The Village Gel
The Haven of the Hidden
Easily passed through, Gel is small and unnoticeable that is unless you plan to stay longer. Friendly people turn hostile and urge travels who think of settling to leave.
Gel is peaceful and serene as they come unless you wonder off the forest path. There are secrets in Gel and to know them is to give up what you think you know.
Demographics
Within the village there is the necessities, the herb shop, the apothecary, the candle maker, the baker, the town meeting hall, the cooper, the seamstress, blacksmith, the carpenter, the butcher, the tanner and the tree of remembrance. Half of the people from Gel live along these buildings and run them. The other half live farther out where travelers are unwelcome. The home's of the Sayer, the healer, the woodsmen, the huntsmen, the virgins, the shrines, the fae, the changelings and halflings, the haven, the wood cutter, the fishermen, the nature folk, the fair folk, and more mysteries than the woods can bear. No one leaves Gel for good because there is no place like it. Everyone is related and strange, there are no outsiders and everyone is Folka here.
Government
Gel has five seats of government, each an important god to the area. Danu, is sat by the village head, Consort is sat by the town elder, the goddess two is sat by the Healer, Dam is sat by the head woodsmen, and the Gii is sat by the Sayer. These five people make major decisions for Gel, though the town head handles day to day matters. The elder is the final say on disputes of heritage and family. The healer and Sayer have more authority than both. The woodsmen is more a guard for the village basing outside the village termoil. All luxury goods are taxed and the laws are general unless a complain is lodged or it comes into violation of the Agreement.
Defences
Though there are several layers of woodsmen, huntsmen, wood cutters, and the halflings and changelings as well as all their traps the villagers actual protection comes from the rituals they perform to appease their neighbors and the protections they wear or put up on their homes. Protection from outsiders is hardly necessary after all the danger lies within the valley that Gel nestles in, not outside it.
Industry & Trade
The inhabitants rely on mostly a closed system of goods only buying luxuries from travelers or from the nears town. They do this by selling poducts from their reagin such as salves, herbal remedies and sending out wondering apprentices for month long excursions.
Infrastructure
There are many water displays in town and two furnaces making Gel much more equipped to grow larger than it is. However the villagers refuse to build knew buildings from local wood.
To enter the small settlement that is Gel is to enter a separate place from the rest of the world, as if it is caught in the moment of great development right before people arrive to witness it.
Assets
Gel is one of the best apothecaries in the reagin but it doesn't sell to most people. Strange things can be found in the forests and magical animals and plants but those who go looking don't come out.
Guilds and Factions
Within Gel there are four factions. There are the elders who pass on tradition and see no need for change, there are the townies who see very little of the strange happenings and are the most likely to get in trouble, there are the folk, anyone who lives outside of town is called this but there are three groups within this as well, the guards, the changed and the touched. The last group is called the outsiders, these are people who moved for the haven or who are changed they are usually separated from everyone else.
History
Gel was founded by a Tamer and a Healer who fell in love during the Tribal wars. They had five children before the man died when his tribe finally found him. Upon the death of their brother three of the tribes healers revolted and the tribe left them to die with their brother in a strange valley, claiming the area wasn't meant for humans anyway. The brothers tried to find their way back to the family their kin died for but they where lost in the forest, they wondered around for days. Until one brother heard a high pitched keen. Upon closer inspection they found the creature they dreaded, it was injured one brother wished to tend it. One wished to leave and the other wished to kill it. The creature however spoke to them, "Make a deal with me and you will never lose your way in the woods again." The oldest wanted to accept it the middle wanted to decline and the youngest called to it. "I will make the deal" and as he and the creature talked he tended it, at the end the creature stood. I will lead you to where you wish to go. The creature left them at the home of their slain kin but before she left she lay a gift in the youngest hand. Blow upon this and I will come. The creature liked the youngest and she played with him when he called and taught him to find the secrets of the forest, she never lied. The eldest built a shrine upon the creature's request and for this she showed him what he wished, a place of plants that could do the most magical of things. He took one of his brothers daughter as an apprentice and they learned the healing arts of the Fae. Upon request the middle brother sang to her in the long nights and she led him to his slain kin's wife, together they had mourned and together they found solace, they loved each other and soon had more children. The last brother, her favorite, to him she revealed secrets of every kind and showed him so many wondrous creatures, he made the Agreement as it is today with the folk. Then at last she gave him a child. And from their family grew Gel.
Architecture
The people of Gel all live in old homes, no one remember how to construct anymore. All of the homes foundations are made of stones with symbols on them though most have flaked off if one traced a tiger over it they could find the symbol still there. The wood of the walls and roofs all are treated with something that makes them smell of the deep forest where even the woodsmen don't go and the carvings are all delicate and yet stand like steal agains the elements. Herb and berry bundles hang from doors and windows all year long, though much is forgotten the protective charms hand from everything as if they people of Gel fear fear itself.
Geography
Gel sitts in the middle of a valley of dense forest, streams flow from the mountains on either side and a lake sits at the bottom on the valley where it hits a dead end. The valley is like a y, with Gel sitting at the cross roads and the tale of the y is where the lake and waterfall reside. There are few places greener and though the valley remains well insulated the mountains are snow capped.
Natural Resources
The plants and animas are plentiful to the point where the only farming necessary is herb and flower farming. The woods sell for steep prices in far away places as few dare to chop them down and other strange things come of Gel as well but the trusted traders would never say it came from there, not the tricky impossible little trinkets that keep their caravans going with their mystery.
RUINED SETTLEMENT
There are shrines that are no longer tended to and have only remained by some magic, they can be found in the woods. Visiting them is unwise.
Alternative Name(s)
The Hidden Place
Type
Village
Population
126
Inhabitant Demonym
Gels
Owning Organization
Related Traditions
Show spoiler
Lhiannon is the name used by Lan'ana'amon when she stayed in the village of Gel, when she hid there from her past.
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