June/July 2014 Lite Challenge - Jade Mountain Pass

[Meshon]

Edit: Just to clarify, what I'm trying to do is end up with a map of a ruin that has a history, based on several periods where significant things happened to the site. To that end, each WIP post (other than this first one) will be a new time period. I think they'll vary from a few hundred years to just a decade or so. Still trying to figure out what to do when I need the final map to display... So if you have time, check through and see how the Jade Mountain Pass changes!

The Jade Mountain Pass was long known to be a place where the barrier between this realm and the Throne of Creation was often permeable, and so it was that the Architect Priests of the Porphyran Empire chose this place for their tombs, carved from the solid rock of the cliffs on the west side of the pass. Each priest was mummified and placed in a symbolic throne which faced a false door, the latter representing the doorway to the Throne of Creation through which the deceased priest would pass. As well, each priest was accompanied by sacrificial slaves for which three chambers were prepared, where the bodies of warriors, scribes, and servants would be stacked like cordwood. Elite warriors were chosen to guard the pass from those who might attempt to steal the wealth and scrolls of knowledge that accompanied the Architect Priests to their graves. As the priests were so long-lived, only six were laid to rest in the cliff-face tombs before their order was overthrown in the viciously-fought Portalist Revolt.

### Latest WIP ###
Jade-Mountain-Pass-plan.jpg

I'm having another go with my tablet. I'm still not sure if I'm going to continue drawing the river banks the same way through the whole map, but I'm pretty sure I'll stick with black and white.

It's not a ruin yet, but each WIP post (thereabouts) will be a new time period. I'm hoping to have the Jade Mountain Pass go through several periods of change before the "present".

cheers,
Meshon

[Francissimo]

Welcome to the challenge meshon Cool start, the style of your "towers" is already great, impatient to see more!

[Bogie]

Nice work Meshon, looking forward to see where you go with this.

[Meshon]

I figured since everything after this will build on this base map I'd work a bit more on it. I'm accepting (though not totally satisfied with) the river and the little bits of grass and stone scattered around. I've realized that working in black and white (and gray I guess) means you have to find things to fill in the space! So this is still the first stage, taking place about 1000 years after the founding of the Porphyran Empire. A thousand years of those nasty Architect Priests has to come to an end soon!

### Latest WIP ###
Jade-Mountain-Pass-plan.jpg

I'm just trying out this style, and by "style" I mostly mean seeing how much I can do with my little tablet and pen, so critique is certainly welcome.

cheers,
Meshon

[Francissimo]

you're already doing really good stuff with your tablet, the stones and shadows are nice.

[Meshon]

First, an update of the initial map. I think it's got all the elements I want on it (this doesn't count, so I won't label it as a WIP entry):
Jade-Mountain-Pass-1.jpg

And the continuing story:
The Portalists espoused a radical new philosophy. Unlike the Architect Priests, who claimed the right to enter the Throne of the Architects as theirs alone, the Portalists believed that anyone who was properly prepared and knowledgeable might be able to find their way to the Throne. Not only that, but they went so far as to claim that one did not have to ascend to that realm after death but could enter it alive and return with the knowledge of the gods themselves. Of course this idea threatened the absolute power held by the ruling class and so, naturally, there was war. The revolution proved very popular; the Portalist philosophy not only raised the status of the common citizen, it also promised release from centuries of slavery. Within two years the priests were overthrown, and their tombs in the Jade Mountain Pass were buried by the jubilant and recently-freed slaves.

Sadly the democratic ideals of the Portalist leaders did not last much beyond the destruction of the priests' dictatorship. The elite among the Portalist faction installed themselves as Emperors and immediately turned the resources of the empire towards getting themselves into the Throne. Most were unsuccessful and so they built mausoleums in the pass, certain that if they could not reach the Throne in life they would still ascend to that realm after death, like the priests before them. However, a few emperors did manage to ascend in life, or so it was believed; none of them ever reappeared after passing through the portals they constructed. Some went alone, others with companions. Most notable of these was Virnak the Unyielding, who passed through his portal along with six thousand soldiers and as many more civilians in his train. Though the Emperors' rule persisted for almost three centuries, the unpredictable disappearance of its rulers did not bode well for the stability of the Empire itself.

### Latest WIP ###
Jade-Mountain-Pass-2.jpg

As always, critique is welcome. I'm doing this to learn, after all!

cheers,
Meshon

[Meshon]

Doh! Forgot the shadow on the southern gate house...

I'm hoping to complete two more maps, one more period of settlement and then a final map with the Jade Mountain Pass in its final ruined (and ready for adventure) state.

I had thought (and said) that each WIP post would be a completed map of the next stage of (de)evolution but I think as I work on ruining the second iteration I may post more maps that are actually of my work in progress.

[jkat718]

I'm liking both the style of these maps and the backstory behind it. Great job, Meshon!

[Meshon]

Well, some raiders burned down the first keep and had a go at one of the mausoleums. I'll write it up proper once I get the whole map sorted. Drawing rubble is my new achilles heel. Like doing roof shingles, I searched in vain for some way to do it more quickly, like with a brush or something, and so far by hand is the way that I get the results I like the best. Here's a zoom of the ruined parts.

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 8.39.27 PM.png

cheers,
Meshon

[Francissimo]

Nice WIP Meshon, and the idea to represent the evolution of your map through time is really cool