From publisher blurb: All gold flows from Kem, thus giving it the name "City of Gold." No other city—no province or even kingdom, for that matter—can claim a level of wealth comparable to that possessed by Kem, and the infamous financial power known as the Vault based there. Kem's influence reaches everywhere, from the Crusader States bounding the Desolation in the north to the holdfasts of Blötland in the far south. The City of Gold has lifted many nations up to the heights of power, and cast down into ruins any who crossed them. And so Kem moves on the world stage with unchecked might, an economic force without rival, whose financial influence translates easily into political and even military power. This installment of the Lands in Shadow series follows other entries that detail the Confederacy of Nine Cities. As the most powerful and influential of the great city-states, Kem's presence and power cannot be understated, and all fear displeasing the city's leaders, as well as the Vault, who pulls their strings, lest they court economic ruin.