The Village

While this is not the only small town in the premises, it is the first one ever built—that we know at least, and even if there is others in the unexplored area, these is the first one induced by our intervention.

When the company first started, all the employees lived on the main building, and we got everything we needed. Of course, nobody ever has everything they want, but we had a lot of that too. When we noticed that, despite the good light and the inner gardens, many people preferred to spent time outside even with the—low, but existent—risk of facing a dangerous ghost, the boss decided that it was safer to build a park for them.
Have I mentioned that Shards have different natures? Some are good to create weapons, cursed forests, mines that hold as many riches as dangers, all sorts of monsters... Others are eager to become gorgeous animals, cozy houses, inspiring gardens, or even food. Most of them are more on the versatile side, and made the perfect fuel to keep everything working, but those that have certain inclinations are difficult to manipulate unless you are guiding them in their preferred direction.
Sometimes alike shards gather in an area, and those who understand them can just find that place and give the reunited shards a little push. That's what he did to make the park. He didn't even build it entirely, just gave the shards and the people to build whatever they pleased, and it worked great. He worked harder to create a safe path and a few portals to connect the main building and the park.
Once they had access to this area, some employees asked for permission to live here. They would invest all their free time building and enjoying not only the park, but fields to produce their own food, and little wall-less buildings that allowed them to cook and share meals. It was only natural that their houses where there too. That way they could build it not only with all they needed, but also with some things that they wanted but weren't convenient in the building.
Shards in the area molded to those little luxuries, most of them related with big lovely gardens full of color and noisy creatures.
With time, other employees moved here. They weren't gardeners but they had complex wants that needed more space, or a little distance from their neighbors to avoid any dispute about noises or smells. There were all kind of reasons, but they were welcomed by the gardeners.
Now the gardener's village, is simply the village, since all kind of people inhabit it.

Points of interest

The plaza

A nice place to pass the time or buy or have a meal if you want to try new things. Prices aren't really high, and is not difficult to get a discount or even some free goods, because the sellers don't depend on the income, they are simply Company employees who enjoy sharing what they love, whether it comes in the form of teachings, tools, or the results of their crafting and experimentation.
Most buildings are stores and may or may not include an apartment in the top, a huge house on the back, private gardens or well equiped workshops. Rest spots and decoration are all over the street and sidewalks, and there are a couple of public spaces where people can hang out, throw parties, give classes, etcetera.

The fields

The founders of the village didn't just enjoy having a nice garden with pretty flowers and bushes all around their house, they also had pretty peculiar taste on grains and fruit. Or maybe they just thought it was weird to eat magically induced manifestations of the shards and decided to grow their own food and quit meat forever, just in case don't remind them that the soil is made of shards too.
Either way, the fields may look ordinary but people around here find them interesting because... well, their charm is that they are ordinary to some extent. Most of the seeds used at the beginning were brought from the outside worlds and grew using methods that the employees had learn at home.

The park

The core and first building of the village, it used to be a small collection of gardens of different worlds blending somewhere in the middle, surrounded by a variety of buildings designed to either enjoy the view or to organize cultural events and meetings. There are similar spaces in the main building, but some employees needed fresh air and this area was brimming with the right shards for the job, only the first buildings and a few sculptures, gazebos and fountains where magically induced, the rest grew as the shards were influenced by the people and their activities.
It has changed little in the last century, which indicates that most shards in the area are already taking part of a manifestation and they have reached balance.

Underground library

Every world has a kind of establishment where limits are a little blurry, allowing people to party hard and maybe even show their... feral side. Bars, arenas, virtual realities, secret saloons and, in a world not much different from yours, libraries.
It's not a misuse of the word or some kind of metaphor, the place is a library in somebody's basement. There is too many people passing through the living-room and garden when it's open, and the rest is totally of-limits, so it's hard to determine who is the actual owner of the house, but the library is managed by the the reading club.
Some administrators want this place closed, but no harm is done... not permanently, at least.

Founders

The gardeners

Founding Date

Almost two centuries ago, today

Alternative Name(s)

The gardens

Type

Town

Population

292

Location under

The company's premises

Related Traditions

• Residence assignation

Rulers

This settlement follows the rules of the company, and any decisions that affect the community are managed democratically

Defenses

Not required

Architecture

The buildings in the village are a big reminder of how similar civilizations are in all worlds and times. Houses may be smaller of bigger, and a lot of them are too cubic for my liking—which is probably the reason why they require unnecessarily complex materials—,but all in all, they are very similar: spacious, surrounded by gardens according to the inhabitants tastes and culture. It's all quite varied, but at the same time, there are enough things in common for them to look nice next to each other. In some areas, though, probably due to the nature of the shards or the open minds of the inhabitants, all houses look the same, and some people said that they are a mix between architectures of different cultures. An interesting thing about the village, is that everything is made to please, not to be useful like the rooms in the main building. Yes, houses provide shelter and fields are awesome for plants to grow healthy, but the personal touch is about appearances and emotion instead of practical sense. There are even some unnecessary annoyances that people would complain about, but those things remind them something important to them.

Tourism

This is the safest place for outsiders to have fun, and hosts encourage potential clients to expend here their waiting time. Of course, they could go back home, but they don't want to; and they aren't in the best conditions to go to the forest and potentially gain a new fear or sorrow. Even clients that insist in exploring the forest prefer to come here to rest a eat. The lodgings are not as personalized for them as the ones we offer in the main building, but many enjoy a less familiar experience, especially those who are hopeful and don't see everything through the lens of grief.