The Colonial Lands

[Aval Penworth]

I've settled on the final version of this map. A companion the my latest work The Isle of Cornad

Here it is..

This is once again part of my campaign world, but far from the civilized realms. All the cities are walled and have very little farmland. The staple Trentish diet consists of variously processed giant earthworm, cave mushrooms, wild berries and fruits. Only the very richest cities have the luxury of importing a variety of foods. The Trentish folk are known as 'worm eaters' in other lands and are considered to be brutish, uncultured and course. This reputation is more based upon ancient prejudices than current Trentish habbits.

Trent is a colony of Cornad, and the people of Trent speak Cornish with an accented drawl. For centuries the Cornish tried to tame the lands so that they could plunder its rich resourses, but the lands have proved too wild and ornery. So the Cornish have withdrawn to their island home, leaving the Trenish folk to fend for themselves from their walled city states. Inhabitants constantly battle for survival against wild beasts and savage demi-human races. 8o years ago a plague swept through the lands wiping out many of the smaller towns and leaving ruins and ghost-towns. Travel is difficult and dangerous. There are very few roads and the folk of the inland cities have becom quite insular and have developed some rather unusual customs.

To this day adventurous souls strike out into the unforgiving lands with the hope of finding lost treasures or abandoned mines with caches of crystal and gemstones. Striking it rich is far from easy however, and only the brave and fortunate few manage to best the wyverns, ogres, hobgoblins and giants to return with booty and tall tales to tell.

[mearrin69]

That's a great map. It makes me thing Forgotten Realms for some reason. Have some rep.
M

[Jaxilon]

That's cool, and there are those "fudge" mountains I'm talkin' about.

[Avengeil]

This map looks really nice and you have designed an interesting back-story.Repped.

[Aval Penworth]

That's cool, and there are those "fudge" mountains I'm talkin' about.

Huh?? Sorry Jax I don't get the reference.

[Steel General]

Nice job AP!

[Mordizer]

Another great map Aval, your maps are really distinctive by the texture that you put in them at the ground level. Which font is that you're using? It comes out really crisp and neat and stands out from the background well with that little bit of drop shadow on it. It seems a bit daft to critique anything so impressive but I did notice that where your rivers cut through deep forest the line between water and tree seems a little too clinical - particulary where Chel's river runs through Tallowood. That said, it's still a work of art - you kinda set the benchmark for forest textures

[Jaxilon]

Huh?? Sorry Jax I don't get the reference.

Sorry, it's just what I call those mountains that everyone seems to be able to make but I can't. I think there is a slick feature in Photoshop that helps to make them but I'm not sure. I will soon be going back through some tutorials just to see if I can figure them out. It's the type you have right in the center of the map though. Perfect wedges kind of like cut fudge and they look edible

(You should know by now that I see things in a somewhat different way than most but it's no surprise you didn't know what the flip I was talkin about.)

[Aval Penworth]

Another great map Aval, your maps are really distinctive by the texture that you put in them at the ground level. Which font is that you're using? It comes out really crisp and neat and stands out from the background well with that little bit of drop shadow on it. It seems a bit daft to critique anything so impressive but I did notice that where your rivers cut through deep forest the line between water and tree seems a little too clinical - particulary where Chel's river runs through Tallowood. That said, it's still a work of art - you kinda set the benchmark for forest textures

Thanks for your kind words. With regard to the rivers, I see your point. I will fix that, otherwise it will bug me. The font is Uiniversity Roman LET

@ Jax I just use the bevel/emboss tool for the mountains. If there is a slick tool, it might be in later versions of PS my copy is 10 years old . And yes I do expect odd things to flow from your keyboard, in this case I was just more confused than normal.

[Aval Penworth]

Final version with forest/river blend fix. Cheers Mordizer.