New (Old) Project - Argontath

Beatings and Salivations!




I am an old time gamer whose roots run deep. I’ve been gaming since 1974 (yes, I am old as dirt and my mind is slowly experiencing the ravages of senility thanks to Pro Fantasy’s software! LOL!). However, this is my first experience with Fractal Terrains Pro (and soon CC3 once I get the world situated). My world is called ”Argontath”. I’ve used this campaign setting (non-d20 system) since 1978 and have ran the course of too many hand drawn maps to count. =) I am including photos of the last hand drawn map (from 1990) and a few pieces of art for places of interest. All areas on the old paper maps are hand done. City and special places of interest, names of countries, rivers, etc, were printed, cut out and glued to the master map. It took me about 2 months to complete. Thank God for computer programs now! =)




I am looking at revitalizing the world with new maps, new continents and new experiences. The Fractal Terrain maps below are a rough draft of sorts. I am still trying to fine tune the map. Once I have the FTP draft finished, I am going to go through with Campaign Cartographer 3 to complete the map. So, pardon my questions if I yell out for help at times. =) I’m open to suggestions, creative criticism, hints, and of course eating your brains… err.. I mean gathering up all your knowledge. =)




I have always loved cartography and enjoy looking at old maps from the middle-ages. My educational (Masters from Cal-Berkeley ‘87) background is in Medieval History and Literature with emphasis on Ancient Language and Mythology. Now I spend my time raising my family, coaching football and learning how to use FTP and CC3.




I hope to be an active member of the forums! Enjoy! =)




Valtharius the Mad

Comments

  • edited February 2009
    Argontath - Fractal Terrain Pro Maps


    FTP-Argontath – World Map (Gaea)


    argontathworldmapgaea.th.jpg


    FTP-Argontath – World Map (Altitude)


    argontathworldmapaltitu.th.jpg


    FTP-Argontath – World Map (Gaea – Known World Outlined)


    argontathknownworldworl.th.jpg


    FTP-Argontath – Known World Map (Gaea)


    argontathknownworldgaea.th.jpg


    FTP-Argontath – Known World Map (Altitude)


    argontathknownworldalti.th.jpg
  • edited February 2009
    Argontath - Old Paper Maps


    Old Argontath – World Map (Paper Map)


    oldargontathworldmap.th.jpg


    Old Argontath – Northwest Continent (Paper Map)


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    Old Argontath – Southwest Continent (Paper Map)


    oldargontathswcontinent.th.jpg


    Old Argontath – Northeast Continent (Paper Map)


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    Old Argontath – Southeast Continent (Paper Map)


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  • edited February 2009
    Argontath - Places of Interest



    Art – The Shimbalan Capitol of Moonrise



    The Shimbalan (elven) Capitol of Moonrise, stands majestic within the waters of a lake in the western most regions of the known world. Standing over 2000 feet high, this ancient city serves as the Keep of the Moonstone, the source of all magic. When the sun rises and first touches the great spires and powerful cascade of scintillating light is sent out across the sky and can be viewed from over a thousand miles away. The only way into the city is by way of heavily guarded teleportation gates. The spire itself is made of magically hardened granite and corundum.



    artelvencapitolofmoonri.th.jpg



    Art – The Temple of the Iron Crown



    Hidden within the Talian Mountains, this temple is the most ancient structure still standing. The temple is self-dedicated to the 22 gods of Argontath. Within are the 21 statues that represent the Lord of the Mantri, Kirei, Lethin, and Khaas. One statue represents the All-Father, Odaden. Held inside the pedestal of each statue are the true codex's of each god's religion, except Odaden and Tara whose codex's are kept in the temples of Ardalakhor and Loth-Tiren respectively. This temple also houses 13 other statues of similar stature to the 22 gods of Argontath, but their origins are unknown, nor do their names translate into any known language. One pedestal and statue are in complete ruins as the stone has turned jet black with blood-red streaks running through it. The only word that can be made out on the pedestal is "Kathar". The temple also serves as the Keep of the Sunstone, the Orb of Creation, or the Source of Life. The temple is sealed from outsiders by ancient and powerful runes. The temple has no known inhabitants, nor does legend state by whom it was constructed.



    arttempleoftheironcrown.th.jpg



    Art – The Coral Walls of Manetoaka



    The blue coral walls surround each coastal city of Mahg-Maranda. These walls were erected as a gift from the sea-god, Manetoaka, for the faithful services rendered by the Marandans during the First Age of Khedra. The Marandans are considered by many to be the finest sailors in all the known world and their ships are second to none.



    artthecoralwallsofmaghm.th.jpg



    Art – The Pillars of the Dragon



    The Seven Pillars of the Dragon sits within the murky water of the Morthian Swamp and represents the four gods of the Lethin (elements) and three of the Lords of the Khass (creatures of the oerth), with the largest of the seven pillars representing Rithgar, Lord of Magic and Dragonkind. The dragon entwined about the center pillar is made of solid, now-indestructible, ruby and as legend has it, hold the secrets of true magical powers, Rune Lore. The pillars were erected several thousand years ago by an ancient cult of Rithgar that existed neat the now fallen city of Tor-Morthian.



    artpillarsofthedragon.th.jpg
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    Welcome to the forum.

    I really like your old hand-drawn maps. They're very nice. The same with the illustrations. Myself, I can't draw even if my life depends on it, so CC was the only way I was going to have a chance of creating maps at all.

    Also seems like you are on to a good start with creating your world in FT.
    As for Fractal Terrains, I don't know if you have gotten it yet, but you can download a nice package called "Terraformer" from your registration page that works very well with FT. If you haven't already, I recommend you check it out. It contains new terrain bitmaps, cloud maps and palettes.
  • Thank you Monsen for the welcome! I will definitely grab Terraformer. =)

    I purchased three plug-ins for Photoshop CS3 this morning called LunarCell, SolarCell and Glitterato. LunarCell creates planets and some really nice planetary fractal variations. SolarCell creates suns. and Glitterato creates starfields and nebulae and such. I am playing around with them right now and seeing if there is a way of incorporating them into the creation of my fantasy world. Then again, I am still trying to figure out what I want in a world that would separate it from other fantasy worlds. =)

    Thanks for the heads-up on Terraformer!

    ~Valtharius the Mad
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    Looks like those three plugins could be perfect for making images/backgrounds for use with Cosmographer (Especially when v3 is ready), and for the October 2008 Annual.
  • Hi Valtharius, your hand drawn maps are wonderful. The illustrations even more so. As one with experience with FT pro, let me give you a word of advice: If you want to use the maps generated there dont concentrate much on the nice height maps, you cant use them effectively in CC2 or CC3 anyways. Export the coast and a few height intervals (every 1000 feet) to get a feel for things, but the coast line is the only really important part. The rest you should do "by hand".

    Since you already have a nice world already set up you would be better served by loading in the "old world" map as a background and tracing over it with CC3 to recreate the original. FT Pro is more for creating worlds from scratch.

    If you start with a world map dont try to put all the detail into one map since the file size eats up most PC's. Start with a rough world map with general features and then create "zoom view" maps. Hope that helps.
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