Northeastern hills where scattered settlements still cling to existence by paying tribute to the empire. The people of Brevldorf learned early that resistance meant death—or worse, undeath in the lich king's armies. They chose survival.
Tribute takes the form of food, labor, and occasionally slaves. Villages that meet their quotas are left alone. Those that don't are made examples. The population has learned to hide their healthiest members when the collectors come, offering the old and sick instead. It's grim arithmetic, but it's kept them alive.
Resistance cells occasionally form in the Brevldorf Hills, young people who refuse to accept this existence. They rarely last long. The empire has informants everywhere, and the punishment for rebellion is applied to entire villages.