Lantara is an invented island nation. Its story is told by Anu Sarath, a railway worker's daughter who grows up to build it, on Lantern Night fifty years after it all began.
“Lantern Night, Year 50. Sit with me, child. I'll tell you how we built this island.”Anu Sarath
Their languages, festivals and grudges are yours to weave together, or to pull apart.
A broke island with no army and no water. The party splits. A typhoon is coming.
“Year one. We had no army, no water, and a typhoon on the way. We had each other.”Anu
Lantara joins the Federation for jobs and water. Then Lantern Night turns into riots.
“We joined the Federation for jobs and water. That Lantern Night, the bridge burned.”Anu
Choose when to vote on leaving. Leave early for freedom, or stay for jobs while Harmony drains.
“Leave or stay? Every family argued it over dinner. Mine argued loudest.”Anu
Valemark sells our docks to Halvard. Buy them back, partner up, or dig your own port.
“The old rulers sold our docks to strangers. My father's crew lost their jobs that week.”Anu
Factories, the first container berths, an oil shock and a slump. Replace the jobs the old rulers took.
“Then came the oil shocks and the typhoons. And slowly, the towers.”Anu
Ships, planes and banks. Become the place the whole region runs through, before Halvard does.
“By then the whole region passed through us. Ships, planes, money. Halvard wanted all of it.”Anu
Water of our own, a fever and a world crash. Reaching the top was easier than staying there.
“We had caught up with the rich world. Staying there was the harder part.”Anu
Lantara joins the Federation in Year 4 for jobs and water. From Year 5 to Year 9 you choose when to put leaving to a vote. Leave early for freedom, or stay for jobs while Harmony drains. Then the whole island gathers round the radio as the count comes in, district by district.
Leaving costs every meter a fifth of its value, and the water deal ends eight years later. You will need water of your own by then.
“My father switched off the radio and said nothing.”Anu
Surviving isn't the end. After the Parting, the danger changes: Drift, the world moving on without you. It rises when you stop building, when your meters slip from their best, when Halvard's port outgrows yours, or when Liberty falls. Families start to pack their suitcases. Tap them, and give them a reason to stay.
“We survived. Now the world has to need us.”Anu
Reach First World and your choices decide which island you leave behind: how rich, and how free.
Rich and free. Every balcony glows four colours on Lantern Night, and the papers still argue.
Rich, orderly and careful what it says. Bright towers, but some windows stay dark by choice.
First World by a nose, and loud about it. Not the richest island, but everyone has a say.
Every target met. The island works, mostly. Nobody is sure who it works for.
