[WIP] Urcys

[ravells]

For sure, Su, but I was talking in general principles!

[Ukyuu]

On my specific case, Su-Liam, if the map doesn't reflect the type of world with enough precision, it can be seriously backfiring. All so more since it will be put in the cover. Studies prove that a reader will spend about 50 seconds at the cover and only chose the book among the others that have a precise cover guiding him toward the type of story he / she is seeking for. In my case,The main problem is to have the people watch this map and think "That's interesting, that story is based on a map?".

All of my book have at their end a full map (before I found this site I was asking someone to make it for me and it cost me around 140 e / featured areas) which was way to costly), the biography of the characters (where they came from, things not said about them in the story, etc) and general topic about the world (other kingdoms / planets / technology / laws / etc). My editor said that since it was why I was in high demand (I'm a private author, I write books for people (e.g demands of a book for a nephew birthday, a daughter Christmas, or for child who have difficulties with taking interest in commonly found books) thanks to these end-book; we might as well turn them as features implemented on the book itself.

I left my editor about a month ago because we disagreed on his fee royalties, but I still think it's a good idea to implement it on the thinks like this straight in the book like before a chapter, end-page notes, etc to reduce the amount of data given at the end of the book. Also in (http://www.djennyf-lloro.net) I will put all my books available as an on-line version; some will be paid book, other free. I'll put on a wikipedia with the different universes, characters, maps and so on. Thus leading people toward them in my books.

Hopefully it will give back the people the love of quality book over scandal books, and show that there is still hope for books made to give you a real pleasure of reading rather than just exciting your curiosity.

I'm ready Ravells. But we should take it over from the black and white map, doing something with it that is a political map... I'm just annoyed by the current turning of that map, anything I do turns out totally screwed up. And I can't go further in the story without a real map or it will be totally wacky.

Mika.

[ravells]

Hi Mika,

Whatever style of map you choose to do, having your landmass as a separate layer is normally the best place to start. So far all we've been doing is establishing the coastlines and making sure that the scale is workable with a general idea of where everything is. Now we have that we can move onto actually styling it. Can you post a new reference picture of the type of political map you had in mind?

[Ukyuu]

Well..... I'll be trying to, there's so many maps on the website, it's hard to show something precise...

BTW would those few links help the community ? :

http://www.chaoticshiny.com/
http://nine.frenchboys.net/
http://www.seventhsanctum.com/

Through those links seems odds, they refers to generators that gives a lot of help...

[Ukyuu]

Well, here is the link...

http://ltiene.wetpaint.com/page/World+Maps

The political one. However, mine wouldn't simply describe the name of the lands, but :

Kingdom (big crown symbol)
Prince's domain (Smaller imposing crown)
Duchy (Different, less imposing crown)
Marquis (Different even less imposing crown)
County (different, even less imposing crown)
Barony (different, even less imposing crown)

And a landmark (small normal) to where there is something to see.
Mountains and such would be a plus but not mandatory, they can be given by the color of the map ?

Mika.

[Ukyuu]

I'm growing anxious that I might have take on an impossible task for me... Do I have what it takes to create a map on my own ? Maybe using generators and meddling with generated maps would get me to a better result ?

[ravells]

So you don't want any borders marked on the map? Just the symbols?

Something like this?

[Ukyuu]

Here is the data for the heroin's kingdom... It's the only one I really need fully detailed on the main map.

• Kingdom

• Name: Suzhang
• Ruled By: King Liao Tsi-Shieh and the parliament
• Deity : The god of Twilight Tzu

• Currency :

• Mithral (2 platinum)
• Platinum (6 gold)
• Gold (17 silver)
• Silver (34 copper)
• Copper

• Featured Places:

• Wuhoua Island,
• Houang outpost,
• Weihangsha Bog,
• Ninguangzhou Sand Shire,
• Lanzhei Summit,
• Lon Pond,
• Rhotherion Groove,
• Anyckella Desert,
• Inaiz Jungle

• Recent Events:

• Near the southern mountains a talented thief has appeared and the price of perfume has risen sharply. A dangerous trader may be involved
• A traveling merchant has gone missing in a northeastern town.
• In the northwestern prefecture an important mage has gone missing and a popular actress recently lost supporters.
• In a nearby region, there are rumors of a covert guild war.
• A prominent priest has just been assassinated near a southern region and rumors say a prominent local politician is being blackmailed.

• Notable Individuals:

• Song Bang-Mang, the secretive lording who has been preaching a new organization. He has few open allies. Rumors say that he loathes politicians. He can usually be found at home. He is solidly-built with ruddy skin and sharp green eyes.
• Gao Lang-Xiong, the arrogant soldier who is on everyone's guest list. Rumors say that she deeply detests certain mages. She can usually be found near the outskirts of the city. She is thin with brown skin and green eyes. The swaggering merchant Bash Batoudiye is her ally.
• Seng Musadi, the suspicious foreigner who is rumored to be involved in several prominent assassinations. He can usually be found near the market. He is broad-shouldered with pale green eyes and pale skin.

