Hamlets of Anvil Vale

The hamlets of the Vale are small clusters of buildings around which multiple farms sprung up. Hamlets serve as practical centers of trade and function for outlying farms, providing storage for goods, a small local market from which to buy and sell goods, a slaughtery for meat, and a mill for grains. Other craftsfolk whose skills benefit farmers but who do not themselves work the land, such as smiths, carpenters, and the like, frequently spring up in the midst of these small, clustered buildings as well.

Each hamlet is generally overseen by a thanesman, an official appointed by the Thanes to oversee taxation and provide legal counsel (although those who disagree with the thanesman are always permitted to journey to their Thane's hall and petition them directly). Thanesmen are empowered to forgive taxation of a given family if at least one of that family can serve as a yeoman, providing 40 days of service as a guardsman during that year. These small groups of yeomen act as the immediate soldiery in defense of the hamlets themselves, usually just to keep the peace and investigate disturbances, and to fetch the Thane's soldiers should such become necessary.

Housing

The homes of the locals can usually be divided into one of three catgories, which tend to describe how they are built. Most structures are built of wood, with stone chimneys at their hearts.

• Bothy: A one-room structure, usually with a small crawl-loft accessed by a ladder along the inside wall of the home. Such structures are mostly the living places of the very poor, of the solitary, or of those who do menial labor.
• Cottage: A two-room structure, with a standing-room attic that stretches the length of the building, accessed by a ladder or a narrow staircase along one wall. These are the very typical homes of hamlet-folk, many of whom work on farms or who work providing various services to those in the community. Such houses include a small private plot where the family may raise personal food and keep a few chickens.
• Craftshouse: These three-room structures are essentially cottages with an additional room attached to them. This room is usually the workshop of the craftsfolk who lives there. The shop acts as workspace and display area for their goods, and hamlet traditions state that those who come 'round to find a closed door are expected to leave the craftfolk to do their work in peace.

Farmhouses

• Farmhouse: Most farmhouses in the Vale are crafted by proper masons of good, hearty stone, with stable cellars and foundation dug deep into the earth, and warm wooden flooring.
  • A multi-room dwelling, traditional Vale farmhouses feature a great chamber, used by the farmer's family for entertaining and gathering, and a hall where meals are had and both household servants and farm hands gather in the evenings. The hall and great chamber share a double-opening fireplace. Down a set of wooden steps and across a gravel-lined passage is the kitchens and the room used as both buttery and pantry.
  • Above the great chamber is garret space, usually divided up by the farmer's family for sleeping space. There is another garret above the kitchens as well, with space for household servants. Farmhands who do not have lodgings elsewhere frequently sleep in the hall.
• Dairy Farm: An expansive working farm, the dairy farm's plots are frequently used for grazing instead of raising crops, although it is very common for farmers with fallow fields (Thanelaw requires a field be left fallow once every three harvests) to grant permission for a dairy farm's cattle to graze on those fields, as the fertilizer the cattle provide is good for those fields. Dairy farms maintain a significant herd, and frequently hire local youth to act as milk-hands and herders. The dairy farmers themselves are usually quite well-off, and their homes reflect that, with ample living spaces in addition to the buildings used to keep the dairy running.

Thane's Barns

By command of the Thanes, each hamlet has a "Thane's barn," a building where taxation grains are delivered at harvest and often stored, but which is also fortified and capable of providing protection to the locals in times of danger. The thanesman and local yeoman frequently use the ground floor of the Thane's barn as a drilling and rallying ground. During harvests, the open ground floor sees use as a threshing floor, with the Thane's taxes paid directly from the farm's final tally on that floor. All of the farmers usually pitch in and assist one another in the threshing, with others setting up tables of foods and hearty drink outside the barn, turning it into a small local festival.

Guilds Rests

Most hamlets have no inns and only basic taverns. When the Guildsrule came, the Guilds caused Guilds Rests to be built in most hamlets, offering simple cots in common rooms and very basic meals. These are provided free of charge to guildsfolk who have business in the town, or for a small bit of coin to non-guildsfolk.