The Contested lands

The Contested Lands is an area far enough away from any real lawful presence that marks it as free, as a result, criminal activity and other ne'er-do-wells have taken to forming warring tribes among themselves. Added into this is the fact that the Duke's often name champions to try and form a Provence of their own within these lands to try and bring order and law to them and turning the conqueror into a grateful and allied Duke.
The contested lands are temperate with extremes depending on the exact position, northern portions experience more snow in winter and cooler temperatures while the eastern and southern portions experience more humidity and heat respectively. Dense forests, rivers, and large hills form some small natural barriers which often mark the various pseudo-states that are in constant flux within these lands. Fertile lands and lush vegetation could prove to be a great source of agriculture and lumber should one be able to tame the land and the neighbors. The more east you go the more the forests begin to shift towards that of a jungle with the final divide being the large river known as 'The Serantis River' separating the Emerald Cove Jungle and Rhyderia.
Most of the beings here hate order that isn't gained at the point of a sword, that said they like to be left to their own affairs so outside powers such as Anrasha who try to assert dominance over the groups often find themselves rebuked quite quickly in rare shows of commonality from the people. Crime is rampant, yet also there is no law to mark such activities as truly illegal much to the chagrin of the Rhyderian rulership who would like the right flank of their territory secured and well ordered. Many suspect the Anrasha purposefully keep the constant state of anarchy and turmoil going in these lands for their own benefit. Warriors from the contested lands are those who fight nearly every day to survive and can reach extraordinary calibers that even the Anrasha hesitate to provoke directly.

Adventure hooks

Kingmaker style games
Anrashan slave raids on a held territory (Low level)
Rival aspiring Dukes (Low to Mid-level)
Mission from Vardenhall (Mid to High level) The majordomo of Vardenhall arrives at your capital settlement and offers a rare token of favor from the master of the city. Should one of the various factions accomplish a mission for him they will be given a powerful item that he has come into possession of. Currently, all the other rivals are getting a similar message, but the majordomo was sent to yours to more directly say in private that the master wants your group to both succeed and use the opportunity to eliminate one of the rivals.
Rivals in high places (high to epic) You have become a rival to a hitherto unknown participant in the battle for domination of the lands, the visit of some assassins is your first hint, finding out who sent them will be difficult as you have many enemies. However, dealing with the mastermind might be harder still.