Welcome!
The Cartographers’ Guild is a forum created by and for map makers and aficionados, a place where every aspect of cartography can be admired, examined, learned, and discussed. Our membership consists of professional designers and artists, hobbyists, and amateurs—all are welcome to join and participate in the quest for cartographic skill and knowledge.
Although we specialize in maps of fictional realms, as commonly used in both novels and games (both tabletop and role-playing), many Guild members are also proficient in historical and contemporary maps. Likewise, we specialize in computer-assisted cartography (such as with GIMP, Adobe apps, Campaign Cartographer, Dundjinni, etc.), although many members here also have interest in maps drafted by hand.
If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ. You will have to register before you can post or view full size images in the forums.
Originally Posted by waldronate A lot of economically important minerals (lead, copper, silver, gold, tin, zinc, etc.) are associated with hydrothermal systems, as are many types of gems (beryls like emeralds, oxide gems like sapphires, and silica gems such opals are commonly formed in hydrothermal systems; diamonds are not). Hydrothermal systems come in a number of forms, but the basic idea is that hot water dissolves out soluble things like the common metals and sulfur in the hot areas and deposits them in cooler ...
Originally Posted by Adversary Gold is usually found with quartz (but unfortunately not the other way around) and granite which is are igneous materials so there would have to have been some magma near the surface of the earth. I have also heard that some gold was found in meteor impacts but I can't believe that would be a major source. Marble on the other hand is metamorphosed sedimentary rock high in carbonates (think limestone). The original limestone was formed on a seabed with lots of shell forming creatures. ...
Updated 10-27-2014 at 06:44 PM by xeyla
As noted in the New Members area, I am new to cartography, but am working on a fairly large and elaborate set of maps and pieces for a complex fantasy world of my design. Many years ago, I started to put a map like this together, by brute force: I scanned a set of maps from the Atlas of Imaginary Places (all one style, and nice), removed all the place names and some other elements, and then glued them together. That was fine, but pretty crude, and lots of things weren't just as I wanted them. Well ...
Hi all Just thought I'd let you know that I have just written a new blog post about the development of the map for Battle Mage, my forthcoming fantasy book. You can find the post here... http://www.peterflannery.co.uk/blog Hope you like it and please feel free to leave any comments. Sorry I've been away for so long but so much to do and so few bain cells to do it with! Cheers The Flanston (Peter)
I’ve posted a few of my maps and more humorous blogs here, but I thought I’d take a moment to talk about one of my favorite more serious characters. He’s an assassin, like my lead character Shade, but he is a ballsy and chillingly capable rival who is a true threat to Shade’s crown as world’s top assassin. I call him Raithe and he’s got quite the tongue on him. Let’s begin with a quote from the man’s very lips: “Of course, I don’t have so widely esteemed reputation as you, Shade, ...