the City-Kingdoms of the Hareshk

[- Max -]

Cna't wait to see it

[vorropohaiah]

Ok, so i got a bit carried away with the heraldry:

heraldry.jpg

A few pointers on some of the emblems that appear in the shields:
Angel/wing: the region's deity is an angelic figure that appeared around 1500-years ago to a shepherd-girl, who is now revered as her prophetess.
Hourglass: a relic said to have belonged to an avatar of the angelic figure, now carried by a missionary of the faith.
Skulls: a chthonic demigoddess of death common to this and other regions; the skull is a common emblem and appears in design motifs of areas that venerate her.
Pastoral devices: the Hareshk is an uncharacteristically idyllic land, with verdant hills and fertile farmland and as such, many of its fiefs bear pastoral emblems - livestock, seafood, wheat, scythes, sickles etc.

Other devices are more closely associated with their respective fiefs and have little bearing on the region's personality as a whole.

I only need 38 shields for the map, though I'm having so much fun making these that I'll probably make some more, at least 10-more, as i continue fleshing out the region and come up with more historical events or characteristics that i can depict on the shields. I'll then pick my favourite ones (with the aid my my girlfriend! time to give her something to do...)

[- Max -]

Very nice job!

[Vellum]

Nice variety there, you need to get carried away a bit more! map is looking good also.

[Freehand 5.5]

Great deal of heraldic work.
The crowns above the shields could be in different colours to indicate official alliances (or could be other things like an animal head, antlers, horns or the like).

[vorropohaiah]

Great deal of heraldic work.
The crowns above the shields could be in different colours to indicate official alliances (or could be other things like an animal head, antlers, horns or the like).

the animal heads would be part of the 'grand achievement', which includes the coat of arms, and flanking supporters, motto, with the helmet above (sometimes with a crest). the crowns on these shields are used to denote which of the fiefs owe fealty to the King of Hareshk, in Caria (there are a few shields without crowns: these rogue states that have recently defected with the western empire). the crown of Edicule, for instance, has seven-points: representing the seven nations of the Korachani empire, to which it is now a vassal). and other boring background stuff

however... you're right about the black crown being a bit bland, so i'll probably change some of them around, for variation's sake.

Here's some more progress. i spent most of today reshaping the map, adding the 'fief cartouches' to the flanks of the map. all that's left now is the text in the three cartouches and the forests/mountains, and i can probably call this one done. I'm quite pleased with this one so-far, though I'm sure there's lots of tinkering left to be done

Edit: just spotted a double shield! Must fix!

the hareshk.jpg

[- Max -]

Looking good so far. I guess you're going to work on the right and left cartouches names since they don't seem to be lined up with the shields?

[Schwarzkreuz]

Your country borders which overlap rivers are confusing, I cant see when they overlap a river and when not. I would prefer them to run alongside the river instead of over them. Am I the only one who is confused by this?

[Nathan Graham Holloway]

What programme did u use to do this? also, have u any tips please? If my map is 1% as good as urs, I'd be overjoyed. A superb job , well done

[vorropohaiah]

Looking good so far. I guess you're going to work on the right and left cartouches names since they don't seem to be lined up with the shields?

of course, im almost finished with them. hopefully i can call the map finished by thursday, as im going on holiday then and wanted to place an oder for a printed version that should be delivered by the time i get back

Your country borders which overlap rivers are confusing, I cant see when they overlap a river and when not. I would prefer them to run alongside the river instead of over them. Am I the only one who is confused by this?

very true, that was one of the things I was looking at fixing though I have a problem with rivers and borders, and what style i should use. Though i was certainly thinking of moving them beside the river, whany suggestions?

What programme did use to do this? also, have you any tips please? If my map is 1% as good as yours, I'd be overjoyed. A superb job , well done

Thanks well it was made in Photoshop CS5, though I don't think I did anything with it that can't be dome with gimp. if i have one tip for a map you want to look as though was hand-made, it's make sure your lines arent too straight, otherwise they tent to look very computery, which is certainly not what you want. i use a filter to try and distort lines a bit