The Frontier

"This here article's a mite thin. You'd be doin' me a solid if you'd expand it."
-- Unknown Striggan Chronicler from the Columbian Parliament

The Frontier is both the colloquial and legal name of those regions - like Howl Basin itself - which have been annexed by the Federation. This frontier is commonly held by Federal Law to be a sort of "terra nullius"; while it is occasionally acknowledged that people live in these areas, they are assumed to have been empty prior to settlement. Most of Federal Law does not actually directly apply within the region, apart from laws of property, and law enforcement (both military and civil) is sparse as a result outside of major Federal settlements.