Okay, here it is again with the cliffs back in their original sheet order. I moved it because I wanted buildings to be potentially covered by a higher cliff's shadow -- but we saw above how some of those buildings end up being partially covered by the cliffs if they are too close. I thought about replacing the cliffs that have rubble with the plain ones, so that the houses can be closer without touching the cliff symbols. But in the end, I'm not so sure it's that noticeable that the buildings aren't in shadow.

Here it is with the SOLID 10 terrain.

And here it is with a SOLID 20, so that it's darker and more mysterious higher in the mountain. Not so sure, though -- might be a little too dark.

Also, there's a bit of an Easter Egg hidden in there.

I have thoughts on things I'd love to see in future Annuals, but if I mention something that already exists in an older Annual, please advise and I may go buy it!

• Greco-Roman symbols (both City and Dungeon level) - aqueducts, baths, forums, temples, amphitheaters (and at the dungeon level: couches, statues)
• Elven Village (if in a Mike Schley-compatible style, could expand on his elven homes in SS5, or could be totally unique) - tree houses, swan boats and canoes, henges, colorful/exotic flowers and plants, fairy circles, and specialty animals: deer, swans, exotic birds, unicorns, pegasuses (pegasi?), giant eagles and their nests
• Airships - dirigibles, hot air balloons, magical flying ships, Spelljammer-compatible ships
• Academy/University - not sure what this would include, but I will need to design one at some point
• Botanical Garden

If Mike Schley is still doing monthlies:

• Throne Room - thrones, dais, crowns and other regalia (perhaps with pillows to display them on), banners, shields (upright as wall decorations), red (or varicolor) carpets that can be combined into a long strip (or as a fill?), couches or lounge chairs, suits of armor.*
• Library - more bookcase options, more open/closed books, varicolored scroll cases, rolled-up scrolls tied with varicolored ribbon, ink jars with feathered quills.**
• Gnome or Artificer Workshop - though there are some alchemist supplies already
• Mines - tracks, handcarts, pickaxes, individual gems (as opposed to a pile of gems)
• Fairs or festivals - the marketplace symbols have a lot, but I'm thinking about things for performers: juggling pins and balls, musical instruments
• Harbor / Docks / Shipyard - nets, tridents, fish (in open barrels, in piles, and individually), coils of rope

(* With these, I dug through the Mike Schley symbols and found some that could work -- the varicolor "chair ornate" could make for a golden throne, and there's standing armor in weapons. But I haven't found any couches or lounges, just benches and chairs. And there's small area rugs but nothing I saw that could make for a long stretch of carpeting.)

(** The temples and necromancer sets have some of these, though I don't recall seeing feathered quills.)

Also, I have some great photorealistic fills for these sorts of things already, but I'd love more illustrated-style fills for granite, more marble, maybe carpeting?

Here's the inside of the temple. The floor uses white marble tiles that come from DD3, I believe.

The reflections, as with my original temple, are custom-made symbols that are meant to be reflections from the glow of mosaics made from luminescent crystals. I need to remember to remove them when I share the FCW.

The pillars use Mike Schley's ornate columns. Zoomed out, they look a almost "smudged," and the plain columns look sleeker. But zoomed in, the details of the columns' base is nice, and probably more like what a fancy temple would have.

Tyr Alomere Township

Tyr Alomere Township

Population: 1,259

Nestled in the foothills of Mt. Alomere, the sleepy village of Alomere was primarily notable for being a local lord’s vacation villa. Generations ago, it grew to become a prosperous, bustling town when the powerful wizard Marius built a mighty tower there for his retirement.

The wizard, now known as Marius of Alomere, quickly developed a prosperous business. Adventurers flocked to his tower to seek his counsel about their quests, and to purchase scrolls and potions that Marius and his apprentices created. The adventurers then returned after their quests to have curses removed and magical items identified.

Tyr Alomere Tower was later inherited by Marius’ daughter, a powerful wizard in her own right. She bypassed her own children to leave the tower to her most powerful apprentice, and thus began the tradition of keeping the tower in the hands of a mage. 

The town grew to support the influx of visitors, with local retailers well-stocked in the supplies that many adventurers need.

1. Tyr Alomere Tower: The tower is the present home of Madeleine Eyraux, a mighty enchantress, and her husband. The grounds include a cottage where the staff live, and a barn where visitors can stable their mounts.

2. Villa Citri: The vacation villa for the Earls of Westford, Villa Citri is currently occupied by Lady Amfiri Prelcort, Dowager Countess of Westford, widow of the seventh Earl of Westford and mother of the eighth. The villa is known for its orchards of orange trees and its vineyards of wine grapes. 

3. Town Hall: Virtually all government functions operate from the Town Hall, including registering businesses, paying taxes, and registering records of births, weddings, and deaths. Two courtrooms are also in the Town Hall, with one generally dedicated to criminal proceedings and the other for civil lawsuits.

