Liberi

Those who have spent any amount of time in the Lost Lands know of the Liberi, and know to treat them with extreme caution. They are called many things: brigands, highwaymen, fanatics, crazed madmen driven over the edge by the struggles of living in the Lost Lands. Some suspect they're touched by nether-taint or that they suffer from some degree of resen infestation, or perhaps a less-detectable variant of the canim curse that causes them to be so aggressive. What all can agree on is that they are a highly dangerous people, and openly hostile to anyone not identifying as Liberi themselves. They have been known to waylay travelers on the roads and clearly value riln and other items of monetary value. They speak their own dialect that seems based on the Viali language, making it difficult at best to attempt any negotiations. Perhaps most unsettlingly, rumors persist that the Liberi ranks consist largely of the Undying, which would explain how remarkably bold and aggressive they can sometimes be, and why they can never seem to be gotten rid of.

Known to be broken into several groups populating various areas of the Lost Lands, residents of Porto D'esilio are well aware that one such group is not so far from home: Liberi are known to inhabit the fenlands of the southern plateau a scant few leagues from town. Those with keen eyes are asked to keep watch for Liberi scouts that occasionally snoop around closer to the port town, perhaps gathering information on the activities and schedules of its people, or even looking for exploitable weaknesses in the wall defenses. There have yet to be any moves against the town itself, but the Liberi are becoming steadily bolder in their aggressive activities.

While the Liberi show signs of a fairly complex society that covers a significant range of the Lost Lands (though scattered), information about such things is not common knowledge. They are usually identifiable by the symbols they bear depicting broken chain links, often as a tattoo on their faces.