one particular vision and focus, and that limits the level of details that can be fitted into the known world.

So it seems like isolation determines where survivors are probable. The only near-exception is Mora, which lies in central Sweden and shows us that it's possible to thrive in areas that aren't remote and cut of by geographical features. Iceland was able to get by through enforced isolation, but there are communities in Europe that are already mostly isolated, like Greenland, the Faroes, Svalbard and the Azores. Considering how little the Nordic government cares about sending expeditions to look for surviving communities elsewhere it might be possible that some sort of human community is thriving in these areas, subsisting through fishing and some agriculture in near-tribal communities.

[Nimphy]

I'm actually pretty sure there would be survivors everywhere.

We notice how some people are immune to begin with. So there would be a few survivors in every country - the question is, will they survive the trolls and the beasts and the giants?

[Thorin Schmidt]

If you want to talk isolation, you don't get much more isolated in the States than Appalachia, the mountains on our east.  They span several States, but the people that live up there don't really belong to anything except each other.... Poor, isolated, inbred, and willfully ignorant.  Not like Amish, who reject technology for religious reasons, but just out of plain old obstinance....  I expect they would weather things pretty well, since there isn't anything resembling modern medicine up there.  Oh sure, high death at first, but those people are naturally tough, I would expect a high rate of immunity by year 90.  Most of those folks up there are Survivalists of one sort and another as well, so I would expect communities would be very isolated, travelling only to the closest neighbor on each side for trading and getting news.

[Hedge14]

I honestly think that our crew will meet other survivors in Silent World. Though, Minna likes write Nordic countries as they are more familiar to her. But that might be red herring. I don't think we have been told where expedition is going? So I hope it's outside of Nordic countries. Maybe UK or Germany, then.
In my wildest dreams it's Poland, but that's bit unlikely. :P

There probably is survivors in all countries. It's hard to say which lands fared best. Maybe the countries that closed borders first? Like Japan for a example. However big population seems to be baaad thing. So maybe Asia is one of the worst areas?

Greenlanders are probably just chillin'. They have nothing to worry. Strange though, that Nordic overseas territories have not been mentioned.
I would like to know more about how cold affects things. That's really important survivor communities. Can cleansing be done without cold?

I think Thorin is right. People who do not depend technology may have better chance of surviving. And America have more "preppers" than elsewhere.

// So many typos. And when I try to correct them quickly my changes don't register. >:|

[noako]

Minna has all but outright stated that there ARE more survivors out there somewhere. I think Alaska and Canada and Russia are good guesses simply because of the coldness, but I'm pretty sure high mountains and remote islands fare okayish too.

[Lida]

Greenlanders are probably just chillin'. They have nothing to worry. Strange though, that Nordic overseas territories have not been mentioned.

I am not an expert on Greenland, but don't they rely on mostly imported food and aid? They might not have been self sufficient enough to survive on their own, which I bet is a problem with most isolated places. Japan probably had too many people to keep alive without some severe culling of the population. I would guess if the Faroes and Shetland islands still had survivor colonies, we would have seen something on the map by now...surely Iceland would have checked that out at some point.

[noako]

I would guess if the Faroes and Shetland islands still had survivor colonies, we would have seen something on the map by now...surely Iceland would have checked that out at some point.

I don't know. Icelanders didn't seem too keen on taking in survivors from other countries...

[Hedge14]

I am not an expert on Greenland, but don't they rely on mostly imported food and aid?

To my understanding Greenlanders eat lot of game: fish, sea mammals and so on. They do import lot of food however as nothing grows there. But that is not problem that can not be solved. If they already know to hunt they are ahead of, say, most of Europe or Western world.

Isolation is good. Backwoods do have hunters, so when they can try to sustain themselves. And disease does not arrive there so quickly and less population = less trolls.

The Faroes, Greenland and Shetland thing is odd one indeed. Maybe Nordics just got lazy. :P Or mapping those places would have taken too much resources for some reason.

[Fimbulvarg]

To my understanding Greenlanders eat lot of game: fish, sea mammals and so on. They do import lot of food however as nothing grows there. But that is not problem that can not be solved. If they already know to hunt they are ahead of, say, most of Europe or Western world.

Isolation is good. Backwoods do have hunters, so when they can try to sustain themselves. And disease does not arrive there so quickly and less population = less trolls.

The Faroes, Greenland and Shetland thing is odd one indeed. Maybe Nordics just got lazy. Or mapping those places would have taken too much resources for some reason.

As far as hunting is concerned we need to consider that the mammals are mostly gone (except for some cows and horses in Mora apparently). Only birds, bugs, fish and lizards were unaffected. That makes hunting difficult. Besides, what if you run into polar bear trolls? You would be in so much trouble.

