Bas-Lag


Bas-Lag is a fictional universe in which several of China Miéville's novels are set. Bas-Lag is a world where both magic and steampunk technology exist, and where many intelligent races live. This world and the novels set in it are, in generic terms, informed by the horror, fantasy and science fiction traditions. As with all China Miéville's works, there is also a strong presence of social and political opinion.

Novels

There have been three novels so far set in Bas-Lag:
  • Perdido Street Station
  • The Scar
  • Iron Council
The short story "Jack", featured in the 2005 collection Looking for Jake, is also set in Bas-Lag.

Geography

Bas-Lag possesses several continents. Two landmasses, Rohagi and Bered Kai Nev, are named in the three novels, though numerous other landmasses and structures play important roles.

Rohagi

The exact geography of Rohagi is unknown. New Crobuzon lies about inland from its eastern coast, which borders the Swollen Ocean. South of New Crobuzon is the Rudewood, beyond which are the Mendican Hills. North of New Crobuzon, along the coast but separated from it by the Bezhek Mountains, are the ruins of Suroch. To the west, about a thousand miles from New Crobuzon and beyond the Dancing Shoe Mountains, lies a four-hundred mile wide freshwater lake called Cold Claw Loch. The Loch connects with the inland Cold Claw Sea, eight hundred miles to the north, via a natural channel called Cold Claw Sound. The Cold Claw Sea is talon-shaped, stretching eastward a great distance, almost connecting with the Swollen Ocean before curving southward for about two hundred miles, ending about seven hundred miles north of New Crobuzon. This southward curve is the Gengris, populated by the dangerous grindylow.
According to a character in Iron Council, both Cobsea and Myrshock lie about southwest of New Crobuzon. Cobsea lies inland and borders the Cacotopic Stain, a large wasteland created by the unreliable magical energy known as Torque. Myrshock lies on the northern coast of the Meagre Sea. A wealthy industrialist attempted to build a transcontinental railway that would link New Crobuzon with Cobsea and Myrshock, as the two states are trading partners, but was unsuccessful. However, the end of Iron Council indicates a second attempt at the project, using information gathered by the industrialist's agents throughout the course of the book.
South of the Meagre Sea is the Cymek Desert, which is home to the nomadic garudas. The Cymek also contains the northern port city of Shankell, which is known for its brutal gladiatorial combat, and the southern city of Dreer Samheer, both of which are predominantly populated by the cactacae.
West of the Cymek Desert lies the Galaggi Veldt, which is home to Tesh and is neighboured by the Witchocracy, which it goes to war against New Crobuzon with in Iron Council. Tesh controls the Fire Water Straits, which lead to an unidentified inland body of water that borders the Swollen Ocean. The control of the Fire Water Straits results in a war between New Crobuzon and Tesh. Crobuzine victory in this conflict is implied following the failure of the Teshi thaumaturgical attack upon the city. The Firewater Straits are renamed the Sanguine Straits during the course of the war, due to the ferocity and cost of the naval battles to control them.

Bered Kai Nev

Bered Kai Nev is a continent to the east of Rohagi. The khepri are believed to be native to this continent, but were driven out by an event known as The Ravening, and now live as refugees in various cities in Rohagi, although primitive khepri are rumored to still inhabit Bered Kai Nev.

Islands and other landmasses

Gnurr Kett is an island that lies south of New Crobuzon and east of the Cymek Desert. The island is known for its scholarly capital city, Kohnid. Some of its knowledge is derived from a colony of anophelii that they maintain. This colony is the only known remnants of the Malarial Queendom, a brutal regime that was active in the areas of Bas-Lag with a warm climate.
The Jheshull Islands are a small trio of islands that lie off the coast of Rohagi. They were involved in the Pirate Wars and are on the decline due to their position against New Crobuzon.
Nova Esperium is one of New Crobuzon's colonies. Very few people choose to go to Nova Esperium of their own volition because of the long journey to the colony and rampant disease, but New Crobuzon's government pays for the passage of any volunteers. The exact location of Nova Esperium is not given, although it lies a great distance across the Swollen Sea, southeast of New Crobuzon.

