Reverse1999 Lore Bible
A reference sheet for Reverse1999. This is a work in progress (format is scuffed as always but I tried 😮💨). All information is subject to change as the story unfolds. If anything thing looks off, let me know and I'll get on it right away! Would not want to spread misinformation. That being said, this is a long post with spoilers for global release.
The Storm
The Storm is a widespread disaster first observed in 1999. It marked the end of an era and is the catalyst for the main story.
Humans will suffer “Storm Syndrome” as the Storm draws near. The Symptoms of Storm Syndrome and the mutations around the Storm depend on the era. However, arcanists are protected from Storm Syndrome thanks to their arcanum. Arcansist are able to perceive the changes in the world brought by the Storm but are not immune to reversal, the true horror of the Storm.
“Raindrops” emerge from the ground and rise into the sky along with everything around them once the Storm arrives. They phase through matter. Time reverses into a previous era while everything caught in the Storm disappears. Exceptions to this rule are the St. Pavlov Foundation, Manus Vindictae, and the Timekeeper (I've heard about others but this is strictly global release).
The Foundation's rules state that personnel can turn the Timekeeper for guidance 24 hours before the Storm (in prologue).
Races
Arcanists: A race that contains a unique cell colony allowing them to perform arcane skills (magic, divination, alchemy, etc.). They do not follow reasoning like mankind and instead practice Gnosis. There are two defining features of Gnosis:
1. It can't be verified by an independent 3rd party.
2. It’s impossible to comprehend through reasoning.
Because of this, arcanists are labeled as unpredictable and dangerous by humanity. There is a long history of humans associating arcanum with demons, evil, and witches. Arcanists are also more sensitive to emotions and resistant to potions. Pure-blooded arcanists are stronger than mixed-bloods.
Humans: Humans are the majority in Reverse1999. They follow logic and reason as opposed to Gnosis. Many look down on arcanists and consider them sub-human. However, because of the Storm their technologies and progress are being erased while arcanum flourishes. Humans are vulnerable to insanity because of their logic aligned mindset. When faced with something they cannot comprehend, they can lose their minds.
Groups and Factions
St. Pavlov Foundation (The Foundation): A public institution dedicated to the study of arcanum and the indoctrination of arcanists. They seek children with arcane talents from around the world. They say they strive for peace between arcanists and humanity but peace is not the same as equality. All training and scientific provided appliances by St. Pavlov is to overcome the instability of arcane skills in order to ensure the peace and stability of the human world (Chapter 3-1). In other words, the Foundation is training obedient dogs (hence Pavlolv) to die as martyrs for the sake of humanity. This allows humanity to benefit off of arcanum skills without worry of an uprising from the arcanists kept on the Foundation’s leash. Below is a quote from the game:
“The St. Pavlov Foundation is currently the largest public and official organization which houses arcanists. The foundation has invested a great deal of effort in the protection and supervision of unique children. They are constantly sending manpower all over the world to seek out children with a talent for arcanum. It does not matter where the children are or whether they wish to come along. The children who have been taken in will develop their abilities through rigorous training and eventually take over this seemingly endless mission for the peace of mankind.”
The Foundation’s buildings are immune to the Storm. Both humans and arcanists are safe within its walls.
Manus Vindictae: A terrorist organization that believes in Arcanist Supremacy. They recruit arcanists to fight against humanity and utilize the chaos caused by the Storm to further their agenda. They are the Foundation's biggest enemy and they are still growing. They also know how to manipulate the Storm and can accelerate its arrival.
They rewrite history while the world reverses. This means that they mess with historical events established in the "orginal" timeline. The Valentines day massacre is an example of this. Arcansists were supposed to be killed, but Schneider rescued them and killed human in their stead, thus rewriting history. The Wallstreet crash also happend months earlier than in the orginal timeline.
Here is a quote from Ch 2 of the game:
“Manus Vindictae is an infamous extremist organization. Holding a grudge against humans and contempt for the mixed, these extreme racists only recognize the bodies ruled by arcanist's blood as "mankind." They believe they have the ability and power to change everything. They are dedicated to building a so-called proper world where arcanists will stand neck and neck with gods and enjoy the status they believe they deserve. In that case, humans, arcanists on the human side, and the mixed who tolerate the pollution of arcanist's blood will pay a huge price for their existence.There is no doubt they are lunatics. One of the two reasons for their madness is their brains: they have a strange prefrontal cortex or some unknown neurons; the other reason is hatred: in those dark ages, arcanists were discriminated against, expelled, marginalized, and even slaughtered. The tragedies that happen every day on the fringes of society breed their revenge and keep strengthening this army of darkness. Now they have come onto the stage. What they want is power, freedom, the one and only supreme status, and an overthrown world.”
Manus Vindictae gives their followers Masks claiming it will keep them safe from the Storm. However, a conversation between two followers in Chapter 2-8 Popular Literature reveals this is not the full picture. The Mask does not guarantee their safety and only in the “Sanctuary” are they protected from the Storm’s influence. One of the followers then turns into a monster that can no longer be reasoned with while the other flees (we may have more insight into this later). Keep in mind Manus also likes to feed us false information and must be observed with a critical eye.