[BrainBlow]

I'd imagine Japan would zip up tight just like Iceland once the "cataclysm" became apparent in Europe.
Still, even if it managed to avoid outbreaks of the rash I imagine the population would be severely reduced by famine, common diseases, and possibly even internal war between factions.
But I could imagine a relatively sparsely populated island like Hokkaido to manage.

So I would expect surviving communities there, if not a relatively intact nation, and probably plenty other similar situations around the world, but avoiding the rash is one thing, surviving the breakdown and restructuring of society is another.

[Fimbulvarg]

I'd imagine Japan would zip up tight just like Iceland once the "cataclysm" became apparent in Europe.
Still, even if it managed to avoid outbreaks of the rash I imagine the population would be severely reduced by famine, common diseases, and possibly even internal war between factions.
But I could imagine a relatively sparsely populated island like Hokkaido to manage.

So I would expect surviving communities there, if not a relatively intact nation, and probably plenty other similar situations around the world, but avoiding the rash is one thing, surviving the breakdown and restructuring of society is another.

Iceland was able to stay isolated because they are so far away from anyone else. The problem with Japan is that it is so close to China and Korea, and there are a lot of Chinese people in China. So even if they tried to close the borders it's likely that Chinese refugees would end up there and cause an outbreak.

If they did close down all travel routes though it's likely that isolated parts like Okinawa could get by. If they did it's possible that they reverted to the isolationism of medieval Japan. On the other hand they might be exploring the Pacific, thus maybe encountering Americans on Guam and Polynesians in Oceania and on the Easter Islands.

[Hedge14]

I will admit that I had forgotten how the disease affects pretty much all mammals. But birds and fish are still ok? That is small mercy at least. Or big one, if you think how much some countries do fishing. Including Greenland or better example Iceland. No wonder those guys have it so well! Also, we have seen at Mora that some cows have survived the disease. Some places may be so removed, that the disease does not reach them at all? That way some cattle has survived etc..

Random thought: Would Immune be able to eat trolls?

I agree, humans are just as dangerous as trolls. Society breakdown has probably killed almost as many people as disease. Which again means that already isolated places have better chance. And those places are all over the world.

I think that only truly dead and silent countries are European micronations, for example Liechtenstein. Smaller the population and more concentrated the bigger change of total annihilation. In bigger countries there just is more variance between tiny communities and cities. Some are bound to survive.

[BrainBlow]

Iceland was able to stay isolated because they are so far away from anyone else. The problem with Japan is that it is so close to China and Korea, and there are a lot of Chinese people in China. So even if they tried to close the borders it's likely that Chinese refugees would end up there and cause an outbreak.

If they did close down all travel routes though it's likely that isolated parts like Okinawa could get by. If they did it's possible that they reverted to the isolationism of medieval Japan. On the other hand they might be exploring the Pacific, thus maybe encountering Americans on Guam and Polynesians in Oceania and on the Easter Islands.

That's always a possibility, though I'm assuming that not only would the JSDF fire upon foreign ships with extreme prejudice, but most refugees would probably be too rushed to effectively prepare, and would perish at sea from a lack of food and water or even rash infection along the way, at least any Chinese. I imagine most people "fleeing" the disease would do as we saw in the prologue and instead head inland.

But even better, try to imagine this scenario:
Monsoon season separating Japan from the rest of the world in the time period where the rash broke down civilization, thus hindering any and all potential infected refugees. A third Kamikaze, to be specific.
With magic then coming about later, you can imagine a crazy strong revival of Shintoism in Japan. That would be... interesting.
All famine aside, Japan would then in the first few years after the cataclysm face two options:
-Completely closing off from the rest of the world, not even permitting exploration of neighboring countries.
-Searching outward, possibly out of desperation for overpopulation issues and famine, and then learning the truth of the rash sickness that way.
Human curiosity suggests the latter, though how it would play out is anyone's guess.

[SecludedMan]

We have to remember that Madagascar was one of the island countries that closed its borders before the cataclysm, Although, given a population of 22 million and rather poor living conditions, chances are that it might not have made it past year 90 without falling apart due to civil war or outbreaks of the rash from illegal refugees

[Annie]

Society breakdown has probably killed almost as many people as disease.

I could see that spelling the end for some communities of survivors. I think having an unusual degree of infrastructure, functioning government, etc. thanks to Iceland did as much for the Nordics' survival as did their isolation. Also, I think smaller pockets of survivors would stand much greater chance of being wiped out.

I could see Japan being able to save a large portion of its population due to an isolationist policy and a historically strong sense of societal obligation on the sense of its people (for example - look at the elderly people who volunteered to clean up Fukushima so that the young would be spared). I love the idea of Shintoism experiencing a huge revival.  I do think that in addition to issues of population and resources, Japan and any other survivors on the "Ring of Fire" might also have a harder time dealing with the aftermath of earthquakes.

Other possible large(ish) groups of survivors might well be in Newfoundland and Labrador, or in the Andes.