Armadien - The forest kingdom

**Clercon** · 06-08-2011, 05:22 AM

This is the map that I made for the may challenge.

Technical stuff:
The map is done in Photoshop CS5, a lot of layers and some finishing effects to give it the right feel and light. The city icons are from CC3 by Profantasy. Don’t remember which style but I can look that up if someone is interested.

Kingdom stuff:
Armadien is the most western kingdom in the old world. It is often called the “forest kingdom” for the obvious reason that the major part of the country is covered by forest. They are famous for their boat builders and their timber. A lot of the vessels that travel the seas are built here. In the north Armadien borders to the great dark barbarian forest. The border is heavily fortified and the river has become a natural border. It is by law forbidden to build a bridge over it.

In the south you find the border kingdoms that lie between Armadien and the city state Ankh-Bathor. The border kingdoms are seen as a buffer zone by Ankh-Bathor and the city supports them with both money and weapons. The city of Southpoint used to be a free city but was conquered 50 years ago by Armadien to strengthen their southern border. In the city there are still forces that want to break it free from the “oppressors”, probably supported by gold from Ankh-Bathor.

In a forest area between the border kingdoms, Armadien and Krug you have the “Traal infected woods”. Traals are troll like humanoids that are very strong and powerful but lack the technical skills that would give them the upper hand against humans. There are rumours though that someone is equipping them with weapons of steel, which of course is completely forbidden.

In the east Armadien borders to Krug, a very elitist country that are ruled by powerful warlords. Most of the trade between the countries goes via the needles pass, which is a very dangerous road to walk, famous for its robbers.

I hope you like it :-)

**S a l v a i i** · 10-03-2011, 06:48 PM

Awesome

.. I love your maps and dungeon layouts
I was just wondering what measurements you use for your maps for travel?

**Clercon** · 10-04-2011, 11:43 AM

Hello Salvali and thanks for your comment, it warms my heart :-)
For measurement I've used days it takes to travel on this particular map. If you want to know the exact distance in km/miles I don't have it in my mind at the moment (have to get home to check that out). But I can look it up if your'e interested.

**kozaim** · 12-02-2011, 04:15 PM

Why don't you do some tutorial?

I love your style

**laevex_esre** · 12-02-2011, 09:58 PM

This is a great map. I love the details such as the agricultural areas near towns - a very nice touch.

Also, all the politics behind the concept is great. It really brings the area to life.

The shape of the coastline is quite smooth. Is there a reason for that? Is it maybe just because the people who drew the map don't have accurate surveying methods and technology?

**gwiley** · 12-03-2011, 12:12 PM

Hello. Nicely done. the border is a good choice - blends and frames the map well. Especially I like the light, faint effect of the regional names.

I particularly like your scale of distance. Various things considered (terrain, mode of travel, etc.) distance is probably reflected more accurately by days. I was thinking of just that myself for a recent map and it is interesting to see it by example.

Regards, Gary

**Clercon** · 12-03-2011, 03:15 PM

Thanks for he comments, and I'm glad that you like the map.

Kozaim - I really wish I had the time to make a tutorial. But at the moment that wont happen, unfortunately. On my blog I´ve written a post about how I try to think when I'm mapping if you're interested. Not so much technical info but more of a philosophical

laecex_esre - Well the coastline kind of just ended up that way in the beginning. The map is actually a zoomed in version from my Etrakien map, so that is part of the reason. Then I thought that it kind of looked a bit hand drawn so I kept it the way it was.

gwiley - The idea of putting in days as a distance came from an article I read about old maps and travel. Usually people had no clue of the actual distance and more reffered to how many days it took to travel. Because of this here in sweden a mile (today 10 km) could vary in distance. Usually you said that you could travel say a mile a day. So you travelled a mile a day but if you travelled in a forest you came a shorter distance then if you travelled on a plain. So a mile ended up being different in different parts of sweden (where I live) depending on the landscape. The scale in the map is a way of trying to put that into the map. I'm glad you like it.