Incarnadine: political map of the Commonwealth

[Baitung]

Decided to mock-up what one of the main players in my story looks like on a map! It's made in Photoshop CS5, with a hand-drawn base-map. Admittedly this map a) isn't very geographically accurate (haven't decided on any major geographical features yet...it's so flat...) and b) the borders definitely need work; right not they're a bit artificial. So, any tips would be very appreciated!

Incarnadine map 20-03-19.png

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"The Commonwealth is a chaotic aggregation of dozens of independent countries, city-states, and even tribes that joined together in recent history to form a single united nation. According to the Commonwealth itself, this is the world's greatest exercise of democracy, though many of the common folk who live within its borders may disagree. Nonetheless, it is an impressive feat of human social engineering and it has become a threatening presence to many of the other lands that border it. Should they ever get their **** together--so to speak--they might possibly be the strongest force on the continent, and perhaps even the planet.

The Commonwealth is run by a synod composed of the leaders of each nation within its borders and the elected representatives from the city-states. As with any parliament, it is not run smoothly, and little gets done. This is further exacerbated by the fact that many of the city-states are only newly independent from their parent countries, having demanded autonomy when the Commonwealth was created in return for their economic support and cooperation. Still, the fires of democracy are still hot, leading to numerous reforms on the economy, trade, and wartime affairs of the country. And with the hammer that is Tallaanthas waiting to strike at this nascent nation, the synod knows they cannot dally and argue about mining rights when a power-hungry empire knocks at their door."

[Gidde]

Good start! I like the coastlines, but that is a LOT of lakes. Now, being from the Great Lakes area I get that sometimes glaciers make a lot of lakes, but that is *seriously* a lot of really big lakes. Might want to take them down just a peg.

[Rubikia]

Coastlines are very nice ! Though I have to agree with Gidde about the lakes, although I like there being lots of them, it's just that they're quite big. There's also a lot of splitting rivers, but thats a usual nitpick. Looking good !

[Baitung]

Good start! I like the coastlines, but that is a LOT of lakes. Now, being from the Great Lakes area I get that sometimes glaciers make a lot of lakes, but that is *seriously* a lot of really big lakes. Might want to take them down just a peg.

not something I even thought about! I'm also from the Great Lakes area...maybe that's why? in all fairness the southern waterbodies open in the ocean/a hudson's bay type area, and I was thinking of vättern/vänern in sweden when I tried to mentally size the map, but I think I'll definitely size-down the ones in the center!

and yeah, those rivers I think most are catchments draining into the sea, but I haven't determined where the high/lowland is yet so they're just sort of wandering around willy-nilly at the moment

thanks for the comments guys!