4. Market Square: Local farmers and traveling merchants set up carts and stalls in the Market Square three days a week. 

5. Merry Sprite’s Tavern: The tavern does a bustling business every night of the week, catering to travelers and locals alike. On many nights, minstrels and bards passing through may be found performing for a few extra coins.

6. Draper/Mercer: Customers can buy bolts of fabric as well as items of clothing here.

7. General Store: In addition to selling foodstuff, the store is unusually well stocked for the typical items needed by adventurers, including torches, lamp oil, and simple tools. 

8. Butcher/Fishmonger: In addition to selling fresh meat, jerked meat preserved with salt is available for sale to adventurers.

9. Apothecary: Herbalism and medicine kits are available here, as well as basic ingredients for simple potions. For more exotic ingredients, adventurers will probably have to find a larger city or perhaps go on a quest to find them. The apothecary may have simple, common potions for sale, but the availability is erratic based on what they have been able to purchase from adventurers passing through.

10. Tailor: For the mending and sale of clothing.

11. Cobbler: For the mending and sale of shoes and boots.

12. Jeweler: The jeweler buys and sells both jewelry and individual gemstones. A town this size normally would not be able to sustain a business of this nature, but the wizard’s presence has brought in a lot of travelers with loot to sell, as well as spellcasters who need specialty items for their more complex rituals.

13. Bakery: For the sale of fresh bread, pastries, cakes, and pies.

14. Scrivener: This is another business that is unexpected in a town of this size. In addition to being able to transcribe and notarize documents, the clerks who work here can sell parchment, ink, and books with blank pages suitable for use as a spellbook.

15. Blacksmith: Like most village blacksmiths, the smiths here spend a fair amount of time making horseshoes and making and repairing farm tools. Although they tend not to make arms and armor, they are trained in repairing them. From time to time, they may have armaments for sale that have been purchased from adventurers who have upgraded their equipment.

16. Kotaran Monastery: The Kotaran faith is as much a philosophy as it is a religion. Followers believe that there is strength and power when the universe is balanced, and that that most things in nature are symmetrical for a reason. Kotaran Monasteries are famous for providing support for travelers. Its knights help keep the roads safe from bandits, its priests tend to the injured and sick, and its temples serve as moneylenders and banks in many communities. Adventurers will be able to exchange exotic coins here, and may be able to deposit their excess gold for safekeeping.

17. The Golden Griffon Inn: The inn does a brisk business catering to travelers who seek an audience with the mage. Like at the Merry Sprite’s Tavern, traveling minstrels and bards will often be found performing here in the evenings.

18. Guildhouse: The various merchant guilds share this space for their meetings.

19. Community Baths: Free restrooms and bathing facilities are available for all as a means of controlling the spread of diseases. For those willing to spend a little coin, more luxurious bathing options are available.

20. Public School: The school provides basic reading, writing, and arithmetic instruction for the children of the town and nearby farms. Some will also attend classes at one of the local temples for religious instruction.

21. Tanner: Leathergoods are made, mended, and sold here.

22. Watermill: Locals will bring their own grain here to grind for a small fee, or may purchase ground grain from the miller.

23. Theosi Temple: This Greco-Roman style temple is for the worship of the eight greater gods and twelve lesser gods of the Theosi faith. As with the Kotaran Monastery, the temple has a small medical facility to tend to the injured and the sick,

24. Áes Camáir Temple: For the worship of the five primary gods, the Children of Dawn, and their descendants. Like the Kotaran and Theosi temples, the church has a small medical facility.

25. Town Watch & Jail: The town watch is headquartered here. A basic jail is used to hold prisoners awaiting trial in the courthouse. Those sentenced to longer incarcerations are generally transported to a bigger city to serve their sentence.  

26. Summit Stairs: This tower is home to a spiral staircase that allows ascent to the top of the cliffs, and to the observatory housed there.

27. Observatory: Scholars visit from far and wide for the opportunity to study the heavens through the observatory’s rare and valuable lens.

28. Waste Management: The town’s complex sewer systems converge here, where a giant pit allows for the disposal of other forms of rubbish. Captured gelatinous cubes and black puddings are used to dispose of the town’s waste. 

I forgot that I wanted to have the feast happen at night. Just used the Solid 60 transparency rather than fussing with lighting effects. Went back and forth on whether the reflection from the stained glass windows should be above or below the trees. I guess it depends on how high the room is. Maybe it's on the second floor?

Ooops, I posted an older version of floor three. Here's the correct one.

I've been playing around with Wyvern's great suggestions.

