Thread: WIP for an inland island

Welcome Aboard!

First post includes a map - *ding ding ding* auto-banishment of the blue pip of shame!

You seem to have a pretty good idea of what you need to correct/fix/improve.

I'd also suggest trying to vary the mountain 'icons' a bit, you seem to have used the same one over and over. Though I'm not a CC user I think there is probably a way to blend the transitions from one terrain type to another, they seem kind of 'drastic'.

There are plenty of talented and experienced CC users here who'll be better able to give you ideas than I can.

Keep up the good work.

I think this will be of great help

The Bananal Island is the largest river island in the world, with about 20 thousand square kilometers in length (1,916,225 acres), surrounded by rivers Araguaia and Javaés. It is located in the state of Tocantins (Brazil), near the border with the states of Goias, Mato Grosso and Para is located between latitudes 9 ° 44'S and 12 ° 49'S and longitudes between 49 ° 52'O and 50th 44'O. It houses the National Park north of the Araguaia and in the south, two Indian reserves: Carajas and Javaés.

See more on the wiki>Bananal_Island

I hate naming stuff... I always want the names to be significant/mean something, but don't want them to be recognizable to the players, which probably undermines the entire effort.

Usually what I'll do is name everything in English, and then peruse online dictionaries of more obscure languages that thematically match the setting. I'm usually satisfied with any language that isn't English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, or any language that a player at the table knows.

I did this with pretty good success for an arabic-themed city and was pleased with the results. Eventually I forgot what most of the words meant, but just knowing that they meant something made them seem more realistic to me.

I have an even harder time naming characters, but that's not related to mapping efforts.

Originally Posted by xv43

I hate naming stuff... I always want the names to be significant/mean something, but don't want them to be recognizable to the players, which probably undermines the entire effort.

Usually what I'll do is name everything in English, and then peruse online dictionaries of more obscure languages that thematically match the setting. I'm usually satisfied with any language that isn't English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, or any language that a player at the table knows.

I have an even harder time naming characters, but that's not related to mapping efforts.

Interesting.. I usually don't have this problem. I typically, name things based on a) cultural reasons of the peoples who live in the area and then b) geological reasons.

For example, in the map here, it appears that the inner sea has regularly placed mountainous islands. To me, this seems to be a perfect indication of something being guarded. I would name them something like the The Sentinels or The Sea Guardians. Likewise, the island is surrounded by mountains/hills protecting the interior, so I would call them something like Barrier mountains, Barrier Peaks, Shield wall Mountains, etc. The entrance to the island could be something simple such as The Gate, Two Tower Pass, etc. The single mountain in the west directly east of the village would be something like Lonely Mountain, Lost Mountain, etc. And my favorite, the forest in the south west would be Vipers Head Forest, Snake Woods, or something like that (look at the westernmost point... it looks like a snake head.

Hi Clee Hill, welcome

Your map looks interesting. I can't read the scale properly though. How wide is it?

I find that naming things really only takes off after you have defined the history and size of a region.

Was your island made or naturally occurring?

If it was made, was the unbroken ring of water a protection, a pleasure, a dare, or a containment. Was it made by raising an island in the middle of a lake or raising a ring of land around an existing island?

Sigurd

Hi All.

Thanks for your thoughts, etc., and here are a few answers.

Setting: as the stories will be fantasy based, the manner of the creation of the island is open at the moment, though with a tendency towards being a natural creation though perhaps with hints of magical 'tinkering'

Naming: this is tied to the story and, being an amateur Classicist, there should be plenty of scope for 'appropriating' Greek terminology. Thus far the island in the middle is Belenus, and the outer ring island will be Moritasgus. Various Apollonian placenames will be added later

Scale: ah now the fun begins. The map is intended to be an interpretation rather than an Ordnance Survey, so scale is a somewhat plastic term in this regard. Currently - and having re-made the scale marker at the bottom of the map - the island is approx. 235 leagues E-W and 185 leagues N-W, with the interior island being 90 by 52

Rivers: this is where I run into a problem in that I don't want too many rivers, but need some leading both to the surrounding sea and also into the interior lake/sea/whatever. I've had a look at Bananal Island, but can't seem to see much there to help in this regard. So, without going anal on the geography, where could I get some better ideas about river distribution beyond the fact that they come down from the mountains?

TIA...CH

Did anybody notice the mark of vandals on that wiki link joao posted?

8=======D

I didnt as I looked at the pic not the link - didnt know about the mark...

That pic by joão is really cool tho - look at the snaking rivers and all previous paths. Theres some excellent horse shoe shaped Oxbow lakes and theres loads of previous channels just barely showing. That river must be well sedimented and very old.

Clee, you map is very nice - sorta odd geography I admit but in that light its great. I'll be repping you and joão in a mo if possible.

Okay, attached is the updated version of the map.

IMHO I think it is pretty much there - or at least as far as I need it to be for now - in that there's plenty of geography to play with, and plenty of space for 'unknown unknowns' to become 'knowns'.

Next on my list will be creating some symbols of my own...

CH