I'm guessing you're a player so I'll try to keep spoilers to a minimum.
Chapter One is all about getting the major, immediate threats in the area under control. Dealing with some of the more irritating, aggressive, or invasive local pests, monsters, and bandits, the Stag Lord being the chief of these at this time. To prospective settlers, these are the main reasons not to come, as prior attempts to civilize the area are notorious for being prone to failure. (Hence the name "Stolen Lands" - Brevoy sees the region as stolen by nature/banditry/monsters, preventing their settlements and colonies from getting a decent foothold.)
By the time Chapter Two rolls around, you should have dealt with a lot of the major issues. There'll still be some threats - the new ones that pop up next chapter, as well as any you didn't happen to stumble across in Chapter One - but the immediate threats of banditry and monster swarms and what-not are, in the eyes of most prospective colonists, mostly dealt with and it actually looks like you have a chance to succeed.
TL;DR - clear out the Stag Lord's bandits and the other Chapter One threats/dungeons, and people will be more inclined to come, as you've proven you have what it takes to start clearing out a notoriously-untameable territory.
If you build it, they will come.
In the game I'm running, (We've finished book 1 and are into the first bits of book 2) the Brevic civil war is heating up. This, along with some good political campaigning my players did in Restov between books 1 and 2 has planted the seed in the rumor mill that there's a promised land to the southwest, welcoming to refugees - the tired, the poor, the huddled masses wanting to breathe free of the yolk of oppression.
In the end, there are many ways to increase your population. Once, as Orthos indicates, the area is more secure, there are built in mechanics to allow for growth.
Yep - if you are in the first book, your charter is to map, explore and clear the Northern Green Belt. Those are the things you need to concentrate on at the moment.
Trust your GM (and the next couple of books) to deal with things when they are needed. :)
- Promises of land ownership.
- Low taxation.
- Amnesty for certain types of crime.
- Propaganda.
- Good infrastructure.
- Safety & security.
We set up a Rent-to-own on farms to attract the younger sons and daughters who wouldn't inherit their family farm.
Set aside farmland plots, the renter works it for a set number of years, paying in coin, crops, produce or meat ETC.
When the agreed number of years is over they own the farm.
We also set aside some of our adventuring loot to use for sponsoring businesses. IE We'll pay your set up costs if you set up a smithy in our city.
Propaganda is another thing you need, "New lands, come and make your fortune!"
DBH