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Thread: Iron Age Celtic setting - my Ireland analog

  1. #1

    Default Iron Age Celtic setting - my Ireland analog

    So while working on several publication projects, I've been working on the side with another setting intended for publication, perhaps next year. I call the setting - Keld: Iron Age Celtic setting. In development I didn't need a map yet as I have been developing player character classes, the laws of Keld, the mythology - mostly world building stuff. But I finally wanted to see what my world will look like.

    I've just created my Ireland analog (Hibernia?), which is just a small corner of the intended setting as I plan to build an entire Western Europe analog. Basically these are Celts of multiple regions, other analogs will be Celtiberia, Gaul, Britain, and a much larger Caledonia/Scandanavia region, which will comprise the wilderness region. This is a fantasy version of the analog, but is a pre-Roman world of mostly Celtic tribes. There is a Mycenaean/Etruscan analog as well, but that is for a further campaign down the road.

    I decided to do a "Mike Schley" style in my mountains for a change - blended with my own style.

    Of course, as usual in my hand-drawn style with bevels and coloring in Xara Xtreme Pro. Lots more to do, but I wanted to see something, so this is just a start...

    Enjoy!

    GP
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  2. #2

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    Just thinking, at this scale, I will probably create 4 Irish kingdoms under a single High King, perhaps a couple main roads, some forests, but no kingdom borders, and the major towns, which will be few, the rest will be labeled areas with Celtic tribal names scattered about describing their general ranges. The Kingdom designations will be round or rectangular Celtic shields with knots, beasts or weapon heraldric symbols and a label beneath with Kingdom names.

    I want to look at real irish clan/tribe names to properly emulate the sound and spelling, and then create custom tribal names for the setting.

    You've got to remember that all of Europe was a Celtic territory prior to the rise of Rome and before the migrations of the Huns and Goths from the east - the setting's comparable historic date for the analog is 500 BC - Rome is just a small town at this time, it won't become a Republic for another century. (All this historical talk is to get you to understand the feel and circumstance, as this is not Western Europe, rather a complete fantasy heavily steeped in Celtic lore, technology and culture).

    GP
    Last edited by Gamerprinter; 07-07-2010 at 11:26 PM.
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  3. #3
    Community Leader Guild Sponsor Gidde's Avatar
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    Looking and sounding good so far, GP!

  4. #4

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    Thanks, Gidde!

    I'm not going to move this map, as it needs much further development, but I have decided that I will use this map as a regional map included with a "Ley Lines Locus" entry for this month's challenge. See the lake southeast of the central mountains, near the center of the map? I plan to place the locus just southeast of the lake... I'll talk about this more in the Challenge Entry.

    Anyway, much greater detail will be placed in this map, eventually, in this thread, but with just a few more details for now, I will use it use it as an inset map for the Locus site itself.

    GP
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  5. #5

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    You've got to remember that all of Europe was a Celtic territory prior to the rise of Rome and before the migrations of the Huns and Goths from the east
    Not all by any means. From the (admittedly little) I know, at around 500 BC, what we now know as modern Europe was inhabited by a plethora of different peoples of which the Celts were only one cultural type. Have a look at this map from the Times Atlas (link here). It may help to provide some background for your game. 500BC was when Greece was in it's golden period.
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  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by ravells View Post
    Not all by any means. From the (admittedly little) I know, at around 500 BC, what we now know as modern Europe was inhabited by a plethora of different peoples of which the Celts were only one cultural type.
    True that, though they were arguably the single most wide-spread cultural group (not a singular culture, mind you - far from it) at that time. Not that it's very easy to tell who were and weren't 'celts' at the time, due to scarcity of reliable evidence.

    Quote Originally Posted by ravells View Post
    500BC was when Greece was in it's golden period.
    Only if you fall in the popular trap of equating "Greece" with Athens. But this is going off topic...

    Quote Originally Posted by Gamerprinter View Post
    (All this historical talk is to get you to understand the feel and circumstance, as this is not Western Europe, rather a complete fantasy heavily steeped in Celtic lore, technology and culture).
    ^ And that would be the most important statement to keep in mind for this discussion. GP doesn't have to limit his inspiration sources to western & central Europe of 500BC, even if he considers it a comparable analog. If he wanted to throw in some kilts and bagpipes, then he'd be perfectly free to do so, no matter how anachronistic.

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  8. #8

    Default I may throw in a few more cultures...

    I may throw in a few more cultures, but that's for later development. For now I may coincide this update with that of my post in the challenge entry.

    GP
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    Last edited by Gamerprinter; 07-08-2010 at 01:56 PM.
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  9. #9

  10. #10

    Default Hybreni map done...

    OK, I finished the inset map for sure, got in some last details. Will start the main map tonight. Lookin' at the Menhir stone in the map as inspiration as to the rest of the Menhir dance for the challenge entry. Sometime next week, I'll begin to map my Britania analog, which will include a Gallic/Britainny analog on the continent at the edge of the map.

    Enjoy!

    GP
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