Aod was a little village on the island of Kia Aba, in the middle-lands region. The village itself sits on the shore of the great lake, Ataru. Aod sat on Ataru’s south-eastern shore, a mile from the most eastern bank, with another four and half miles to the western bank. On a clear day, from the village you could see the northern shore, just under two miles away. The water was a light sea green, and you could see the bottom for twenty feet from the shore, before the water became so deep you could not stand.

The village was much like most villages in the middle-lands; quaint white painted clay buildings made up the centre of the village – the town clerk’s office, the Ayyakku, and the local pub, which stood on three sides of the large grass village square, where travelling merchants, by permission of the town clerk, would ply their wears to the villagers.

As with most villages, the centre is not indeed the actually the centre, but the hub of activity; and in this regard, Aod was no different. The village square’s northern side ran to the old small docks, which held a handful of faering-like boats; open topped, four oars; overlapping planks of pine were riveted together to form the hull; and three sets of wooden plank seats – to allow a crew of six to fish.

Behind the square and on the outskirts of the forest behind the village, lay a patchwork of wooden homes, painted in every colour imaginable, and of many different sizes, depending on the wealth of the owner.