Armada

The pirate city of Armada is a mobile city-state consisting of numerous ships lashed together to form a large, connected settlement. It is divided into small districts which are ruled by unique rulers, such as a High Cromlech vampir. Armada moves around the Swollen Ocean by means of a small fleet of tug ships, and is the central setting of The Scar. Armada's origins are unknown, but it has existed in one form or another for at least a thousand years. At the opening of The Scar, its population is said to number in the hundreds of thousands. The city itself is only about a mile wide, though one character claims that "there are probably as many miles of streets here as in New Crobuzon" owing to all its "layers and layers of decks."
The city's population is made up of humans, cactacae, khepri, ab-dead, remade, scabmettlers, and other races. People considered criminals in their former home states are recast as equals upon joining Armada, and often go on to hold positions of power.
Armada gains its wealth through piracy. Piracy also leads to acquisition of knowledge in many languages, and the growth of Armada's population, since any ship intercepted by Armada's forces is assimilated into the city and its crew and passengers press-ganged into citizenship for life. The language of Armada is Salt, a constructed language deliberately made easy to learn and consisting of vocabulary from the languages of the many races that inhabit the city.
During The Scar, the rulers of Garwater riding, the Lovers, carry out a plan to raise the legendary avanc to give Armada ultimate power over the seas. This was tried once before in Armada's history, as evidenced by five enormous chains attached to the undersides of the city's largest ships. Along with a team of scientists and engineers, and against the wishes of several of the other ridings, Garwater is able to summon the avanc using great physical and magical energy. This gives Armada the means to travel to the mythical "Scar".
Armada's ridings are:
  • Garwater: The most powerful of the ridings, led by the Lovers, two nameless scar-covered pirates who influence most of Armada's decisions. Garwater's flagship is The Grand Easterly. It is also in possession of two enormous airships, the Arrogance and the Trident, as well as the stolen New Crobuzon deep-sea rig Sorghum.
  • Dry Fall: Governed by a vampir called the Brucolac, Dry Fall's residents are prosperous and have the most security and individual freedoms of any of the ridings in Armada, but they pay for this through a "goretax," donating their own blood to their leader. Dry Fall, along with Curhouse, stands against Garwater's plans to raise the avanc. Dry Fall's flagship is the Uroc.
  • Booktown: Run by a khepri triumvirate. Booktown houses the Grand Gears Library, Armada's stronghold of knowledge.
  • Curhouse: Curhouse is the most democratic of the ridings, and is governed by a large Council, who tend to oppose the Lovers. Curhouse is where Bellis Coldwine's ship the Terpsichoria ends up, and it is also the location of Croom Park, a large public garden spread over several ships that have been gutted and filled with soil.
  • Thee-and-Thine: This riding is led by a trader-king named Friedrich, whose favour is easily bought by the Lovers. It is regarded as a lawless slum-like neighbourhood by the greater populace of Armada, but Bellis observes that it is more mercantile than lawless. Its flagship is the Salt Godling.
  • Bask: Bask's flagship is the Tailor's Moan. It is home to the menfish.
  • Jhour: This riding is led by a Cactacae queen named Braginod. Its flagship is the Saskital.
  • Shaddler: This riding is governed by a general, and is home to the majority of the scabmettler population. Its flagship is the Therianthropus.
  • The Haunted Quarter: A deserted riding of ancient ships, believed to be inhabited by ghouls and other supernatural beings. It was used as a hideout for Silas Fennec.

    History

Ghosthead Empire

Over three thousand years before the events of The Scar, powerful entities from another plane of existence ruled all of Bas-Lag for a period of 500 years. The Ghosthead, as these entities were known, originated from a different plane of existence somewhere on the eastern rim of the universe. Seeking a milder place to live than their homeworld, which had a cycle of days and nights that created oceans of molten iron and froze the atmosphere, the Ghosthead built a "metal fish" and used it to find Bas-Lag. Their arrival created The Scar, a massive physical and dimensional rift on Bas-Lag's surface. The Ghosthead harnessed the energy from The Scar by a process called "possibility mining", and used this power to gain control over all of Bas-Lag. The Ghosthead Empire was ultimately destroyed by a rebellion called the Contumancy, followed by a period known as the Sloughing-Off. The Empire's history survives in documents such as the Imperial Canon, and in lost technologies and structures, like Possible Swords and Possible Towers, scattered in hidden places across Bas-Lag.

Malarial Queendom

The Malarial Queendom was a short-lived empire built by the anophelii, with territory in Rohagi, Shoteka, and the Shards. Two thousand years before the events of The Scar, the Queendom collapsed and the anophelii were nearly eradicated. The remaining anophelii were driven to a small island south of Gnurr Kett, where they are kept in isolation as captive scholars for the Gnurr Kett nobility.