WIP - Historical Map of Glenndom Continent - The Wallungian Empire 9th Century

[randigpanzrall]

Dear community,

my other projects stepped in the background for a while and I decided to create a historical map of the continent of Glenndom, showing a special period of time in the past, where the Great Wallungian Empire was build and expanded. Starting - as usual - from the Adobe Illustrator scalebale map I want to create am map, which could be a part of a modern historical atlas, showing the past...

Please take a look. Tips and Comments are recommended of course...

continent guild.jpg

in the top left corner a comparison of a part of central Europe

[randigpanzrall]

The first step is adapting the map into photoshop or a similar programm. So I first translatet the coloured map into the coastlines and rivers flowing. Just click on the thumbnail, because the lines are not too visible in it

continent guild 2.jpg

and adding the water...

continent guild 3.jpg

[randigpanzrall]

Today I added the mountains, because they a a major thing in deviding the continent into countries and areas. I created them as a special layer which later will be added on top of the political map, so that it´s visually supporting the map and brings a little life to the "flat" map. I´m not sure, but the mountains will be with more ore less visibility, than in actual map. I´m not too happy with it because I´m not really an expert in creating mountains..so when anyboda got a good tutorial or solution or post, please let me know.

The next step will be to make some sketches on the earlier history, so that you can define the "todays" borders of the historic map. These sketches will show, how the status quo grows out of history, where the tribes, people and races lived an live today...

continent guild 4.jpg

[randigpanzrall]

This one sketch is about an earlier century and reflects the humanlike inhabitants. Outlined in green are the regions whereto the elvish population has withdrawn by the time. There´s remaining one bigger region in the northern middle of the map, where the woodland-elves found their retreat area and where they founded a thoroughly strong and independet kind of elvish kindgom under the rule of King Saeldor. The other areas populated by the elves are more or less retreat areas of smaller and loosely communities under changing Kings - or even without a King.

The areas outlined in red are the areas with dwarfen population mainly. That is a large area in the central mountains of Glenndom. These area is populated by 90% of dwarfes, which were devided in some hundred smaller or bigger communities. Most of them are kingdoms, the smallest one with an area of just some 50 square kilometers. Some communities were ruled by families, clans or brotherhoods, the dwarfes of Glenndom are quite inventive and heterogeneous with their way of living together. Outside this large area, wich was much larger in the past, are some areas, mainly in the eastern panhandle of Glenndom. Even there, the dwarfes found creative ways of living together - and sometimes "against each other" (and the rest of course) Dwarfen communities are not easy to be classified, some are friendly to humans, some are trading with humans. Most of the dwarfes don´t like humans too much, but with few exceptions, they all don´t like the elves..

Outlined in black are the regions with dark breeds like dark elves, orks, claw-dwarfes and other creatures. Not much known is of them and humans, dwarfes and elves avoid contact with them. In the past, the elves fought serious wars against the dark races, in times when the elves were the undisputed rulers of Glenndom, and so today the dark breed is decimated and spread over the continent. The shown areas are not automatically populated too strong, in some it´s possible for humans to cross them without getting contact. It´s more or less an area, where it´s more probably to meet some bad guys than outside this area. Especially in the south and north, the shown areas are more populated and you better bypass these areas spaciously.

The areas not outlined are either populated by humans or not populated.

continent guild 4b.jpg

[randigpanzrall]

This one sketch is showing an event on Glenndom continent, which is of high importance for the historical map itself.

It shows a period of about 100 to 200 years. The Great Empire of Ithil has founded a supremacy over the continent for about 600 years before and was the undefeated and undisputed leader on Glenndom continent, not only by military power but even whith cultural acquisitions and economical expansion, attracting other peoples from outside too. The Ithil Empire (outlined in red) was the only State object in Glenndom despite of the Elven Kingdom of Saeldor and some smaller dwarven Kingdoms. Beyond the northern borders are lying territories of some smaller but even some larger human tribes, who originally came out of the higher north. Some of them are cooperating and coexisting with the Ithilain Empire for many years, like the Wallungs, the Alberichs, the Vasdals and even the Terwings.

Glenndom was in a kind of fragile balance, where the ithilian rule was not challenged and when ithilian troops try to expand into the south east.

