Vrethka was not a place of peace. It never had been.
Most villages were not in peace. They always fought each other. It was a Game for Thrones in this region, a brutal, unforgiving place where survival was never guaranteed.
The villages and tribes that dotted the landscape were locked in a constant struggle for power, resources, and land. There was no such thing as lasting peace, only brief pauses between conflicts.
The setting was such that you were basically cooked nonetheless.
Be too weak, and a more stronger village beside you would come and claim your land. They would see your weakness as an opportunity, a chance to expand their territory without facing serious resistance.
Your people would be killed or enslaved, your resources taken, and your homes burned to the ground. It didn't matter if you had done nothing to provoke them; weakness was its own provocation.
