The Bandit Lands
The population of the Bandit Lands is comprised of people from all over Laerdt'nah, all of whom have been banished there by the Kentasorte after the creation of the Bandit Lands during Hession's Peace. The history of the Bandit Lands is one of strife, of fighting, and now of division between the Tein Arath and the Camp. People are divided into villages based on the crime they committed before being sent to the Bandit Lands, and there is even space for those who claim to be innocent. All new guests of the Bandit Land are given a name also matching their crime, and birth names are never used. The Camp, and all the villages except Tein Arath, have been ruled by the Bandit King for at least the past 200 years, a title often won through a series of trials when the current Bandit King dies.
The People of the Bandit Lands
All life in the Bandit Lands is about survival. There is almost no interaction with outsiders, and conflict is largely internal. In an ideal world, those within the Bandit Land would be given a chance to go home, or to escape, but that has never happened. People in the Bandit Lands come from all walks of life, of many cultures and societies. Despite the internal issues between the Camp and the Tein, life in the Bandit Lands is largely accepting, communal, cooperative, and forgiving. Everyone deserves a second chance, and while the Bandit Lands represents a squandered final chance for many who enter, many more die feeling like they did get another chance, and that they used it well.Indigenous Peoples
The Run'ko'ua, often simply called the Ru, are rumoured to still maintain their own culture and lifestyle, but no one has confirmed their existence since the Bandit Lands were created as part of Hession's Peace. While some Ru used to live in the lands of Phesunlay, they all migrated within the Bandit Lands before it was sealed. Recent reports from Fréole have included sightings of vessels in the Strait of Aloc that do not belong to Brist or Phesunlay, but many have dismissed these sightings as Xzonic warlords looking for new land to control. The Ru were a private people, and their interactions with the people of Phesunlay were largely limited to ore, wood, and pelt trading. Occasionally, an artifact dealer will claim to possess a magical item from the Ru which possesses strong magical auras, but none have ever been verified.Brief History and Current Issues
Since Hession's Peace, the nations of the Borean have sent their criminals to the segregated lands in the east of Phesunlay. The Bandit Lands, originally created to house war criminals after the Great Borean War, is dominated by imposing cliffs on its eastern shores and an impenetrable living wall on its western edge. It is a permanent prison for those who have been deemed hazards to society, and those banished to the Bandit Lands cannot escape: the living wall is maintained by druids trained for that purpose, and the eastern waters are patrolled by the Royal Phen Navy. The Bandit Lands were created on land previously held by the Run'ko'ua, a people who lived in on Laerdt'nah long before the nations were formed. As part of Hession's Peace (but against Hession's wishes), the Ru people were offered new homes in Phesunlay or Brist, but they refused to leave. Regardless, the Borean nations created the Gnarled Wall and the Oak Gate, the only way to enter the Bandit Lands. Before the Bandit Lands were sealed, a massive gathering of powerful magic wielders came together to displace any metal ores in the land to such small amounts everywhere that processing any into metal would be impossible. Those banished to the Bandit Lands created their own society, over time, and created a main settlement (The Camp) as well as minor settlements. Magic wielders were largely separated from the population, while many others separated into camps based on the crime they committed on the outside. While this arrangement has led to relative piece of hundreds of years, those in Tein Arath have moved to take over the Bandit Lands and, if the stories are true, tear down the Oak Gate or else escape by sea. This volatility is only known to those within the Bandit Lands, but could the wishes of the Tein ever come to pass, even though no one has ever escaped the Bandit Lands?
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