Being the second most favored mortal in Vastar's divine order of
freedom, I take an interest in topics of freedom. Since there was debate
over if Ashtan is free or not and if Shallam is free or not, I have
written an essay comparing the laws of each city so as to explore the
matter. I apologize in advance if I overlook a law or state a law that
no longer exists; it is possible my personal records of these
constitutions are not the latest versions.

To begin with, religion. Ashtan allows any shrines within its walls. A
member of Pentharian's order is welcome to erect a shrine in Ashtan so
long as it never gets used against Ashtan. On the otherhand, people are
also free to tear down shrines in Ashtan unless it was for a diety that
has harmed Ashtan without making amends. Shallam does not allow you to
erect a shrine to begin with unless you get permission from the city
autocrats, and thus would be punished for erecting a shrine in many
cases where Ashtan would not punish you.

Now look at guilds and classes. Ashtan welcomes practitioners of
Woodlore, Devotion, Spirituality, Necromancy, Concoctions, Domination,
etc. Essentially, any class and any skill is welcomed in Ashtan. Shallam
bans people who recycle the energies of the dead to good use or pratcice
interplanar travel. Thus Shallam's martinets indirectly dictate what you
are allowed to know by dictating censorship on what you are not allowed
to know.

Ashtan allows people to walk through Ashtan with creatures like
wolverines and chimeras and badgers, to lay down rites and vibrations,
to create wormholes, as long as they are not used to harm the city.
Shallam bans chaos entities in its walls, including the harmless ones
that are unable to lift a hostile finger against anything. It also bans
the creation of wormholes that don't lead very close to Shallam. This
can be irritating to the amicable visiting Occultist who likes to have a
pathfinder handy, or to their own Dawnstriders or visting snakes who
wish to have the greater mobility enjoyed by the snakes within Ashtan's
walls.

Other things Shallam dictates that you must do that Ashtan allows you
free will over include the right to not vote. Yes, Shallam law states
you must vote in all elections even if you are undecided or wish to
abstain as political protest; the "Citizen Duties" outlines this policy.
They are also not allowed to be drunk except in very limited locations,
nor are they allowed to speak publically when enjoying a good drink.
Unlike Shallam, Ashtan permits people to party where ever they please
and say what they want by any method even after 10 tequilas. Unlike
Shallam, Ashtan does not ban public joviality and fun.

All citizens of Shallam must endure the tyranny of taxation. Ashtan
allows its citizens to voluntairily donate money of their own free will.
Shallam also requires its citizens to support the tyranny of war in
times of Shallam war, as outlined in the section of their contitution
regarding war, even if a citizen disagrees with the violence; Ashtan war
efforts are always voluntary, and anyone who disagrees with a war
instead supporting peace and nonviolence is allowed to denounce it
through lack of support.

Shallam has restrictions on who is and is not allowed to run for city
office. Ashtan, being a true free democracy, allows anyone who feels fit
for office to challenge a city official in an election.

Finally, last I counted Ashtan had 9 laws total. Shallam has 19 primary
laws plus 4 paragraphs about additional citizen duties plus a secondary
law about what can be built in city boundaries plus another secondary
law regarding treason plus a few secondary dictates regarding war and
additional legal restrictions on elections, etc. Laws dictate what you
can and can not do. Therefore, they diminish one's freedom. As such,
Shallam can not be a free city near as much as Ashtan is based upon it's
excessive laws. Granted, my opinion is Ashtan also has too many laws,
but Shallam's law books are completely out of hand for a freedom lover
such as myself. Thus between the two, only Ashtan may be considered the
city of the free.

Yes, some will say, "These laws are to protect the freedoms of the
citizens," but this is not the case. Laws can do this, but the more you
have then the more likely you are to do the opposite. And there are
several laws in the Shallam constitution which can be shown to step on
people's overall freedoms than to protect them. I won't bother to go
down that route in much detail; it should be easy from this essay to
determine a few such laws for yourself. But in essence, Ashtan's
contitution is based on the idea of having as few laws as possible and
primarily passing laws that center around the idea of not hurting
Ashtan. Shallam law often focus on how you must live your life through
acts like restricting drinking, banning suffrage abstention, censoring
certain knowledges (ironic if you think about that one long enough),
etc., rather than letting you decide how to best live your life.

Penned by my hand on the 19th of Lupar, in the year 303 AF.