The Lawless lands are a large territory on the Ileosan continent that basically takes up everything outside of kingdom walls. Kingdoms tend to be relatively small and compressed compared to earth standards. (the decreased population doesn’t help either).
Since these lands fall outside of the borders of any large governing body, they are technically lawless, hence the name. Though of course there is some nuance - certain local establishments in the lawless lands operate on their own set of rules and principles as they have their own means of enforcing them.

The people who live here mostly consist of transported humans, ileosans who escaped from their respective kingdoms or were born here, like bugs. Being born here is where the term "Lawless-born" comes from. It is often used to distinguish "the good Lapadeians" from "the bad Lapadeians" as it is believed that Lapadeians who were born in Lapadei have no morality.

The people of the Lawless lands are very protective of their autonomy and have little respect for any authority that wants to enforce itself there for any reason. Almost everyone is armed to the teeth and ready to pick a fight, even old ladies on their rocking chairs in their little villages.

This is also in part to the fact that since there aren’t any laws- raiders, gangs and bounty hunters are rampant. Almost every other day feels like a matter of survival if you're new. You don’t know when someone is going to pull up to your house to rob it or kidnap one of your loved ones. This is why the houses and their close areas tend to be booby trapped or fenced/walled off and it is never a good idea to live alone if you can't fight for yourself. Most people end up living in communities, albeit usually small ones.

Symbols are very prevelant in Lawless culture. Even the lawless lands mark themselves with a symbol. If you have some sort of association with a group or hold a certain position, are an owner of a certain business - you must display that with a symbol on both your base/establishment and piece of clothing. The reputation of your symbol will become YOUR reputation. It is important to upkeep it as it can determine which parts of the lawless lands will be welcoming to you. Cooperation with Lapadei for easy free resources will have the most drastic effect.

The 2 kingdoms that actually matter are too busy fighting eachother, any lawless territories that like to roleplay as kingdoms and consider imperialism get humbled quickly, and no one really wants to mess with the locals, not even mentioning the highly territorial ant colonies that are scattered in the lawless lands by the dozens.
And honestly, there isn’t even anything worth occupying, you’re not getting any more resources than you have managed to make for yourself since the lawless lands were the most impacted by the Drought, which left a lot of it a wasteland with some few and far between, highly protected forests.

The Lawless lands make up like 80% of Ileosa, therefore most of the story is spent here, exploring it, finding new things that established themselves here or solving problems that pop up. You can find lots of weird stuff- endless niche little circles, each with their own practices. Different landmarks, places of entertainment, a variety of services and locals who love a good game or competition. If you’re willing to walk the distance to reach each one of course (or use some “transport”)

The Lawless lands have a food problem, or a "getting stuff" problem, not really any grocery stores or ikeas around. So, a lot of the protagonist's’ adventures are kickstarted by them wanting to get food without having to rob a family blind.

Need resources -> hijinks and horrors