The entries have been dusted polished and buffed to a shine. The time is upon us once again to judge between our fine stable of entrants. The winner will take home a golden compass, a pdf subscription to Kobold Quarterly and have their map published in Red Eye of Azathoth.

Remember that the map that wins must be judged not only on its attractiveness but also on how well it fulfills the art brief. The art brief includes very specific instructions. Please re-read these before you chose the map that you vote for:

Map Brief, Town of Iwaizumi, 1287 C.E. (1287 A.D.)
Red Eye of Azathoth, Chapter 2

This chapter is set in Iwaizumi, a small town in the northeastern part of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This part of the country is known as the “Tibet of Japan” – steep mountain valleys, rushing mountain streams, and winter snows make travel difficult.

Iwaizumi is intended to be a remote location in which the investigators are stuck by the winter snows. An inset region map showing the mountain road and valleys would be a nice touch but is not required by any means.

Iwaizumi is located at the junction of two rivers, one flowing east-west and one joining from the north. Two notable features outside Iwaizumi should be noted on the map, at least as directions:
1. the water-rich limestone caves of Ryusendo, which are up the northern river about an hour's march for armoured men.
2. Mount Sakainokami, southwest of town.

About 250 people live in Iwaizumi. The exact locations of buildings within the town are not important. For the sake of the plot, there must be the following items labeled or on a legend:

• a central square,
• a shrine to the local deities,
• a large fortified wooden house with guest quarters for the village governor, and
• twenty or so peasant houses clustered around the central square and governor’s house, including rice, wheat, and vegetable farmers, a beekeeper, sheep herders, and so forth.
• a mill,
• a tannery,
• a bridge over the east-west flowing main river, and
• a ford across the north-south flowing tributary.



The thumbnails of the challenge entries can be found here:
Challenge Thumbs


Please vote for two (2) maps only.

Please rep those that you vote for and any others that you think are worthy of it.

This poll will end in 4 days time (4pm EST on April 3rd). Good luck to everyone!