July 2016 Challenge: The Lands of the Line

[Diamond]

I got such a cool prompt I had to do it. Also, it give me a chance to show off a cool border I made this morning.

So let's see. This was my choice:

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This is a world with a long history, a world so old that all the deep wisdom of today's magi is but a speck of sand on the long shore of eons. This is a world in which science and sorcery cycle back and forth down through the ages, the tides of one epoch washing over the other in waves, wearing it down until only remnants remain, before the process repeats once more. This age is one of high sorcery, and has been for millennia. But here and there a speck of the Old Science remains. Some of the last of this technology is jealously hoarded by the great dragon Nabela. This glittering horror is herself one of the oldest beings still living, perhaps one of the first harbingers of the current age of magic. She sleeps for centuries at a time, and the kingdoms of man go about their business with little interference. But when the dragon wakes... then, oh then, the mortal realms know true fear.

This world has gone by many names in its long, long existence. The learned men and women of the age call it Ombarion, but that is a name for dusty tomes in lamplit libraries and temples. The common folk call their land, what is known of it, anyway, The Line. It is a name derived from the most spectacular wonder of the current age, three different areas where ancient beings crafted massive pyramids into the summits of vast cliffs, cliffs too straight to be natural. And above these Lines float the Sunstones, gigantic floating hunks of rock imbued with unknowable sorcerous power. The Stones drink the sun's energy, providing a seemingly endless font of elemental magic for those powerful - or foolish - enough to seek to tap into them.

This is a place of petty kingdoms, decaying empires, and feuding city-states. The banners of a hundred hundred realms have come and gone under Nabela's half-lidded gaze, and she knows they too are mere ephemera...

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[ThomasR]

When I click on your map, it refuses to appear on my computer ...

EDIT : It works and it's good ! And the border is cool too.

[DanielHasenbos]

Wow that border is great. And your pick could make for a very interesting map. Curious to see where you'll take this!

-Dan

[Ryusamasan]

That was pretty awesome!
Nice story building, and yes the boarder is sweet. I am drawn to those pyramids so much from your story, that I think it would be cool if you included one as a "detail" bubble, or somehow made a "symbolic" version of one into the compass rose...

anywho thanks for sharing

[Josiah VE]

Awesome coastline and border! Did you make the border?
I can't wait to see how this unfolds, it could be very interesting.

[Diamond]

That was pretty awesome!
Nice story building, and yes the boarder is sweet. I am drawn to those pyramids so much from your story, that I think it would be cool if you included one as a "detail" bubble, or somehow made a "symbolic" version of one into the compass rose...

anywho thanks for sharing

Thanks! And you read my mind - the big blank space below the map is going to be for some detail bubbles.

Awesome coastline and border! Did you make the border?
I can't wait to see how this unfolds, it could be very interesting.

Also, it give me a chance to show off a cool border I made this morning.

[Diamond]

Landforms and seas are all done, and I've started putting some rivers in. I'm going to add some 'green' areas, but since this is a huge desert wasteland setting, not many.

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[Josiah VE]

Beautiful! The terrain looks so realistic!

[Barek333]

Oh wow Diamond, realistic landmass, amazing ocean that fits so well with the border. This could end up a really special map. I think so far stylistically you definitely hit a nail on the head there.

[Diamond]

I figured I'd get all the hard stuff out of the way first, so I spent the whole day making these five little circles. None of the art is mine! Except for the far left picture, which is this: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/p...s-with-figures all the rest are pieces from free wallpaper sites, heavily processed through photoshop to give each one the same general look. This is kind of a gray area, but I think as long as I have a disclaimer that I don't plan on using this map for commercial gain, I'm okay.

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