A map inspired by the Magic the Gathering EDH

[Baelnorn]

The concept behind this map is a bit more elaborate so prepare for a detailed description
You can skip to My map

Background

1. Introduction

For those who never heard of Magic the Gathering is the oldest and i think popular trading card game.
Basically the game revolves around a 5 colors system, each of those having associated a geographical relief form like it follows:

White Magic (values : life, protection . Creatures associated : Angels, Clerics, Soldiers etc ) -- Plains
Green Magic (values : growth, abundance . Creatures associated : Beasts , Elfs , Treefolks etc) -- Forests
Red Magic (values : damage, power regardless of price . Creatures associated : Dragons, Goblins etc ) -- Mountains
Black Magic (values : destruction, decay . Creatures associated : Demons, Vampires, Zombies, Skeletons) -- Swamps
Blue Magic (values : evasion, deception . Creatures associated : Wizards, Illusions , Maritime creatures) -- Islands

The list is completed with the sixth pseudo-color : colorless. Usually this category is populated with so called "Artifacts" or some exotic creatures (Eldrazi)
They are kinda a commune ground each of the 5 primary colors can use them to fit their purpose.
Note: Although most of those artifacts are items , there are also some artifact creatures (example Golems)

Each year the producers (Wizards of the Coasts, yea the same guys with D&D) release new cards and thus extending and completing the present universe.
Geographically things are quite complicated since there are several independent worlds ("planes") each with his own lore.

2. Going deeeper

Each of the primary colors have two "allied / friendly" colors and the other two "opposite"

For example white is allied with green and blue against red and black
but blue is allied with both white and black against green and red.

In one plane called "Ravnica" the set-up is a huge city (that covers all the world) and the colors are combined in pairs of 2 resulting 10 guilds each with own name, agenda and with a style inherited from both "parents" (btw the current cards set is called "Return to Ravnica").

Example Orzhov the white/black guild is formed by corrupted aristocrats/clerics and now they have a special ability : Extort that make an opponent loose one life point and you gain one.

Another plane "Alara" was broken in to 5 shards and each of those is dominated by a combination of 3 friend colors
continuing my example white combined with his allies green and blue have born a new category called Bant

3. EDH

There are different ways of playing : standard, legacy but the fans invented one that i personally enjoy the most : Elder Dragon Highlander.
Each one build his packet of cards (deck) around one "Legendary" Creature called commander. In that packet you can use only the colors that appears on your commander card.
Based on the huge popularity Wizards also launched some dedicated decks covering other 5 combination of 3 colors = the color and his "enemies" like white+black+red
There are 1 2 3 and even all 5 colors commanders.

My map

Long story short ... One day i start pounding if each of those colors and their combination can be represented on a map.
To make it more interesting each of the basic colors is splited in 3 "provinces" each Commander having one of the following specializations :
Paragon - dedicated to enforcing their color value > Example the black paragon Visara the Dreadful is a Gorgon who can destroy another creature
Tribal - he can boost his companions > Example the green one is Ezuri, Renegade Leader an elf who can pump and regenerate other elfs
Artificer - expert in manipulating and exploiting artifacts > Example the blue artificer Arcum Dagsson can sacrifice an artifact and search/play another one from deck

So the map i've made doesn't have kingdoms cities or rivers names only "territories" ... but i made another additional to illustrate "the relations" between those provinces.
Another aspect i wanted to cover : the map can be projected on a sphere (edge on the left is identical with the right one). Also the distribution of the basic colors is made horizontally according to their love/hate rapports. The north pole is colorless while the south pole is multicolored.

I wanted to illustrate an organic / plausible world because represnting only through a simplifcated (like a sketch) version didn't worked for me because i'm not that good at drawing to make a reasonable depiction of Dimir combination (Swamps/Islands) for example.

In this case a good technique for me was to discover (on Google Earth) natural aerial views and re-shape them in to something new.

Anyway hope you like it !

PS sorry for my clumsy English

geografical-view.jpg
political-view.jpg

[Vellum]

nice work! I like the top image, from a distance it looks like a partial face, piece of the nose and an eye Was this intentional as an image of magic? have some rep for a nice map

[Baelnorn]

nice work! I like the top image, from a distance it looks like a partial face, piece of the nose and an eye Was this intentional as an image of magic? have some rep for a nice map

To be honest, now that you mention it i also noticed. Is just a happy coincidence Until now i was too busy with the details and kinda "lost" the general view.
Thanks for your kind appreciation !

[aquarits]

wow, is a really nice map, very cool the mix of environment. So psychedelic

If is a cat in your picture, easy to know from where came your inspiration

[krasimir]

I like the colors and the textures but the map lacks... "clarity". i mean it's still a bit like a patchwork.