Village of the Valley

The Village of the Valley is an underground Markless community in the Appalachian Mountains. The people of the village offer help to Logan Langly, Hailey Phoenix, and Dane Harold as they journey toward Beacon City. Dane ultimately remains in the village in order to begin a Markless radio broadcast.

Geography
The Village of the Valley is located in a hollow near the western edges of the Appalachian Mountains. The Village is not immediately visible, even to those who know its general location, because all of the dwellings in the Village are underground. The underground homes not only keep the Village from being as noticeable to DOME, they also protect it from the dangerous weather that has prevailed since the Tipping Point. The villagers tend crops above ground, however, so the fields are visible. The Village is several days' journey from Beacon City by boat.

History
While living in the cities is possible for younger Markless, older Markless find city life increasingly difficult. As a result, some of Beacon's aging Markless left the city for the mountains. While the unpredictable environment can make life in the wilderness problematic, the residents of the Village of the Valley saw it as a refuge from DOME.

After the Dust was scattered following the DOME raid on the Hayes' farm, three members--Logan Langly, Hailey Phoenix, and Dane Harold--came to the Village of the Valley on the Unmarked River. The village welcomed them, and two residents, Hans and Tabitha, took the three into their home. Learning that Logan was on his way to rescue his sister in Beacon City, the villagers made a canoe so that Logan, Hailey, and Dane could travel more quickly through the mountains. Dane, however, decided to remain in the Village so that he could begin a radio broadcast to bridge the gap between Beacon's Markless radio stations and the Markless station in Spokie.

From the Village of the Valley, Dane helped to spread the Markless protest movement across the continent. He continued broadcasting from the Village as the permadrought worsened in the American State. Hans feared that the drought would cause a famine in the Village, but rain fell in time to prevent it. Because only Markless lived there, the villagers were not directly affected by Project Trumpet, although Dane prayed for the victims on his radio broadcast. Hailey returned to the Village of the Valley following her mother's  death, and she remained there, helping farm and telling stories to the villagers about Markless life in other areas.

Agriculture
Because the Village of the Valley is located in the midst of the Appalachians, the residents have developed a system of terrace farming for subsistence. They cut flat areas into the hillsides and then braced them up, creating more space to plant crops. In rocky or overly steep areas, they planted apple trees.

This system provides enough food for the villagers to live on, but they have no extra food. Weather problems, if they lead to insufficient crop growth, could easily destroy the Village of the Valley.