Topographical map -- Regional map of Sum Lung Province

[veracusse]

This is one of my firsts for a regional map. I usually spend my time mapping cities and smaller scale projects, but a friend of mine asked for this map for a campaign that we have been playing on and off for the past 2 years. His character, Sum Lung, is a self-styled regent or lord over a small province of rural villages. We are playing an Exalted campaign, and this represents (our take on) one of the regions in the South of Creation.

The idea for this map came from this sketch I did for him earlier.

Sum_Lung_Caldera_Final_04.jpg

However, we felt that we needed something more detailed, with a degree of accuracy.

sumlungregion-3.jpg

Here is this map. What do you all think? I followed closely to as many cartographic conventions that I am familiar with, particularly in placing text and symbols. Since this was all done in Illustrator, everything on this map is a vector, so I can make changes as I see fit, and perhaps as the map and campaign evolve. Likewise, I created a bunch of symbols and line brushes that can be used on future maps I may want to make in this style for the campaign.

Comments, suggestions, questions are indeed welcome.

[Midgardsormr]

I think I'd use a simple dot for the settlement symbols. Or create a variety of symbols that have layouts that would be recognizable as that particular settlement. As it is, it's pretty obvious that you've used the same group of shapes for each town.

I really like your colors and type. I also like the translucent border—that's a very nice touch that certainly sets this map apart. I think you should experiment with reducing the opacity of the compass as well to match.

I wonder about the four bridges to the north and east of Bird Walker Pass: given that it costs money to build and maintain bridges, why not keep the path to one side of the river? There does not appear to be anything that would warrant more than one bridge just downstream of the confluence southwest of Yope. Or perhaps two upstream of there if the river gets very broad when joined by the tributary. Obviously, there may be a reason that doesn't show up on a map, but it definitely makes me curious.

[veracusse]

Thanks Midgardsormr. I takes the eyes of a good bridge building engineer to check for things like that. And you are correct that it would cost lots of money and this is not a very wealthy region of the country. The locals would mostly be responsible for maintaining the bridges in this region, especially the ones on the secondary roads.