It was in the fourth century, when a large number of barbarian equestrian warriors and their entourage invaded Glenndom from the adjacent continent of Bralgar. Some hundred thousand warriors crossed the great Mountains of Cracknang, smashing the dwarven and elvish areas and then attacking the Greutungs, Terwings and Allands. Those were not prepared for an attack of this dimension and so they were defeated and subjugated quite fast. Some hundred thousand Greutungs and Terwings escaped into the south, crossing the borders of the Ithil Empire, whose miltary was overwhelmed with this (remeber, 50% of the troops were in south east campaign at this time)

The overpowering Barbarians, the so called "Chindras", continued their fory into the west, attacking the Geppiks, the Suebes, the Vasdales and even Saeldors elven-kingdom. Those human tribes came into motion and who ever could manage, fleed into direction of the Ithil Empire, from whom they expected help and asylum. Even those tribes, who were not directly attacked became into movement and so a great migration started across the whole northern border. This migration of mainly martial groups with thousands and thousands of people, leaded by strong and determined leaders, totally shocked the Ithil Empire and in the end, destroyed it.

In the northernmost region of the Ithil Empire it was the tribe of the Wallungs, who crossed the borders and who had easy game to get new areas there. It were the Wallungs who were the largest winner in the end, because they conquered large areas and gained supremacy in this region very fast. So - after some more hundred years, the Wallung empire was the successor of the Ithil empire and became the strongest Kingdom in Glenndom, subjugating and soaking up many of the old tribes like the Aegerians, the Smalingers, the Borregunds etc.

continent guild 4c.jpg

[joaodafi]

I love these threads with much background, I'll keep watching.

[randigpanzrall]

Focussing again back to the main titel-map, I tried to create a little historic slideshow from the past to the maps present, showing how the Wallungs moved over the centuries and how they started to replace the Ithil Empire, which has been weaken so much, that it nearly collapsed totally into a kind of meaningless Kingdom.

The Wallungs formed long before, out of six to seven great tribes in the north. These tribes had some similarities in culture, language and origin and so they have grown together to the Wallungs under different an numerous kings and rulers. The Wallungs were attracted from the acquistions and chances which they saw in the Ithil empire and they started trading. The Ithilian politics assessed the Wallungs as friendly people and so they allowed the Wallungs to enter the Empire, take land there and be a part of the Empire. Not without behind thoughts - The Wallungs has to pay a price and change their multitheistic religions into the monotheistic religion and the men has to serve into the Ithilian army because the large Empire with it´s thousands of border-miles has to be protected and the expansion poltic of the Ithilian Emperor needed many troops.

So when the Chindras arrived and the tribes at the Ithilian borders went out of control even the Wallungs tooked the chance to move and to expand and looking back, the Wallungs were the most succesfull people, doing so. So in the end, the Ithilian Empire was decimated to some 20% of it´s original size and to some 30% of it´s military power, just enough to protect their small remnant kingdom (which in fact was overrunned some 50 years later by another threat from the southeast - but tha´s another story !

So I tryed to create an animated gif, showing the way over some 300 years of Ithilian and Wallungian history:

This was the start:

continent guild 4da Kopie.jpg

This was the movement: (animated gif)

[randigpanzrall]

Returning to the main map, I added a little shadow to the shore, attached the signs for significant fortifications like forteresses, fortified towers or important fenced military camps.
I also startet to create the first borders for this moment.

Most of the fortificated places had their origin in the Ithil empire, where they were build to protect the Empires borders. "Today" most of them became obsolete or were even teared down but some became of new importance.

continent guild 5.jpg

[randigpanzrall]

Today I added some of the borders. Now shown all politic objects with a kind of government like kingdoms, brotherhoods with an aeral claim, larger democratic communities with countrylike construction and identity. The regions, wich are not covered, have no certain identity, changing leaderships without constant territories or are even unsettled.

continent guild 5b.jpg

[Caenwyr]

um, has anyone ever told you you're mad? And I mean that in a positive way! Not often do you see a guy working on a map with such dedication. It's great, and your results are astonishing as well!

I love the landshapes you have going there. They suggest a very interesting geology, and the detail in them is impressive. It's just... well... While I have no remark whatsoever about MOST of your landshapes, I still feel like the eastern peninsula doesn't fit with the rest of the continent. The coastline seems doodled in, the mountains are everywhere (as opposed to the rest of the landmass where they're only in sensible places) and they seem to lack any kind of detail. Is this because you haven't gotten round to detailing that part of the map yet? Because if that's the case, you might consider just cutting it off and limiting the map to the parts that have gotten the attention they deserve .

Or is there an in-story explanation to how different that part of the map looks?