
Gushemege: Second Thoughts
HD 3404   Date: 910529
-- by David Burden

Introduction

   This is a revised version of the document produced by me in
1990. It is the result of comments on the original document from
Clay Bush and J Duncan Law Green, and additional development and
review by myself. Most of the changes are cosmetic or to correct
typos. Additional information is provided on Lancia,
communications routes, trade, and the rebellion.

Astrography

   Gushemege is a sector at the mercy of its astrographical
position. First occupied by the Vilani, then the Solomani, then
Aslan, then Sylea, and finally the Vilani again Gushemege is used
to invasion and subjugation. The current rebellion, with the
Sector a battleground between Dulinor, Strephon, Lucan and the
Ziru Sirkaa is seen as just one more example of this history.
Hardly surprisingly Gushemege has developed a healthy distrust of
foreign powers, and a preference to be left alone to get on with
its own life. Within the Sector there is an ample variety of life
and culture, who needs any more?
        Examining the Jump-1 routes in Gushemege the Sector
appears split into four main sections: the Gushemege Main running
from trailing-core to spinward-rim, the "island" like worlds on
the edge of of the Rift to spinward of the Gushemege Main, a
small and of worlds to rimward along the border with Ilelish, and
a large group of worlds covering four subsectors to rim and
trailing of the Main.


             Trade Routes of Gushemege

        Whilst XBoat routes give valuable information about
communications in a sector they do not indicate the major trade
routes. By mapping Industrial, Rich, and High Population worlds
the major trade route through the Sector, the Oulpath, becomes
apparet. This follows the route Tansa - Isi Ahto - Shire -
Dashinshaii - Truax - Laeth - Vipach. The Oulpath is the
conventional powerbelt of Gushemege. Of particular note is the
section from Vipach to Dashinshaii which is known as the Ginupa
Radix, and the one from Dashinshaii to Shire which is known
amongst starfarers as the Ushuuri Way. These two regions contain
much of Gushemege's population and production.
        Gushemege has good links to neighbouring sectors, with
Jump-1 routes to Vland, Reft and Verge through the Gushemege
Main, and Jump-2 routes to Dagudashaag and the Ilelish and
Zarushagar Mains from the Oulpath. As a result of these links,
and driven by its relatively low population and industrial
capacity, Gushemege has made much of its wealth through the
conduct of trade. Initially the Vilani "passageway" to Verge and
Ilelish, Gushemege was well placed to benefit from the trade of
the Ziru Sirka. With the rise of the Solomani the emphasis
shifted to the Oulpath and the links to Dagudashaag. With the
establishment of the Third Imperium Gushemege prospered on the
trade along both the Main and the Oulpath, and on out to the
sectors beyond.


             The Subsectors of Gushemege

The Missing Data

   Gushemege is only sparsely recorded in the First Survey, with
no XBoat routes or Subsector names or Capitals given. In the
absence of such information details are provided below.

Subsector            Capital/Comments
---------------------------------------------------
A       Riften       Outside of the Imperium.
                     Overseen by Munnarn/Rure.
B       Khiira       Puumariash (1507)
C       Taapvaia     Sharenga (2305)
D       Tansa        Kukhun (3105)
E       Gandonen     Administered by Munnarn/Rure.
F       Rure         Munnarn (1013)
G       Ankhsusgar   Lumuiimshi (1816)
H       Isi Ahto     Shakhamash (2716)
I       Balech       Estos (0230)
J       Sallounn     Vesuata (1328)
K       Dashinshaii  Usdiki (2224), Sector capital.
L       Shire        Moytra (2725)
M       Vipach       Dikaash (0738)
N       Laeth        Sidur Ishki (1234)
O       Truax        Oaxaca (1832)
P       Lagan        Kadar (2839)


A Short History

"....when given a chance to behave in an unorthodox manner,
Gushemege has often done so." - Naasirka Corporate History

The Ziru Sirka

   Vilani scouts first entered into Gushemege around -9000.
During the establishment of Vilani rule Naasirka came into
contact with the Kukhunen and Loeskalth cultures based in Tansa
and Vipach subsectors respectively. By -5400 the Loeskalth were
beginning to pose a problem to total Vilani domination, and in
the course of the Consolidation Wars their culture was utterly
destroyed. By -4300 only myths remained. The Kukhunen fared a
little better. Their imagination proved a more effective match
for Vland, and a valuable asset to the tradition-bound
bureaucrats of Naasirka. After 3000 the rising power of the
Kukhunen proved an ever increasing threat to Vilani rule in
Gushemege, threatening as it did the whole Gushemege Main.

