Elven Village - Personal Campaign/Community Atlas

MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
So, I needed an elven village for this weekend's game. Below you can see the first iteration of this map.

Personally, I am not that fond of elves building their houses inside trees (or in the treetops) [not to mention that kind of architecture requires a very convenient supply of unnaturally large trees, not commonly encountered [and I am also not much into the throwing magic at every mundane thing situation]], so the village is just regular buildings, but I put an emphasis on the elves trying to live more in harmony with their nature and trying to find appropriate spots for their buildings rather than chop down the trees in the area. This lead to a kind of "open" village, at least when the number of structures are concerned.

The map is a bit busy, but that is kind of intentional, I wanted a lot of vegetation around.

The map is also a bit flat, I'll try to gather some inspiration form Shessar's Bryn map and perhaps make it a few elevation levels.

That thing in the middle of a map is a tower (a library to be exact). The players have seen a similar tower before, and I wanted a slightly elongated design without making it an oval, so I settled on that shape (The star-shaped platform is just the outside at ground level)

I'll see how much time I have to improve this map. It is for the game this weekend, and once the players have seen it, it is kind of locked in as far as changes go, so unless I get to fix things before then, it stays like this.

I also plan on finding somewhere in the atlas to put it as well.

[Image_12457]
«1

Comments

  • I like rivers with varying width, rather than the 'line' ones using the drawing tools. You could redo this by using a polygon - I use a fractal one, then smooth. Otherwise, with the even width streets (which are good), the river/stream looks a bit artificial. And perhaps the street crossing the stream could be changed into a stepping stone ford? Otherwise, why have bridges at the other two crossings.
    A great map, sorry for the nitpicks.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    edited March 2019
    It's lovely to see you mapping, Remy :D

    I agree with Quenten on the wiggly-sided river at this scale, where you might expect to see the small variations in width here and there, but I think the colour is more guilty of making it look 'artificial'. Maybe not such a very bright blue might help?

    A bit of elevation would look brilliant.
  • Remy! I don't think I've ever seen any of your maps before (except, maybe, from the Tome)!

    I like the look of this. I even like the blue of the river! Granted it may look a little too uniform for some, that doesn't bother me at all...it is a fantasy map, that river could have been man (or elf) made.

    Maybe one thing that might help it along (and I can't believe I'm actually giving you suggestions!), is if you could somehow define the riverbank a little better? Give it a bit of elevation, so that it looks like the river cut into the banks?

    It looks great! I especially like the complimentary colors of the trees. This is what I've been wanting to do in my maps.
  • clithgowclithgow Traveler
    I love the variety of textures in this - really feels "growy." One thing I wonder is, can you rotate some of those tents in the lighter green field? It looks like their shadowed side is counter to your global shadows. Just a minor thought.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    edited March 2019
    Version 2.

    Addressed some of the complaints you horrible difficult people had ;-)
    Also did some minor improvements.

    Thanks for the feedback everyone, appreciate it.

    I didn't mention this in the last post, but this place also harbors a dark secret. But that will have to wait for another time.


    [Image_12461]
    Posted By: Quentenrather than the 'line' ones using the drawing tools
    Don't think I actually used a single drawing tool in this map. Stuck to the basics, using the manual approach.
    Posted By: LadieStormI don't think I've ever seen any of your maps before (except, maybe, from the Tome)!
    Well, there are quite a lot of them in there though. My maps actually have quite a large audience thanks to that book. Still think Corgin is my best map though, which I posted here a couple of months back.
    I especially like the complimentary colors of the trees.
    Trust me, that is by pure accident. When somebody starts talking about advanced color theories like complimentary colors and stuff, I just go "Huh!?!". I imagine this is much the same response that many others have when I try to tell them about programming and software development.
  • Nice map, Remy! How can there be a dark secret in such a bright, happy looking village??
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    Of course there can't. Just don't pay that sentence any heed at all. Everything is just fine and lovely. Fluffy heart shaped Unicorns and all that. Just come on in for some hot tea and fresh baked sweet rolls and leave all suspicions at the door.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    Wonderful! A good map made even better :D

    Thank you for sharing it with us :)

    The raised terrace looks really great.
  • Have you got coffee - can't stand tea.
    Great map. Where is it going in the Atlas?
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    Don't know yet. Made this primarily for my own campaign, so I'll just figure a place where it might fit. Maybe Oakshire in the Feralwood Forest.
  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    There's a trollbridge to get into the village, right? And an aboleth under the central building? And that hut in the upper right is where the villagers keep the gnoll children slaves that they use for agricultural purposes? And that one tree there hasn't been properly pruned for the last two seasons ? Dark times in the elf village...
  • Joe, that is a doddle of an adventure. Surely you can make it more frightening than that!

