[Region 1][Map 12] Beastlands

[su_liam]

Weren't you paying attention? Imperialist Centaurs.

[ravells]

Sorry Torq, I've tried for half an hour to try and re-create how I did it, but I can't find the brush I used . This is going to be fun as there is now no way I'll be able to edit the forests by painting more in.

The basic process involved using (the uknown) brush which painted a spattery type of green / brown pattern on it's own layer (using colour dynamics and scattering). Then I duplicated the layer and applied a grain filter (using photoshop CS2) to the underlying level which I then bevelled and embossed. I used 'multiply' layer style for the top layer.

I'll keep fiddling to see if I can find the brush I used.

[ravells]

I've named my bits, and I hope that my roads join up with yours, Torq. Also, I hope I've carved out the right square, Redrobes, I used yours as a guide, but to go back would be a lot of work....please make it fit!

### LATEST WIP ###

[Redrobes]

Really like it and it fits alright - had to skim just a small amount off on the right to join with Torqs'

Heres a link to the big overall so far.

[Torq]

Ravs I think the map looks fantastic. Look and feel is excellent, sort of mixture of pulp with informative and great colours. Would you be prepared to extend my roadway from the village of Olag Moyl on my map to a small settlement (nominally Groamish) on the shores of Lake Festus on yours. If you could I would be greatful, but if you cant just let me know and I will amend my map accordingly.

Also I have a road heading into the wilds South of Lake Festus. I assume that it links up with your Coastal road that follows the South bank of the lake.

Are Far Point and Fort Lost human settlements and do they have contact with Arkender, my capital?

Torq

[industrygothica]

I've got to say that you've really piqued my interest with the Dark Marshes and the House of the Dead. Do you have any specific plans for that area?

[ravells]

Thanks guys! I'm still not sure about the font, but that's easily changeable.

Torq: No problem about extending the road to a small settlement. Did you have a name for it in mind? That little corner on my map is really out of my main line of country, so I'll be happy to put into it what you and Redrobes (who is to the north) want to see, so it blends in with your worldbuilding. :Edit: I see that my coast road on the south shore of Lake Festus doesn't link up with yours, I'll fix that too.

I suppose now is as good a time as any to explain the thinking behind the worldbuilding for the Wiki.

The Beastlands is intended to be an area populated only sparsely by Humans and mainly by various creatures, the most influential and obvious of which are the Centaurs. I used a descriptive naming process for the map (rather than an invented language) to help with the wiki building and to save on having labels for locating where the various creatures lived. So you will see from the forest names on the map that there are 3 tribes (herds?) of Centaurs, White Hoof, Red Hoof and Blue Mane. 'The Spiderclaw forest' suggests a dark and nasty place with (obviously) big spiders and assorted creepy crawlies and 'Dreadwood' again suggests danger, but perhaps of a more cursed or vampiric kind. That's the real point of the place, the woods here are dark and dangerous.

Nevertheless there are a few settlements, mostly on the coast. The two notable exceptions are the Limbik mines (dwarves, natch) which are famous for their deposits of iron (hence the 'red' theme of the area - Red Iron River, Red Hoof Forest etc.) The other is Barrow-Town, just south of the barrows. The barrows suggest a primitive culture which I felt sat well with the Centaurs in terms of peaceful co-existence and the general idea that civilisation was far away. The Dark Marshes and the House of the Dead suggest some sort of place in which you might meet the undead or some weird cult. I threw in a monastary to the north as we had already done them for the mapping challenge and it's the sort of place you'd expect to see in a remote location. Maybe a retreat where warrior monks are trained?

I really haven't given much thought to the detail of this bit of the world, but worked more along the lines of giving it some sense of broad atmosphere and theme so that people would have an idea of which way to go when the detailing process begins. Basically it's a dark and dangerous place filled with assorted creatures, some friendly others which want to eat you, with the odd bit of human habitation - perfect for classical adventuring in the style of the Keep on the Borderlands!

[The Cartographist]

Ravells - Really like your map and echo a lot of the positive sentiments from above.

I also really like your ideas for the region which match more of a wilderness area, i.e. no major geopolitical issues (which exist elsewhere in the project), no major kingdoms or domains (again, already exist elsewhere), and just a general atmosphere.

Really nice and I can believe that a lot of people will be salivating as they think of things to put here.

[Torq]

Thanks Ravs. Its really an evocative setting. I can here the music that is playing as the PCs load crates of supplies on the small flatbed barge with its mysterious flea-bitten crew and translator who knows the rudiments of the Centaur tongue. The water around the mouth of the river is probably languid and dark and the Farpoint dock squalid as the barge is stocked. Getting ready for the long trip up river into the Deeping Gully, in search of that strange military genius that lost his mind and disappeared into wild lands, leaving only rumours of dark magic and murder.......no wait that is Josef Conrad. Anyway everything's derivative. Great map evoking a great atmosphere.

Torq

[ravells]

Thanks Tim, to be honest I was scratching my head yesterday and wondering what the hell to call everything (all I really had in mind was the centaurs because I'd mentioned them previously). I started with Lake Festus (which suggests the words Fetid and Festering (and Uncle Fester!)) [I think Redrobes picked up on this too] and the rest of it seemed to fall in place from there, although now we have all written about it explicitly I'll go back and rename some bits and put in others which underline the dark, brooding, remote and menacing sense of the place. It's not exactly original but what the hey, Adventurers need places with weird and wonderful creatures to adventure in, don't they?

Thanks Torq - I thought that the story was begining to sound familiar! I really like the idea of Farpoint being a small and squalid place, inhabited by squat and ugly bogmen types. I've got Heart of Darkness somewhere, I'll flip through it, it's a perfect reference for this sort of place and that book reeks with atmosphere. What will provide an interesting dynamic is the push of people from your region who are trying to escape the plague.