Gaborone

Official Name: Cartographer's Republic of Gaborone

Founded: 1731

Form of Government: Representative democracy

Head of State: President Raashida Mafikeng

Population Level: Low

Society Structure: Urban

Technological Level: Above average

Background: See Kumasi.

Founding: There are two sources of power in the world- guns and money. While these factors generally go together, guns, of course, are primary; from time to time a poorer nation will find itself awash in weaponry, led by a dictator willing to use the national arms against external threats (real or perceived) or internal dissidents (real or perceived). Sometimes even rich nations squander their wealth on an overabundance of military equipment. But rare is the case where money buys power in lieu of guns.

In fact, Ereth has but one strong example of this premise working as intended: the nation of Gaborone.

Cartography, in the scheme of international society, is an interesting profession. Few think about its existence, and those who toil over the necessary exactness of the job do not find themselves swathed in glory for their trouble. But everyone who wishes to go somewhere they have never been needs a map. Global, national, provincial, local: there is a particular topography on all these levels, a maze of nature and artifice that any traveler must know before setting off on a journey. For some, the precision of that knowledge is critical; mostly this means militaries, though corporations striving for that level of order also appreciate top-level intelligence of unfamiliar lands.

This, historically, has been where the Gaborone (formerly Kumasi) Cartographers' Guild comes into play. Set in the southern mountains of the Kumasi continent, ancient Gaboronians became renowned for their ability to replicate the maze of tunnels running through the mountains in drawings. This being long before the advent of the printing press, such maps were rare and expensive, explicitly designed for the king's use. As the mysteries of the tunnels evaporated, and the only additions became extensions of caverns already in existence, the map-makers sought new challenges. As some of them had already begun plotting out maps of newly-captured territory in Sidon, others decided to sail with the rickety Kumasi navy to unexplored lands and expand their knowledge of the world. Around 1100 C.E., the first cartography expedition left Kumasi's eastern shore, sailing north.

Over the next several centuries, the province became renowned for its intimate knowledge of Ereth's landscapes, especially its ability to gather information on major changes (such as towns erased due to war) and adjust new maps accordingly. Though small-time mapmakers existed across the world, their work became increasingly limited to surrounding territory; once the printing press was invented, Gaborone maintained an essential monopoly on the worldwide map trade. Few would-be cartographers had the resources to maintain high-quality maps of neighboring nations; those who might pose a threat, even if only in their local economy, were pressed by the Cartographers' Guild to join and add their knowledge to the group's. Though the tactic resembled the sort of heavy-handed pressure long wielded by powerful companies and governments, the guild suffered less backlash and double-crossing than most simply by offering a more-than-fair financial offer for allegiance.

Around the start of the 18th century, quiet discussions began amongst players in Gaboronian politics about secession from Kumasi. Dutiful taxpayers for so long, many in the province had begun to grumble about the Kumasi kings wasting more and more resources on the endless war with Sidon. Threatened tax hikes to pay for the war increased the urgency of these discussions, as did the 1722 fiasco against Indore and the 1725 split of northern Temara province from the Kumasi nation. When young King Kontar Boateng ascended to the throne in 1731 after his father's death, the decision to secede was finalized.

Never imagining the Gaboronians would attempt such a thing, the Kumasi government was caught off-guard by the chests of gold appearing in the king's throne room. Two chests were given freely, with twenty offered in total; as it became clear later when Gaborone's cartography work was not even slightly harmed by this enormous payout, the resources existed to pay twice that, possibly triple, if necessary. But the young king, desiring peace, needing gold, and possessing apparently no advisers with wit or negotiating ability, accepted the offer within weeks and granted Gaborone its freedom.

Over the next several months, Gaborone finalized its national constitution, a document that was remarkably far along in its design at the time of the king's declaration. In late 1731, Moktar Koriche won the inaugural national election, becoming Gaborone's first president.

Pre-Melt: Despite Gaborone's monopolistic wealth, becoming a self-reliant nation was not a wholly smooth process. Apart from the nation's fledgling politics, its situation in Ereth's southernmost mountains created the need for routine negotiations with Kumasi for access to the eastern ports and basic supplies. This gave Kumasi a certain amount of leverage over the young country, which King Kontar used effectively (though not abusively) and gave rise to voices who once opposed secession and now fought for re-entry into the Kumasi whole. Pride in their newfound freedom, however, spanned the vast majority of the population. The necessary costs were paid to retain access to the outside world, and in turn the guild leaders poured resources into guaranteeing the continuation of their cartography empire.

