A Once Bright Land

You have seen them often enough. A few here or there, but rarely alone. Their garments are wildworn leather oiled deep brown and their skin is scarred and inked with sigils and symbols of their craft, marked and stained in silent glory to be read only by those privy to their world. All but the youngest bear gemstones drilled and sealed to their skull along the ridges above their eyes, the skin healed in little ring mounds around each stone. The greatest Outriders wear many of these fetishes, glittering in rough strands and wavering lines even up into their foreheads. They earned these marks by reaching out beyond the walls, clearing the way for caravans, hunting Faienden, scouting the land, delving in the ruins, running messages and precious packages, and reassuring the smaller settlements that Byen's power is always with them.