The Long Night

    In -2223 the first Solomani fleets entered Gushemege, and by
-2204 the Ziru Sirka had been overthrown and the Solomani
governors  of the Rule of Man appointed. Sector activity shifted
from the Gushemege Main to the Oulpath, and Dashinshaii, Shire
and Truax rose in power and prestige. As the Rule of Man faded
from -1800 the cultures interior to Gushemege began to assert
themselves, but technology collapsed too rapidly for  empires to
form. From -1000 the first of the few Aslan Ihatei to reach
Gushemege arrived. The first were the results of misjumps, the
later the result of planned colonisation. The clans of Ua-wairlew
and Faowaou dominated Aslan settlement, which took place in
Truax, Dashinshaii and Shire. During the Long Night the best
technology in the Sector was at TL9, later developing to TL10 in
the late -200s.

Lancia

   During the Long Night Kukhunen culture underwent a
metamorphosis. After centuries of conflict with the Ziru Sirka,
and then the Solomani Kukhun was a war ravaged planet. As
interstellar contact failed rival blocs competed for power and
the planet waa on the brink of self destruction. It was only when
the Lancian movement alerted the world  to the fact that the
planet was plunging into an ice age that stability was restored.
For the next few centuries the Lancian movement co-ordinated the
planets actions in response to the advancing  ice, and at the
same time imbued the Kukhunen with a new philosophy which
channeled their imagination into creative uses, stressing
creativity over destruction, and art and beauty over war and
horror. By the timw that the planet had a successful plan of
defence against the ice the Lancian philosophy had become deeply
ingrained into the Kukhunen psyche and the Lancian culture had
been born.


                     XBoat Routes in 1116

The Third Imperium

   By -150 Lancia and other nearby cultures in Vland and
Dagudashaag were beginning to spread amongst the stars again.
Around -75 the first Sylean scouts ventured into the Sector. By
the early 100s the first Gushemege worlds were joining the Third
Imperium. Lancia, suspicious of this new galactic power,
resisted, as did its neighbours the S'mrii. Both were eventually
subsumed as a result of the bloody Vilani Pacification Campaign
started in 76. The Archduke of Vland followed the campaign by the
compulsory settlement of many Lancian worlds by Makhidkarun.
   The worlds in the rimward portions of Laeth and Truax had long
been influenced by the Ilelish culture to rim. They had no
hesitation in joining the Ilelish revolt in 420, but were rapidly
brought back into line after Martin III imposed a blockade.
During the 500s and 600s Gushemege was a centre for psionic work,
especially in Lancia and Rure. Psionic development continued
throughout the Civil War, in which Gushemege, unenthusiastic
about galactic governments, took little part. Lancia was finally
granted Cultural Region status by Margaret I in 732, a reward
overdue for helping to break the Solomani power at court. The
Kamurinmur Rebellion of 760 was largely held to be the result of
psionic meddling, and the Psionic Suppression that followed drove
psionics underground. Many researchers turned their attention to
nanotechnology and bioelectronics instead, technologies in which
the Lancian Cultural Region soon excelled.
   Since the Civil War the senior duke of Gushemege has come from
the Miikadgaa line. Duke Sirgi had steered Gushemege well through
the 1000s. Sirgi's greatest coup was undoubtably the marriage of
his daughter Iolanthe to Strephon, cementing a long standing
friendship between the Miikadgaa and Alkhalikoi families. With a
similar eye for the future Sirgi also had his son Kirshaam marry
the daughter of a lea
ding Lancian family.
        By 1116 Gushemege was in a contented position, making an
honest credit from trade. Lancia kept  the Imperium supplied with
art,  mythware and bioware. The Duchess Iolanthe's marriage to
the Emperor had raised the Sector's profile, but only the Corro
and Tourops seen much profit.

