Postby Loreweaver » Tue Jan 03, 2017 7:57 pm
The main thing to realize I think is that Sarshel has been in decline for a long time. It's the last of the four major cities to be seriously attacked back in 1295 DR, it's become more removed from the center of power since the court migrated to Lyrabar in 1338, it's lost some economical influence since the Uplands were allowed to establish an independant laern in 1340. The Time of Troubles was relatively mild, but with the Damaran troubles with the Witch King (mainly 1357-1359 DR) both the quantity of trade and the quality of Damara's bloodstone plummeted. The establishment of New Sarshel across the Easting Reach drew away most of the remaining craftsmen, artists and merchants shortly thereafter.
Trade with the Bloodstone Kingdom is finally returning to normal, luckily, and the Tuigan Horde has driven a mass of empovered refugees into the city to boost its population count. But it's built for many more people than live there, and so while the city's got a great guard-to-citizen ratio, the guard-to-backalley ratio is poor. This is not usually a safety problem because people know to cluster together and avoid the derelict parts of town.
With recent events like the temple's collapse, the unending winter and evacuations surrounding the recent daemonic attack (most of the remaining citizens were evacuated by ship following word from Laviguer), and it's virtually become a ghost town. It may be that people will yet return - some are doing so already, and Dilpur is uncomfortably overcrowded so may yet release some citizens of its own back to Sarshel. But that requires some sign from the higher-ups, like the reconstruction of a Triadic temple or directions from the king.
The other cities have certainly had their own problems, but Sarshel has had reason to feel particularly neglected of late. Some would say it's been a deliberate government policy to empty out the city gradually and without great panic in anticipation of daemonic attack, or believe the nation is too busy mourning the last king's death to recognize the needs of the living. It may be a plot coming from Hlammach or Sembia to undermine the city or the crown.
Whatever the case, the Warcaptains responsible for the city, the Royal Constable, the guards, the Royal Heralds and other officials who are still present should be taken as doing what they can with the means they have. Food comes in few varieties and is rationed, but it is provided. Crimes are investigated and punished where possible. Roads are patrolled, ships inspected, judgements are issued, records are maintained, rituals observed. But there are few in the city who don't feel somewhat abandoned by the kingdom, or some doubt as to whether the city has a future left at all.
So too the Triad. Its main priests are, as they have long been, close to the court in Lyrabar. It looks like they're waiting for some omen before they commit fresh priests to Sarshel in numbers, or perhaps they have more pressing matters which demand the temple's strength. According to one persistent rumour, a lot of holy warriors have perished this last year, leaving frightful challenges to the hands of lesser men. And the kingdom certainly has a lot of wild places, with a lot of unpleasant history lurking inside.
While the coastal region is traditionally the most populated and productive, we may be well into the thaw before Impiltur can afford to turn its attention to support of the peaceful affairs of fishers and farmers.
As a last point on law and order, the vast majority of Impiltur's ruling order leans towards lawful-good behaviour. It has clear instructions on providing for those who cannot provide for themselves, about ensuring security and justice. In other years, with open roads, opportunities and well-fed bellies, that has been easier to deliver than of late. But people do their best and in most places that is enough.
At the same time, a combination of idleness, of wavering faith and desperation, of isolation and rumour has led to increases in the number of people who set aside both the king's law and the king's justice to make their own living, often through crime. In many cases that's a result of too much law enforcement rather than too little, as people feel punished for trying to survive a situation they did not create.