High Horn Keep

[J.Edward]

High Horn Keep, in the world of Luma

The Town of Kahaldin, commonly known as High Horn Keep, sits at a cross roads, between several mining towns and a very old, and lucrative, trading route that runs from deep inland down to the active seaport road and the Crystal Coast. The origin of the town is somewhat hazy, shrouded in the mists of time. The legend has it that the town was founded by Taikuro Godi, in ancient times. It is said that he traveled through the lands of the Azen seeking a seer that had been shown to him in a vision. When camping along the river Aseres, he had a dream that this seer would come to a town on the hill, yet no town stood there. Over several nights, the dream unfolded, and Taikuro set upon the path to build the place he had dreamt of. Once built, he reasoned, the seer would come, in time. The seer did come, in time, but not in time for Taikuro, who died with his vision unfulfilled. It would be long, long years before it was resolved.

There is a different legend that speaks of the remnants of an even older site resting beneath the dusty soil and dry grass of that region. It tells of how the dream Taikuro received was in truth the night realm whispers of the ancient spirits that once resided there, even beyond the time of the ancient Godi.
In the underground below the town, the Fahdinza, there does seem to be evidence of an earlier civilization, but those secrets are withheld by the priests of Kodhan, who do not wish others to know what they themselves have seen.

High Horn rises up from the lower Suranan plains, part of the Taibon region of western Amikhazen, in the heated swath of Alba's Belt on the world of lUma. An arid span of rolling worn hills and rocky prominences dotted sparsely with golden green shrubs, water flows, but is a precious thing, as are certain uncommon resources like wood. Even so, a thriving market economy bustles through the main town's streets, even on the hottest days. It is cooler beneath the main town in the sublevel, a series of catacombs that became a thriving undertown. It took many years of very difficult work, but several generations after the passing of Taikuro Godi, it was completed, more or less.It serves the larger portion of the populace as residence. Several entrances down can be found at the towers along the walls, as well as at the towers of the Kodhan. The latter are larger and offer better access, but are controlled by the priests who charge a fee. Some external caves and paths below ground exist, but passage within them is even more restricted by the traders and smugglers who know of, and frequently use them.

An interesting side note...
Some believe that the current seer in residence in High Horn, Ad'Nah Nish, is in fact the original seer that Taikuro had dreamt of, and who had arrived in Kahaldin long ago. It is also said that this seer speaks to the spirit of old Godi, even now, and the visions the seer has are from Taikuro, who, now dead and beyond the veil, sees much that is hidden in the past and future, near and far. Making Taikuro Godi the essence or source of the seer that he had sought all those ages ago.

Fate plays strange games with Time, no doubt.

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This one is a fun redo of a little map I made as a kid.
We had a discussion about old bad maps we all had done, and that got me thinking about redoing some of them.
This was one of those choices. Mind you, that was a few years back, I think. So it finally got finished. \o/
It had a little wip thread - https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ight=high+horn

I hope you enjoy it. Have a great week everyone. Cheers, J

High Horn Keep 01 mid.jpg - - - - High Horn Keep 02 mid.jpg

[ThomasR]

I've been eyeballing this one for a long time ! I love it !

[J.Edward]

I've been eyeballing this one for a long time ! I love it !

It took way too long to complete.
Though nothing like the nightmare that is Thalak-Mul.
which i do try to work on every so often, but style creep has already occurred and I'm not sure if I can fix it.

On a side note... I began messing around with a sketch I did for you of a possible city layout for one of your cities in Kanoba, Augusta I think.
I am a masochist, I think. ;P

[ThomasR]

It took way too long to complete.
Though nothing like the nightmare that is Thalak-Mul.
which i do try to work on every so often, but style creep has already occurred and I'm not sure if I can fix it.

On a side note... I began messing around with a sketch I did for you of a possible city layout for one of your cities in Kanoba, Augusta I think.
I am a masochist, I think. ;P

Thalak-Mul is a gorgeous WIP (really, more beutiful than most of my finished maps) and if you left it like it is, no one would be mad, it's already a sight to behold.

You're making me feel guilty with Angusta, I still OWE you the map to this beautiful ciity

[J.Edward]

Thalak-Mul is a gorgeous WIP (really, more beutiful than most of my finished maps) and if you left it like it is, no one would be mad, it's already a sight to behold.

You're making me feel guilty with Angusta, I still OWE you the map to this beautiful ciity

City mappers are a particular kind of masochist, and not necessarily reflected in the more sensible population. ;D
I love and hate cities. I have a bunch of them in progress at any given time, and then I neglect those very important region and world maps.
But, I'm trying to remedy that.

Thalak-Mul was an enthusiastic over reach on my part. It should not have turned into that large of a map.
That was my downfall. facepalm

[Neyasha]

Wow, this is stunnig - the city map as well as the surrounding landscape. I love and hate drawing cities as well and yours are kind of my role model. I adore your style - it's so clean and precise on the one hand and yet playful on the other.

[Noenoer]

This looks so good! Well done, amazing!

[QED42]

Can't rep you again so soon but impressive map and center piece to the city!

[NoneTheWiser]

I really like how you integrated the landscape into the base of the fortress. Kudos!

[J.Edward]

Wow, this is stunnig - the city map as well as the surrounding landscape. I love and hate drawing cities as well and yours are kind of my role model. I adore your style - it's so clean and precise on the one hand and yet playful on the other.

Thanks Neyasha
Yes, cities are a thing unto themselves. I love starting them, but completing them.... not so much.

This looks so good! Well done, amazing!

Thanks Noenoer

Can't rep you again so soon but impressive map and center piece to the city!

Thanks, QED and no worries.

I really like how you integrated the landscape into the base of the fortress. Kudos!

Thank you NTW
I'm heavily influenced by and interested in landscapes, so it's hard not to bring them into things.


Thanks to all for the rep comments. I appreciate them.