Sesshu
Sesshu was one of the last cities to join the NLC. The city was established as an independent duchy late in the 57th century by an exiled Earth aristocratic family. For centuries, the dukes of Sesshu squandered their city’s resources until in TN 1570, burdened with heavy debt, the eighth duke of Sesshu was forced to join the NLC to defray his city’s debt. The crafty duke managed to negotiate a deal which left the NLC responsible for his city’s existing debt and any debt incurred by later social policies. At the time, a border war with the UMF made Sesshu an important strategic location. NLC negotiators, eager to secure this hole in their defenses, hastily signed the agreement. Since that day, the city of Sesshu has been a constant drain on the resources of the Confederacy.
Sesshu’s social programs are outrageously generous. Many Sesshites are aspiring artists of one sort or another, drawing most of their income from pensions offered by the duke. This habit of supplementing their income with a government pension has earned the Sesshites a vile reputation among other residents of the NLC. Kinder individuals simply call Sesshites lazy while critics have harsher ideas in mind. Sesshu remains in the league largely because, although few would admit it, it serves its purpose.
The Sesshite Academy of the Arts gives the NLC some very fine artists. The Sesshite Dispensation District (where morality laws are suspended) also provides a useful outlet from the morally strict Norlight mainstream and Sesshu receives a great many tourists.
Sesshu is home to a fair number of Northern Guard forces (most notably the 32nd Infantry Division) and locals tend not to make soldiers feel welcome. While the more level-headed intellectuals and artists recognize the need for a defensive force, others lash out at every opportunity, organizing protests, marches and publishing pamphlets denouncing the “useless spending.” There have also been instances of sit-ins at the fences of the local base, with some protesters going as far as chaining themselves to various pieces of military hardware.