Sesshu
In 5618 (TN 1274) Terrence Mortimer, Duke of Westminster, was forced into exile by political enemies in the Concordat. He choose to go to Terra Nova and purchased a massive area of rich farmland in the northern hemisphere in TN 1277 (5621). Duke Terrence was determined to never be bothered by interfering democrats again and created an independent duchy which he called Sesshu.
With rich land and money for development, the Duke soon attracted tenant farmers. Life in Sesshu was easy, and successive Dukes invested heavily in trying to bring a little civilization to their new demesne. In TN 1454, Duchess Teresa managed to hold most of Sesshu's population when the Concordat abandoned Terra Nova by buying their loyalty through Ducal patronage. The Mortimets family wealth paid the various pensions and over the next two centuries sensible investments allowed the creation of a beautiful, classically styled city of art and culture.
During the 16th century, the eighth duke, named Theodore Mortimer, ran out of money. Duke Theodore had refused to join the Tershaw Cooperative Alliance and had indebted himself to the United Mercantile Federation instead. In the TN 1560s, the UMF announced it was calling the monies owed and threatened to take over the duchy if it was not paid; this was an obvious part of the league's efforts to absorb the TCA. When other TCA states joined either the UMF or NLC, the duke thought he was saved because his "creditors" would not dare invade across NLC lands. Unfortunately, his economy nevertheless collapsed. In TN 1570, the NLC offered Sesshu membership in order to secure its newly expanded borders. While Duke Theodore may not have had his ancestors' business acumen, he still had their political cunning. I n return for joining, he persuaded the NLC to take over Sesshu's existing debts and any future costs incurred by social policies. Not understanding the patronage system, the NLC agreed.
With almost unlimited funding, Duke Theodore instituted an even more generous patronage scheme and rebuilt the family fortune. The result has been immense wealth for the Mortimers, a great flowering of culture in Sesshu, extremely strained relations with the rest of the NLC, and a city that is the most beautiful in the north with its classical Greek and Roman architecture, many parks and pools.
Sesshu is the target of disdain from most mainstream Norlights, who think of it as a den of laziness and corruption. The presence of the Dispensation District - in which prostitution and some drugs are legal - is especially irksome to supporters of the stringent Norlights morality laws. Artists, poets and those who feel constrained by the Norlights lifestyle do find release in Sesshu, however, and the locals are quite happy with their way of life. Nevertheless, pressure is building in Valeria and Sorrento for the national government to force a stricter application of the morality laws.
Demographics
The Land the Duke Built
Most Norlight think of Sesshites as effete, lazy, decadent and even sinful. In reality, Sesshites work as hard as any other Norlights, but for the most part in their own interest. This is usually some artistic or cultural endeavor and to this end they are happy to accept the duke's traditional patronage. Nor is even this completely unproductive since Sesshu has become the special effects and graphic arts capital of Terra Nova and has produced many famous artists, such as painter Tegan Ferrell and the Sesshu Ballet Company. A full third of Sesshites are actually involved in standard industries that support their artistic fellow citizens and their Duke's great wealth. These farmers, brokers, and others are looked up to by their fellow citizens because their labor supports the arts and as a result, the Duke sees that they are richly rewarded through inumerable tax shelters and other benefits.
Sesshites do not see a problem with Ducal patronage and believe Norlighters are just whining since they got conned by Duke Theodore. The real problem is that Sesshite culture has more in common with the South than with the North. Sesshites are agnostic, hedonistic, pacifistic and quite dismissive of the political and religious concerns of other Norlight. Many Sesshite habits appall Revisionists. Most noticeable is the Dispensation District, a commercial neighborhood in Sesshu in which many national morality Laws are suspended by ducal dispensation. Clean and legal brothels, sex showcases and drug bars dot the district and attract tourists and locals alike. Laws are more readily enforced outside the district, but private use of mild drugs, limited prostitution, nude bathing (introduced by Duke Tomas's Ashanitte wife Isabella), and other "unsavory" activities are quite common. Sesshite themselves think of most Norlight as self-inflated puritans.
Indeed Sesshites do not even participate in most competitive sports with other cities in the NLC. Rugball and cricket were introduced by Duke Terrence and Sesshites still play both avidly. Their only external competition is with the Humanist city of Raleigh and the entire city stops for up to a week for test matches with the southern foe. Several local teams compete during the rest of the cycle and team paitisanship has become a vely serious concern.
