	The ocean is the ocean obviously.  There’s really nothing new about the ocean, other then the fact that 2/3’s of the sea life is now dead, so floating/bloated carcasses are not a rare sight.  Also, the water itself is not safe to drink, unless properly filtered.  
	Hamther (Japan in the Old World) is still Japan.  However, the part of Japan that the natives of Thornado are referring to is at the southernmost tip of Japan.  It’s a small island that connects to the main island and is a beautiful place, with forests, meadows, rivers, and mountain ranges all surrounding a gorgeous valley.  It’s a safe haven, meaning exactly that: nothing is there that will threaten them.  It’s the epitome of safety.
	The group of survivors that this story surrounds is made up of three white people (two men and one woman), two black people (one man, one woman), one Chinese man and a Russian woman.  They are all friends from back before the calamity, and ever since then they have been on the move.  Prior to the story, they had to make their way across the Rockies and down to the California coast.  One of the white men and the white woman are married, the two blacks are married, and the other white man is dating the Russian woman.  The Chinese man lost his wife on the way to the coast, when she was murdered by road bandits.  They are held together by their love for each other, their love for their friendship, and their mutual desire to survive.  The journey from Thornado to Hamther, however, will test these boundaries and lines in their friendship.  The women are all very close, having known each other since they were kids.  The men were brought together as friends by the women.  Five years of journeying together from America to the ocean to Thornado has caused them to grow closer but at the same time, has helped to develop tension between them.  Being with the same people all the time can become old and tiresome.  
	Also, on Thornado, there are two tribes: the Ugalu, who are a peaceful tribe, and the Uganu, who are cannibalistic and warmongers.  They have been at war with each other (more accurately, the Uganu have been fighting the Ugalu) as long as they can remember.  This dynamic will be felt by the main group as they encounter both tribes on the island throughout the story.
	In the Post Calamity world, religion has been thrown out the window.  Most people who were devout followers of one religion or another were either killed off in the explosions or the radiation fallout.  However, religious lore, artifacts, and scriptures can still be found.  All of the main characters in the group of friends have a moral compass and consider themselves to be good, moral people.  However, the white guy who is dating the Russian, along with his girlfriend, are both a bit sadistic.  As they’ve traveled, this side of them has come out more and more, as the guy has ruthlessly slaughtered road bandits they’ve encountered (he claimed it was in self defense, but it was overkill).  None of them followed any specific religion before the calamity, but they all considered themselves to be good people.  There is a mutual yearning for something more than this hell on earth that they are living, but because of their non-religious backgrounds, they don’t have any singular path to follow to try to find God.  They want there to be something out there, something to give them hope, but they don’t know if it’s real or if it exists at all.  That won’t stop them from searching when they find a Bible on the shore of Hamther that is wrapped in waterproof material to preserve it.  But that’s beside the point.  
