to "malachite chapels", "limb-farms", and "bile workshops". The grindylow of The Gengris willingly trade with outsiders, handsomely rewarding traders for such oddities as barrels full of equal parts salt and glass beads, but frequently eliminate outsiders who have "transgressed" in some way; the nature of these transgressions are usually opaque to all but the grindylow themselves, and such trade is extremely risky for outsiders. Hell Maintains an embassy in New Crobuzon. High Cromlech Almost everything that is currently known about High Cromlech is derived from Uther Doul, one of the primary characters in The Scar. Doul was born and raised in High Cromlech. He describes it as a caste-based nation ruled by undead nobility, called "thanati." These he describes as "liches with sewn-shut mouths, with beautiful clothes and skin like preserved leather." The living (called "the quick") are a minority in High Cromlech. Most are apparently bred and raised on "farms", and are eventually "snuffed and recast as zombies." Some are reared by the thanati, to be "slain and welcomed to dead society" once they come of age. A small fraction of the living are born free, however, and these survive by doing work that is too skilled (or too dangerous) for semi-sentient zombies. Zombies would seem to be High Cromlech's primary workforce. At the bottom of High Cromlech's social ladder are the "vampir", which are referred to as "ab-dead" to distinguish them from the thanati. Based on Doul's description, the vampir are apparently considered little more than vagrants and addicts. He depicts them as living in shanty towns, coming out at night to beg the living for blood. Khadoh Khadoh's merchants trade with New Crobuzon. Maru'ahm Maru'ahm is apparently found on the western side of the Rohagi continent, beyond the Cacotopic Stain. In Perdido Street Station, it is said to be ruled by a casino-parliament, "where laws were stakes in games of roulette." This rumor is affirmed in Iron Council, where a character who visited Maru'ahm claims he played for such stakes as property laws and "a whole pot of legislation." This same character mentions a queen and "cardsharp senators", implying that Maru'ahm's government is some form of constitutional or elective monarchy. New Crobuzon The city-state of New Crobuzon is a major plot device for all three of the Bas-Lag novels, and a substantial part of the Bas-Lag setting. It is situated at the confluence of the Rivers Tar,