• Army:

• Royal Army Main Troop : 7 Task forces containing 25 teams of 110 soldiers. At the moment, they are on the verge of a mutiny. This troop specializes in clever tactics and the use of staved.
• Royal Army, Archon Troop : specializes in hit-and-run tactics and the use of javelins. They often rely on dragon mounts. They are famous for their long history of great victories. Each brigade contains 5 battalions of 330 soldiers. They have a loose chain of command, with ranks based on acts of heroism. At the moment, they are celebrating a hard-won victory.
• Royal Army, Arrow Troop : specialize in archery (they have elves archers) and the use of double axes (Dwarfish infantry). They also employ assassins and Templars. They are famous for their harsh discipline and for impressing peasants. Currently, they are resting after a series of forced marches.
• Royal Army, Celestial Stonehenge Troop : specialized in superior air support and the use of greataxes. They are famous for giving aid to peasants they encounter. Each legion contains 20 groups of 440 soldiers. They have a highly formal chain of command, with ranks based on social status. Currently, they are suffering from low morale.
• Royal Army, Strike Piercers Troop : specialized on devastating archery and the use of mauls. Each unit contains 10 sections of 180 soldiers. They have a highly formal chain of command, with ranks based on election by subordinates. At present, they are suffering from massive loss.
• Royal Army, Griffin claws Troop : specialized in guerilla tactics and the use of longswords. They are also known for using martial artists and exotic animals. They are famous for bravery. Each faction contains 5 squadrons of 100 soldiers. They have a strict chain of command, with ranks based on seniority. At present, they are returning home after a short expedition.

• Current Fashion:

• This style emphasizes minimalistic, scanty deep red and grey-green garments.
• Tops are typically sleeveless with standard necklines.
• Cloaks and headbands are popular accessories.
• Collars and buttons are staples of the style.
• Yellow-orange, grey, and bright blue are also common colors.
• Different lineages wear very different clothing.

• Races :

• Humans :

• Language : Common
• Life expectancy : 80 to 110 years
• Magic : Very few individuals are born with the ability to use magic, however to use this talent, they have to be taught spells by the other races as they are raw magic users.

• Celestials :

• Language : Celestal, common
• Life expectancy : 8000 to 9500 years
• Air Magic :

• Spell : Deviance Cover. This spell creates a field around its user that deviates the projectiles aimed at him.

• Earth magic :

• Enchantment : Stone Armor : This spell considerably increase the armor’s defense, however it increase by twice this defense its current weight making it a double-edged sword enchantment to use.

• Tiger tribe : White or yellow-brown fur, greater earing, slit eyes of various color, very high velocity, and greater stamina than humans, sensible to sound. Extremely clever but can act on impulsion under high stress, they loyalty is legendary and once they decide to be someone’s vassal, they won’t back down. They mainly like short hair style.

• Elves :

• Language : Elfish, Common
• Life Expectancy : 8000 to 9000 years.
• Moon clan : They were about 165 to 185 centimeters tall and tended to be rather thin. They had silky, flexible hairs varying from pale platinum to silver. Their eyes were brown, green, or hazel, and their skin of fair pinkly-white. They typically have oval faces, with straight-bridged noses and slit eyes that can see through darkness as if in plain day. The beauty of these people was quite well-known, as much as their legendary dexterity and inborn talent for archery. Their talent with spears was also quite well-known.

[ravells]

I'm growing anxious that I might have take on an impossible task for me... Do I have what it takes to create a map on my own ? Maybe using generators and meddling with generated maps would get me to a better result ?

Maybe. It's really a question of how many hours you are prepared to put in to learn how to make a map. The problem with generated maps is that you cannot normally specify with any degree of exactness the coastline shape that you want, so if you are prepared to regenerate a lot of maps until you find one that is close enough to work, then that might be a solution.

[Ukyuu]

I can spend hours to learn... but I'll never get my hand working a beautiful thing. I mean, I'm really awful at hand-made drawing and we've been doing a lot of it. The result is that I am clearly not good at it. My coastlines weren't fractalized at all, the moon-shape I wanted on the "inside" territory finally totally disappeared... All so more since I don't have a single bit of talent to distances checking I feel awkward to even show something so ugly. As I think about why I am really so far-away from a nice result, my only answer is that as long as I can't draw by myself, I am never getting something that is worthy...

Still I want to learn, so I'm going to see through this whole map along with you if you're not desperate on my case ^^'.