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When I first started thinking about castle towns in the Known World of Blueholme, I was looking at real-world medieval English villages for inspiration. However, I soon realised that such defenceless settlements would never be able to survive, much less thrive, as outposts of the Realm in the Wilderness. Furthermore, the haphazard growth of development didn’t sit well with the idea that the Realm represented Law, and thus order.
Enter another real-world model, this time closer to my present home: the walled villages of southern China. These clan settlements were exactly what I needed. Their regular layouts, complete with walls, iron gates, and watchtowers, were much more evocative of the fantasy world which is slowly being born out of the BLUEHOLME™ rules.
This has nothing to do with taking my thesis students to study this place today. That their research is leading them in this direction is entirely coincidental. 😉
Dreamscape Design 
It does strike as more of a fantasy theme than the ole medieval village doesn’t it?
Seeing that the wilderniss is NOT a save place to be in any D&D world, it would make sense for people to impose at least some order on their living space. Consider it stolen in my campaign. I am still trying to find a group for my Blueholme kingmaker campaign but it is slow going. At least in the mean time I have time to flesh it out.