When Schuplij Made the Rings Run
In the late Hegemony period, defensive and expansionist pressures drive a surge in Riftgate construction and ship refits: New gates must anchor unstable corridors as Resource Wars ripple outward. Existing gateworks like Arcadium undergo reinforcement and expansion. Industrial rings such as Ring A13 juggle refits, hull scrapping, and fresh builds, all under Metronome‑linked schedules.
Choran overseers and Gargo officers demand throughput measured in hulls per Yom, but yard infrastructure and crew structures can’t keep up. Storage blocks clog with misrouted components; repair lines stall when parts and teams aren’t where they need to be.
Into this bottleneck step Schuplij “allsix” teams—crews trained in cavern logistics and Burrowfleet evac protocols, now applied to metal and vacuum.
Schuplij allsix teams earn their name from their full‑body approach to work: Four digging/climbing limbs and two manipulator arms moving in continuous, practiced rhythms. Comfort with stacked spaces, narrow corridors, and vertical storage—skills born in Dopvyn’s cavern‑cities and refined in Burrowfleets.
In yards like Ring A13 and Arcadium’s gateworks, they quickly distinguish themselves by: Re‑mapping cluttered storage blocks, turning chaotic piles into navigable grids. Setting up flow paths for parts and crews, using hanging tags, color codes, and rhythm calls. Crawling through hulls, conduit spaces, and scaffold lines to find breakpoints and re‑route work patterns.
Crews start joking that “if all six hands touch a deck, it stops tripping over itself.”
Hegemony quartermasters—tasked with making rings deliver numbers nobility and temples demand—take notice.
On GD‑20.6.02 Ignition 27, quartermaster charters in multiple major yards formally recognize Schuplij logistics brigades as All Hands Auxilia:
Status and Authority:
All Hands Auxilia are designated auxiliary logistics units, not just general labor.
They receive limited contract authority to:
Reassign storage blocks and staging areas.
Temporarily redirect repair lines and work details to relieve bottlenecks.
Propose re‑writes to deck layout procedures, subject to quartermaster approval.
Protocol Recognition: Burrowfleet‑style protocols—developed in Dopvyn’s evac convoys—are codified as acceptable yard procedures when implemented by Auxilia.
This often means Schuplij brigades can legally override outdated layout orders if they can demonstrate that their plan improves throughput and safety.
Not everyone is pleased.
Choran overseers, accustomed to rigid doctrine and fixed hierarchies, often bristle at Schuplij reshaping their yards:
They complain that Auxilia “clutter sacred geometries” or “violate charter sequences.” They object when allsix teams rearrange storage tied to ritual gating plans or temple‑blessed staging orders.
But quartermaster metrics don’t lie: yards run smoother under Auxilia protocols.
In many rings, the compromise becomes: Choran maintain doctrinal oversight of gate alignment, hull blessing, and ritual timing. All Hands Auxilia control physical flow—what gets stored where, which repair bay receives which hull, how crews move.
The result is a pragmatic tension that gives you great NPC friction: priests and nobles grumbling while Schuplij quietly keep their projects from collapsing.
Operational Scenes: PCs can work with or against Auxilia teams when trying to move gear, hide items, or re‑route crews in busy yards. Negotiations over cargo placement and repair priority become roleplay scenes, not just background.
Heritage and Professional Identity: Modern Schuplij who descend from All Hands Auxilia carry pride in being “the ones who made the rings run.” Their instinct to reorganize any chaotic space becomes a characteristic trait at the table.
Historical Echoes: Time‑fractured or preserved yards might still be running Auxilia patterns, giving clues to past crises and layout logic.
Institutional Memory: Yards that once treated Schuplij crews as expendable diggers now retain records of them as key logistics specialists, shaping how later factions recruit and respect Schuplij.
Burrowfleet Protocol Diffusion: Techniques honed in Dopvyn’s Burrowfleets spread into fixed infrastructure across the Hegemony, blending evac logistics with industrial practice.
Labor and Contract Precedent: Auxilia charters give later Schuplij unions and yard guilds precedent for demanding similar authority—“We’ve been allowed to reorganize your mess before; we can do it again.”
This takes place in the late Age of Hegemony, when Riftgate construction and shipbuilding accelerate to meet strategic demands and industrial rings strain under impossible deadlines.
Across major yards like Ring A13 and Arcadium’s gateworks, Schuplij “allsix” teams—logistics crews using all six limbs in coordinated motion—become common fixtures.
Hegemony quartermasters formally recognize these Schuplij logistics brigades as “All Hands Auxilia”, granting them: Limited contract authority to reorganize storage blocks, refit staging areas, and repair lines. The ability to implement Burrowfleet‑derived protocols in fixed yards, often over loud objections from more rigid Choran overseers who dislike improvisation.