I seem to remember something in the first series now lost about a path that was perhaps invisible or treacherous or something, so the route to the village was non-intuitive to keep the idle, the wasters, and those who prey on others out of town or at least easily buried in the forest.

I also recall some ne'er do well bully or two that got impressed into the army and actually made something of himself/themselves. Do either of those admittedly chimeric memories trigger a synapse or three?