@Loopysue Just to clarify, I was thinking of the images earlier on. These most recent ones (ie. the image in the comment before this one) I really like. I don't think I've ever seen the kind of heath you're describing. Sounds beautiful though.

I've been hesitant to say anything about this thread because I feel like I came to it a bit late, and it was maybe past time to mention my impressions. I'm quite a fan of what these days is called grimdark and which I associate more with early (and bleak) swords and sorcery type fiction. I wanted to mention two things, however, and I think you'll see why I've waited.

The first is that as a matter of personal taste I'm not a huge fan of the purplish bits (I think I'm meaning the mountain and moor backgrounds). I can see that lots of people like it, so I'm pretty sure this is my lack of knowledge about color rearing its porcine head again.

The second is a bit more philosophical. I can remember seeing an episode of Battlestar Galactica years ago that focused on the supposedly cursed planet Kobol. It's a lush planet, with tons of vegetation and very little markings of the passage of intelligent species. I remember that making it all the more creepy for me... the supposed cursed state being at complete odds with the beauty of the setting. Another great example is the film Thin Red Line, about Vietnam, which has all of this beautiful scenery and yet people are doing horrific things there and there's a monologue running throughout that comments on it. All of which is to say that for me its the contrast that makes things really dark. A personal aesthetic maybe.

Well, its late, I probably didn't explain that well. The work is beautiful, as always, Sue, and boy now I really do want elven houses that drift on top of the trees. Sorry to be late to the party, and so unhelpful.

Oh, forgot to thank Jim for donating a prize. What an admirable and generous thing to do!

I'm not sure what to say. I honestly didn't expect to win with so many beautiful maps entered. I was really only able to produce this thanks to looking at other threads, watching Monsen's ice caves video, and some really good feedback from Wyvern. Thanks to everyone for your inspiration and encouragement.

I also want to echo what Monsen said about people who didn't get votes. The first time I entered a competition here I didn't get any votes (also a dungeon competition). It definitely doesn't mean that your maps aren't worthwhile; I was quite surprised that some of them didn't get votes.

Great maps everyone. I hope to see more from all of you in the future.

@BlackYeti I just saw your original comment and wanted to say I don't consider myself very good at visual art either. One of the great things about the program is it allows us artistically challenged folks to still make nice maps. Yours included.