The Palisade

The protective wall and gated frontier enclosing the Reclamation's safe zone in Rivalon — the relatively secure, non-arduous heartland around Gwyndinas, its feeder settlements (New Neaton, Gristgrinder) and the staging town of Keraford. Inside the Palisade, life is orderly and protected; help is close and the war feels distant. Beyond it lies open war: torched settlements, salted fields, signposts hung with executed Reclamation soldiers, roving Laewendas bandits, and territory once carved out for warlords like Mindel Cromelon.

Leaving the Palisade is deliberately gated. A party must have earned signatures — proof of combat and social fitness — so the people trust them to be a net positive outside the wall, and all who pass must keep the Reclamation Concord (no attacking commoners, a higher standard than the bandits, enforced by honor scores and recovery patrols).

Session 21

• The party crosses the Palisade Gate at Keraford for the first time, traveling out with Eldrich the Elder's caravan; their leaving-papers and Concord obligations are checked and reaffirmed at the gate.
• Immediately beyond, the land turns hostile — burned farms and hanged soldiers — before the bridge ambush by Mindel Cromelon.