Bounty Hunters
Since the coming of the Prevailers
a border has been sketched around
the Forsaken lands, encompassing
hereditary rights and the claims of
conquest. In many places however this
border is recognized only on the maps. The
regions that lie along this boundary encompass
the less-civilized territories and are bounded by the
wilderness. Out there danger is ever present and only violent
struggle will keep a man alive for another day. Whilst some
groups accept this and become comparatively peaceful herders and
hunters, others take to raiding and banditry. It is to these relatively
wild regions that fugitives, lone criminals, and other rogues usually
flee. They eke out a life for themselves by scavenging and looting,
robbing and murdering merchants and terrorizing villages.
Local law enforcement is harder here than in the oppressively controlled Forsaken cities, where militiamen watch from platforms and checkpoints – constantly on guard against criminals and heretics. In the gullies and rugged hills, however, bandits can roam with ease and justice is often dispensed only with the bark of a gun. This is the realm of the bounty hunters. Far from aid of any kind, without support to call upon, grand courtrooms, statute books or underground torture chambers, they face the criminals alone. Only the fittest survive and so the hunter must be as ruthless, cunning and unrelenting as their prey. One slip, one careless moment, is all that stands between success and failure.
In spite of the danger becoming a bounty hunter can be lucrative for those who possess the skills. Saints and Outcast leaders alike are willing to pay to have those who prey upon their people removed. Experienced guides, hunters and scouts often take the chance to supplement their income in this way, and will arm themselves with the weapon of their choice, provided it is suitable for hunting men and shooting game alike.
