The joy of seeing words well thought and presented spread before the
learned community of Achaean culture is one I appreciate the most. With
this in mind I feel I must request you to refrain from splashing your
propagandic pander about like so much glitter. Whilst your use of big
words would indeed result in a super gold star for you, I feel that your
lack of mental acuity requires one to enter the argument and put a
gentle prod/poke/slap to your failing logic. I ask only that you receive
my words in the light heart they are offered in.

You speak of the resounding poverty of Ashtan, of streets of low quality
with hovels on all sides. Our poor and destitute seem to have become the
focus for the pity of a Mhaldorian? Ha! Nowhere else in Sapience would
individuals below their means enjoy the autonomy afforded them in
Ashtan. The Bastion gives all her charges equal voice, evidenced by the
very nature of the city. You call us the city of puppets, having our
strings held by the upper eschelons of our society, yet you yourself are
the one requiring the pampering from divine sources. Whether you lack
the moral or mental capacity to govern yourselves, i don't know, but
perhaps you should question your own methods before seeking to decimate
the accomplishments of others.

You offer the explanation of guidance as a substitute for experience in
learning and to put it bluntly, your argument is simply flawed. You
state that those who are guided will attain more wisdom... Explain, how
is it that those who surgically limit the scope of their experience can
attain more wisdom than those that adopt an open and unbiased opinion? I
have seen this sort of zeal many times, those lacking the moral
fortitude to craft their own world views grasp the tenets of another and
defend them with all their life. Why? Because they have been primed this
way. As a child they took the 'guidance' of a 'superior' to heart and it
irrevocably changed their very composition. The child of an
Authoritarian will one day be the parent of an Authoritarian, the loser
here is progress.

Now, whilst my opinions are certainly in defence of my home, I will not
go so far as to say that Ashtan is perfection. No city of mortals has
the capacity for perfection, we are too various and argumentative to
create a utopia. Ashtan does however represent the potential to be more
than the sum of its parts, our way of life is unique in its freeform. Of
all the cities of Sapience ours alone has the potential to go beyond its
infrastructure. Our eyes are open to the variety of sentient lifestyles
and we pick and choose to adopt different standards as appropriate.
Regime is not a word applicable to my city.

Your argument stems from the concept of free will and governance, yet
you try to emphasise the applicability of both for the Mhaldorian
lifestyle. Your argument is self defeating in that whilst defending the
rightness of governance you grasp at straws with your closing argument
stating that all Mhaldorians are given the chance to learn for
themselves. Would this be afforded to citizens before their dogmatic
indoctrination or after?

Evil is a self-perpetuating arrogance.

Hanuman li Tosh

Penned by my hand on the 2nd of Aeguary, in the year 333 AF.