You're in Rackon's Bluff, a small settlement of roughly 200 souls in the southern part of the Deep Wilds. As the name implies, the village sits on a small hill, surrounded by a palisade wall. As with most places in the Ironlands, the buildings are simple wooden structures with thatched roofs.
The village is named after Rackon Thalken, a legendary Ironsworn...and infamous womanizer. It's said he had twenty children from six different women, but nobody knows for sure; the numbers change depending on who's telling the tale.
After Rackon retired from adventuring, he decided to found a small settlement with his "family." Though the quarrels between all involved were as legendary as Rackon himself (and sons, daughters, and lovers frequently departed in a rage), the settlement held together. More people joined them. Now, centuries later, the Bluff is well-established.
Though there are a few tidy plots of farmland at the base of the hill, the forest presses close. Hunting and gathering are primarily how the villagers sustain themselves. Occasionally someone will stumble upon something interesting in the wilds, and travel to other villages to barter it, but generally there isn't much trade.
It's the end of autumn, and the weather is still cool. But winter is coming. Snowstorms, biting winds, and bone-chilling temperatures will be here soon enough.
You sit in the home of Caldus Thalken, a distant descendant of Rackon. He's the village elder, as this title traditionally goes to the eldest Thalken, male or female. Like Rackon, he's a former Ironsworn, now retired.
Though white-haired and a bit stooped, veins bulge on his hands and forearms, and his gaze is penetrating. This is a man who's seen much, and who would still be a dangerous foe in battle, were he pressed into action.
His two-room home is tidy and Spartan. A fire crackles in the hearth. Perhaps surprisingly, you see few trophies from his life of adventuring. The only truly eye-catching objects are a sword hanging above the fireplace, some green gems inlaid in its pommel, and a humanoid skull hanging right above that.