A mostly oceanic isola consisting of a series of islands and archipelagoes [Le Caillou, Semenese Islands (Ile du Fantome), Ozonne, Laurentide, Face-a-la-Mer, North Arcade Islands.]
Population 850 million
Le Caillou
the largest island in the North-East
Capital: Revachol [80km radius]
Semenese Islands (Ile du Fantome)
Far to the south west
City: Olduvai
Ozonne
Cities: Fond de l'Air and Virmandeux
Laurentide
City: Deora of the Seven Seas
Archipelagos
Cities: Croyant-Morain, Villiers
OTHER ISOLAS (Azimuths)
Mundi - North
Graad - North East
Samara - East
Seol - West
NOTES: We love scale references! This doesn't add the most details like the number of islands or the orientation of all of them but we'll take what we can get. There may be more detail in Joyce's Reality Lowdown talk.
Map Wall - Several maps have been attached to a bulletin board hidden inside the alcove. They're held up by small pins. The board has come loose from one corner.
Map Wall - The maps look old and faded. Your eye catches a map of Insulinde, a map of Revachol, and a map of Martinaise.
You - Look at the map of Insulinde.
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)".
You - What else?
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.
Visual Calculus - Disintegrating into mathematics.
Inland Empire - In the northeast a dust mite stands on the north coast of Caillou. In a bookstore. It's you.
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.
You - Squint first -- can you see *cities* on the islands?
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...
Empathy - Lost little pearls of light. Tiny fires in the dark.
Encyclopedia - 850 million people live on these little dots. An oceanic world of culture and commerce, torn apart by history.
You - Look at the edges.
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.
Inland Empire - Connections to other worlds. Worlds past the Insulindian, unknown to you. You only know you've never been there.
Logic - 850 million people live on these tiny dots. An oceanic world of culture and commerce, torn apart by history.
I dislike when people describe DE characters as "French" not French-speaking, and act like DE is set in parallel France. It's set in a Francophone settler-state in parallel South East Asia and that is important.
Le “Beau jardin orné de fleurs” ou “Jardin parfumé” en Javanais, a été construit entre 1758 et 1765 par le premier sultan et fondateur de Yogyakarta, Hamengku Buwono I.
Le Taman Sari Keraton Yogyakarta ou Tamansari Ngayogyakarta, appelé aussi le Château d’eau (son ancien nom néerlandais), servait de jardin d’agrément pour le souverain et ses courtisans.
Mais il avait aussi une fonction de forteresse défensive lorsque le palais était attaqué par des ennemis.
Il se trouve dans l’enceinte du Keraton (ou Kraton) Ngayogyakarta Hardiningrat, le Palais Royal de Yogyakarta.
A generous SSHSA member donated this model to us, driving it from his home in Ohio to our HQ in Rhode Island!
This remarkable model is of the SS INSULINDE in a floating drydock. The ship was a Dutch steam vessel built in 1914 for the Rotterdam Lloyd company, and served as a passenger freight ship between Rotterdam and Jakarta. She was laid up during WWI and sold to the Fabre Lines of Marseilles in 1933. Renamed Banfora, she ran routes from Marseilles to West Africa. In WWII she served as a British troop and supply transport. In 1947 she was returned to the French, and eventually sold for scrap in 1957.
The model was built to celebrate the ship’s 100th voyage from Rotterdam to Jakarta in 1926, commissioned from a local craftsmen. It evidently wasn’t built using plans or to scale, as the measurements are slightly off, and the drydock is likely a later addition. Nonetheless, it’s an interesting and dynamic addition to SSHSA model collections!