I tried to give the ziggurat a more weathered look by using the FRACTALIZE command. The default settings were way off but I played with it enough to think that with time, I could get it to look right. The problem was that I tried it on a single layer of the temple, and even with just that single layer, it added so many nodes that it slowed everything way down -- and that was just the first of eighteen levels of the temple! So I think my temple won't look weathered after all. Maybe the gods are preserving it. ;-)

Then I hid the desert symbols so that I could play with the different textures and effects to create the illusion of dunes. The Dungeons of Schley style has five sand fills (with 1 being the lightest) and five corresponding partially transparent textures to overlay. The main background in my map was the middle one, Sand 3_SS4. Over the entire map, I also added the Sand 2 T_SS4 texture on a sheet called SAND TEXTURE 1 BASE, which has an inner edge fade to soften it. I then added another sheet called SAND TEXTURE 2 PATCHES, where I drew patches of the textures 1, 4, and 5 (2 already applied to everything, and 3 being the same as the main sand).

For the dunes, I added another sheet, SAND TEXTURE 3 DUNES. It has three effects: Edge Fade, Inner; Bevel, Lighted; and Blur. I then added dunes, trying with first the Solid 10 fill and then some of the sand ones -- but actually, I kinda think the Sand 3 blends in best.

Here's how it looks:

Here's my Bevel settings:

And here's the FCW:

Thoughts? More dunes? More sand patches? More anything else?

As an aside, learning these desert techniques is very helpful. Last November, one of the first maps I attempted was a Blue Dragon's desert lair. I abandoned it, but I've learned so much in the last six months -- time to revisit it!

Made some changes. Scaled the starfield background per Ralf's tip. Moved the asteroid belt to the Inner System where it could be showed off more dramatically. Added a comet zone in the Remote System, using comets from CA80 HighSpace Star Systems. Changed the glow on the wormhole to a light blue so it would pop more. Decided to add some intrastellar jumpgates (like man-made wormholes) within the solar system, and for those I used Singularity symbols from CA80. And since I was already dipping into that annual anyway, I decided to swap out the planet symbol for the Jupiter-like planet Lythí and replace it with a planet symbol with rings from CA80.

I was going to render a part of my Fractal Terrains campaign world in the new Sarah Wroot Revisited style, just to play around with the new style, but I decided to wait until Ralf has a chance to do a tutorial first. In the meantime, I went back to the January 2024 annual that I never really played with, Fantasy Realms Reimagined, to try it with that.

I was going to render the Republic of Lumadair area of my map that I have done before in the Parchment Worlds, Jerion Shading, and Mike Shley styles, but I decided that it was too massively oversized for this style. Those maps are 6,109 by 2,445 miles! (I think we calculated that Lumadair is slightly smaller than Australia, and the map includes part of the mainland continent of Lenoch, which I wanted to include to be able to do more mountains and rivers.)

So I picked a prominent river in the main kingdom I am developing, the Achalus River, and decided that it would run through a duchy named after the river. This is a much smaller map than Lumadair, but it is still 1,343 by 537 miles.

Anyway, here is the Fractal Terrains output in both the Jerion and Schley styles, just for frame of reference:

And here is what I did in Fantasy Realms Reimagined:

I copied over a mid-level elevation contour from the Jerion export to serve as a temporary drawing guide for the hills, and then another higher elevation as a temporary guide for the mountains. This style doesn't actually have a hills or mountains background the way the Schley style does (I mean, it does, but just for the individual hill or mountain itself: it renders onto a layer for the hill or mountain itself, with the ridge lines going on another layer). But I decided it was helpful as more than just a drawing guide, so I changed the hill background to brown and the mountain one to gray, put them on separate sheets, and added Edge Fade and Blur effects.

The coast looks blurry, but that's just because the map is so large. Here's how it looks zoomed in (it has a bevel effect on the LAND sheet instead of having a separate outline on a Coast sheet):

Even though I labeled this post as a Work in Progress, I probably won't do much more on this particular map. We'll see how much more I do when I have a chance to revisit it with the Sarah Wroot Revisited style. I may end up adding all the extra stuff when I flesh out the entire kingdom, which I suspect I will do in the Mike Schley style. This was just for fun and practice -- and it gave me a chance to use a style from this year's annual that I haven't really worked with before (other than using the hills in a back-burnered rendering of the Wizard of Oz map that I'm working on).

And here's the temple's basement. Here, monks who have passed their initiation tests live (there are above-ground barracks for the trainees, but only a fraction of them survive the training). While senior monks are entombed in the crypts when they pass away, trainees and more junior monks are cremated, and their remains are kept in urns in the columbarium. The ritual room includes a teleportation portal that can take senior monks to the "Trial of the Elements" dungeon, and this is where the initiates who have survived that trial appear at the end.

Oh, but wait, there's more: two secret passageways that connect to a secret escape route (revealed by unchecking the SECRET layer). One route is accessed through one of the sarcophagi that conceals stairs that descend (love that symbol, always need a reason to include it).

More to come in a bit...