From the introduction:
The city of Absalom, nicknamed the City at the Center of the World, is perhaps the largest and most influential city of the Inner Sea region. In the millennia since the now-dead god Aroden raised the Isle of Kortos from the sea and built Absalom atop it, dozens of warlords, pirate queens, archwizards, and more have besieged the metropolis. Only a year ago, Absalom repelled the Fiendflesh Siege, the first concerted attack on the city in more than a century. Although victorious, the city withstood the assault only with the help of several dedicated demographics. The first was the Pathfinder Society, an organization of explorers, scholars, and adventurers based out of Absalom who cracked the enemies’ system of codes and sowed confusion with miscommunication. The other group consisted of the city’s slaves, whom Siege Lord Wynsal Starborn manumitted in return for their aid in defending their home—in the process ending the decades-old Flesh Tax, which legalized one of Absalom’s crueler industries.