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The Valley of Cordez is the home of the main character of the Gatekeeper's Secret; Rolf. This is a glimpse into his ordinary style life before he got involved in the events of the story.
The village is small, but don't ask for numbers, just take my word for it, because I'm clueless. Each family has their own cabin for sleeping and living quarters but there are several longhouses where all the cooking, eating, and other daily... stuff, occurs.
The villagers are farmers and hunters, relying on both their forests and their fields for their food and clothes. They keep sheep and goats. Their technology level is about on par with the vikings. They have drop spindles, but no spinning wheels. Their metal working is sturdy, but not delicate, so no fine needles, which means no delicate needlework. (embroidery, etc.)
The entire valley used to be a major trade source of wool and furs before the Gates closed, and since then they've been utterly cut off from any other sources besides themselves. Falling back into survival mode even the different villages no longer interact with each other. Travel between them usually takes a week or more, so years will pass before any news come from a neighboring village.
Each village is like a giant family. Like most families, they have their quarrels as well as their fellowship, and in Rolf's village the quarrels revolve around him. The villagers tend more and more towards fire worship, under the influence and loud boasting of a man named Golaz. He believes he has been sent a message from the stars, and is the self-acclaimed leader of the fire-born. Rolf, despite being fire-born himself, hotly opposes his teachings, unsettled by the rites and rituals surrounding what he believes to be a natural part of his existence. He is losing his battle though; many of the villagers need something to worship and a powerful, mysterious cult fills that void.
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Floyd was frozen where he stood. He struggled to breathe, but the air smelled of blood and death and guilt. He tried to formulate a name, to ask, but language was meaningless, and words would not come. He tried to scream but the sound got stuck in his heart, shattered into a million pieces, and scattered to the wind.
In a world without superheroes, who will stand against the forces of evil?
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