The Dragon's Backbone and Surrounding Lands - novel version

[Caenwyr]

Hey all! This map is gonna be the complement to my already finished map of Aran & Ilan. It will zoom in on one particular zone of the map: the region surrounding the central part of the Dragon's Backbone (the massive mountain ridge in the middle of the map).

The Dragon's Backbone starts as a rather low, easily passable ridge in the south, but gradually works its way up to soaring peaks and terrible chasms, before ending in a series of humongous cliffs dropping into that huge glacial lake. The country of Faltorn takes up the passable part of the mountains in the south. North of that, the mountains form the border between Aran (the lands to the east) and Ilan (the lands to the west of the mountains). Several passes allow passage from one to the other, but most are very remote and seriously difficult to cross. There's only two passes that actually allow armies to transverse the mountains:

• the Sir Rwdiic (or Iron Pass) in the south: once the trajectory of trade caravans, later becoming a battleground, which in the days of my story evolved into an abandoned wasteland only visited by reconnaissance units from both sides (due to a successful treaty between the regional power centers on either side of the pass)

• the Sir Ánglarain (or Evening Glow Pass) 200 miles to the north: a terrible, terrible route clinging to sheer cliffs and crossing treacherous glaciers. This second pass is still used for invasions from both sides, and abandoned every fall due to the dropping temperatures. Attempts have been made in the past to construct fortresses to withstand the horrible cold, but no one ever succeeded.

East of the Dragon's Backbone lie the lands of Gaendyr. Once a vasal state of the waaaaay stronger Araniell, it managed to free itself in a desperate Independence War. Araniell was not really prepared to give up any land, but it didn't feel like a prolonged war either. By that time Araniell had grown fat and rich due to a prolonged peace, at least in most of its enormous territory. The Gaendyr region had already been plagued by invasions through both mountain passes, however. Araniell soon realised that it could either fight a war it didn't feel like fighting, only to then continue to quell the yearly invasions from over the mountains... or just give up the war (after a magnificent show of force, naturally) and leave the people of Gaendyr to take care of the invasions. It pulled out all of its armies and posted them along the new border with Gaendyr, and watched as the newly formed country was weakened year after year by the invasions. Soon Araniell would be able to swoop in, pick up the pieces, and actually be thanked by the exhausted people of Gaendyr.

Except, that never happened. Gaendyr turned into a scrawny little nation of warriors, squeezed between the immovable Araniell and the continuously invading peoples from Ilan, but it managed to survive. Barely, but it did. And eventually people from beyond the border began to send help too. Never in the shape of goods or gold, since these were strictly prohibited by the Araniell government, but help they did. It became a matter of pride among the West-Araniell houses to send troops to Gaendyr. No longer to beat the locals in the dust but to aid them in their wars against Ilan. Brave and bold as that move was, it wasn't entirely selfless. The nobles living close to Araniells (new) western border realised that they either helped Gaendyr defend its western border, or would someday face the Ilan invasions themselves. And mountain passes are far easier to defend than a 1000 mile long river...

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Just like with my previous map, I used a combination of two older maps as a basis for this one.

Aran_and_Ilan_detail_01.jpg

I then started drawing in ridge lines like this:

Aran_and_Ilan_detail_02.jpg

Then I started inking in the mountains themselves:

Aran_and_Ilan_detail_04.jpg

However, I'm currently roughly halfway, and while I like the look of the individual mountains, I feel the ridge lacks consistency and structure. I'm gonna try adding some shading later today, but if that doesn't help, I'm gonna start over entirely. This HAS to be right, so I rather spend some more time on it.

Just though sharing some fails would be instructive as well

[Eilathen]

As said in your last thread, The Dragon's Backbone map is still one of my favorite CG maps. So it will come as no surprise that i am extremely looking forward to this WIP here

It will be interesting to see if you can "transfer" the magic of the old map into a b/w map (after your last map, i am pretty confident you can). And in this map you practically have to try your hand at forests Which means i am looking forward to it even more

[Caenwyr]

It will be interesting to see if you can "transfer" the magic of the old map into a b/w map (after your last map, i am pretty confident you can). And in this map you practically have to try your hand at forests Which means i am looking forward to it even more

Oh there will be forests! I surely hope I'll be able to black-and-white-ize the original. I always rather liked it myself, except for maybe the tops of the mountains, which were a bit too peaky for my current taste. It's weird how your opinion can change, even of your own work. Let's call it evolution

[Caenwyr]

Alright, so I started over with the mountains. Hated the lack of structure in the previous iteration. I went back to my "old" style, since these mountains allow me to actually accentuate the ridgeline (which is quite important in this map as it acts like the border).

Aran_and_Ilan_detail_05.jpg

Or do you guys like the old version better?

[Eilathen]

Definitely like those mountains (not that the others were bad or anything)!

And funny you mention your tastes changing...you always were (and kind of still are) Mr. needle-pointy mountains to me ^^ But that is not a bad thing. I mean sure, it might not be how "real" mountains look like, but it is a very distinct style. And i like that. And as you said, i do think you mellowed a bit on the pointy-ness

[Caenwyr]

And funny you mention your tastes changing...you always were (and kind of still are) Mr. needle-pointy mountains to me ^^

Oh yes, I rather like the style. Though it is somewhat unrealistic, it really helps get the idea across: "this is impassable territory". I'm thinking of adding foothills though, to smooth out the full profile a little bit.

And here's an update! Slowly progressing northward...

Aran_and_Ilan_detail_06.jpg

[PeriphReal]

I like the second sharp pointy mountains better! they have this dark, foreboding, unnatural feel to them. Maybe this will be a map of a vampire realm?

Love the detail so far! Keep up the good work

[Caenwyr]

I like the second sharp pointy mountains better! they have this dark, foreboding, unnatural feel to them. Maybe this will be a map of a vampire realm?

Haha no, that's not the idea I have in mind for it. It's a strongly 16th century setting, with some (pretty few actually) magical elements. So unnatural isn't exactly the look I'm going for, although "dark" and "foreboding" are certainly there. The mountains are supposed to be completely impassable except at two points, the passes that are indicated with red arrows. (When I say impassable, I obviously mean from a military standpoint: it's definitely possible for adventurous travelers to climb the Main Ridge and descend into the neighbouring country, but marching armies need mountain passes, and of these there are only two).

To get that message across, I really need an incredibly sharp ridge, dark and foreboding as you say, while I still try to keep it as plausible as possible. I am well aware this is a crazy balancing act.

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Alright, update! Progress is slow because, as usual, I'm obsessing over the linework (even though it will be barely visible in print). It has to be right. Right?

Aran_and_Ilan_detail_07.jpg

And a very preliminary peek into how the image will be positioned within its frame, with some sketchy layers for reference:
Aran_and_Ilan_detail_07c.jpg

[Eilathen]

Looking good, real good! Very much looking forward to the finished map!

And yes, it has to be right

[MistyBeee]

The mountains are superb, Caenwyr ! And I love your obsession for invisible details ! *same team*