Frontier settlements

Since the defeat of the witches, mankind has lived far from their ruined domain, avoiding it. In the past, these lands were considered cursed, but centuries have passed since then, and people have ceased to fear what they have forgotten.

Thus, lonely huts, or even villages of charcoal burners and woodcutters, hunters and poachers, miners and treasure hunters, appeared in the wilds of the witch woods.

They are usually no more than a day's journey from major cities, relying on trade and some form of protection. They are not respectable, but their goods are in demand in the cities, and no one cares about their morals as long as they don't talk about marriage or inheritance.

Residents of the frontier settlements are left to fend for themselves against the terrors of the moonless night, vulnerable to attacks by witches and patchwork sorcerers. How many of them live in the wilderness is unknown, but it is safe to say that many more have died there.

The most dangerous consequence of their lives is, paradoxically, their death. A hermit who dies of cold or a woodcutter killed by evil spirits will leave behind a hut or cave with scanty utensils, of which few will know - until, at the next new moon, the lament of the Moon Infant reaches the forgotten things turning them into lunar creatures.

This is monitored by the Church of Radiance and the Salvagers Orders, who, once a month, tour all known dwellings near the towns and check for the presence of their owners. But such work is never sufficiently manned, and errant moonbeasts can sometimes prowl the city walls along paths that once served their former owners, wreaking havoc.

While city dwellers fear the outsiders and create horror stories about them, in some cases they have managed to build glittering careers in the military, the armies of Lords and Ladies, or in the ranks of the salvagers. A hardy survivor of the horrors of the new moon, they fear neither man nor beast and can act when others are overwhelmed by sheer terror. It is said that even the cries of the Child do not affect them as much, but there is no easy way of confirming this.