ashan, The Crown of the Ithmia, lies like a hidden gem in the heart of the Northern Ithmia Forest. Once a small, ancient, near-forgotten village, apparently fallen upon hard times, Hashan, for some unknown reason, attracted the attention of Twilight, God of Darkness, under whose Patronage and tutelage it grew into a stunning and accomplished urban center. Hashan is a city with strong ideals, a haven where diverse denizens of Sapience live together in harmony and community, without fear of prejudice, oppression, or bigotry, free to pursue their potential in a continually evolving and finely-tuned balance between the needs of the individual and responsibility to the collective. One would indeed be hard pressed to find a population more dedicated to working together to achieve the best for their city. Although the dangerously exotic and infamous warrens and back alleys of the Old Quarter still attract those thrill seekers with a yen for the questionable, it is the newer portion of the city that is the pride and joy of Hashan, drawing visitors from all over the continent. Upon entering one of the four great city gates, each oriented to a cardinal point of the compass; it becomes obvious that the city reflects the manifest vision of a refined aesthete. Broad, tree-lined avenues, paved with subtly gleaming obsidian, reflect the columned facades of elegant marble and granite buildings, public and private. Lush gardens abound throughout. The forest heritage of the great city is echoed in Hashan's sumptuous park. The layout of the city is subtly designed to enhance one's enjoyment, whether one wishes to proceed directly to a location, or wander, delighting at the unlooked-for, such as an ancient oak or a tucked away shrine. Hashan enjoys a thriving merchant class, and in the shops and bustling bazaar of the city one finds numerous goods, from the luxurious to the mundane, in addition to unique services and tantalizing comestibles. The architecture of Hashan's major buildings and sites is both striking and awesome, from the soaring obsidian Obelisk of Twilight, to the great statues of the gods on the road of Eternity, just outside the Porta Aquila. The Coliseum and the Academy of Learning invite their own respect, as does the Menagerie, the first in Sapience, with its rare and unique fauna. Hashan boasts an innovative government whose fruits are destined to be a model for many throughout the land. The Great Canon of Hashan, Hashan's Common Law, and the city's unique guild-city charters, making its resident guilds citizen-entities of the city-state, have no antecedent in all of Sapience. Hashan also lays claim to the continent's first working and statutorily mandated court of law. Her Academy provides unparalleled research and academic resources. It is worth noting that the Academy is presided over by the renowned scholar Damaris, who took refuge in and was unequivocally and gratefully accepted by Hashan, following her persecution by other scholars in the land for her ideas and teachings. The creative fervor of this city fires the imagination with possibilities yet undreamed.