Jean grimaces. "Your world sounds like a fuck, Ezra. I'm not saying Therin is perfect--it certainly isn't, but we at least don't have an Empire working like that."

Oh, but there are pockets of atrocities--the city-states that dot Therin each run on their own rules and, some are truly horrible. But it's not universal, not a top down sort of thing; one can avoid witnessing the abuses of the poor at Salon Corbeau, or the rampant crime of Camorr if they wish.