April 2019 Challenge: Treasures of the Silk Straits

[aeshnidae]

Ooh, interesting how labels change the whole map

Hopefully in a good way! Or at least not in a bad way.

I made the labels smaller (some portolan charts have no labels, others have tons of tiny labels - far more labels than the towns included on the maps, so I think the town icons are more about implying "hey, there are towns here" rather than showing each and every town). I added the Barrister's ship, although I may need to work on that to make it look newer than the rest of the map. What I'm attempting to represent is an old portolan chart that has been added to over the years by different people. Hopefully that will become more obvious when I add handwritten notes unrelated to map locations.

### Latest WIP ###
Pirate map v10.jpg

[Diamond]

This is really creative and unique (for this time period ). I love how you push the envelope. The font is a bit difficult to read, but still legible - but it gives it a very definite sense of place, which I think trumps any readability problems.

[Tenia]

I'm back in time to see this very nice portolan style in progress! To nitpick, if you wanted to reproduce an "historical" portolan, the windroses are a bit misplaced : they were usually at the edges of a hexadecagone (not obliged to represent the sixteen edges of course), so that the rhumblines of a windrose join the center of other compass roses. Also, for portolans that serve as nautical charts, the labels were usually placed inside the landmasses. I'm stopping my pedanticism here this is a very pleasant work!

[aeshnidae]

This is really creative and unique (for this time period ). I love how you push the envelope. The font is a bit difficult to read, but still legible - but it gives it a very definite sense of place, which I think trumps any readability problems.

Thank you, Diamond! I appreciate your input on the font. I thought it was okay but wasn't quite sure. I definitely wanted to convey the sense of place, so I'm glad that came across.

I'm back in time to see this very nice portolan style in progress! To nitpick, if you wanted to reproduce an "historical" portolan, the windroses are a bit misplaced : they were usually at the edges of a hexadecagone (not obliged to represent the sixteen edges of course), so that the rhumblines of a windrose join the center of other compass roses. Also, for portolans that serve as nautical charts, the labels were usually placed inside the landmasses. I'm stopping my pedanticism here this is a very pleasant work!

You are absolutely correct, Tenia! I definitely let the artistic placement override the historical accuracy here. It would be fun to really try my hand at a historical portolan. Ooh, maybe I'll try to map the Chesapeake Bay (located on the US east coast).

Here's the updated entry. I need to fix some typos, but otherwise I think this is pretty much done. I added handwritten notes from two different people in two different time periods (Quinn is writing in my in-game present day). Then I gunked up the map some more and added some additional creases to show the map has been heavily used. I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out but I'm also happy that I've got a few more days to mull it over.

### Latest WIP ###
Pirate map v13 (sm).jpg

[tainotim]

I really like the mix of different colours. This is looking great so far!

Cheers,
Karl

[MistyBeee]

Agreeing with Karl : the colors work very well here

[aeshnidae]

Thank you both! I fixed some typos and think this is basically done.

### Latest WIP ###
Pirate map v14 (sm).jpg

[Gidde]

I love how out-of-the-box this is

[aeshnidae]

Thanks, Gidde!

Okay, hopefully I've caught all the typos and am officially done, since I'm also officially out of time!

Once an esteemed lawyer in the Barony of Riverhold, Sorrel Blackwell became the most successful pirate to sail the precarious Silk Straits of Kashgar. Known as The Barrister, Blackwell and his ship, the Lady Justice, plundered Kashgarian ships full of spices and silks as revenge for the murder of his wife and children at the hands of the Prince of Kashgar. Legend has it that The Barrister amassed a fortune of gold, silks, and spices and hid them somewhere in Kashgar. Assisted by Kashgarian nobles who had fallen out of favor with the Sultan, Blackwell intended to use these treasures to raise a mercenary army and declare war on the Sultan and Prince. And then...Blackwell and his ship disappeared. Did the Lady Justice meet her end at Cape Doom? At Shipwreck Point? No one knows, but for the past 180 years, adventurers have sought his legendary Treasures of the Silk Straits.

### Latest WIP ###
Pirate map v14 (sm).jpg