Known states ;
The Brothers : In
Iron Council, The Brothers is said to lie on the western side of Rohagi, beyond the Cacotopic Stain. It is referred to as the "crocodile double-city." ;
Gharcheltist : In
Iron Council, Gharcheltist is referred to as an aquapolis, and is presumably a vodyanoi city. ;
The Gengris : The Gengris refers to both a location and the aquatic
grindylow who inhabit it. The Gengris is described as a cross between an island and a half-sunken city lying at the southern tip of the Cold Claw Sea, seven hundred miles due north of New Crobuzon. Little else is known about the city itself, except that it is home to "malachite chapels," "limb-farms," and "bile workshops". The grindylow of The Gengris willingly trade with outsiders, rewarding traders for oddities such as barrels full of 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, and trade is extremely risky for outsiders. ;
Hell : Hell Maintains an embassy in New Crobuzon. ;
High Cromlech : Almost everything that is currently known about High Cromlech comes 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 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 and survive by doing work that is too skilled or dangerous for zombies. Zombies are 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 considered vagrants and addicts. They live 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 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 geopolitical player in all three of the Bas-Lag novels. It is situated at the
confluence of the rivers Tar, Canker, and Gross Tar, about west of the Swollen Ocean. It is a
parliamentary republic with a Mayor elected by Parliament, though its politics are deeply corrupt and oligarchic. Its electoral system favors its human majority, and only
the wealthy, as well as some randomly selected through a "suffrage lottery", are enfranchised. The Fat Sun party
rules throughout all three Bas-Lag novels, but other
political parties include the opposition reformist Finally We Can See, the xenophobic and reactionary New Quill (called "Three Quills" in
Perdido Street Station) and the pro-minority-rights Diverse Tendency. New Crobuzon is one of Bas-Lag's most
economically and
militarily powerful states. In
The Scar, it dispatches a fleet halfway around the world to combat the pirate-city of Armada. In
Iron Council, it carries out a protracted war with the distant city-state of Tesh, and crushes an internal rebellion with force. ;
Qé Banssa: Qé Banssa is built upon the peaks of Dancing Bird Island. It is called a "poor, ugly little fishing port" by a protagonist in
The Scar. As with Tarmuth, Qé Banssa seems to survive thanks to New Crobuzon. ;
Salkrikaltor : The Cray
Commonwealth of Salkrikaltor is found beneath the Swollen Ocean, far east of New Crobuzon between the islands of Bartoll and Gnomon Tor. Salkrikaltor and New Crobuzon are described in
The Scar as being trading partners on amiable terms. The capital of the Commonwealth is Salkrikaltor City. Most of Salkrikaltor City is located underwater, though there is a "topside" district for non-aquatic creatures that seek to do business with the cray. The submerged part of the city is described in
The Scar as "convoluted and interconnected," with "little squares of seaweed topiary" and "coral courtyards." The above-water district is described as consisting mostly of towers carved from rock and coral, "a mass of contrary styles," with floating platforms and buildings suspended by
struts and columns. ;
Suroch : Suroch was a city which fought and lost a series of wars against New Crobuzon known in the latter as the Pirate Wars. In the time of the Bas-Lag novels' setting, Suroch has already been
completely destroyed and rendered uninhabitable to humans by the effects of magical
weapons of mass destruction, the "colourbomb" and devices using Torque. Suroch is the only place in the novels with a Torque contamination similar to that of the Cacotopic Stain. Mentions are made in
Perdido Street Station of "cockroach trees" in Suroch and "herds of what might once have been human." The publishing of heliotypes of the Torque contamination in the illicit Sacramundi report put an end to Torque experiments in New Crobuzon. ;
Tarmuth: Tarmuth a
protectorate of New Crobuzon situated at the mouth of the Gross Tar River, on the coast of the Rohagi continent, about east of New Crobuzon. The protagonist in
The Scar describes it as "an ugly, violent town" used by privateers and freebooters as safe harbor. Besides prostitution and piracy, Tarmuth survives by manufacturing ships, and exists thanks to New Crobuzon's patronage. ;
Troglodopolis : Troglodopolis is referred to in
Perdido Street Station as a "
chthonic burrow." ;
Vadaunk : Vadaunk lies somewhere south of New Crobuzon, beyond the Cacotopic Stain. According to government propaganda in
Perdido Street Station, the changing seasons "bring an onslaught of superstitious repression" there. In
Iron Council it is called the mercenary kingdom. ;
Yoraketche : Yorachetche is located beyond the Wormseye Scrub, northwest of New Crobuzon. It is briefly mentioned in
The Scar as a city whose main export is mercenary warriors.
