ReMapping Glacial Flanaess W.I.P.

[Boslok]

A couple of months ago I sorta dove headfirst into a project I was overly eager to finish without really doing any research prior. My plan was to take the World of Greyhawk and map it as if it was at the melting end of a glacial ice age.

I'm now attempting to redo the map with more accuracy. I've been hitting wikipedia and trying to incorporate some of the information from there. Trying to ride the fine line between believable accuracy and an all out science project. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Here's my first attempt and following it is the new W.I.P.

[torstan]

Lovely colour scheme. I like the blue edges on the snowy areas. Looks great!

[Steel General]

I'm with Torstan, the colors are great.

[NeonKnight]

Colors are good. Looks good. ANy thought on changing the coastlines a bit? Remember, during the last great Ice Age, the Bering Straight was actually above sea level allowing man to spread into the new world. Additionally, the Black Sea was formed when during the last Ice Age a Great Freshwater lake was formed in North Eastern Canada (over the Hudson Bay), held back by the melting ice shelf. Eventually the shelf's bouyancy was overcome and this great lake emptied into the Atlantic causing its sea level to rise and spill over the land crest of what is now Turkey and the area of Istanbul. Within a single generation, the farmer in the valley were flooded out and the area has now become the Black Sea. This is believed to also be the basis for the Noah's Ark story.

[Boslok]

Thanks guys.

Very fascinating NeonKnight, using that in a campaign has so many interesting possibilities.

The dark green on the WIP is the original out line of the coasts, or maybe I should say the future outlines of the coasts of Greyhawk. The light green are the expanded coastlines and also includes some of the flooded areas. I'm keeping the original coast line just as a reference, then making changes from it. Much of my info has come from ice age wiki articles and a few helpful individuals over at the Canonfire! website, a Greyhawk fansite.

The land mass has increased by about 5-6% around the coasts (my guess, I used the expand selection tool and set it to 10 pixels), I really need to find a square area tool for photoshop, if anyone knows of one or where its hidden, let me know. The middle of the continent has been filled in with lakes, something along the lines of the great lakes of North America. This is an effect of the weight, that causes a depression in the continental land mass from the 2 mile thick ice sheets and from the water from the melting ice filling in this depression. Something along the same lines as what NeonKnight mentioned above. I'm also planning on making much of what is left more arid and any forests more south, dense and large with deciduous trees. Since this is the melting end of this ice age, the rivers have carved out vast ice canyons and I'm planning on showing 2 different plateaus for the thickness of the ice. Luckily for me the most recent Nat Geo has a good article on the melting ice in Greenland, so I'm planning on adding some of those features to make the glaciers more interesting. I'm not sure how to address marshes, seems with the dry land and air, marshes would have a hard time existing. My gut is telling me that one large cold marsh might be a very cool thing.

Any thought and suggestions are welcome.

[Boslok]

The WIP without the original coastlines.

[tilt]

That looks really good - love the two gorges... and looking forward to seing the rest

[Boslok]

That looks really good - love the two gorges... and looking forward to seing the rest

Ahh, yes. Forgot to mention those, if your familiar with WoG that is my interpretation of the early Land of Black Ice.