Carnifand

No one is entirely sure how the very, very fat mage Oswalden got the money to buy this town from its previ ous owner 15 years ago, but the local population doesn't really care. They changed their cruel and vicious Naelax ruler for an amiable and reasonable ruler, although there is no little corruption here and the legal system has an interesting variation. Punishments for crimes are meted out as a function of one's social class.

Peasants and the poor gain harsher penalties for crimes than merchants or rich folk, though this does not apply to major crimes (murder, arson, etc.) Being upper-class does not give anyone the right to violate laws with impunity.

The twist is that it is effectively possible to buy class. In the most notable instance, "Emeritus Members" of guilds are regarded as upper class for the purposes of the legal system. It costs 150 gp per year to be such an Emeritus Member. With the revenues so collected, Oswalden has been able to keep taxes and tithes low, and as a result the poor have a very strong incentive to be law-abiding. Carnifand has the lowest rate of crimes in all of Aerdi for this very reason (excepting the backhanders, corruption and bribery which are endemic among the middle and upper classes). It also has no humanoid militias, and has a sprinkling of dwarves and halflings within it.

Oswalden is said to be a distant cousin of Otto, and certainly his great girth lends credence to that claim. The mage enjoys administering the bustling town, and he likes the fact that his subjects think very well of him. Anyone marching on Carnifand would find the whole town turning out as a militia. Oswalden and his town militia-police are also exceptionally good at sniffing out truly evil and trouble-making individuals and getting them out of town before the dust has shaken off their boots. In a dangerous and violent land, Carnifand is an oasis of seeming stability and sanity. Many of the more reputable mercenaries of Aerdi (that is, those who will not take their employer's money and cut his throat for the sheer heck of it) send emissaries here, seeking employ. As a result, no few princes have their own hirers ensconced in taverns around the city. In the heart of Aerdy, this is the place to come if one seeks mercenary employment from a reasonable master.