ishgard

[Nialle]

Ul'dah has so many people jockeying for the top spot without regard to even basic morality that I don't understand why anyone continues to support them, unless it's to keep the corruption confined to one place so everyone knows where the dagger will come from. . .

If you start out in Ul'dah, the Brass Blades basically plant illegal drugs in your wagon as an excuse to try and arrest you, and only an Amal'jaa attack interrupts that little blackmail scheme. It's a safe bet, I think, to assume a large portion of the Blades (who are basically the police) are corrupt right through. Which makes Raubahn's choice to hand over state security to them so he could send more troops to Ishgard a supremely dumb decision. But in his defense, maybe nobody realized things had really gotten so bad. Between that, the Imperial spies in high places, and the typical monetarist plots going on, I'd say as a country Ul'dah is pretty doomed as a reputable country unless something drastic happens (which probably will).