Mayor Demetrius Bhast delivers the following speech in the Town Hall on Hammer 19th of Year 152 since the Founding.

Demetrius Bhast "My fellow citizens,

I have been saddened by what I have seen in these past days as your Mayor. Our city is in a state of distress and decay. The old policies and institutions continue to fail us. The squabbling amongst our elected officials and trusted defenders that began under the Bresleys continues unchecked. All speak of the good they wish to do for the people and the upper and lower wards, but nothing good is done. Each day we slip further into discord and oblivion.

The lower wards are in chaos. Foul beasts and outlaws roam the streets, and plague and hunger loom over the district. The elderly and the frail are extorted by organized criminals. Old women and young girls are assaulted by rogue thugs. Beggar children go missing in dark alleys, and slavers lurk in every shadow, preying on the weak. Yet those who are there to prevent this are driven out. Guards are beaten. Watchmen are killed.

This tragedy is tearing our city apart. There are those on the Council who cannot stand the suffering, and want to march the Watch in force to wage bloody war in Lower against all who would oppose it. I understand this. There are those on the Council who are wary of oppression, and merely ignore the wailing woes of the district while claiming to represent it. I understand this as well. Yet both approaches are flawed, and the conflict of principles is tearing our society apart.

It is the weakness shown by the Council that has brought us to this. These politicians are failing our city. These politicians are failing the people below. These politicians are failing us.

But it is not just the politicians who fail us.

The Seekers and the Spellguard bicker rather than devoting their energies to our town. They are both failing us, the people whom they claim to serve. Corruption and incompetence amongst the older Seekers prevents them from serving us as effective early warning scouts. Complacence and recklessness in the Spellguard prevents it from serving us as an effective protector. Only the Watch, under the leadership of the loyal Sheriff Azzam, has proven itself to truly defend the city and uphold the rule of law.

There has always been a clamor for change. Yet, what has the Council truly changed? Have their decisions made our city a better place? A safer place?

This is not a choice that I make easily, but it must be made.

To remedy the woes which plague our city, I am choosing to solemnly exercise my powers as Mayor.

From now on, I am to be known as First Citizen and Protector of Sanctuary Demetrius Bhast.

Henceforth, only the Watch shall be trusted with the grave task of protecting the Town Hall. The Seekers were never trusted with this, for they have been implicated in too many assassinations of public officials over these long years. It is time for the Spellguard's undue influence over the Town Hall to end. Their stationed animatrons are to be removed from this building within twenty four hours. Only the loyal Watch shall be worthy of defending our duly elected government.

We face threats from those who would do us harm. Outlaws, traitors, and rebels lurk on the fringes of our orderly state, seeking to cause chaos and overthrow our lawful government. I am doubling the number of guards stationed in the Town Hall, to ensure that these nefarious foes of Sanctuary do not succeed in carrying out their dastardly plans. Our city cannot wait for the indecisive Council to allocate funds for this. I will pay for these new security forces out of my own pocket.

The petty infighting between our defense groups must end. The Citizenship Awareness Act is suspended indefinitely, until the Seekers and the Spellguard can demonstrate to me that they are mature enough to use it for its intended purpose and not to bury our city in a storm of needless wasteful paperwork. Should these groups continue to squabble with each other, or with the government of the city, their budgets will be cut and their powers revoked.

Lastly...

Our city is to abandon the long and bloody experiment that is Lower Sanctuary.

Squatters, outlaws, and monsters infest the district. Tax collectors are butchered in the streets. Lower pays us nothing and costs us everything. There are melees in the marketplace. There are monsters on the margins. The canal overflows with cultists and criminals. Our city's finest hold the line and are paid back in scorn and hatred.

The settlement beneath is, from this moment onward, no longer a part of our city.

I have only the greatest compassion for the common folk of Lower Sanctuary. That is why I do this. Nobody ought live in that place.

This renewed focus on the city's core benefits everyone. No longer will we need to struggle against destructive riots sparked by fringe elements within the Seekers. No longer will we be weighed down by neighborhoods filled with enemies within and without. Henceforth, we shall spend our tax revenues on making the true Sanctuary peaceful, safer, and more comfortable for all citizens. This divisive chapter of our city's history shall be put behind us. Like a noble bird, we shall soar forth to peace and prosperity.

Let it be known ...

(long pause)

These decisions mark the beginning of the Age of Bhast.

Sanctuary will be reshaped and made stronger.

The weakness and dissent of the prior eras will be swept away.

The suffering and the poverty of the past shall be behind us.

Our city will know peace and prosperity as never before.

There will no longer be any incentive to leave.

A new era has begun.

All hail the First Citizen.

All hail the Protector of Sanctuary.

All hail Demetrius Bhast.

All hail.

All hail.

All hail."