Tali'hera - worldmap

[pandahart]

This map is hung on the east wall of the Dreaming Room in the Tanaret, the Starred Library of Dasai, the capital of Tanin, a kingdom of Esurai, a continent of Tali'hera.

<-- "History" lesson -->
The Tanaret houses copies of all the books the Lelalai people have ever written or come across during their travels. Many of these books are from times and places that the people of Esurai, let alone the people of their kingdom, have no knowledge of. In order to prevent the general public from acquiring knowledge it should have, the Lelalai built the Tanaret, and buried deep in the most heavily-protected vaults, lies the Dreaming Room. The room is named for the Dreaming Realm, from which the Lelalai migrated (the Greater Migration) at the end of the Corpse Years (their migration ended the 200 year Corpse Flood). The Lelalai are capable of seeing things across 7 of the 8 Realms through dreams and mirrors, but cannot influence anything or anyone - they are as ghosts in the worlds they do not belong to. They can, however, collect information, and do so with relish. Any Lelalai with the proper credentials and under the watchful eye of the Librarian can access the Dreaming Room, but information cannot be removed and Orders of Silence are strictly enforced.
<-- End "History" Lesson -->

The map features all four continents and their names (black outlined text), the names of the oceans & seas (blue outlined text), and the four directions (north in red, east in blue, south in yellow, and west in purple). The constellations in the corners are (from top-left clockwise), the eye in the north, the dreamer in the east, the Ga'udat (GAH-[glottal stop]-oo-daht) in the west, and the Arokat (AH-row-kaht) in the south. The flowers are called Dentame (DEHN-tah-mee) and grow at the feet of the volcano east of the Singing Sea (next to which Dasai is built); they are very rare and prized for their sun-golden petals.

The script is of my own devising and is used to write nearly everything in Tanin. Foreign words are written in this script, and entire texts can be as well, although of course they can't be understood so they're usually just translated. The script can be written either horizontally or vertically, and important words (such as the directions and place names) are contained between two lines (vertical for horizontal text, horizontal for vertical text). The script here on this map has been used to write Lelai (the language of the Lelalai) - a language which is still woefully incomplete.

*Part of the creation process can be seen here:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=5502

[nolgroth]

I like this as a piece of art more than as a map. I see it as the kind of thing I show my PCs and say "this is on the wall of the Royal Sage's office wall." Don't get me wrong, I think it is absolutely gorgeous. Well done and thanks for sharing.