Easteorra (Regional Map)

[Wired]

My first custom-made black-and-white map.

cc66d8b289dadb6a4299c5b6b6c19d09-d8nuiy6.jpg

It shows a regional map, with only parts of it already explored (the South-west). The background here is that a religiously persecuted human minority fled across the ocean and came across this continent, making landfall near Leothora. Pretty much all the lands the Six Realms (founded by those refugees) now occupies used to belong to the Alvae, a gray-skinned, white-haired elven people who at first welcomed the humans and gave them the islands around Leothora to settle down. Unfortunately for them humans tend to breed a lot faster than the Alvae, and they don't share the elven people's inability to wield iron and steel (and since they were one people they didn't have the need for armies and warriors, which was a wee bit of a disadvantage once the humans sought to conquer their lands).

Muir Logainn and other ruins in the Quiet Marshes still tell of their wealth and power, and many of the larger cities in the Six Realms are built on Alvae foundations. The Quiet Marshes, the result of a massive flood brought about by Alvae spellsingers, mark the eastern extent of the Six Realms. Nobody has ever crossed them and returned, just as no ship has ever sailed back from the Widow Tears...

[Sarithus]

That's pretty nicely done, Wired. Liking the overall feel. It may just be me, but the mountains seem a little off, however. Perhaps it is some of the line work, but more so the shading I think, it seems haphazardly placed. Other than that, good job!

[Wired]

It's not perfect, but with the sun placed in the east I tried to add the shading to peaks and ridges facing west.

[Farland]

It's amazing.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

I agree, the mountains look a little off, but I think it's more of a practice with shading thing. The drawing of the mountains looks pretty good. Also, since it's black and white, the empty inland areas fooled me into thinking they were water. Perhaps darkening the coastal hashlines would increase your figure-to-ground? I really like the forests and the picture call outs.

[jshoer]

I still love those bubble callouts. Great flavor images for the map!

[Wired]

Thank you!

In my defense: those are my very first custom-drawn mountains. I'm happy I got the form halfways right. There's certainly room for improvement, though.

[Chick]

Thank you!

In my defense: those are my very first custom-drawn mountains. I'm happy I got the form halfways right. There's certainly room for improvement, though.

At least the pointed end is up

Mountains are difficult for me, too, so I sympathize, but keep working on them, it gets better and easier eventually

Really nice map!!

[Eilathen]

A very nice looking map you have here! And a big change from your epic space maps. I like it. Any chance for a higher resolution?
I do think that a softly colored version of this one would be awesome. Why? I think that some of the landfeatures would come across a lot clearer with a bit of color (for example the forests).

The short history of this world reminds me a lot of Tad Williams' Osten Ard Saga.

If i can i'll rep you.

[Wired]

Maybe I'll do a colored version in the future. I'll see wether I can upload a higher resolution version, though I believe it won't add in quality except for the location names being more easily visible. You see, a factor that holds the map back is that I drew it in 72dpi. Yeah, I know... (I only realized this when I was halfway done).

When I thought about the backstory what I had in mind was a bit of a mix of "The Witcher" lore, religious minorities fleeing Europe for the Americas, a bit of the old Fae susceptability (sp?) to cold iron and a number of other sources.