Most people live in small villages, which may house from five to thirty families. In the smallest villages, all living there may be closely related. What is written in this document holds true from Carrancoch in the north to Vacidonia in the south.
A village tends to be situated near some kind of aquifier (stream or well), as carrying water is hard work. Around the village are the fields belonging to it. Some fields are owned by the villagers, others by their liege, and others by the local temple. Some may be commons, shared by all the villages, and others may be owned by gentry and other landowners.
Most villages will have some sort of wall along its perimeter, usually with a moat as well. Whether it is constructed from logs or rubble, the wall is not meant as much to prevent entry as to hinder it. Intruders are vulnerable as they cross the wall, and have a hard time carrying anything out of the village without breaching the wall.
Within the wall, conditions tend to be crowded, with narrow streets of hard-packed earth winding between closely nested houses, separated by narrow alleys or not at all. The is at least one tree growing within the village, usually more. There may also be vegetable gardens, but these are mos commonly found outside the wall.
People live in houses which usually have only one story, plus a half-floor attic. The house usually only has one room, wherein the entire family lives. Houses are usually built from wood, with a thatched or wood-shingle roof. but other building materials are also used, including sod, uncut rock and brick. Preferences depend on the region. The floor is most often hard-packed dirt. Furniture may include a couple of chests, a board-and-trestle table and a few stools. The family head may have a chair. Cooking is done over a fireplace. While most farmers have proper brick fireplaces, peasants and really poor people make do without chimneys. Windows are usually shuttered, and the houses are usually dark, smoky, smelly and dirty.
Most families have at least one storage building, where foodstuffs, firewood, tools and fodder are stored, and a barn for their animals. Most families have at least one pig, and some poultry. Draft animals (horses or oxen) may be owned privately or shared between several households. Sheep and goats come close behind pigs in popularity, most families have a few. Milk cows and cattle held for meat are kept only by the well-to-do. Dogs and cats are kept against vermin and spirits, dogs are also good against larger and more corporal threats. There is little systematic breeding of any animal, though some nobles engage in such.
Most of what the villagers need, they make themselves.
All villages save the smallest will have a somewhat competent blacksmith, a priest and/or a witch and someone peddling ale.
A smithy is found in most villages, as iron tools, nails and horseshoes are always in use, and the making and repair of such requires much equipment and skill. The blacksmith tends to be better off than his neighbours, and is usually quite strong physically. In the smaller villages, they may also work as farmers on the side. Smithies are a typical meeting place, especially if the village lacks an alehouse. Smiths tend to have a small shrine to Hephaestus (Nin-Agal).
The witch serves as healer, midwife and arbitrator. She (or rarely, he) may also be the priest of the village, especially if the village worships Demeter as their foremost deity. If the priest and witch are not the same person, they tend to cooperate in sacral matters. Usually female and unmarried, the witch is respected and feared. Witches are more rare in the Confederation than elsewhere.
The priest is tasked with keeping the village in good standing with the deities and spirits. As the primary concern of the villagers tend to be the well-being of their crops, they find it most important to placate Demeter, as well as one or more weather gods (Jupiter, Oceanus, Sucullus). Most priests have one god as their "patron deity" but give offerings and prayer to other gods as needed.
Some countries have strong cults which try to get every village to accept members of their clergy as their sacral leaders, usually with the secular government's approval. Many villages who have such an "appointed" priest pay far more attention to the witch.
Doubtlessly the Grand Kingdom of Clemencia has the firmest practice in these matters, requiring every village to be sacrally supervised by a Abraxian-ordained priest. Decria comes a close second, with their omnipresent Apollonian priests. Algica, Avation and Dorannia have a very strong Jovian priesthood, while the other Frankish countries lack such central tendencies.
Villages of medium size or greater will usually have an tavern, where the farmers can drink ale and wine. Many commoners spend a sizable part of their income As a rule of thumb, most villages which are large enough to have a proper alehouse will also have a burgomeister (mayor, I just find the "burgomeister" term more satisfying). The burgomeister is an appointed or elected leader of villagers, who is responsible for the villages taxes. In some villages, the burgomeister is also responsible for the village's sacral responsibilities, but most villages have a separately appointed priest, or turn to a witch in these matters..
Larger villages usually have a miller. The importance of mills cannot be overstated, as people get nine tenths of their nutrition from bread, and grinding grain to flour is a vital trade. Millers are usually rich compared to their peers. Mills are usually found at the edge of or even outside a village, as they are driven by wind or waterwheels, and need immediate access to their power supply.
Typical skills for someone raised in a rural setting are Animal handling, Carpentry, Cooking, Farming and Naturalist.
Rural men may typically know the Bow, Axe/Mace, Spear and Sling skills, but though these are the typical rural weapons, and most households have at least a spear and an axe, not all men know how to use them.