An accurate map of KANE, circa 1720

[Pixie]

This one took quite some time.. from an original "mess-about" to its final shape, many months.

I think the WIP is a good read, if you like those sort of things. If not, here's the result:

Kane_1720_FINAL(small).jpg
Roughly around 1Mb in size.. I've got a 33Mb version for myself

Credits:
Fonts by Igino Marini
The mountains are purpose made brushes, cropped from this map.
Large art taken from historical maps downloaded from David Rumsey collection: this one and this one

[waldronate]

I have always been fond of the colorized woodcut style of map, but everyone always seems to want the nice, clean colored edges for political boundaries. If you look at the borders on period maps, the colors look like they were drawn on top of a cheaply-produced map by a bored intern with a pen and some ink (or maybe a crayon). That is, of course, exactly what happened! The base woodcut was monochrome and the colored bits were added by hand afterward.

It's a nice piece of work that you have here, but it just fails the period authenticity test for me.

[Pixie]

If you look at the borders on period maps, the colors look like they were drawn on top of a cheaply-produced map by a bored intern with a pen and some ink (or maybe a crayon).

I know... I know... it pains me in that sense. There are also a number of other tweaks and bits that I am uncapable of, simply put...

At a point, I just gave up on the authenticity to be honest. The road to perfection was a dead-end in this case, so I just aimed at a balance between period and "coolness". It was the only road which worked, in my opinion, and I was/am in love with this map too much to let it end up unfinished.

[Pixie]

I had also promised some lore, so here goes some stuff:

The huge savannah type valley that encompasses the rivers of Nome and Kane was one of the craddles of mankind. Although discussion is not yet settled, it may have been the actual birthplace of the species. Men roamed and populated the huge continent of Acur, but the belt of like climate for the agricultural cultures of Kane is strictly confined by desert to the northwest, high mountains to the north and jungle and a mighty river (the Illid) to the East. This generated a very self-centred culture quite early, with the earlier cities, the earliest centralized states, the earliest organized armies, etc..

Over time, of course, Kane linked itself to the exterior, yet, the cultural basis of the people never lost this self-perception of centrality. In terms of geography, Kane City, where the rivers Kane and Nome merge, is, for all purposes, the center of the world. Every empire that rose and fell, over millenia, in this region was based somewhere in the area of Kane City.

Very much like Earth, the 15th and 16th centuries were an era of expansion and maritime discovery for a few in this world. In this era, Kane was a late arrival, yet, as a centralized power house, it still had big say in the colonization that followed. However, this was to be the start of its downfall, and the map which you have in front of you, the last breath of a giant about to crumble.
Civil and religious divisions sparked from increased commerce, increased science and increased distance from the capital. In a lightning fast period of time, from about 1650 to 1700, Kane lost all its colonies, heightned the religious dependency of its politics to a near theocratic state, dramatically increased its army both in numbers and in quality, saw cities burnt to the ground and immense variations in population.

By 1739, when this map is produced, the emperors of Kane held their power by a continuous juggling of internal wars and external expansion. The Empire of Kane was based on the god-like Right of the Emperor, but he was very dependant on the Church. However, the maintenance of the status-quo, hardly achieved after internal civil wars and the independence of all the colonies, dependend on keeping the super powerful Kings and Dukes busy with expansion, succession quarrels or whatever.
(You can imagine a mix of French Absolutism with an efficient and expanding Inquisition, but in a militaristic stance much more in tune with Prussia-to-Bismarck ways, all this "just-hanging" like a late Holy Roman Empire.)

The Treaty of Espaud, which the map refers to, was a truce signed after a successful expansion war against the kingdoms Duodyn and Jinnan, where the state Illyda was an ally to Kane. Illyda was, at the time, a puppet-state to Jofar IV, the Prince of Espaud, heir to the Empire. Jofar IV was to become the last emperor of Kane. During his lifetime large swathes of land were lost in the West Coast and, with his death, an ugly succession war ended the expansionist period forever.

[Sapiento]

Excellent old style map.

[arsheesh]

Very nice! Great mountains. The font works well with this piece too. Everything looks great.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[ChickPea]

I think this is a lovely map and and it gets a well-deserved rep!

[Ilanthar]

Very good map, with a successful care for the details.

[Diamond]

Simply a great map. I watched it unfold over the last months and each step was a little better than the last. Lots of respect for sticking with it!

[tilt]

lovely map, love the colors and great sense of details - consider your self repped and keep up the good work