how does the setting play a role in the events in the novel

"The Ruins of Gorlan" is set in the fictional Kingdom of Araluen. Most of the novel takes place in the Redmont Fief. It is the fief of Baron Arald. The people of the fief are protected by the Baron, his knights and the Ranger, Holt.

Will and his ward mates reside in the Castle Redmont until they are fifteen. They are then apprenticed to craftspeople in the Fief. Will goes to live with the Ranger, Halt, in his cottage. The cottage is quite a distance from the castle and its surrounding village. It is on the edge of the forest under the shelter of the trees. Halt trains Will to become a Ranger in the forest. He learns how to track, archery, and how to become invisible so that he can spy without being seen.