Iver was conceived at a time when politicians were known for smiling while stabbing you in the back, not for loudly shouting what a demon you were in public. Sometimes I miss the Ivers, just a little, but then I remember they’re still out there, using the shouters as an extra smokescreen.

“All these things say ‘war'” is a somewhat subtle Watchmen reference/homage/steal. Ozymandias also analyzed the behavior of his culture to determine whether a war was imminent or not.

All this business about rightful homes is surely going to remind some readers of the Jews’ displacement from Israel, and I can’t deny that was an influence. The purple tent-painting of the mountains is inspired to some degree by the tabernacle of Moses as described in later Exodus. As it is in Gastonia, purple dye used to be an extravagant luxury item in Earth’s ancient cultures, but the design notes spared no expense for it.