The trouble with Fey Relations

Upon leaving the church and looking over the central buildings before heading to the inn you note that besides the smithy, teh church, and inn with which you are familiar with, the store or trading post has its doors open and you hear voices within. Gorman instantly recognizes they are haglging, only as people familiar with each others practices can, and Aizashi learns a few new "descriptive" terms that they two men exchange as their negotiations continue.
From the inn you see smoke rising from the chimney and you assume they are preparing the evening meal in advance, or perhaps backing bread for tomorrow. Inside you find the main room empty once again but the clatter from the open doorway to the kitchen makes it easy to locate the caretakers. Despite the noise of their preparations the proprietors must be sensitive to customers as before you can reach the kitchen doorway it is filled with Whiping his hands on a rag he looks you over impassively Can we help you? Lunch is over but we have a bit left if you are hungry

The man gestures for you to take a seat and ducks back into the kitchen. Returning after only a few moments he brings out a couple of plates with some break, chease, and what looks to be a vegetable soup in wooden bowls. We'll have a stew tonight thanks to the two of you but this is what we have now. The man is much less forthcoming but does not strike you as unfriendly or deceitful, just not your normal friendly innkeeper. After setting your food down he looks to the two of you before beginning to move back to the kitchens, if you do not stop him.

Names Jestin. Scratchin his head he ponders before continuing. Nope, can't thing of anything. We're prety self reliant out here. But if you are sticking around to stay the night I am sure the others have heard news of you by now and would like to hear more of the places and things you have seen. But that will be a bit. Most visit town for a dring just before
or after sunset.

He chats a bit more before taking you out back to show you his smoker then heading back to his work. You wander over to the smithy as the inkeeper and his wife are busy preparing for the expected crouds you will draw tonight.

If there is nothing else you want to do before dinner I will move on to that next

As for threats the area has a few breasts that bother the farmers but larger threats and invasive forces are rare. All the settlements band together when such arise. The settlement under threat retreats to the town center, here the 6 main buildings, to await reinforcement.
It had been several decades since the last such occurrence. And that was several villages over.

The priest informed you that he read both in a nearby settlement and that it is common practice for youth to begin leaving as closer as possible then travel to other settlements to finish their training. Apprentice at home, journeyman abroad, master where needed. This is a common practice for most professions in this area.

No, we have no master carpenter. A couple of the locals a decent at carving and shaping wood as needed but they would not claim to be maters. We have the smith and brewer. Other towns nearby have other specialties. It is the way.

Malgrim explains that though this is on the edge of the civilized lands the surrounding area is not all that dangerous. Most of the time each village can take care of themselves but during the war they learned to stay in close contact with their neighbors. They trade from time to time but it is infrequent. There are annual gatherings and there are a couple tinkers and merchants that travel between the towns from spring to fall.