Vindr, Southern Coastline of Vanar, and the East and Western frontiers of Aedra

[morikahn]

This will be a follow up map to my world map, posted here.

Though I'm happy with the end result of the world map, the actual process felt wrong: drawing the map and then coming up with names of places. Without a clear idea of what was to go on the map, I found myself replicating common visual themes seen in fantasy maps. I often had to go back and redo parts to try to avoid the homogeneity.

So...

Instead of making the map first then pushing in labels into places until I feel I've properly saturated the map with landmarks, I'm going to do the opposite: make a large list of placenames then draw the map. I'm hoping this will guide my artistic endeavor and create a much more naturalistic feel.

I want a heavy focus on typography on this map. I dislike it when names feel pasted on afterwards on a map, they should feel like part of the map, as truthfully, the labels are the most important aspect of mapping anyway.

I'm also going to really try to make names that have a very thematic feel to them. I'd like my players to just sorta kinda know what a place is like just by its name. I don't want to be too obvious about it, but I'll be willing to sacrifice a little realism and/or borrow a little too heavily from real world names to accomplish this goal.

So......

No art will be posted yet! Too bad!

What you'll see here is an ever growing list of location names until I feel I have enough to populate an area that is about a 1000 miles wide and 400 mile tall.

Note: Using color and contrast, I intend to make it very evident what part of the land are civilized and what parts are not. I will only supply labels for towns and cities, but it can be assumed in civilized locations that hamlets and villages are numerous in unmarked regions of land.

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The List


Shires (halflings)*-shirefolk
Halflings live in small municipalities on the outskirts of human civilization and are named for their major exports or prevalent terrain features. The avoid locations between nations with hostile histories.

Brookshire - known for the streams that runs through it
Hillshire - notable for having larger hill than a normal ****e
Hogshire - produced pork, competitor with Hamshire
Hamshire - produces port, competitor with Hogshire
Curdshire - notable for its fine cheeses and dairy products
Flockshire - produces sheep and wool
Portshire - Along the ocean and sports a halfling navy with halfling sized ships
Brewshire - Brewshire Lager is a widely consumed beverage in the region
Sweetshire - Exports fine candies
Tumbleshire - Home of the Halfling Circus
Cockshire - Chickens and eggs (I know what you were thinking...)
Smokeshire - Fine tobacco products
Dungshire - Imports manure to supply its large farms of specialized vegetables
Oakshire - Within an oak forest.



City States
Are a single autonomous city and its dependent territories. The will not have surrounding towns, but may have small farming villages within their territories.

Salaria - Major exporter of mine salt - Salarian
Briquetage - Major exporter or sea salt - Brik
Azuria - Famed for it magical university and hot air ballon ships, and azurite mines. - Azurite
Leperhaven - An island colony for lepers and other diseased and disfigured individuals -Leper
Port Forb - Wealthy city state known for its long range merchant fleets - Forbian
Liberstadt - City that seceeded from Gottland - Libergian
Trencher - a small town at the crossroads of several nations. Known for its disreputation. To be called a Trencherman is to be called a thief or pilferer.




Geography/land marks
Alder River - an old river that defines the southern boundaries of several nations
The Old Road - an ancient road of an unknown empire that winds through various lands
Haggler's Strait - the long and narrow band of water that runs east to west, north of Vindr
Jötunnschnarch - a long range of tall hills. The folklore is that the wind is a giant's snore.
The Gelbum - a yellowish swamp
Outlands - a stretch of grass land, crags, and light copse of trees. No rivers, but light rainfall. No human civilization exists here.
Oemani - Minor and Major, two mountains called the twins that mark the entrance to Affarterrem
Savatarem Desert- marks the southern end of Vindr.
Sea of Sauli - small sea between the Savaterem Desert and Vindr, where the columns of an ancient empire rise above the water





Skaldinavia - Kingdom (Bardic) -Skaldi
A small human kingdom known for its strong bardic tradition. It is supported by neighboring kingdoms in exchange for providing some of the best universities in the region. Should not have much farmable land.

Cities
Kennivik (capitol) - kenning (old poet tradition of giving new compound names for things)

Towns
Sturluson -named after famous skald Snorri Sturluson
Windensong - famous for its chimes and steady winds

Rivers
Halacodexá (White River of Books) - codex
Ámalaedda (River Murmuring of Verse) - poetic edda






Seaxia - Stratocracy (Warrior peninsula) - Seaxian
Southern peninsula kingdom. Seax is an old world for germanic swords and is the basis of the word name Saxxon. Kingdom will have a strong military tradition and should have several notable forts to imply this. The peninsula is treated like a sword for place names.

