World Map - Looking for Suggestions & Critiques

[AudereEstFacere]

Hi all, I'm currently working on this map to go along with something I'm writing. Whenever I get writer's block I just come back and put some time into the map. As it stands, I have a large portion of the map drawn out. Most of the names that are on the map are for keeps, some are just placeholders that will likely be changed. As you can see, the north and east haven't received the attention of the main land.

Anyways, what I'd like you to comment on/critique is mostly geography. I wanted much of the land to be temperate with the southeast (Talacian Coast) to be a coastal desert. I also wanted to throw a fens (a la the Fenlands in East England) somewhere in the map, but I'm not sure where would make the most sense. Finally, I was wondering if you guys could provide some suggestions as to how to depict the "Green Sea," and the cliffs/bluffs/fall line that makes up the edge of the "Sea" on the map. For your assistance, I have described it in my writing as:

"The Green Sea stretched away forever, rippling in the soft eastern breeze as wavelets in a puddle would. The stalks of the grass slapped against the base of the cliff, seeming to lap against it like a surf. It seemed boundless and unbroken, stretching beyond the horizons in his entire field of vision. The most unsettling part of all was the consistency of the thing, it appeared to rise to exactly the same height as far as he could see. The feeling that he was gazing upon a great green sea was complete, down to the rough wind in his hair and the reflection of the sun's rays on the stalks as if it were water."

I know that my style of mapmaking is pretty plain, but I just can't work with any of those other programs.

Thanks in advance for any comments, critiques, suggestions, or other help!



BlankMap2-Names-2.jpg

[jfrazierjr]

Ok.. so just to clarify, the green sea is not in actuality water, but some type of grass? Also, where exactly is the demarcation line of the sea/bluffs/cliffs and which direction(ie, left is higher or right is higher)

[AudereEstFacere]

Yes, the "Green Sea" (previously named the Sea of Grass) is made of grass. It's the only non/less-than realistic feature of my geography. It is composed of 3 meter high grass that effectively creates barrier that is so inconvenient to pass through that it is treated as impassable to whatever lies east of the map. It's very large and supports no natives, just flora and fauna. It is also largely flat. The cliff/ridge line will be roughly at the marker called "Edgehall." To the east of that is the grass/lower, west of that are higher altitudes.

Also, if anyone could advise me how to put a thumbnail into the original post, i'd be happy to do that.

[jfrazierjr]

Click the Go Advanced button at the bottom of the post. Then, you will see a manage attachments button further down on that page. That opens a popup window where you can upload files from your local machine or another URL and that will create the thumbnail and full size image on the CG site...

[cantab]

I think for fens you want somewhere very flat, low-lying, and with a reasonably amount of rainfall. There should be rivers running through it too, and maybe some scattered hills - low compared to mountains elsewhere, but enough to be prominent and dry, and thus be likely settlement locations.

Maybe Anatahan would be a good place? It's a blank area now. Perhaps have some rivers running down from the hills into the Band Sea, make them meander quite a lot. If you want the fens to have been drained by people, also add some dead-straight canals linking some of the rivers.

Is this Inkscape work? The coastlines look like what Inkscape's fractalise tool can give.

[AudereEstFacere]

I think for fens you want somewhere very flat, low-lying, and with a reasonably amount of rainfall. There should be rivers running through it too, and maybe some scattered hills - low compared to mountains elsewhere, but enough to be prominent and dry, and thus be likely settlement locations.

Maybe Anatahan would be a good place? It's a blank area now. Perhaps have some rivers running down from the hills into the Band Sea, make them meander quite a lot. If you want the fens to have been drained by people, also add some dead-straight canals linking some of the rivers.

Is this Inkscape work? The coastlines look like what Inkscape's fractalise tool can give.

This is indeed Inkscape. The fractalize tool is probably my favorite thing ever for generating landmasses.

As a geology nerd, maybe you can tell me: are fens generally coastal? also, if drained, do fens generally provide good agricultural land?

[Ascension]

Anywhere around the Band Sea is good to me or eastern Pithany around lake Hov but I think that my fave spot would be Shold. Otherwise, the geography looks good to me.

[cantab]

Not sure whether they're always coastal; I think flat land is the main requirement. And yes, drained fens are very good for agriculture.

[AudereEstFacere]

So does anyone have an idea as to how to depict the Green Sea, which is essentially a giant plain with grass so tall it makes it all but impossible to pass through?

[Ascension]

Unless you want to draw a million curved lines to depict the grasses I say it's fine left blank or maybe just some wording to describe it as you just did.