Real World References... But I Need Help

[chicken]

IT LIVES! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, THE THREAD IS ALIVE AGAIN! O_O

[Mantaray]

Huball wrote:

Watermia is a pun between water and thermal (wa / thermia). So it basically means "warm water". But huts on stilts and rafts is a typically architecture for Southeast Asia. Like Cambodia, Vietnam or the Philippines.

this answers the question about watermia i've always been so curious about. it explains why the city doesn't float away like the dialogue made it sound (the "floating city on water", etc.)

[Shiva Indis]

I'm back...to keep this thread in the air!

Hamlet's sacrifice is a real life reference! Sort of.

It's a reference the Jakata, an old collection of stories about the previous lives of the historical Buddha. In one of them the Buddha is a rabbit - a very pious rabbit who teaches the other forest animals to be moral and faithful. (This is possible since Buddhist beliefs have Hinduist roots - not that folktales are all that concerned with historical accuracy or anything.)

One day, a holy man came to the forest and the animals prepared to show him their hospitality - giving alms to people in religious orders is an important Buddhist obligation. The other animals have no trouble finding nice food for the holy man, but the rabbit eats nothing but grass - he has no suitable food to give, other than his own flesh. So he decides to throw himself onto a fire for the holy man to eat.

There are different versions of the story, but most of the time, the rabbit is rewarded for his resolve and doesn't die. Still, I think this story sheds light on IoG - why Shira's ghost appears in the fire, and why the characters all seem so moved by Hamlet's sacrifice.

[rayim]

Do you guys know that at the end of the game, Will sees how his world will evolve to become ours, right? Well, as far as i remember some places are out of... place. The continents drift and the monuments they had end up in other places than our world.
There was a map of all those changes from IoG time to our time somewhere on the internets, i am curious to find out about it more even if most of the places are really evident of their real-world counterpart.