Coasts

Life between the Ward and the ocean
The Sea Wards all around the Hegemony are crossed with some frequency, especially as you get further from the major land borders (i.e. the ones that tend to have horrors or mortal enemies waiting just on the far side). Fisherfolk cross Wards all the time, as they tend to live as close to the sea as possible and haul their catch in to markets on the far side. They need to trade by sea for knives, hooks, needles, and anything else weaponlike, but the majority of their daily needs can be bought in an inland market town and will cross a Ward just fine.

The Hegemonic Navy operates entirely outside the Wards, seeking to control sea trade, to keep corsairs at bay, and to protect the aforementioned fisherfolk. (Plus, periodically, to roust out nests of spies, smugglers, and pirates from amongst them–which you may get to participate in later in Game 2, on the coast near Grand Shayard.) The Navy’s major southern base is on Scarthe Isle, and plenty of Shayardene nobles (and even more plebeian navvies) will have been there as part of their naval service. Horion was a high-ranking visitor but hardly a unique one. (source) The Navy has another base on the northernmost peninsula of Erezza.

One or two larger towns in Erezza are also outside the Wards. These settlements enjoy a much lower day-to-day Hegemonic presence (no Alastors or Theurges), but the smaller ones especially are bait for pirates and Halassurq raiders.

The major coastal cities usually have a district known as the Merchant’s Pale which is set outside the Ward. The Pales are heavily garrisoned with Phalangite troops, Theurges, and Kryptasts, with a Gate in the Ward allowing Imperial forces to be rapidly reinforced/rearmed in the event of attack. (Normal trade never takes place through that Gate – it’s strictly for emergencies).