Known languages Ragamoll is the common tongue of New Crobuzon. It seems to be widely spoken throughout eastern Bas-Lag by members of all races. Likewise,
Salt is the
language of the Swollen Ocean, spoken by pirates, sailors and other maritime peoples. In
The Scar,
Salt is described as a patchwork language which borrows aspects from various other tongues, principally
Ragamoll. The anophelii maintain a written language called
High Kettai, which is used by various scholars and publishing houses. It is implied that high Kettai is
inflected as it is known to possess an "ironic case."
Base Kettai is High Kettai's more widely understood cousin.
Quiesy (also known as "Deadish") is the principal language of High Cromlech. Since many of its speakers have either sewn-shut mouths or larynxes too decayed to form sounds properly, it consists of a series of coughing grunts, with "intricately timed pauses" that are as important as the spoken element. It can also be "spoken" entirely soundlessly, with gestures or eye movements. The khepri communicate through sign language and scented chemicals, since their insect-heads do not permit vocalization. They also maintain a written language called
High Khepri. The vodyanoi speak at least three different languages: the primary one being
Lubbock and the others
Fellid and
Southern. The traditional language of the Cactacae is
Sunglari. The garuda of the Cymek speak an unnamed language. The people of Tesh, the people of Khadoh, the Salkrikaltor Cray, and the hotchi of the Rudewood all speak their own,
eponymous languages.
Known races Anophelii Mosquito-like beings (singular Anophelius). The females look like scrawny human women, with huge paddle-like wings with which they fly after their prey. From their mouths they can extend a bony proboscis, which they stab into their prey to suck them dry. Female Anophelii are vicious, bloodthirsty and very dangerous except immediately after feeding, when they demonstrate an intelligence superior to that of the (already notably intelligent) male sex. The males are short, stocky men that look no different from human men, aside from their sphincter-like mouths. Anophelii have now been confined to a single island, but once ruled much of the world in an empire called The Malarial Queendom. The threat of a resurgent Queendom is the cause of the strict quarantine around the Anophelii island.
Cactacae Humanoid
cacti. The Cactacae are enormous plant people, often towering over human beings. Although their young grow out of the ground, they nurse them as mammals do. Cactacae have sap for blood. They are known for their strength, and are often employed as laborers and bodyguards. Cactacae bodies are fibrous, with wooden bones, making them notoriously difficult to kill or wound with normal weapons; bullets pass nigh-harmlessly through them. The Cactacae community in New Crobuzon is based around and within a massive, dilapidated, greenhouse-like structure called The Glasshouse, and is allowed to exist as a nominally independent community within the city. Their weapons of choice are Rivebows, oversized crossbows that fire a spinning metal disc capable of shearing off Cactaceae limbs.
Cray An aquatic race who look like humans from the waist up (with the exception of protruding
gills behind the ears) and
rock lobsters from the waist down. They use domesticated
squids to hunt. Many live in an underwater city, Salkrikaltor, which rivals New Crobuzon itself in size.
Elementals Beings that embody their respective elements. They are wild and mostly untameable, although the thaumaturges called elementarii (singular elementarius) specialize in summoning and unleashing them on their enemies. There are apparently elementals for a broad array of concepts and things:
Iron Council mentions, among others, elementals of flesh, wood, glass and cement.
Garuda The garuda are
nomadic humanoid birds of prey. Most hail from the Cymek desert, where they live in
tribes. They are hunters with a fierce sense of individualism. They resemble winged humans with
avian heads and feet; their society is completely communist, with individual possessions seen as reducing the individual's freedom. A small
ghetto of garuda live in New Crobuzon, and a few are described as living near the Cacotopic Stain in
Iron Council. Garudan law is based around the principle of freedom of choice; all their crimes are forms of "choice-theft", denying another being the right to choose their own fate. Their name is derived from the
Garuda of
Hindu folklore.
Grindylow A race of very powerful, mysterious, and sadistic fish-people (something between eels and viperfish) who appear in
The Scar. Capable of survival in salt and fresh water, as well as in the air, they can communicate
telepathically with a variety of aquatic species including
whales and Cray. Their name comes from a
creature of English nursery stories. Mieville's Grindylow bear a similarity to the
Deep Ones of the
Cthulhu Mythos. Grindylow use powerful shamanistic magic, the use of which can deform human users.
Handlingers Sentient
parasitic disembodied hands which control the mind of their host. There are two types: sinistrals, the noble caste, and dextriers, the soldier caste. When possessing a body, dextriers can use a number of supernatural abilities, including flight, fire-breathing, and enhanced strength. Dextriers and sinistrals typically pair up when engaging in scouting or combat; the sinistral has command of the pair while the dextrier performs most of the offensive actions.