Cultural Regions

   Any one who travels in  Gushemege soon realises that it is far
from a homogenous whole. Millenia of trade and travel, conquest
and colonisation, development and evolution have meant that the
Sector has developed distintive regions, each with their own
styles and strengths. The astrographic analysis at the beginning
of this document identifed four such regions, and the officially
recognised Lancian Cultural Region is obviously a fifth. In total
seven regions are commonly identified within the sector.


                    Regions of Gushemege

Lancia - Taapvaia, Tansa and Isi Ahto
   The development of Lancia has already been discussed in
connection with the history of the Sector. Currently Lancia
represents a strong and generally benevolent force. The immense
creativity of the region is perhaps more important than its
sometimes rather excessive concern for art. In conjunction with
Makhidkarun Lancia dominates entertainment and creative
technology within much of the spinward Imperium. It is also a
strong player in the world of business and commercial planning
and political development, often seeing ways and means that other
races are blind to. Their undoubted ability, combined with their
somewhat smug pastoral nature is enough to cause friction with
some of their less than  perfect neighbours in the Sector. Rumors
of secret scheming and grand designs that would make even a Hiver
manipulator blush are never far away.

Archipelago - Riften, Khiira and Gandonen
   The worlds of the archipelago only came in reach with the
development of jump-3 drives. Even by 1116 a few still remained
outside the Imperium. The archipelago was largely colonised by
those seeking a final refuge from the Imperium, for social,
political, or cultural reasons. Even more than the average
Gushemege they have a wish to be left alone.

Rurevayn - Rure, Ankhsusgar, Sallounn, Dashinshaii
   One of the less well defined regions, Rurevayn (literally
Greater Rure)  originally profited from  trade along the
Gushemege Main. There is a long standing animosity between these
hi-tech trading  but low population worlds and the "traditional"
industrial worlds of the Oulpath heartland. Relations with
Lancia, from whom Rurevayn has  inherited much of its technology,
are far better. Over the centuries the clean cybertech developed
by Lancia has leaked out into the unscurpulous hands of greedy
mercenaries and drug dealers, and even greedier businessmen.   
Here are the information corporations and the dealers in dark
souls. This is the heart of Gushemege's cyberpunk
counter-culture.

The Backwaters - Balech and Sallounn
   The worlds here have little identity of their own and few
resources. Most wealth comes, or came, from the Gushemege Main,
and trade with Reft and Verge.

Loes - Vipach Subsector
   Its proximity to Reft, Verge, and Ilelish lifts Vipach out of
the "backwaters". The people of Vipach have always had a bit more
spirit behind them, and there are close links to the Tapazmali in
Reft. There is a Tapazmali world at Choltonrul (0136 Vipach), and
the Ael Yael's homeworld is at Jaeyelya (0437 Vipach). Vipach was
the home of the Loeskalth culture of Ziru Sirka times, now known
only from First Imperium records. Interest in the Loeskalth has
been reawakened since Professor Laskan's discovery in 1108 of an
ancient Loeskalth asteroid ship. Now the myths of Loeskalth and
the Loeskalth Empire are everywhere. A once secret society, the
Loes, has been dreaming of Loeskalth rebirth and independence for
many centuries, and are now rapidly having to catch up with
reality as that chance begins to present itself. The current
ideas of "Loesklath" do however owe more to the images of the
simstim scripters of the 1100s than they do to the real
Loeskalth.

The Ilelish Rim - Vipach, Laeth, and Truax
   The Ilelish influence here grew during the Long Night, due to
the better links that existed into that sector than into
Gushemege. The Ilelish Revolt of 418 forged the worlds into a
closer union. Since then there has been an uneasy truce between
these worlds and the rest of Gushemege. They have a tendency to
go their own way and the Miikadgaa dynasty has been tolerant of
this, but has resisted any attempts by the region to gain
recognised "cultural region" status. With the coming of the
rebellion the Rim made what was seen by the rest of Gushemege as
a treacherous declaration for Dulinor, and  provided Dulinor with
a loyal foothold in Gushemege.

