February 2019 Challenge: The Sundown Cities

[Domino44]

I absolutely love the hatch work around the shoreline! The border also works perfectly for this challenge!

[Naima]

Very nice already , I like a lot the surrounding frames and the mini icons , remind me of old classic fantasy maps .

[Diamond]

Update time. I ditched the old grunge overlay. Sorry guys, I just wasn't feeling it. But I did put in one that I think works better. Also added more hills, put in the icons for all cities, towns, and monasteries. Next up will be finishing off the hills and then starting on the forests.

And some more lore:

CHURCH OF AO

Though there are other faiths in the East, none is so predominant as the Church of Ao, God of the Sun. In the days before the Sundown, Ao had a middling-sized congregation across the coastal kingdoms, one of a triune pantheon. The other two gods were Mias, the sea goddess, and Hesh, god of the earth. In the last two centuries, the temples of Mias and Hesh have been subsumed by those of Ao. The two lesser gods are now viewed as subordinate to Ao, where once the three were equals.

Ao's priests form the backbone of power in the Coastal Cities, along with the Guilds. Their influence is felt throughout the region, however, from Asturias and Tanza in the west, to the remnants of the old kingdom of Marovangia in the east. Monasteries of Ao are scattered far and wide, many located in the mountain passes and near the desolate, abandoned areas that once were fertile lands. The monks that train there act as guardians and watchers. They patrol the major roads and maintain waystations for travelers, as well as checking in at the farm communes and isolated villages.

The main temple of Ao is located in the city of Caleah, which has become the de facto capital of the Coastal Cities since the Sundown. The temple sits on the highest of the many hills of Caleah, and the Great Flame of Ao atop the temple can be seen for miles in the surrounding countryside.

Much of the Church's current power stems from its production of sunstones, the fabrication of which is a jealously guarded secret. The sunstones vary in size, from around two inches all the way up to a foot or more in diameter. They can be worn as a pendant, mounted in a staff or used as a lantern, and the larger ones are mounted on poles or on the sides of buildings in the farming communes and the cities. The sunstones emit something that is either actual sunlight or something very like it. It is just as harmful to vampires as actual sunlight, and no one in their right mind would be caught traveling without one. The Church provides them at cost to such essential services as the farmsteads of each city, the city watches, and even to wealthy fishing captains, who mount as many as they can on their vessels. Everyone else is welcome to purchase as many sunstones as they wish, if they have the funds.

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[J.Edward]

That hatching look is quite interesting.
I like it. Oddly, I didn't notice that before.
I've been in front of screens too long.

[Voolf]

Great update and i haven't expected such detailed lore of the world. It brings the map to life, so to speak.
Can't wait for the forests update.

[Kellerica]

I just LOVE these new colors and textures. You're right, certainly an improvement. You rock, dude.

[Domino44]

You made the right choice, I thought that the old grunge looked fine but I opened up the new update and I was like 'Woah'.

[Abu Lafia]

Influenza...check, dizziness...check, suffering a slight light sensitivity...check ... OMG i think i'm turning into a vampire!
Read the lore beginning with the last post and it became a wonderfully immersive arc with bits and pieces of your worldbuilding coming together. Great job Diamond! The map transports the dark/twilight atmosphere of the setting very nicely (and it already seems to rub off on some fellow guildmembers )
I think i said it before: As much as i admire your signature style, your handdrawn mountains and the icons look just fantastic. You could do that more often in my opinion!
Oh and btw. i agree with everyone, the new grungy texture looks perfect (less patchy than the old one).

[Diamond]

Oh good, I'm glad you guys like it! So let's see: all the hills are done (finally!), just about everything is labeled, and next are forests and roads, and probably some really subtle linework on the wastelands and marshes. I'm thinking about expanding the canvas a bit so I can move the key off to the side, and maybe put in the coats-of-arms of the various city states, etc. But in case I run out of time, I'll concentrate on finishing the map itself first.

FARMING

After the Sundown, farming changed substantially in the East. In the first couple of decades, traditional crops such as wheat began to die off and return much smaller harvests as the sunlight faded. Many farms built high walls around their lands and concentrated on growing crops such as beets, cabbage, carrots, and other vegetables that would grow in the lesser light available. With the invention of sunstones, this has changed, but to be a farmer is to live a precarious, dangerous life. Solitary farms are a rarity these days, and are generally the country estates of the rich, or the domains of retired soldiers.

Most farms have organized into communes, miles-wide stretches of farmland where each farmer owns their own fields, but all work together for defense and governance. Each commune is run by a council of landowners, alongside a priest of Ao. The communes are, in a broad sense, answerable to whichever city claims the territory, but the cities know how reliant they are on the farms... and so do the farmers. So the priests keep the peace and mediate disputes, and life goes on. The communes are guarded not only by their own militias, but by dozens (sometimes hundreds) of sunstones, mounted throughout the fields to assist with crop growing (the stones nourish plant life just as the actual sun does), and to keep the roving vampires that appear from time to time at bay.

In the cities, most households maintain their own root cellars and vegetable gardens - some quite extensive - a holdover from the long years of famine. Each household must tithe a portion of their produce to the city stores in case of war or vampiric seige. The stores consist mainly of long-lasting produce, such as potatoes, cabbage, garlic, and onions.

In the west, beyond the mountains, where the sun is stronger, farming continues much as it always has, though a wise farmer still maintains his sunstone array. In Asturias, known for their cattle and horses, herdsmen generally carry a sunstone mounted on a long pole. In addition, their outriders and even the herd dogs wear sunstones.

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[ladiestorm]

WOW... just wow... that's all I can manage... wow...