"It steadfastly refuses to grow, to develop, to become anything of
significance in the realm. The only thing it has successfully managed to
do is to mire good, hard-working people into a muck of unrealized dreams
and vague promises of improvements that never come true."

-Slyphe, Lady of the Storms

Hail Lady Slyphe and the Alliance!

I pen this now to shed some light on the obvious mistake you have all
made when coming to the aforementioned conclusions about the city of
Ashtan. I would like to point out we of Ashtan are a tight knit group of
individuals that work together to make our city and this realm more
enjoyable not only for us, but for our fellow citizens. We strive to
provide a better place for people to live, work, and spend their days,
and it is only the constant pestering of those who are jealous of us
that hinders us from achieving what we are destined for; to be the
greatest city on Sapience. And I say that it is our destiny not because
we will eventually get there, but because we already are there, why dont
you all just face that fact and leave us alone. Our significance is that
we have what you dont have, a purpose, a real reason to fight. Our
significance is that we are the only freethinking and independent city
in this world. Our significance is that we are the Bastion of the North;
we are the city that stands tall and refuses to be persecuted for being
who we are. And the simple fact is, you hate us for it. So what if our
city doesnt have established guilds, we have an established people, a
people that stand together through thick and thin, a people that you can
always count on to be there at your back when you need help. A people
that are not afraid to speak their minds and refuse to be persecuted for
doing so.

As far as "miring hard-working people into a muck of unrealized dreams,"
I can't think of anything further than the truth. In fact I'd like to
know what dreams we have had that have been unrealized? We are and
always have been in the process of making the city a better place. Yes,
perhaps the changes we have been working on have not come about over the
period of time that you deem worthy, but perfection is a slow process
that takes years of work. Change is inevitable; there is no way to stop
it. It is happening around us every day. Our city is changing, it is not
stagnant it never has been stagnant. The real issue here is that all of
you want our city to change into something that YOU want, not something
that WE want. Please, let's stop the lies, let's stop pretending and
just admit the truth. Yes I know you might actually lose the majority of
the younger members of your alliance if they knew that all of you were
nothing but tyrants hell bent on wiping out anything that you don't like
and that doesn't conform to your standards on what it means to be an
Aetolian, but please, let's start being honest.

Hail Ashtan, Bastion of the North

"There is no doubt in my mind that Ashtan will always triumph, for it is
the city of the strong, the city of the determined, and the city of
people you just really don't want to mess with."

-- Zarathustra

Penned by my hand on the 2nd of Midsummer, in the year 123 MA.