Moncieja is one of the outer nations of Beyne that borders God's Land, the expansive desert that covers most of the planet. The nation's "cities" would be hardly called such in other countries, as they are small, not densely populated, and tend to seem more like just places to pass through on the way somewhere. Some cities, such as Otera ne Díserno, are "frontier cities" and are located near where God's Land begins. It is thought that Moncieja's dwindling population is owed to the lack of water, as it has neither lakes nor proximity to Ra Lar.
As water is usually imported into Moncieja, the cost of living can be staggering for such a desolate place. Moncieja regularly loses its wealthier or more opportunistic citizens to the neighboring Bivin and Ferritán, leading to the stereotype that the only people who stay in Moncieja are those who cannot leave -- either due to poverty or criminal background. The country as a whole has only a token government that mostly deals with foreign affairs, and local areas are usually left to themselves to solve their own problems and enforce their own laws. While this tends to work well in closely-knit communities where everyone knows one another, visitors or people passing through can run afoul of being charged ludicrous amounts of money for water or shelter simply because the locals don't know when they'll next have the opportunity to extort money from someone.
Because of the country's nearness to God's Land and consequently the fringe religions exiled there, divine magic is regarded with high hostility and suspicion. Water created with magic is seen as "unhealthy" or "wrong" in some capacity. Locals tell cautionary tales of wayward travellers tricked into drinking divinely-created water until they fell ill because the water could not satiate them at all, fooling them into thinking they needed more when it would never quench their thirst.