Gardens of Evening

Bathed in the light of the perpetually-setting sun, the Gardens of Evening appear as a seemingly infinite shifting maze of gardens, containing strange and wondrous things around every corner. One might encounter such things as a herd of talking deer within a copse of ancient oak trees; an ornamental pond a mile wide and ten miles long in which dwells a kraken, ancient and vast; a hothouse of glass and silver in which grow plants capable of healing any form of malady; a fountain of cracked marble whose crystal-clear water, if drunk, shall wash away all painful memories; a terrace flanked with ivy-covered statues of long-forgotten gods; or any number of stranger things besides. Though the Gardens contain many dangers - which are often of a most subtle kind - they are above all places of wonder and imagination.
The shades that are drawn to the Gardens of Evening are generally found wandering its terraces; though such things as thirst, hunger, and fatigue must still be tended to, it is almost always possible to forage for palatable food and find safe places to rest within the Gardens. Those who by conflict or mishap become gravely injured seem to fade into a little heap of dry leaves at the point that they would die, and invariably awaken some time later in a different part of the Gardens, healed of all wounds. Navigating the gardens is difficult, for one path or doorway may not necessarily lead to same place every time that it is followed - though those travelling together are, at least, rarely separated - nonetheless, there are certain methods by which those who know the ways of the Gardens can predict and influence the destinations of the paths that they follow.
There are a handful of settlements - if one could call them such - within the Gardens of Evening, usually to be found in places where food and water are easily available, or there is some other especially beneficial thing to be found. In these places dwell organised bands of a few dozen shades - and occasionally mortals who have somehow found themselves in the Gardens - who often have access to curious and unique forms of magic; a few are able to provide maps of the Gardens which are at least somewhat accurate, and are highly prized by those who wish to roam the gardens in search of something specific.
The Savu often claim that their ancient goddess, Vesper, dwells within the Gardens of Evening, and that the realms of the other deities of their pantheon can be reached from through the gardens should one know the way through the labyrinthine paths. Others speculate that the Gardens of Evening are connected to the realm known as the Shattered Forest, but the precise nature of this connection is obscure.

Type

Dimensional plane