Shengema

**Shengema** is a subterranean Limkian city in Nesaria underneath the Ascarian Mountains, accessed from the surface by a great gate in Cafania. Shengema contains approximately 95% of Nesaria's Limka population, and it is the single largest Limkian settlement in Inecuria. The local government of Shengema is known as *Limkallé Thåsheng*, which approximately translates as "Limkian Commonwealth" but literally means "Limkian Great-Peace". However, most Limkas outside of Shengema refer to it as *Shengemé Thåsheng* - Shengemese Commonwealth - as they reject the notion that Shengema represents all Limkas.

Shengema is classified as an integral part of the state of Nesaria, but the Limkas themselves do not see it this way; they see their Commonwealth as a distinct state which has sworn perpetual fealty to the Emperor and not a part of Nesaria, and most Limkas would not refer to themselves as Nesarians. Essentially, they see themselves as an Imperial Country, a distinct entity which is subject to the Emperor directly. Though legally speaking this is not the case, this is how the Commonwealth *de facto* operates; much like an Imperial Country, it manages all of its own services and is generally left to its own devices as long as the tribute keeps flowing to Capera.

Shengema's population fluctuates significantly between the generations due to the variable and unreliable nature of Limka reproduction, but even in its greatest fluctuations the population has not dipped below 2 million nor exceeded 3 million since the 17th century, and it is generally expected that the population will remain at this level in the forseeable future.

## Name

Shengema is typically pronounced with a hard g (*shen-ge-ma*) by outsiders, especially those speaking Elvic languages, but the native pronunciation has a soft g (*sheng-em-a*). Shengema is a contraction of *Shengé Moa*, "Peaceful Place", likely reflecting Shengema's founding myth of it being a place of refuge amidst demonic invasion.

Shengema is colloquially often known as *Llåme* ("Home"), a feature common to all Limkian cultures; they frequently refer to their home city simply as *Llåme*, only using the proper name when the context calls for it. Alternately, *Llåme* may refer to the urbanised core of the city to distinguish it from the sparsely populated or uninhabited greater cave network which Shengema sits inside.

To Elvic Nesarians, Shengema is sometimes also known as *Limcia* or *Limcuna*; these names were archaically in common usage but began to fall out of favour once the existence of other Limkas outside of Shengema became known, though these names have never disappeared. *Limcia* (from *Limca Ria*) and *Limcuna* (from *Limca Runa*) both mean "land of Limkas", as *ria* and *runa* are largely interchangeable except when specificity is required; *runa* refers to physical land in a literal sense, whereas *ria* can be alternately translated as "country" or "the land of a people".

## The City

The actual city of Shengema itself is thought by scholars to have begun construction at some time around 2000BC, prior to the Annihilation, but it has constantly received new additions and old sections have been rebuilt to accomodate the growing population. Some of the city had to be directly carved into the rock, but the city is situated in an extremely large cavern - the largest in the world by several orders of magnitude - which provides ample space for construction. Because building upwards to fill out the cavern is significantly easier than digging into the rock, Shengema is a very vertical city made up of many layers, containing the oldest known structures which may be termed "skyscrapers" - though perhaps "roofscrapers" would be a more accurate term. Outside observers will note that the architecture of the city bears a close resemblance to Nesarian Gothic, making use of vast pillars, pointed arches, vaulted ceilings and flying buttresses; this is because Nesarian Gothic itself was inspired by the architecture of Shengema, which was long praised by the neighbouring Ascarians for combining ingenious functionality with peerless beauty.

Shengema makes heavy use of water in its architecture, both for aesthetic and functional reasons, and because the environment it was built in has many underground springs and rivers within it. There are a great many fountains to beautify the city, and many aqueducts to provide fresh water to every home. There is also a high density of canals of varying types; some were adapted from natural rivers, some were artificially dug into the rock, and some are elevated and built like aqueducts to provide canal transportation to the upper levels of the multi-layered city.

The water is transported around the city with a complex system of pressure valves and magical pumps. Though magic has long since disappeared from the world, the pumps appear to still be running as intended. The pump systems are closely guarded and it is absolutely forbidden to touch them, as the Limkas are terrified that if they interfere with the pumps then they might stop working, and they will not be able to restart them. A similar magical pump system exists to deal with waste water and sewage.

## Ecosystem and Geography

Shengema lies within a vast cave system, which has not yet been fully explored due to the extreme length of the network and the hazardous nature of the environment. The explored sections reach down to a depth of 2800 metres and have a combined length of over 1200 kilometres (745.6 miles), which already makes it the largest cave network in the world by a significant margin.

The ecosystem within the cave network contains no plants of any kind, and no animals have been identified either. Instead, it is solely populated by highly diverse fungi, some of which are immobile fungi typical of that found elsewhere on the planet, and some of which is mobile fungi which bears a close resemblance to animals. The Limkas themselves fit into this latter category. Much of the immobile fungi is bioluminescent, and many mobile species also have limited bioluminescence which they use for communicating, distracting or confusing predators, or simply illuminating their path to see where they are going. The colour of the bioluminescence is typically some shade of blue, but other colours do rarely appear, such as red, yellow, greenish-yellow and turquoise.

Besides the main city in which the Limkas live, there are additional structures littered throughout the cave network. Some of these are inhabited, as they are used as bases for mining operations or serve as homes for farmers or hunters whose work would be impossible in the dense city. However, many others - particularly those far from the urban core - are abandoned, and it is largely unclear when they were last inhabited. Shengemese folk legends speak of an entire city lying in the far depths which was entirely abandoned after their curiosity and greed awoke an ancient malevolent being, but if this exists at all it is yet to be found.