The High-empire of Korachan and the Inner Sea by vorropohaiah

[Jordan A. Dunham]

This is definitly one of the best maps i've ever seen! I'm really a little bit jealousy that i won't never do such awsome work!
Clear lines, a soft shading and advanced coloring... everything you can imagine a map will need.

Good job!

[JOFY32]

Beautiful map ! Hope to make one like this one day

[Ilwan]

holy....... fantastic. simply fantastic.

[Jhormogan]

Beautiful map! Congratulations to a job well done!

[Beehard]

Great map..i hope i can learn from master

[emillanjr]

Thanks! i actually spotted that a month-or so ago and updated the base PSD file!

hey, been away for a while, only now saw this now!

very humbling for this map to have been picked for the cartographers choice thanks to whoever suggested it, though i might be updating the original thread from time to time as i add to the map

It is well deserved, Don't have enough praise for how incredible your work is.

[Jack Forge]

Quality work! The map truly looks like it does exist as a representation of a real place. The only thing i would mention is that I'm having a hard time distinguishing between the trade routes, shadow march(es), and national boundaries (of which I don't see any). I see red dashed (trade), black dashed (shadow march), yellow dashed (?), and green dashed (?). Another more stylistic choice is that perhaps a tad more landscape description/indication would really make the areas between landmarks something worth looking at, though you do a good job of it in places. I would be very interested in a book series set in this world. I already want to know about the area around and in the Dune Sea.

[vorropohaiah]

The only thing i would mention is that I'm having a hard time distinguishing between the trade routes, shadow march(es), and national boundaries (of which I don't see any). I see red dashed (trade), black dashed (shadow march), yellow dashed (?), and green dashed (?).

yep, the green, blue, yellow lines are different trade routes (orange - the Salt Road; red - the Red route; yellow - the eastern road; green - the Great Road; blue - the Parthisan trade-route) the red dashed line in the key is meant to reprent all routes, though looking back at it now its not that clear - something else to be updated! And you're right about the nation borders - when i converted the PSD into a JPG i mistakingly left the border layer hidden, which explains the lack of borders.

Another more stylistic choice is that perhaps a tad more landscape description/indication would really make the areas between landmarks something worth looking at, though you do a good job of it in places.

not quite sure i get you - maybe i should be a bit more specific with the physical features, depending on region?

I would be very interested in a book series set in this world. I already want to know about the area around and in the Dune Sea.

thanks there's some more info in my blog and pretty much every single map i post on this forum is located in this world (my three current WIP threads, for instance are a city, region and world map, respectively). some excepts from my notes:

Dune Sea, the: Common name found amongst many of Elyden's different tongues given to the great desert that dominates the central part of Kharkharadontis, covering some 6,000,000 square-miles. The land is characterised by dunes that are composed of sand, dust and the rust particles attributed to antediluvian artifice; is populated by great lumbering carnivorous reptiles; and is notable for the widespread corruption of the Penumbra that is blatant upon its features, with its chaotic nature warping terrain until little of natural persuasion remains. Though the place is desolate, it is not without its wonders and various grotesque and ancient landmarks pepper the region.
Kharkharadontis: 1. Main feature of and common name given to the continent of Sammaea, named after a mythical beast with twenty-two heads.
2. also, the Kharkharadontid desert. General name given to the expansive wasteland that dominates most of Sammaea.
3. In the mythology of Kharkharadontis, a creature said to have twenty-two heads and but one body. The creature was killed by the twin heroes Logosh and Sathanael, and its heads were scattered around Elyden. Some link is believed to exist between the beast Kharkharadontis and the Two-and-Twenty Demiurges and their mortal tribes.
Shadow March, the: (also the Long Road) the largest and most infamous of all Korachani religious pilgrimages; it circumnavigates the Inner Sea and its major nations, before making its way across the Kharkharadontid desert to the prison Daekyn, where it ends outside the monolithic gates of the Sepulchral Palace. The March covers no less than 20,000–miles, most of which is little more than dirt paths, though its many tributaries and side-courses make a true measure of its length impossible to determine.
The March originated in c. 400 RM, with the Archpotentate Malichar’s victories across the Inner Sea following return to Korachan as an Æhari and the subsequent rapid spread of the Church of the Machine across its lands. It reached its peak in around 1500 RM alongside that of the Korachani Empire, with thousands of pilgrims, fanatics, flagellants and other faithful from all over the Korachani empire undertaking the road, sometimes spending their savings to buy their freedom from the shackles of slavery, only to spend a life under the yoke of the March and the call of the Leaden Throne. The sundering of the empire in 3705 RM left a deep schism in the Church of the Machine, leading to it fracturing into the Orthodox Church of Rachanael and the Reformed Machine Church, though the March persevered (albeit with occasional conflict between different denominations). Few had the strength or means to undertake the entirety of the March, with most attempting that road dying under the adversity of the road. More commonly, pilgrims would take the most direct route available, marching with their fellows for safety, stopping only at the largest and most revered of holy sites along the way.
All manner of opportunists; hucksters, traders, mercenaries, whores, penumbrists, itinerants, bandits and brigands gravitate towards the Shadow March in the way insects are insitinctively attracted to sugar. Amongst them would march patricianse and other members from the Imperial administration, some on foot in self-imposed chastisement, others riding atop indriks and other exotic mounts or ambulants.
Despite the enthusiasm and fanaticim of those who undertake the March, few make it to the Sepulchral Palace, as the dangers and horrors of Kharkharadontis can attest to. Those that do make it are rarely sane, and their bodies are often withered, corrupted, by the Penumbra from years of marching under the gaze of corruption. Those travelling the Shadow March oftern wrap their bodies in unguent-scented bandages and covered in prayer flags and litanies in the hopes of protecting them from the penumbral influences. They rarely succeed.


thanks for the feedback

[T.A.Roe]

Amazing map. I really love your attention to detail; the creases, cracks, sun bleached areas. It really makes be believe this is a real map.

[miguel_07]

Awesome! Congratulations...