City
Tangthorn (capitol) - tang

Towns
Shank - alternative to tang
Knaufstat - from the german word for pommel
Ingelrod - type of prized viking sword

Forts
Fort Haftdægr - haft of sword
Fort Messelstel - from germanic for blade
Fort Skarzbard - from scabbard
Fort Ortstief - from german word for sword point (ort) and german word for stiff (stief)

Rivers (all small since they are on a peninsula)
Katzbalger - from a germanic short sword
Noricá - from the celtic iron mines used to make roman weaponry
Langdochá - from the german word for long dagger

Valley
Kehlenvale - german for fuller (groove in sword) is holhkehle







Azzi - Aristarchy (Matriarchal Warrior Society) - Azzinites
Warrior society with a dominant female gender. Their landmark, rivers, and settlements are named for famous Azzinite warriors. Based on Amazonian legends. Timocractic government.

Cities
Themiscyra (capitol)
Andromache - named of a famed warrior that died as the city was sacked long ago

Towns
Sanape - famous for vineyards
Smyrna - burial site for a famed conqueror

Forts
Fort Areto - twin to Fort Iphito, guarding the two main passages to Azzi
Fort Iphito

Rivers
Amastris
Polemusa
Thermodosa
Hellena

Forest
Antibrote Bracken

Shrine
Fanum Virginem - located in the Antibrote Bracken, where chaste nuns reside

Mountains
Decem Milia - the ten thousand, named after the ten thousand graves of honored matrons





Favon Wilds - Chiefdoms (Barbarian tribes) - Favic
Taken from roman name of the west wind, Favonius, which was considered a lucky wind and from with the word 'favorable' comes from. A large heavily wood territory with no centralized goverment or cities, but small localized communities with chiefs. The chiefs meet and if the area is under threat elect a temporary war leader. The tribes are semi-nomadic and named after the river they keep close to.

River and Tribe that claims it
Primunuiva - (Primit Tribe) Know for its wild flowers
Falsenveil - (Falsic Tribe) Runs through a long series of cliffs
Rotwezter - (Rotti Tribe) Red water from iron deposits
Serpencoda (Serpensi Tribe) A meandering river called the Snake's Tail

Mountain
Kurpelinvori (Atravanya Witches) - named after the finnish legend.

Landmark
Evanaansul - A great tree and clearing for the assembly of chiefs; at the edge of the Atrabosk

Forests
Atrabosk - Withered forest that surrounds Kurpelinvori
Eldarch - Ancient forest with trees reported to be thousands of years old or more.
Viridri - Green woods. Largest forest of the Favon Wilds. Evergreen trees
Marscesum - Second largest forest of decidious trees.





Kingdom of Borland (Tedious people) - Borish
Kingdom of non-descript peasantry and self absorbed aristrocracy. Simply meant to create contrast with the other more interesting nations nearby. Known for their pig headedness, brutish behavior, and casual cruelty.

City
Piger (capitol) - lazy in latin. Known for its clocksmiths

Towns
Stuller
Blud
Dampton





Gottland Theocracy (Religious) - Gotlander
A highly religious nation that has enforced monotheistic views. There are two cities and no towns, but many illiterate villages. The priesthood prevents the formation of towns to prevent the formation of an intellectual class that could challenge their rules

City
Ostengaard (capitol)
Rackstell

Rivers
Uskaná - defines a border of the nation, means river of infildels
Heding - defines a border of the nation, means river of heathens

Ruins
Stramma Monastery - oder of monks that challenged the concept of monotheism
Fluge - town destroyed that failed to observe certain dogmas
Eldenbaum -town destroyed that challenged the controlling priestshood, druidic leaning
Attenbro - town around a bridge that was destroyed during a secession of a border city





Kingdom of Finnick (Declining) - Finnian
Finnich was a much larger empire at one point, but a series of weak and out-of-touch monarchs lead to a several disasterous wars with its neighbor, Crador, that cost it large amount of valuable land. Two of its former cities have seceeded and become city states. The local nations still use the Finnick Calendar to track time.

The land between it and Crador is a complicate pockmarks of borders.

Cities
King's Point (capitol)

Fort
Highguard Castle- Order of Paladins

Towns
Lohengram
Kirkwall
Burnsley

Seceeded City States
Northbury
Doncaster

Rivers
Craber's Wash





Kingdom of Crador (Industialized) - Cratian
A scheming people that have been on the rise for the last several generations as they have slowly absobed Finnish territory. There is a strong focus on industry and technology.

The land between it and Finnick is a complicate pockmarks of borders.

