The Dubairas Syndicate
Owns the casinos, the water supply, the railroad and three of five ministries. Powerful enough that it rarely needs to be anything else.
The world of the Phriniverse
Humra
A post-apocalyptic camel civilisation in what used to be Australia, six hundred years after the Great Sizzle. Quirky and satirical on the surface. Morally grey underneath.
- Nation
- Humra, “the red”
- Capital
- New Dubairas
- Year
- ~600 A.S.
- Currency
- Spurs
- Residents
- Camelus sapiens
Biome map
The continent, region by region
Click any region or marker. The rail line runs north from New Dubairas to Port Ressar, where PhriniFishing lives.
Field notes
Pick a place on the map
Each region has its own ecology, settlements and rumours. Start with the capital in the southeast, or the Gut in the middle if you are feeling brave.
History
Six hundred years in seven dates
- 0The Great SizzleTests, terraforming and one energy drink spill wreck the planet's water. Camels cope.
- 80The Hump WarsTribes fight over the last clean water. One warlord's memoir becomes a bestseller 400 years later.
- 340Accord of the Red SandPeace, signed in mutant berry ink. Three signatories hallucinated for a week. It held anyway.
- 480Zone RationalisationThe Syndicate “optimises” the capital. 40,000 camels lose their papers and build Freeside.
- 500Temporal ResinMiners under the Uluru ruins find a glowing amber crystal that hums. Things get complicated.
- 520The Temporal AuthorityFounded to regulate the Resin. The charter has never been updated. It would require a committee.
- 600TodayCasinos, time police, a fishing port up north and one camel detective with a fedora.
The capital
New Dubairas, ring by ring
Four concentric zones, each needing its own permit. Permits for the outer rings do not open the inner ones.
Bronze permit
Zone 1, the Mercantile Ring
The outermost district, where goods from across Humra enter the city. Markets, warehouses, the rail terminal to Port Ressar and the largest concentration of permit offices in the Commonwealth. Loud, crowded and profitable.
Who runs what
Factions
The Temporal Authority
Officially regulates time travel. Its safety guidelines run to 47 pages with a 94% non-compliance rate.
The Dromedari
One-humped contractors who do not do politics. Currently hired by three factions at once, which is either impressive or a disaster in progress.
The Sandrunners
Illegal operators outside the TA's rules. Each has at least one version of themselves they are trying not to meet.
The Pillar Keepers
Keep the five Tone Pillars humming so the villages around them stay safe. Neutral, patient and not taking follow-up questions.
The Interior Cult
They live in the Gut and have survived. The TA file on them says “assessment pending” and has for forty years.
Nomadic Tribes
Seasonal routes older than the TA, trade with the townships, and no interest whatsoever in zone permits.
Cast
Faces you will meet
Phrini
Camel detective from New Dubairas. Fedora, round glasses, a briefcase and a newspaper read cover to cover.
Visit his office
ByteNova
Phrini's robot partner. Wrench hands, a screen for a face and a filing system nobody else understands.
Jack o'Lantern
A grinning carved pumpkin with a long memory. In PhriniFishing he waits in the fog at the Misty Edge.
Face him in the bot
The Kraken
Master of the Calm, deep under the Calm Belt. It rises when the storms do.
Bring your best rod
A Pillar Keeper
One of the order that tends the Tone Pillars. Will fix your village's pillar. Waitlist: three weeks.