To the joy of what will probably be many, this will be my last posting
here for awhile. I have grown weary of these lands and will once more
enter the dreaming to explore, contemplate, and probably write more
books. So sending messages to me will be a tad on the worthless side.
This post I give though to my former home whom I never said goodbye to.

Duality is an important fundamental teaching of Lord Twilight's beliefs.
This of course is due to His nature. Strife must have two sides. Light
vs Dark. Good vs Evil. Astonishing handsome Xorans vs all the pasty
looking other races. The list goes on and on. This really isn't an
indictment or anything other than fact. But what is not understood by
many is that the very core of duality is at the heart of what is
horribly wrong with the city of Hashan.

When Hashan was created, the founders built the city on what could only
be classified as quicksand. A neutral city forged by the God of Strife.
As many of you can probably guess, that doesn't exactly work too well.
And to be honest, it didn't. Now truth be told the government for over a
century plodded along fairly well. Strife does tend to make strong
leaders. The cream rises to the top as the saying goes. The problem with
so much strife is eventually it shatters a city into so many factions
that its impossible to get anything done. Two or three factions, sure.
You can put together coalitions. Get things done. But when you have two
or three dozen different factions all with their own agenda... well you
get what you have in Hashan. A string of Seneschals and regents who get
so fed up with the bureacratic nightmare that they leave. Not just step
down. Leave for greener pasteurs. And let me tell you, living as a
hermit in a cave is a far better calling than serving as regent of
Hashan.

The true irony is that it was Lord Twilight that held Hashan together
for so long. For while He was there, you could always count on just
three major factions. Those that hated and feared Him, those that loved
and worshipped Him, and those who used His own brand of chaos to grab
their own bits of power. Now with Him gone, you have the petty
squabblings of dozens of different people all with their own agenda and
not one shred of actual care for the city. So the death spiral
continues. And the flood of people leave.

Not that your city leaders are too concerned with that. The current
government even wants to encourage it. The guild charter change being
pushed through would allow people in guilds to leave the city. Why are
they doing this? Is it to strengthen the guilds by allowing cityless
rogues to join? See, that would actually be a good idea...but thats not
why they are doing it. The current charter is being pushed through
because the guilds are worried that so many members are so dissatisfied
with the city that they will quit and join other guilds. This way, if
you get sick of the city...just quit but stay in the guild. If that
isn't a true statement of faith in a city government I don't know what
is.

No amount of bandages will fix this problem. Not even bringing in an
active Patron. I am sure the Ocean Lord is a mighty power indeed... but
even He cannot hope to slay the Apathy in this town. There is only one
way to stop the hemoraging. Find your purpose.

We may all snicker at Shallam when they pass a law like forbidding Chaos
Ents within their city walls, but the simple fact of the matter is the
law makes sense for them because of who Shallam is. You'll find that the
case with each of the other cities. Each of them have built their cities
around a purpose or an ideal. Hashan has none other than what it was
told in the beginning. The city of night. Why are you the city of night?
Because Lord Twilight told us thats what we are. If thats the case, then
you guys need to kick out your government, beg Lord Twilight to come
back, and get back to the way it used to be. Trying to build on the
ruins and lies that Hashan was founded on is complete and utter folly.
Start over. Ask why you joined the city. What brought you to Hashan? Why
did you not go to another city? What keeps you there? If you look at
that, eventually you will see what holds you all together. Thats the
foundation you build on. You set your laws according to that. You set
policy according to that. You pick your Patrons and Matrons according to
that.

If not, the city will become a glorified clan and the power will shift
to each of the guilds splitting the city further apart. And if that is
what you truely want, then do so. I'm sure Hashan will make a lovely new
province for whatever city decides to take advantage of a deeply divided
culture.

Be well my former home. I do hope you find your way. Although I won't
hold my breath.

Kryvar

Penned by my hand on the 4th of Mayan, in the year 343 AF.