Wilderness

 

An impassible mountain range extends from Boomtown as far as the eye can see. Beyond Boomtown’s walls is the Annex. Beyond the Annex is the frontier. The frontier is a dusty and mostly lifeless stretch of land extending in a several-mile radius around Boomtown. We briefly see this barren land in Premable as Ricky dresses for work and again at the end of Savages! when Hank and the Hangman’s Horde leave the area.

Everywhere beyond the frontier is the Wilderness.

This planet is healthy and lush. In Prologue, we see a grassy plain at the edge of a forest. The sky is clear, the trees grow thick and full, and the Outsiders we see appear fit and well-nourished. We may see some birds or other wildlife. When Hank and the Hangman’s Horde attend the Ruckus, we get a look at another region of the planet - another pleasant, verdant vista, far from the mountains which are never fully out of sight.

Elsewhere in Prologue, we also see is set in a dark and mysterious wood where several seemingly supernatural events occur:

  • A Keeper vanishes to his comrades’ astonishment.

  • Another suffers auditory hallucinations and takes flight deeper into the darkness.

  • Ominous ornamentations and sinister structures are discovered in and around the trees.

  • Vegetation rapidly overgrows the path of entry, blocking their escape.

Unease weighs heavy in this place.


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