Setting

  Gathering Blue takes place in a society where the imperfect are cast out and left to die. The dead are left in a field, the Field of Leaving, and mourned for 4 days by their loved ones before being covered by a layer of dirt and left to waste away into nothing.

This is what I think the Field of Leaving looks like. Image courtesy of google.com  

   The community is ruled by the Council of the Guardians, who reside in the Council Edifice. They are like Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court all rolled into one.They are in charge of all important decisions. They, essentially, are the judge, jury, and executioner for the guilty, and the savior of the innocent.     The poor district of Kira's community is called the Fen. The people who live there talk with a strange accent and lilt, and are very poor. They have little food, and no money.
   The other district is the one Kira lives in at the beginning of the story. They are not significantly richer, but the cotts are nicer, and they have more food. The Council Edifice is situated here, as is the sewing hut, where the seamstresses work. Kira used to dream of working them, and hearing the clatter of the machines.
   The setting plays a very important role in the story. It shows why things happen the way they do, and why people act the way they do.