In this way Gaborone gained its footing as an independent nation. Late in the 18th century funds were set aside for investment into promising business ventures elsewhere in the world, but by and large the country remained dedicated to its sole means of wealth. One anonymous legislative member was quoted as saying, when questions arose as to the wisdom of not broadening the country's base of income, "Other nations rely on a single natural resource, perhaps two, but few question what they will do when the resource is exhausted. Our business will forever be necessary in modern civilization; why should we be concerned?"

Then the seas began to rise.

Melt: In retrospect, the Melt would appear to have been the greatest of boons for Gaborone. After all, it was not as though the basic maps of Ereth needed constant updating; once the shape of the continents was understood, it was understood forever. Though the process of developing maps from the global to the town level had been a phenomenal undertaking developed over centuries, for many years the greatest challenge of the Cartographers' Guild had been to develop more advanced printing presses with the ability to make cleaner, more detailed maps. The world's growing stability had proven beneficial to human development, but not so much guild business. The need for a complete redesign of every map in creation would necessarily result in the nation swimming in gold.

The problem for Gaborone was surviving until that potential could be realized. With the oceans rising almost a foot per day at their peak, there were no buyers for work that may well be out of date in months, possibly weeks. Sales ground to a halt. The country had a massive stockpile of wealth, but the already above-average expense of providing for its people skyrocketed further has nations hoarded staple goods and surpluses were limited to relative luxury items few people cared for in the face of human annhilation.

Fortunately, the mountains had never supported a massive population, and many in Kumasi still considered the Gaboronians brethren. They sold spare foodstuffs at something less than the rate of utter profiteers, while stone from the mountains and small herds of sheep providing some level of replacement shelter and clothing for whatever wore down during the Melt. The gold-plated trinkets of most citizens went into locked boxes, rich clothes saved for the hoped-for comeback of the nation. In its need for austerity, Gaborone became, in many ways, as dingy as the rest of Ereth.

Even with all these changes, and a populace conscientious enough to not fight the needs of the time, Gaborone's coffers ran low. The heretofore unheard-of concept of IOUs was discussed, not that anyone would be likely to take them in such a desperate time. The people began slight rationing on their own, in an attempt to stave off anything more severe that might be deemed necessary by the government.

In late 1885, reports began arriving that the sea rise had slowed. The operative word was always "slowed", not "stopped"; but this did not stop the Gaboronian government from making a desperate move so the nation might regain its footing. Much of the remaining gold in the treasury was spent securing transport for agents to the farthest lands, and re-establishing radio communication with any surviving colleagues. Data trickled in, and guild members re-drew their maps night and day to reflect the new state of Ereth's geography.

By 1887, the Melt was considered mostly over. Around that time the initial re-work of global maps was completed. Though intelligence sources in most nations were aware of Gaborone's activity- Gaborone made no attempt to work in secret, and in fact wanted people to know they would remain the go-to source for geographical data- the fact new maps began appearing at the offices of various governments so quickly astonished them. Those early maps proved slightly flawed, but were close enough to correct for immediate use, and were soon corrected in later editions. Money began to find its way to Gaborone again, worldwide prices dropped as stability was regained, and the coffers began to refill.

Great War Era: The one thing besides an international catastrophe that might make cartographers happy is widespread warfare. Within two years of the Melt's official end, that too came to pass. Gaborone, of course, was in no position to partake, but their scouts were routinely found amongst Kumasi troops plotting the changes in Sidon. The guild also took a more active role elsewhere in the world, with scouts directly reporting on the split of the Rhozanni Oligarchy, the rise of the Four Baronies, and other lesser conflicts. Maps were updated frequently and sold at tremendously inflated cost, mostly to nations with poor spy networks and slight amazement at the way an otherwise uninvolved country could be more aware of the state of an enemy than they were.

By the end of the wars, Gaborone was utterly bathing in gold. The recent catastrophe put some limitations on the expenditure of that wealth, but a number of infrastructure projects came to pass to further ease the lives of Gaboronians. Greater investment in outside endeavors increased as well, despite the usual protestations from the guild hierarchy.

Post-War to Present: Those investments, however, looks prescient in light of current world affairs. The rise of the ARI has led to so much stability that Gaborone's mapmakers are again reduced to laboring over aesthetic details, given how little in the world actually changes now. This is also, in part, due to the expansion of radio communication to all but the most distant corners of Ereth, and the continuous cheapening of printing technology. Any serious cartographer, even in the distant Antonian States, still reports to the guild, but the lowering cost involved with any sort of printing has led the guild towards increasingly heavy-handed methods of keeping its affiliates in line. Though no one can know just when it will happen, eventually someone will break away; if they find any measure of success, more will follow, and Gaborone's monopoly will end.

As such, money put into various technologies, especially steamtech and anything having to do with air travel, may be what saves Gaborone going forward. Whether this includes the rumors of investment into teams intent on destroying AeroKnights Inc., and the ARI with it, remains to be seen.