====== The World of Reference II ======
The game will focus mostly on the [[..:setting:stories|Stories]] and the [[..:setting:alusia|immediate surroundings]] of the player characters, but the worldview and background of the characters themselves will be influenced by the world at large.

====== Technology ======
It is the year 2045. There have been significant developments in mechanical engineering, medicine, agriculture, on par or even exceeding what you could expect from our world in 2045... except electrical engineering, and especially its use for energy storage and computation, which is still in its infancy. While most families have a fridge, not everyone has access to a radio. There is no internet, and the best way to transfer information longer distances than radio range is either via a Telegraphy Communication Provider or by sending physical records, e.g. through the Intercontinental Parcels Company.

This difficulty in long-distance communication has both been allowed to happen because of the culture and continued to shape the culture in return. News spreads throughout the world by rail or by plane, sometimes as a shipment of newspapers, sometimes as gossip spread amongst the transport workers. It has become a common practice to lend books between the local libraries; books spend about as much time in cargo wagons as they do on the shelves.

====== History and Culture ======
Following half a century of conquest, bloodshed and strife, almost a third of the world got absorbed into the Cherkersk empire. Once the ruler died without an heir, the messengers spread the news, along with a warning of an impending power struggle. This sparked numerous separate revolts across the empire and united people in their distrust of authority, with some forming small communities that chose to self-govern. That was the beginning of Communes as we know them today.

Nowadays, most people tend to live their lives in small (no more than a thousand people, but typically much smaller), tight-knit and diverse Communes with in-jokes and local customs that have formed over time. When a new person moves in, the community gladly accept them, proudly sharing the local culture; which varies wildly from Commune-to-Commune. Some people never leave the Commune they were born into, whilst others prefer to seek out something new. Although countries still nominally exist, the local Commune and the Communes on the same transport lines matter a lot more to the average person. The lack of a shared community among the PCs at [[..:setting:bookworm#the_exhibition|the Exhibition]] would be an unusual experience for player characters from this background. \\

Some other people, such as businesspeople, long-distance transport workers and news reporters, frequently move around the country or even the globe, quickly getting to know these communities, but rarely joining them. Some might say that the whole world is their Commune, or that each shift they find a new Commune in whatever co-workers they meet that day. Others carry the culture of their home-Commune with them across the globe, like a distant sprout still joined at the roots. Corporations tend to be much larger than Communes and have a strong focus on research, innovation, or production; opinions about joining them range from disgust to burning excitement. \\

 There are too many Communes (a few thousand) to be invested in, or even to remember the names of all of them. But that is also the beauty of it - they say that even the most dedicated wanderers eventually find groups of like-minded people to settle down with. \\

//Feel free to make up the culture of the Commune your character hails from, if they hail from one at all. // 


====== Societal Worries ======
Over the past few decades, the issue of climate change has been prominent in people's minds. Fossil fuels have never had a viable alternative, and centuries of pollution are projected to have a devastating impact the planet. Despite the growing public pressure, research corporations tend to avoid tackling the issue. Indisputably, the most impactful development Alusia has made to tackle this issue has been the biophotonic decarboniser, a machine for converting carbon dioxide to oxygen. But Alusia is once again attracting public scrutiny after years of no significant progress. Who knows how many more "useless inventions" the public can tolerate before completely losing faith in the company?

There is mixed opinion towards large-scale businesses: on one hand, they are bridging the gaps between the different Communes and accomplishing things that no single Commune could. On the other hand, there is a worry that a business might grow to such a scale that a person making a decision might never meet those who this decision affects. Companies often have to "prove themselves" to the public by showing that this trade-off is worth it. So in that sense, the announcement of the Bookworm is a gamble. Will the public take it as a groundbreaking technology, the impact of which excuses Alusia's past disappointments? Or maybe the Bookworm will become the final nail in Alusia's coffin.