Cities
Flagstone (capitol)
Fleetport - Known for its advanced cartography and ships

Towns
Stockpot - Known for good iron and steel products
Millhouse - Lumber town
Bellhouse - Known for its tin mines and bronze/brass products
Luminhall - Has famed lighthouses

Forts
Fort Bittenfell - known for its skilled archers

Rivers
Ponnátoon





Ostmark (Semi-Autonimous Oligarchy) - Ostonian
Is a nation that formed from an early militarized zone after the fall of the half-elven Sol empire 800 years prior.

Towns
Lichenblade - controlled by oligarch Timon Gottefried
Avemancha - controlled by oligarch Reginald Foster
Falconhain - controlled by disgraced Baroness Lucitia Von Falconhain.

Forts
Munghold - The central fortification that defends Mungwall
Fort Lock - Nortern fortification in the water that protects a major bridge
Wardengate - Ancient keep when the Sol empire still existed.

Landmarks
Mungwall - ancient massive wall that was built to protect the the Sol Empire from human barbarian incuriosion, or Mungs as they were called. After their empire fell, the wall is now used in reverse to protect the fledging human empires from the creatures that inhabit the ruins.

Riverwall - a part of the Mungwall designed to let the Fluminsol flow through the wall.

River
Fluminisol - flowing in from past Mungwall

[ChickPea]

This is interesting! I'm already picturing geography just from the names alone, and will be interested to see how you develop your map (mostly to see if I'm right in what I'm imagining LOL!)

Also, I have a feeling the property prices in Dungshire ain't very high .... *holds nose*

[morikahn]

Heh.

Dungshire will actually be the largest of the shires. Unlike the other shires, its named after its major import, manure from nearby regions. It is mostly farmland. They'll specialize in growing crops unavailable in other areas. Of course, that won't stop people from using them as the basis of jokes.

"You smell worse than Dungshire on a hot day"
"You better clean yourself up or I'm shipping you off to the Dungshirefolk!"

[jackdempsey14]

Not sure if you're looking for advice/ideas, but something that I noticed: while I absolutely love the originality of your naming conventions for Seaxia (kudos), having every area of the "Shire" end with "-shire" seems a little lackluster. While I can definetly see it being a recurring theme, having the naming structure be so exclusive just... doesn't seem to fit. But, its your world, by all means go with what your plans are

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Christopher Johnstone]

Nice way to go about the naming thing. One thing to be aware of is that rivers (in particular) but sometimes other landmarks have very old names that are inherited by conquering peoples. It'd be unlikely that rivers would have the same naming system as the towns and cities unless either the land was unoccupied when people arrived (the Maori arrived in an unoccupied New Zealand, so the rivers all have 'recent' Maori names), or the invaders thoroughly wiped out whoever lived there before.

Big rivers tend to have the oldest names. The Thames is a good example. It's not Anglo-Saxon. It's not Celtic. It's not even immediate pre-Celtic as far as well can tell. The best guess anyone has been able to make is that Thames is related to a proto-Indo-European word meaning 'dark' (probably for the colour of its water).

Sometimes other features like mountains keep their older names when cultural invasions happen. Another thing to be aware of is that things get the same name multiple times. There are places in the UK that translate as hill-hill-hill, reflecting several invasions. Or, Lake Rotorua in New Zealand, which means Lake Lake Rua.

Anyway, just some thoughts. Laying in some historicity as your working with the names could be fun.

Chris

[morikahn]

@ jackdempsey: yeah I debated the re-use of shire as a suffix for halfling settlements. It is redundant. I decided to keep it consistent as these will be very small blips that are scattered all over, and I'd like to use the similarity to make it easy for players to identify what they are.

@ Chris Johnstone: very useful advice. Thank you. I still have quite a ways to go, so i'll keep this in mind as I continue.

[kimni]

I love the idea of creating the names first (and I love any kind of detailed worldbuilding, in fact).

I just noticed a tiny thing: in the Seaxia section, if you want german for "stiff", you want the word "steif". Not "stief" (that means "step", as in "stepparents"). I know it's very tiny...

[morikahn]

Danke

I'll switch it. I will readily admit though that I'm not always sticking to exact translations. I looked at a lot of german, latin, and finnish words for ideas, and I'm finding often I like the general word sound, but want to alter it slightly. This is mostly likely due to my American English bias.

[JonPin]

If you keep the shires apart and scattered it should work. Cockshire, heh.

[morikahn]

Okay, I think this list is large enough. Most likely I'll need to add names in later to fill out empty areas, if necessary. Time to start working on art resources.