The mountains at the top of the world stretch so high in the sky that no one has ever climbed them. There is no air to breathe at the peaks; it is cold enough that it doesn’t snow, and the ice that forms on the glacier between them is said to be completely clear.

In a deep, deep valley beneath that glacier the sky looks blue or gray or yellow depending on cloud cover at the top of the world. For most who live in the valley, the color of the sky is just a novelty of their lives, for the valley is always temperate. They have no need of thermometers. There may be subtle changes in temperature on yellow sky or gray sky days, but not so one would notice.

There is no rain. Most nights and some days a fine mist falls. Water condenses on the mountains walls and runs in rivulets into streams that feed the river.

The valley is deep and heated by thermal wells at the South end. The soil in the center of the valley is volcanic, black and rich. A river which starts high in the mountains to the North runs through the valley; a dramatic waterfall high up is just visible from the valley floor in the northeast, if you walk the days walk from the village in the southwest. Most children make this overnight trek with a parent in their youth, and once alone at their majority.

There is a small forest of evergreen trees, and a few fruit and nut bearing trees to the west, which is sacred ground for the villagers. It is a place to express their gratitude for gathered fruit, grubs, and deadfall branches used for kindling to start the village black rock fires and to reinforce walls of the stone and gray clay brick houses in the village.

Life in the village is simple. Everyone has a calling. There are growers, gatherers, makers, and guards. Some are called to their vocation early. Some try their hands at many roles, and some take their direction from the Grandmothers Council.

The masters pass on the knowledge and skills of their calling to the young novices. The seven of the Grandmothers Council regularly reinforce the Code to all:

Every One of Us Is All of Us

Only What You Need; Protect the Seed

Reuse, Renew, Repurpose

 If New, Build for Grandchildren’s Grandchildren’s Grandchildren

Guard the Gate.

No one had come to the gate in time upon time remembered, but the old people still told the origin story of the People of the Valley, as they called themselves.

The first People of the Valley were gatherers working underground to gather black rock in the mountains to the East. It was hard work, as gathering always is. These gatherers used metal tools and loaded carts that ran on rails; these metals are the ancestors of our tools today (Reuse, Renew, Repurpose).

There were many gatherers, men and women, and they worked under men who measured their work, and beat them with whips if they fell below “quota.” They were fed a gruel that came in by cart on the metal rail. They worked many long days by lantern and torchlight; sleeping in the tunnels; they often did not know the day from the night. Then they were carted to the light, to wash and rest for a day or two, before beginning to gather in the tunnels again.

One day a gatherer struck the wall with a pick and a seam of shiny yellow rock glinted in the torchlight. That rock drove the whippers crazy. They wanted more and more of it and brought exploding powder to blast it from the rockface. Some gatherers rose up and killed whippers, stuffing their packs and pockets with the yellow rock.

They grabbed a large amount of the exploding powder and made a big explosion that caused the roof of the tunnel to fall. Eleven gatherers, seven women and four men were trapped in a chamber inside the mountain. They had the gruel cart and water. The side of the chamber from which they came was blocked by a hard grey solid rock, but the wall behind them was mostly soft black rock.  They worked on that face in the lamplight and just when they realized they were running out of air, one pick struck the face, and light and air streamed in.

The Eleven became the first People of the Valley. They climbed down from the Gate. They gathered food. For a long time, they heard the explosions inside the mountains. They talked and talked of being rescued, until they didn’t anymore.

The Valley was good to them. There were berries, and some fruits and nuts to eat. There was a grass that grew on the Valley floor that could be roasted and ground. There was rock and gray clay for bricks. The seven women became a council because all the men wanted them. Even now, when the numbers of men and women are more equal, women decide the love acts and breeding. In time, the women’s council became the Grandmothers Council.

The Grandmothers Council realized that nothing in the Valley was limitless, and so the Code was born. The young were taught that to hurt one was to hurt all, but to go out of your way to be kind to one was a kindness to the entire community.

The People of the Valley gathered berries and grubs. They grew the grasses and some edible plants. They bred children, but always protected the seed. They reused the metal from the original carts and tools. They learned to forge with the black rock fire. They once built shelters of the wood from the forest, until someone cut down a fruit tree. After that the forest became sacred ground.

Many years ago, three men used explosive powder to break through the east wall at the Gate. They stumbled into the opening they had created, descended to the Valley floor, and came to the village. They were welcomed and fed.

They told the People of the Valley they were looking for the yellow rock. They brought explosive powder with them, and suggested that the men of the valley help them look. The People of the Valley told them there was no yellow rock there; these men did not believe them.

One night these men attacked a woman and forced the love act upon her. They were questioned by a guard, and brought before the Grandmothers Council. They made excuses. They were killed. Their bodies were consecrated as feast for the village, bone tools, and fertilizer for the grain.

Gatherers sealed the breach in the Gate with the explosive powder and it has been guarded for generations since.