Division of Wealth and Power

Author: NineOfSpades

Though it's often lauded as the free city, Tandem is an imperfect society. Generations of prosperity has driven a wedge between those with wealth and power, and those who do not. Once, there was a time in which the leadership of the city was invested in the well being of its people. But times change, and people grow complacent. The majority of the cities Nobility are now more concerned with maintaining their own status and luxury, content to lavish themselves while slowly breaking the backs of the common laborers who toil day in and day out just to get by. Sure, there are exceptions, the kind few who take it upon themselves to ignore their privileged lifestyle and lend aid to those less fortunate. But these are the exception, not the rule. Indeed, such upstarts who challenge the status quo often find themselves disposed before long. At best, many citizens of Tandem get buy where they can and are occasionally lucky enough to reap the benefits of a vain noble who's looking to rally popular support, buying loyalty with bread and circuses, without fixing the underlying issues which plague the metropolis. It is a city of splendors hiding a great mass of desperate souls who scrap by in the gutters, brushed out of sight so as not to offend the lawmakers, sorcerer lords and merchant kings that make the city their home.