Hey there, Survivors!
It’s been a while since the Tech Demo, but we’re back with a new Dev Note!
In the meantime, we’ve been working on a ton of new stories we can’t wait to share with you.
Today, we’re diving into the Pleasure District—one of the key areas you might remember from the Tech Demo. We’ll be taking a closer look at its deeper setting and background. Even before REMORE was swallowed by the Dark Shroud, the district was already steeped in corruption.
Let’s take a look at the deep-rooted darkness that’s been festering there.
Import Goods Control Act: The Origins of the Pleasure District
REMORE is a city built around the Memolith. Within its walls, people once lived peaceful lives, basking in the light of Memolith and the blessings of the Path of Light that carried its radiance throughout the city.
And naturally, wherever there’s a system that benefits people, there are those who control it. The Church of the Sun was a religious group that oversaw the Memolith and the Path of Light system. They maintained the Path and, in return, collected a kind of “Light Tax” from the people. To prevent the Memolith from falling into corruption, they also created strict laws — “Divine Laws”— that were used to control the populace. In reality, these laws brought suffering and oppression to the citizens of REMORE.
One such law was the Import Goods Control Act, which required inspections on all items brought in from outside the city. Officially, it was meant to protect citizens from “harmful goods,” but in practice, it was just a way to impose extortionate inspection fees and squeeze the merchants dry. Those with connections to the government managed to stay afloat, but independent traders were either forced to join the merchant alliance or leave the city altogether.
Driven out by this law, many crossed the river and began building new homes outside the city walls. Since they were beyond the reach of the Path of Light, they claimed they were free from the Light Tax and Divine Laws. Their numbers grew—and for a while, everything settled down.
But that brief happiness… soon turned into a horrifying tragedy.
The Day of the Crimson Lily: The Birth of the Slums and the Pleasure District
To the Church of the Sun, the existence of a group that had broken away from the “Blessing” of the Path of Light and rejected their sacred laws was intolerable. And on top of that, these outsiders were cutting into profits from the Light Tax and the Import Goods Control Act.
That, of course, was unacceptable.
So, the Church made a declaration: even those who had left the city were still subject to REMORE’s laws. With that, they officially labeled the breakaways as criminals.
With the legal justification in place, all that was left was punishment. The Church of the Sun launched a surprise military crackdown. It was brutal. The riverside settlement—the home the outcasts had built—was devastated beyond repair. On that day, the blood of the fallen stained the lilies red. People would later remember it as “The Day of the Crimson Lily.”
From then on, the survivors had few options left.
Some chose to submit to the Church’s power. They stayed in the ruined settlement and rebuilt under the Church’s watch, establishing what is now known as the Slums. They opened up the Path of Light and even built a church, falling back in line with the Church’s laws.
But others still refused to give in. They moved again—this time to a place the Path of Light hadn’t yet reached. There, they built a wall to separate themselves from the Slums and began carving out a new life. Through smuggling, vice, and backroom bribes to the Church, they managed to survive and maintain control over their own space.
And that was the beginning of what would become the Pleasure District.
Crimson Lilies and the Graveyard of Nameless Headstones
After the “Day of the Crimson Lily,” something strange began to grow. No one knows exactly where it came from— whether it sprouted naturally after the tragedy or was brought in from the outside—but in the aftermath of that horrific day, a crimson flower started appearing, as if stained by the blood of the fallen. People began calling it the Crimson Lily.
The name “Day of the Crimson Lily” itself was also a subtle way to refer to the massacre without directly confronting the Church of the Sun’s brutality.
The Crimson Lily turned out to be a potent plant, inducing hallucinations and intense pleasure. Before long, it became the signature product of the Pleasure District. For a place that thrived on illegal dealings, this lily was a goldmine. Even people inside the city walls—far from the Church’s reach in the quasi-lawless Pleasure District—would seek it out for a taste of its forbidden ecstasy.
Ironically, the very flower said to be dyed with the blood of victims became the lifeline for the survivors—feeding their bellies and fueling the district’s underground economy.
Meanwhile, those who died on the Day of the Crimson Lily were labeled as “Heretics” for refusing to follow the Church’s laws. Even holding proper funerals for them was forbidden. So, the survivors took matters into their own hands—burying their family and neighbors in a clearing near the forest. To protect them from further persecution, they left behind only blank headstones, with no names or markings.
As time passed, more and more of the dead from the Pleasure District were laid to rest in that same place. Eventually, it became known as the Graveyard of Nameless Headstones.
People would leave white lilies at the graves—not Crimson Lilies—hoping that those buried there could be freed from the tragic past of the district. Even after the explosion of the Memolith, the white lilies still remain, quietly blooming in that graveyard to this day.
That’s it for today’s look into the sad history behind the creation of the Pleasure District, long before the explosion of the Memolith. We’ll be back next time with more lore to share.
Thanks again for reading, Survivors!
REMORE