Northwestern Odrian (John Roberts stylel)
kevbeck43
🖼️ 13 images Surveyor
The following is all the background I have prepared for this map so far. Please let me know your opinion on this map, especially if you think the map matches the rough background I have provided for it. Thanks so much for input!
This map is pretty much done. All of the cities are surrounded by farm land. The cities are all medieval manorial cities for the most part. They trade with each other using the Grand Trade Road and the roads that spring from it.
The Demon Rift was opened fifty years ago when a Balrog and an army of fiends emerged from the Rift for no apparent reason. It took the Eglandian army and an elite band of heroes to thwart the invasion and destroy the Balrog. The rift is 700 feet deep and has several entries into the Darkworld, the remains of an ancient kingdom of unknown origin. The Darkworld is inhabited by monsters that emerge all over Eglandia and Illiear through different caverns and caves spread out over both wilderness and cultivated areas.
The Eglandian towers are military outposts that watch various areas subject to attacks from all sorts of evils. Fort Vigilance is the headquarters of a standing army there to protect the rest of Eglandia from the perils of the Twisted North. The Dragonsback Mountains house all sorts of creatures both good and bad. Karn Thakas is the ancient seat of power for the Dwarves that form the only real law and order in the wilds surrounding the mountains. Eglandia and the dwarves are separate kingdoms but consider each other as deeply trusted allies. This stems from the fact that both nations have fought in wars defending both Eglandia and the dwarven nation for centuries.
Illiear has no military forts because their cities are all garrisoned by the elven armies from the Eastwood. These armies have no official military rank or insignia because it is their aim to blend in with the populace and hide their presence. It allows them to keep their actual strength unknown to all but their most trusted allies. Illiear is a human kingdom but they have a mutual understanding with the elves and have been allies for centuries. This is why many of the towns have elven names. Because of the intermixing of races Illiear has a very high population of half-elves and elves living alongside humankind. Illear's navy is formidable because they are on constant alert from the raiders of Thrazi to the South. The two nations have been at odds for longer than most people care to recall.
This map is pretty much done. All of the cities are surrounded by farm land. The cities are all medieval manorial cities for the most part. They trade with each other using the Grand Trade Road and the roads that spring from it.
The Demon Rift was opened fifty years ago when a Balrog and an army of fiends emerged from the Rift for no apparent reason. It took the Eglandian army and an elite band of heroes to thwart the invasion and destroy the Balrog. The rift is 700 feet deep and has several entries into the Darkworld, the remains of an ancient kingdom of unknown origin. The Darkworld is inhabited by monsters that emerge all over Eglandia and Illiear through different caverns and caves spread out over both wilderness and cultivated areas.
The Eglandian towers are military outposts that watch various areas subject to attacks from all sorts of evils. Fort Vigilance is the headquarters of a standing army there to protect the rest of Eglandia from the perils of the Twisted North. The Dragonsback Mountains house all sorts of creatures both good and bad. Karn Thakas is the ancient seat of power for the Dwarves that form the only real law and order in the wilds surrounding the mountains. Eglandia and the dwarves are separate kingdoms but consider each other as deeply trusted allies. This stems from the fact that both nations have fought in wars defending both Eglandia and the dwarven nation for centuries.
Illiear has no military forts because their cities are all garrisoned by the elven armies from the Eastwood. These armies have no official military rank or insignia because it is their aim to blend in with the populace and hide their presence. It allows them to keep their actual strength unknown to all but their most trusted allies. Illiear is a human kingdom but they have a mutual understanding with the elves and have been allies for centuries. This is why many of the towns have elven names. Because of the intermixing of races Illiear has a very high population of half-elves and elves living alongside humankind. Illear's navy is formidable because they are on constant alert from the raiders of Thrazi to the South. The two nations have been at odds for longer than most people care to recall.
Comments
I just find your trees and forests a bit odd : almost all the map is covered in solitary tree symbols placed at relatively regular intervals, and then you have super dense forests made using a landfill. If I were you, I'd use only one of the two. Either use landfill only, and do smaller forests here and there (and probably re-fractalize the edges quite a bit to make the forest shape look more natural), or use tree symbols only, replacing all the landfills by tree symbols, and rearranging the current solitary trees so it doesn't look so uniform across the map.
Oh, and I really like the overall geography of your land. It looks really natural.
I love the overall design and layout. It is a great start!
Just a few suggestions:
1. Fractilize/Smooth your forests.
2. Fractilize your coast a little more (some like to click on smooth while others don't - just a matter of taste)
3. Fractilize/Smooth your rivers.
4. Delete some of the individual trees and create small copse of 1 to three trees (I initially had the same problem with Ice flows for my Niflheimr map, I dropped the ice flow symbols, made my own organic ones and went with less).
Main issues is that everything is very "pointy" and angular and just seems off a little.
Unless you are trying to make river deltas, rivers should not split on their way down.
Lakes should have a river source(s) and a drainage river unless it is a dead lake (Such as the Dead Sea).
Just some ideas - looks nice! :-)
Most of my concerns have already been addressed... the forestfills, and the individual trees. i would add just one more... the lakes. you could fractalize them a bit, they seem a little too uniform also.
Other than that, I really like this!!!