Several thousand people live in Veteris outside the major towns. These farmers, loggers, miners, trappers, and other pioneers tend to spread out across the landscape but still need general stores, mills, midwives, and other specialized services from time to time. Several smaller settlements have sprung up near places of interest or busy crossroads to fill these needs. These tiny villages are not yet major contributors to Veteris’s defense or economy but are known places to stop and trade or rest along the kingdom’s roads.

They include:

• Sturgeon, a fishing village south of Pază on the western shore of the Tuskwater
• Coldwater, southeast of Pază where the Shrike River meets the Tuskwater
• Edgewood, northwest of Pază near the Fangberry Thicket
• Thornbridge, northeast of Pază at the southern end of the bridge spanning the Thorn River
• Fairscale, near the Sootscale kobolds’ Old Sycamore colony and halfway between their two active mines
• Truffle Grove, near the Mushroom Grove, where the farmers are learning to cultivate valuable truffles along with the naturally occurring healing mushrooms
• Tenpines Bluff, a small settlement serving the hands of Vekkel’s ranch and the farmers and herders clustered nearby
• Varnmeet, a small town around the docks where the Varnway meets the Shrike River, originally funded by Maegar Varn but administered by Veteris
• Witch Hill, a hamlet southeast of Leveton where a few people who have befriended Bokken and Valerie act as middlemen for those who don’t want risk the notorious hermit’s eccentricities