Government
Norlight Aristocracy
Sesshu is unique in the NLC because it continues to exist as a neo-feudal state. Duke Tomas maintains absolute power over the duchy and other laws only hold sway with his approval. When Sesshu joined the NLC. it was asked to accept national legislation but granted the city the unique right to ignore them. Ever since St. Vincent's War, when Valeria began to exert a stronger influence over the region, the successive dukes have passed several dispensations for their city. The Dispensation District is the most infamous case of this, where almost all national morality laws are suspended. This privilege has often been criticized by national governments, some of which have contemplated unilateral revocation; such a motion has always raised the ire of regional authorities across the nation, many of which would like to see their communities gain the power of dispensation as well.
Duke Tomas is worried, however. He looks east to Sorrento and sees a threat in Thor Hutchison, who has made calls for wider and stricter application of the morality laws, often using Sesshu as an example of a "city gone wrong." Some church members have called for the expulsion of the city from the league, but the Duke knows well that strategic considerations make that difficult. To frustrate Hutchison, the Duke plays a dangerous game of secret support for any opponent of the Second Follower, by which he has become a contact for Chief Justice Stark and Laurent Belli. The Duke is unaware that Stark views Sesshu as a cesspool and is only using him against the "greater evil" in Sorrento.
In the domestic arena, Duke Tomas has few problems, being well loved and employing the majority of his subjects. He is, however, working feverishly to prepare the city for what he is afraid will be the violent resolution of the present Revisionist revival. In the event of violence he is relying on the Ducal Guard and the Northern Guard's 32nd Infantry Division which is based at Sesshu. Through corruption, adroit recruiting and Ducal patronage, he has identified a few "friendly officers" and "reliable soldiers."
Industry & Trade
- Finance
- Fine arts
- Media
- Tourism
- Luxury Goods
- Lumber
The Wealth of Mortimer
Sesshu is a very wealthy city. The Mortimers made Sesshu a tax haven to their own great benefit, and many wealthy northerners move there. This concentration of wealth and absence of restrictions has made Sesshu a center of the northern luxury trade, including many activities which are legal only thanks to ducal dispensation. This has produced a brisk tourist industry and substantial southern exports. Legal controls on the sex and drug industries have taken away much of the profit margin of the cartels in the area, but they use Sesshu as a staging area for export and transport of contraband to other Norlight regions. Duke Tomas has recently agreed to full cooperation with NorPol in shutting down this smuggling in the hopes of placating his critics and ensure that the Dispensation District remains clean and safe.
Sesshu's artists are also good, if somewhat unreliable, earners. The graphics industries are especially profitable and the city supports some of the hemisphere's top design and special effects houses. Many large advertising houses and movie producers have offices in the city's business district in order to tap local resources. Sesshu is also Terra Nova's largest producer of arts-related products, such as specialized supplies and quality prints.
The Duchy of Sesshu also supports an extremely rich farming and lumber industry based on extensive productive soils in the Northern Plain and the unique Sesshite Forest which surrounds the city. Luxury products, such as high quality oldgrowth woods, rare aromatic and ornamental varieties of johar and specially engineered Terran crops, are the mainstay of local agriculture and are exported around the hemisphere and even across the Badlands. Sesshu imports staples from the rest of the league, but also a large amount of specialty goods, including alcohols from Raleigh in the Humanist Alliance.
Managing the Duke's vast fortune is also a major industry, not just in terms of employment, but also for the wealth that floods into the city from his planet-wide investments.
Points of interest
The Sesshu Academy of Arts
Surrounding the Ducal Palace at the center of the city, the Academy is a fantastically beautiful facility made from white marble. The largest arts institute on Terra Nova, the Academy i s the center of Sesshite life. In any season, up to a third of all Sesshites attend classes, though mostly part-time. As well, there are always hundreds of foreign scholarship students from all over Terra Nova. The Duke's scholarship scheme for disadvantaged youth is very well thought of.
The Academies Fraternities and Sororities are extremely important with almost all sports teams in the city being run by them and a person's social standing often based on membership. The bars and restaurants in the huge Academy Quadrangle, the multitude of performance spaces, theaters and workshops, and the massive park lands with their many pools are a major center of recreation. The Dispensation District is a short stroll to the south of the Quadrangle and many upscale bordellos target academic clientele.
For an artist to be invited to take up residence in the Academy is the highest point of his career. Such invitations are always the catalyst for a massive party hosted by the artist's friends, which can last up to a season. Once they are in residence, artists are asked to teach small classes and take apprentices. Some of the best sculptors and painters on Terra Nova began by learning at the foot of a Sesshite artist-in-residence. Members of the Academy are regularly invited to the Ducal Palace.
Maps
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Sesshu
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