Atlas Elyden

[vorropohaiah]

Very nice!

How long does it take you to make one of these maps? You don't hand draw the elevation right?

I don't really have anything to say about the elevation, I'm not exactly sure what you mean and I didn't notice anything wrong.. So.. I dunno.

thanks for the comment.

Yes, the elevations are done one layer at a time by hand (well, stylus)

maybe a simpler way of putting my query - elevations are calculated from sea level - so sea level is 0' and a hundred feet above sea level is 100'. Each line of elevation corresponds with a particular height above sea level, but as the sea level in the inset map is higher than that in the main map, shouldn't the elevations be shifted to correspond with the change in sea level? I think so, but I'm wondering how important most people would consider it.

Hopefully that's clearer!

[Josiah VE]

thanks for the comment.

Yes, the elevations are done one layer at a time by hand (well, stylus)

maybe a simpler way of putting my query - elevations are calculated from sea level - so sea level is 0' and a hundred feet above sea level is 100'. Each line of elevation corresponds with a particular height above sea level, but as the sea level in the inset map is higher than that in the main map, shouldn't the elevations be shifted to correspond with the change in sea level? I think so, but I'm wondering how important most people would consider it.

Hopefully that's clearer!

Okay, I think I might understand.. but still, I wouldn't imagine anyone would notice, or care (well, at least I wouldn't, maybe more technical people would).

[J.Edward]

maybe a simpler way of putting my query - elevations are calculated from sea level - so sea level is 0' and a hundred feet above sea level is 100'. Each line of elevation corresponds with a particular height above sea level, but as the sea level in the inset map is higher than that in the main map, shouldn't the elevations be shifted to correspond with the change in sea level? I think so, but I'm wondering how important most people would consider it.

That's an interesting point... how much sea level change occurred?
I have to say, I've never thought about that issue before with maps.
It makes me wonder what the people of your world would think to do in such a situation.
That seems like the relevant point here, as this atlas is from their perspective, right?
If it is, then perhaps you'd have to answer what they would think to do.

[vorropohaiah]

That's an interesting point... how much sea level change occurred?
I have to say, I've never thought about that issue before with maps.
It makes me wonder what the people of your world would think to do in such a situation.
That seems like the relevant point here, as this atlas is from their perspective, right?
If it is, then perhaps you'd have to answer what they would think to do.

damn your logical answer... they're most likely to be sticklers for detail, like myself. so ill have to redo the elevations :p

EDIT: ill be honest with you, I never even thought about the exact amount the sea level has fallen. Due to the nature of the change, its not the same everywhere, though id wager anything from 40' - 100', over 1000 years (though its more accelerated recently) greatly affecting the coastline of low-lying regions (think s - e uk and netherlands)

[J.Edward]

Is the sea level dropping due to glaciation? or some other factor?
Some areas may experience rebound, or rising of the land due to the removal of the weight of water.
You could have a lot of variable factors that would play into different elevation numbers and that could get rather complicated fast.
If the drop in sea level isn't consistent around the coasts then that will really make it complicated to do a new elevation number I would think.

[vorropohaiah]

Is the sea level dropping due to glaciation? or some other factor?
Some areas may experience rebound, or rising of the land due to the removal of the weight of water.
You could have a lot of variable factors that would play into different elevation numbers and that could get rather complicated fast.
If the drop in sea level isn't consistent around the coasts then that will really make it complicated to do a new elevation number I would think.

with more thought id say the drop is uniform, though in the same way that tides are not uniform across the globe (particularly in my world, where two moons are at play, though those wouldnt be things to represent on a map of this scale. Even I known when to say no...) some areas might have seen a greater change than others due to things like lifting of land, like you said, exacerbating the apparent lowering of sea levels. So I think the best thing is to get another topography map that covers the past coastline so that all changes are uniform.

there are a few other regions scattered throughout the land that id like to show before/afters off (in particular there's a narrow strait that linked west with east (between the inner sea and the dark sea) that silted up following the lowering of seas, cutting off sea trade, so its a major political and economical change that shaped the region around it) so that should be interesting to do

[vorropohaiah]

WIP on the map continues, and I've settled on a faded green to denote the change in coastlines in the inset map. I've also chosen to ignore the topographical elevations, considering them as a guideline to present locations to facilitate location of specific parts of the map rather than accurate depictions of past elevations (which, even to someone in-world, reading the map, is of little relevance).

I will add a title to the inset map (Laaskhan coastline 500-years ago), as well as a colour key for the faded green, denoting 'difference in present and 500-yo coastlines, and cities and roads as they appeared 500-years ago (As a contrast to the present map).

The rest of the map is largely done, and just needs some labels finished.

[vorropohaiah]

Laaskha is ready!



Here's the 'mosaic map' as it looks now (not much difference in the grand scheme of things, eh?



I think I'll be moving east now, onto Varr (east of Pelasgos), before going clockwise around the Inner Sea

[jshoer]

My gosh.

I have only one thing to add to this project: I hope when you finish you do something involving that Indiana Jones travel-by-red-dashed-line thing.

[vorropohaiah]

My gosh.

I have only one thing to add to this project: I hope when you finish you do something involving that Indiana Jones travel-by-red-dashed-line thing.

that would be fun! Though I have so many different maps planned for this I doubt I'll ever get round to all of them



So map #8 is done, and with it the journey around the Inner Sea slowly continues. This was a relatively easy map to do – the south west was ready from previous maps (Korachan and Pelasgos), and the region of Vârr itself was pretty well-thought out in my head. This type of map doesn’t do the region justice at all. I have a mood board for this place filled with pictures of grey hills covered in tree-stumps, sprawling open cast mine, industrial pollution, wastelands and other inspiration. It’s a bleak place, but I have a morbid fascination with such things, and that’s really where Elyden came from. Vârr is probably the epitome of what Elyden and the Korachani empire are.
Some of you might recognise the word Vorropohaiah – so now you know where it comes from and what it means 

More background on the region of Vârr in the finished map thread here

I've actually made some updates to the maps - making the territories outside the focus map paler. I’ve also made the roads thicker and clearer added a bit of hue/saturation to make the colours 'pop' a bit more. I also started applying a greyed-out colour to show areas of corruption, which I felt was missing before. I now have to go back and update the older maps to match this one.



I've also updated the mosaic map to include the latest maps. I've also added a grey-out border showing a poster-map I hope to make of the Inner Sea once the individual nations and regions around its coastline are done. At this rate though I don't imagine I'll even start if for another year or two... If I continue at this rate I might manage 16 maps by the end of the year, which is close to circumnavigating the Inner Sea, though not enough to map all the lands that fill out that area.