Overview
Briar Sloughs lies not far from Coen's home village of Laslea, though he seldom ventures there. Its eastern reaches are largely swampland, which — above all after dark — always unsettled him. The west, by contrast, crawls with Brencis's soldiers garrisoned at Stoneward Post, among the valley's largest military camps. Either way, he has rarely had cause to visit, except when passing through toward Svartrau. That may be about to change…