The Cathedral Galaxy

[jshoer]

For my next major personal project, I'm going to revisit an old setting of mine, called the Cathedral Galaxy! The original idea is that this galaxy contains a number of large-scale cultures at Kardashev Levels 0-1, but unbeknownst to them, they are actually the second set of sentient life to evolve in a much older Level 3 civilization's galaxy. The ancient, galaxy-spanning civilization left a network of wormholes and hulking artifacts all throughout the Cathedral Galaxy.

Here's my original map of this galaxy:
galaxy 3D.jpg

I have a fair amount of old lore and stories built up for this setting, including a few complete short stories. If anyone is interested:

• Between Wrecks, meant to be an introduction to the setting's concepts, about a salvage operator who runs into trouble
• In the Arena, a scene about an interplanetary gladiator
• Conference, my favorite of the bunch, about a researcher who is starting to piece together some of the Galaxy's mysteries

Let's see if I can do some font coloring correctly as a spoiler obfuscation. Select text to see: ||| There's a network of wormholes connecting the galaxy, but that network is really the "circulatory system" of the old civilization, which "uploaded" itself into a galaxy-spanning consciousness centered in the galaxy's highly irradiated and otherwise uninhabitable core. Through the series of stories, I was going to have the current civilizations discover this fact, and that the ancient civilization did this as a defense against some external threat - which is starting to crop up again, causing the galactic "organism" to become active again. ||| Honestly, I don't know if I'll ever get to writing more stories carrying through with that plot, but at least by sharing it here, I can put out some of the lore!

I've had a bit of a mental hurdle in doing sci-fi maps, in that I vastly prefer drawing by hand but sci-fi seems to call for digital tools. However, after seeing Francesca, Ilanthar, and others do amazing traditional pen drawing techniques for sci-fi settings, I've decided to just go ahead on a new version fo the Cathedral Galaxy. But I want to try some layering experiments: I want to draw the map in pen (black) on white paper and invert the image for the base map, then put some selected features back on top in non-inverted colors to make them look more like detail objects. I'm going to have to play with where the text layers will go, and how I indicate the wormhole network, but I think the result will be cool. I'll do a test run first and post it here for feedback!

If that doesn't pan out, I'll just do it all in black pen on white paper, and then figure out other ways to color it.

Here's my start in pencil...if you spot a few holes in the middle, I ran a needle and thread through the paper to make myself ellipses as a drawing guide.

PXL_20201029_220307907c.jpg

[jshoer]

...Here's a quick test. I started with this sketch of some of the elements I plan to do by hand:
CathedralBase.jpg

Here's a quick attempt at my ideas:
CathedralStyleTest.jpg

[ChickPea]

This is a cool idea, and a nice start on the map.

[jshoer]

I placed all the landmarks (some astronomical objects, some ancient artifacts) and just finished inking in the wormhole network. Here's how things are coming.

For territorial borders, I thought I had a French curve around here...but I might have to freehand it. I'm debating whether there should be a single line dividing regions, or a double line like in my original 3D map. I do plan to add color tints for each region.
PXL_20201103_042606827.jpg

[jshoer]

To put a visual on my question: which do you think would look better, the top or bottom option here?
PXL_20201103_174255225.jpg
I'll do the color digitally, and I do plan to invert the pen first. But I need to know where to put my lines, which means planning for color now!

[Ilanthar]

Nice & interesting. I'm stuck on my galaxy map, so I'll watch carefully.
And btw, you gave me the itch to work on my resurgence setting again .

[jshoer]

Awesome! Glad you like it, and I'm happy I gave you a little inspiration. Your settings are so immersive, and the Resurgence maps look like real planetary surfaces with lush terrain, so I'll enjoy your work as well.

For the Cathedral Galaxy's regions and territories, I think the way to do it is with the slight separation at the borders. I added some border lines to my test sketch and colored it in Gimp, and then to see what it looks like without the border lines but with a little blank separation between regions, I pasted the same regional coloration onto the old test image. What do you think?

CathedralStyleTestRegions.jpg

CathedralStyleTestRegions-NoLines.jpg

I kind of like doing it without the lines for the border, and just having the subtle coloration. I'll add labels to the regions afterward.

How awesome to have the Guild to keep me off social media and away from the news while everything is insane right now...

[jshoer]

Here's an update after a few evenings of stippling! I finished the skeleton for one spiral arm, and I'm making sure to give it a ragged edge as it fades toward the outer limits of the galaxy so that there's both a more interesting appearance and a more evocative terrain to the map.

PXL_20201113_185749808.jpg

This spiral arm consists largely of the Sea of Relics and Far Reaches regions, relatively unpopulated parts of the galaxy that are rich in the ancient civilization's ruined megastructures. Over the millennia, gravitational tides and radiation degradation have slowly ripped many of the ancient planetary-scale structures into drifting pieces. Research institutions throughout the galaxy investigate the relics to determine their original purposes and recover ancient knowledge. Entrepreneurial-minded scavengers also comb the fields of derelicts for valuable technology and raw materials to sell.

PXL_20201113_185841867.jpg

Ruined megastructures are not the only landmarks in the galaxy. Stellar objects and astrophysical phenomena dominate the starscape in places. Here is line art for The Menagerie, a star-forming nebula in the Erhn territory of the Imperium of the Triumvirate:

PXL_20201113_185822341.jpg

I'm planning to do a pass over the other spiral arm next, and then move through the galaxy expanding the stippled shape (especially in the central region). For now, my goal is to establish the overall form.

[MistyBeee]

I'm loving this one a lot. Cool concept, perfectly executed. Can't wait to see it finished !

[Ilanthar]

Looking great & full of promises!