    Remy, have you thought about looking at one of the elven villages in the Elven Kingdom of Elen Daelarion.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    That's certainly a possible location.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    edited March 2019
    Posted By: jslaytonThere's a trollbridge to get into the village, right? And an aboleth under the central building? And that hut in the upper right is where the villagers keep the gnoll children slaves that they use for agricultural purposes? And that one tree there hasn't been properly pruned for the last two seasons? Dark times in the elf village...
    It's much worse. The tailor in the village secretly don't actually like the color green. Imagine what would happen if anyone learned that fact. Please don't tell anyone.
  • The changes made a huge difference. This is an awesome map and one that I can't wait to get my hands on. My players are currently adventuring within elven realms and I haven't had the time to actually map any of it for myself. Thanks for contributing this!
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    Not sure exactly when I will get it into the atlas, probably be a little while, but I'll attach the .fcw here for the current version of the map. (Click the image in the post above for the high resolution png export)
  • The FCW, YAY! I really appreciate this Remy. It fits my needs so perfectly that I could have made it myself. You are awesome!
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    Glad to be of assistance.
    Posted By: ShessarYou are awesome!
    So are you, and a lot of other people here in this forum too. Sharing one's creations with others are a great way of building the community, which repays itself when you can use maps other community members share. This is the foundation the atlas builds on, and thanks to you and many others, there are now a great selection of maps for everyone to use. I've had great use of the maps in the atlas myself.
  • seycyrusseycyrus Traveler
    Posted By: MonsenNot sure exactly when I will get it into the atlas, probably be a little while, but I'll attach the .fcw here for the current version of the map. (Click the image in the post above for the high resolution png export)
    Woah! That's a lot of red X's! ONE non-red-X symbol!
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    edited March 2019
    You need the following for this map:

    Campaign Cartographer 3+
    City Designer 3
    Symbol Set 2: Fantasy Floorplans
    The Cartographer's Annual vol 12 (2018)
    CSUAC 2.0
    Bogie's Mapping Objects
    Dundjinni Archives
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    Well, my players did encounter this village during the weekend, and have had some time with it and got their first introduction to what the secret of this place might be. It seems to be unstuck from the normal time stream. In my campaign, they height of the Elven and Dwarven empires are long gone, and the races have been in decline for a long time. Humans have taken over the world, and the Elves and the Dwarves (who themselves inherited the world from the Dragons) are now nearly extinct. But in this village, life goes on as if it was still in the middle of the height of the Elven empire. After entering the village, the characters found that they now longer had access to their gods, their prayers for divine spells was answered by silence, and now, they have just learned that it seems impossible to actually exit the village, something is keeping them here and somehow confusing them and turning them around as they try to leave. Now, what could cause this? And why don't the inhabitants of the village seem to know anything about this? And what are those translucent beings that keeps attacking the players, which the elves in the village seem to completely ignore?

    So, there you have it, the dark secret of the elven village (my map file is really named cursed village, but I wanted to hide that fact until my players found out. My players are very rarely here, but I never take unnecessary chances. There is more things to be discovered by my players yet, after all , I don't think they want to spend the rest of their adventuring career in this tiny village).
  • But if they can't get out, they could spend the next 20 years there. What a fiend. Sounds like the TV programme 'Under the Dome'
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    Sounds like a lot of fantasy novels where the main plot of the book is escaping the trap the protagonist(s) was/were born into - usually in a post apocalyptic world where the outside is said to be lethal in some way just to keep everyone too afraid to break out.
  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    Clearly it's a zoo being run the imposter elf who doesn't like green and can't prune a tree! But if you kill the zookeeper, the colony will be disrupted and all of the residents will starve!
  • Joe's idea is by far the best. The Zookeeper is dead, Long Live the Zookeeper
  • seycyrusseycyrus Traveler
    Posted By: MonsenYou need the following for this map:

    Campaign Cartographer 3+
    City Designer 3
    Symbol Set 2: Fantasy Floorplans
    The Cartographer's Annual vol 12 (2018)
    CSUAC 2.0
    Bogie's Mapping Objects
    Dundjinni Archives
    Yes, I finally reinstalled all the Vintyri project stuff (its always the last thing I get around to doing after an OS wipe). Everything is coming up and the map looks great.

    Parsing through your sheets, I have a couple of questions about your process. For me, the answer would be something along the lines of, "Seemed to be easiest at the time", but perhaps there is some higher reasoning and/or structure.

    I note that you ave entities on the Riverbed sheet and the WATER/RIVERS sheet, that seem to be the same, differing in only fill style and/or color. To my eye, I cannot see the difference if I hide the riverbed sheet. Is it too subtle for my eyes to detect a difference? In general, what is the practical reason behind having a riverbed sheet?

    Most (ALL?) of your trees are on the symbols sheet, and not the VEGETATION TREES sheet. For me it would be a matter of "When I placed the tree symbols they automatically went on the symbols sheet, and I left them there." Is that the case in this map, or is there something more subtle behind it?

    Thanks, great map!
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    The riverbed sheet contains a entity with a sand/gravel fill which is subtle, but can be seen through the river. If you turn off the riverbed sheet, you'll see grass through the river instead.

    For the trees, I didn't have any reason to mess with the default sheet they where put on, so I didn't touch them. In hindsight, I should probably have had them on their own sheet to control the shadows better.

    Generally, I don't do much planning ahead with the sheets though, I just tend to add new sheets whenever I discover I need them.
  • 7 days later
  • That is a great looking map! My only recommendation would be to edge the paths with more trees that obscure the pathway, Like the stream, making it less regular and more broken will add to the natural appearance.

    Top
  • 7 months later
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    Posted By: QuentenRemy, have you thought about looking at one of the elven villages in the Elven Kingdom of Elen Daelarion.
    Sounds good to me. Thinking of placing it on that unnamed village in the middle of the forest north-east of Mt Thorungol.

    You got a good name for the village that would fit with the setting?
  • Here are some using the naming generator that I devised myself, and use extensively - these are Tolkienesque names.But do feel free to use your own invention. It is your map.

    Isilrie
    Thinfadir
    Nimranrie
    Ellenrandel
    Elrogol
    Anrangol
    Anrannalas
    Daefaroth
    Iberorion
    Nimdel
    Andrilas
    Emarion
    Nimmarion
    Alenros
    Elaroth
    Asildur
Sign In or Register to comment.