The Outlands are an untamed land that lies to the west of
Witzend. All sane- and most insane- people avoid the Outlands
because it is such a terrible, lonely place. It is
uninhabitable: a mostly flat, barren desert landscape with some
dense woods here and there that are rumored to be full of huge,
terrifying creatures.  The deserts of the Outlands are free of
rocks, brush, plants, and sticks… Free of anything that could
possibly be used as a weapon. Which, thought Ilosovic Stayne
(formerly known as the Knave of Hearts), was a pity, because
there was absolutely nothing that could be used to harm, injure,
mutilate or kill oneself or somebody else with. And Stayne would
have given anything at that moment to be somehow rid of the
shrieking large-headed woman attached to his arm. (He had
briefly considered strangling as a method of ridding himself of
her, but then concluded that it would be too much like a hug
–the thought of which made him shudder, as he loathed her- and
besides that there was the problem of her