Laplace Rehabilitation Center: Laplace provides therapy to arcanists. Patients with stress disorders must retrieve treatment in the rehabilitation center. One of these treatments is artificial somnambulism where dreams are used to treat trauma and find the source of it. Psychubes are used in these dream treatments. Mesmer Jr. works in this department, following in her family's footsteps. She is the one who “treats” Vertin for Type II trauma.
Scientific Computing Research Center: The only branch of Laplace affiliated with Foundation. They are focused on making advancements in technology.
Institution Lorenz: This is the organization X invited Regulus to join. This description comes from Ch 1: A letter with Black Mucus: Founded after the "Storm," Institutum Lorentz is a mysterious organization hidden within but independent of the Laplace Scientific Computing Center. Its primary area of research is the chaos energy of Arcanum. Its members distrust the tech of human civilization and would rather discard them. They're active in various sites of arcane phenomena, secretly searching for the "Original Butterfly." While all of its members' whereabouts remain unknown, Lorentz still has branches all over the world. Our vanguard squad has fought their investigators several times, yet we still haven't found a way into any of their branches."
The House of Integratus: the committee in charge of lawmaking, not just in the Foundation, but in global society. Any affairs related to the human- arcanist relationship will be brought to their table. Delegates of the House of the Integratus are elected to take responsibility for their constituencies. They submit countless proposals to the committee every year. Then the committee will choose one lucky proposal and send it to the next step: all the committee members would gather to debate and vote for the proposal (Ch 4-8 A Ride on the Toboggan).
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So the phone rang and John said, “You know, I want to do a record but I don’t know if I want to do a record. I have some material, I’ve been writing for a while, writing down here in Bermuda” and of course he had a near-death experience sailing in a storm down there, which I think changed his perspective completely. Because almost all of those songs were written in Bermuda.
So it was like one creative burst. Was this 1979?
Yeah, ’79. And so I agreed that I would listen to the stuff. And he said, “Yoko has it” and she handed me an envelope that said, “For Jack’s ears only.” And I took it home and he called me at home the next day and asked, “What do you think?” And my honest opinion was that they were very primitive, a whole bunch of cassettes, there was narration in it, he talked me through it. The songs all began with an explanation, a lot of it funny, and all of them ended with, “What a piece of crap. I’m going to give it to Ringo for his solo album.”
Were these all songs that ended up being on the album?
No, there were still a few more. And there was so much on that tape that I didn’t put on the album. But the Beatles had completed "Real Love" many years later, from that cassette. They built off of that cassette. Actually, I had the original so they built that off of a copy that maybe Yoko had.
Were there any songs from that tape that immediately hit you?
Oh yes, there were so many. So many. There was so much material on that tape. Two cassettes.
Do you still have that tape?
Yes.
Did you ever digitize it?
Yes. But they’ll never be—it’s property of Yoko. Period. It’s her property. So anyway, most of it’s been released.
On the box sets [John Lennon Anthology and John Lennon Signature Box]. Yes, most of those demos have been released... Maybe not with his dialogue, which is quite funny, but he’s singing into a tape machine like a beat box, like a Panasonic from back in the day. He’s singing into it, playing guitar, and then playing that into another, just from the speakers and then singing along with it, like playing percussion or doubling his vocals. It was so primitive. Banging on pots and pans. Very primitive. And my first reaction was, “I don’t think I can beat it, to tell you the truth. It’s so good.” And he’s like, “Oh, no, no, no, that’s not—“ and I said, “John, put this out. It will be sensational. Just put this cassette out. I’m putting myself out of the greatest job I’ve ever had in my life, but I’m just telling you.”
—Jack Douglas, producer of Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey albums, on how he was first recruited by John Lennon [x]
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bonjour I want and also 99% believe in there being a chance of above and beyond finally dropping the L word (lieutenant) on Kwazii.
here are my contenders for who I think could say it:
Barnacles: I can also 1000% see him calling him his "first mate"; mostly to humour him- but still. I can see Paani or someone else asking what the heck Kwazii does and for him to explain.
Tracker: This dude calls Barnacles "Captain" and "Sir" despite literally being childhood BFF's with him. I can vividly hear him in my head calling Kwazii the L word and Kwazii being awkward about it because he's the only one who does it-
Natquik: Less likely than the others, but I'm ranking him higher simply because I can see him being the one to ask Barnacles, and/or making a random comment about it.
Calico Jack, but he might say "first mate" instead. Other than that I can see him having a Moment™, where he's praising Kwazii and naming all the things he's done that he's proud of him for.
Tweak: Same thing as Barnacles; I can see someone asking, and her explaining it. OR—and this is wishful thinking—I can see her having a Moment with Kwazii as well, talking about responsibility or something.
Dashi: Responsibility Talk™, but Dashi edition.
Peso: Same thing as Barnacles/Tweak again BUT I can also see him like?? casually bringing it up?? if they were to have any character randomly say the word, only for them to never address it again—I can see it being Peso lmao
Paani, but only as an echo. ie: someone else says it and he goes "ah yes lieuten—LIEUTENANT???????" in shock xD
Ranger Marsh. I can't explain this one but I can feel it in my bones. and really that's all you need ain't it?
I can't see it being Kwazii himself at all—because I firmly believe the reason he's never introduced himself with the word is not because of some pirate reason (prefers "first mate", feels imposter syndrome bc of his identity, etc), but because he struggles to pronounce it. like how he has trouble saying "symbiosis" and "aggregate anemones" etc. Thank you for coming to my Tedtalk.
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