Hotchi According to
Iron Council and several minor mentions throughout
Perdido Street Station, the hotchi are a race of
humanoid hedgehog people who ride a domesticated breed of giant rooster.
Humans Humans are apparently the dominant race in New Crobuzon, and perhaps on Bas-Lag as well. They seem to be identical to their
real world counterparts in most respects, except that many have the ability to use magic.
Khepri The khepri are a race of humanoid
scarab beetles. Female khepri possess bodies very similar to those of human women, except that their skin is crimson in colour and they possess large scarab beetles in place of heads. They communicate with each other via movements of their "headlegs" and squirts of chemicals. The female khepri are noted artists, using a biological excretion to sculpt breathtaking works of organic art. Male khepri, on the other hand, are lobster-sized, non-
sentient scarabs, without the depending humanoid body. They mate by latching onto a female's head scarab and fertilizing her. Taken from the Egyptian god of
the same name.
Scabmettler Stocky, gray-skinned human-like beings whose blood, when shed, congeals immediately into a solid protective layer. Using a special herb which delays coagulation, the Scabmettlers are able to mold the blood into elaborate armor. They practice a unique form of martial, arena combat called
mortu crutt, which emphasises pounding, hammer-like strikes, as edged weapons are nearly useless against them due to their rapid coagulation.
Stiltspear Driven to near-extinction after the railroad destroyed their indigenous swamp lands, the Stiltspear were a race of quadrupedal creatures with insect-like legs and radially symmetrical hands that can be closed into spears, with which they hunt. They secrete thaumaturgons from their glands, which gives them the ability to camouflage themselves in the forest. They possess mystical abilities, including the ability to create golems through somaturgy, and can employ a chant-like singing to "unstick time", which aids in their hunting.
Strider Striders, (known more formally as Borinatch) are a "proud race" whose bodies roughly resemble centaurs. However, their legs are as tall as an average human, and their faces resemble a cross between a baboon, insect, and wood-carving. They seem to live in small nomadic bands rather than cities, and these groups are led by a queen. Most notably, Striders seem to partially phase into and out of solid existence; said to be "dimensionally disrespectful," parts of their bodies may seem to vanish or not interact with ordinary matter in predictable ways.
Thanati The thanati of High Cromlech are the overlords of the city, a caste of undead nobility. Mieville describes them as "liches with sewn-shut mouths, with beautiful clothes and skin like preserved leather."
Vampir The vampir are
vampires, possessing great speed and strength, forked tongues, certain magical powers, and capable of living indefinitely. Vampirism on Bas-Lag is caused by a bacterium, and the technical term for the "disease" is
photophobic haemophagy.
Vodyanoi The
vodyanoi are an aquatic people. They are fat and froglike, with webbed feet and toes. They are skilled in "watercraeft", water magics, able to fashion temporarily solid objects out of water. Vodyanoi ordinarily cannot survive out of water for more than a day, and do not swim in salt water. Taken from
Russian folklore.
Weavers Large, multidimensional
spider-like beings who regard life on Bas-Lag as an ongoing work of art. They use their considerable powers to interfere with events according to their individual sense of aesthetics. Weavers speak in a disjointed, babbling flow of half-poetry, and are totally unpredictable.
Wyrmen Wyrmen are semi-sentient flying creatures that look something like gargoyles. They are no more than a foot tall, with bright red skin and small bat wings. They are crude, vulgar, and laugh at anything and everything. They have a limited capacity for speech and are sometimes used by other races for reconnaissance and running errands.
Other races Many races of Bas-Lag are only briefly mentioned in passing. The Llorgiss are a tri-faceted, barrel-shaped race. The Gessin are said to be large, and might wear armor. Menfish are some sort of newt/merman aquatic race. A reference is made to "crustaceans walking on two legs and cowled like monks, figures with too many eyes." A race of waist-high insect people were mentioned in Iron Council. The races "Vu-murt" and "Corokanth" were named, but the races were not described.
Remade The Remade are usually, but not always, the victims of the criminal justice system. Rather than imprisoning criminals, the city of New Crobuzon will send them to punishment factories, where "bio-thaumaturges" warp and twist their bodies in a variety of ways. Some are combined with machines, to enslave them to one particular purpose. Others have bizarre limbs or organs grafted onto their bodies, making them freaks of nature. The Remade are primarily a sad, pathetic lot. However, some Remade, like the infamous Jack Half-A-Prayer, have used their remaking to their benefit, becoming
vigilante heroes and styling themselves as "fReemade". ==Science, technology and magic==