The Heartland - Dashinshaii, Shire, Laeth, Truax, Lagan
   Growing to dominance during the Rule of Man these subsectors
have never lost their grip on the sector. The high population
worlds of the Ginupa Radix and Ushuuri Way, the trade of the
Oulpath, the agricombines of Laeth, Truax and Shire, and the
Industrial heartlands of Sidur, Gushirdiimi and Unlardigard all
contribute to the region's power. Only Lancia comes close to
rivaling it in power or size. It is not however without its
problems. There is a great racial mix, including the Sector's
only Aslan, and worker exploitation is perhaps the worst in
Gushemege.

The Rebellion and Gushemege

   In 1116 Gushemege was dealt two blows almost simultaneously.
The first was the death of Sector Duke Sirgi Miikadgaa on
072-1116. He was succeeded by his son Kirshaam who was well
intentioned but lacked his father's intelligence. The second blow
was the assasination on 132-1116 of Strephon and, almost more
importantly, of Iolanthe, his wife and Kirshaam's sister,
        Kirshaam is a physically strong but mentally weak Duke.
Opinionated and obsessed with the protection of all life he is
apt to concentrate on inconsequential tasks at the expense of the
important. It is only the steady hand of his wife that has
prevented his rapid demise.
        Faced with an imperial crises and the gathering storm
clouds of rebellion Kirshaam did nothing, urging his people to
stay calm, be peaceful, and let the contenders fight it out
amongst themselves. The sector, stunned and shocked by the murder
of their favourite daughter and the Emperor, largely stayed true
to his word.  As representatives of Lucan and Dulinor arrived in
other Gushemege  systems demanding fleets they found a
surprisingly compliant people, who sought the way of least
resistance, and hopefully a quick and peaceful solution to their
immediate problems. The worlds of the Ilelish Rim in Leath and
Truax were the exceptions, soon siding whole heartedly with
Dulinor.

Strephon Reappears

   All this passivity changed on 204-1117 when Strephon
reappeared on the balcony of his vacation palace on Usdiki.
Whilst they had not had Iolanthe returned to them the people of
Gushemege had the next best thing. Fleets and worlds immediately
rallied to  Strephon's call, and Kirshaam was happy to have
someone to make the difficult decisions for him. Leaving the Duke
to look after the domestic life of the Sector Strephon lead the
Gushemege Fleet against Lucan and Dulinor.
        The response of Strephon's arch-rivals was to impose a
blockade on Gushemege to prevent news of Strephon's return
leaking out. This had a catostrophic effect on Sector trade, and
combined with the withdrawal of Vilani   assets Gushemege was
soon facing a major economic crises. Only by going rapidly onto
the offensive could Strephon keep the Sector, his only power
base, together.
        1118 saw Strephon rebuff attacks by Lucan and Dulinor,
and late that year Strephon attacked Dulinor to regain the Ginupa
Radix. Lucan tried to attack Strephon's flank but was again
rebuffed. Strephon launched a fresh attack in 1119 against
Dulinor, and later one against Lucan along the Ushuuri Way.
Inevitably much of the fighting centered on the Hi-Pop and
Industrial worlds of the Oulpath heartland. By 1120 the fighting
to rimward was stagnating and Strephon was faced by a major push
by Lucan into Lancia and Shire, nearly losing his life when his
flagship was hit during the Battle of Droun. Strephon responded
by blocking Lucan and then switching his attention to Vland where
gains were being made.
        In 1121 move and counter-move continued on Gushemege's
borders. Against Dulinor structured fighting had given way to
commerce raiding. The main battles were against Lucan and Vland.
There was hardly a world of the Oulpath that had not been caught
up in the fighting so the Sector's industrial capacity was
suffering, and trade, with all borders blocked by war, was
non-existant. It was only Strephon's leadership that kept his
worlds together. If Strephon were to be lost again the break-up
of Gushemege would be rapid.

Closing Thoughts

   So there you have it. Gushemege, a sector caught up in a
galactic war it would rather avoid. A sector ravaged by war more
times than it cares to remember. The myths of Loeskalth about to
clash with the consensus dreamtime of the Rure Net. The culture
that is Lancia once more fighting for survival against the Ziru
Sirkaa. Coming soon to a simstim jack near you.


Contact: David Burden, Gushemege Analyst, 51 Odell Place,
         Edgbaston, BIRMINGHAM, B5 7RG, UK

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