Sern, the Radiant City

[Antheon]

Hello folks!

It has been ages since the last time I wrote something in this forum. Not that I wasn't lurking around but I basically had no time to work on my maps. However, as my roleplaying/novel world grows bigger by the day I had to sit down for a city map. A rather large and complicated one at that - for me at least. This is my first city map so I decided to come back here in order to get some advice on the (mis-)conception of my city.


Sern (Iord.: to encompass) has been the biggest city east of Elinor (my fictional continent) and its creation dates back to the Age of the Unknown when dwarfs carved the city's core into a small mountain. In contrast to the usual dwarf metropolises Sern was not created as a bastion to withstand the attacks from other races. Instead it served as the (multi-)cultural hub and trading post of the Enori (that's how they call themselves). While the Outer Circles lay on flat terrain the Inner Circles were built on the four terraces that the dwarfs carved out of the mountain. (Basically like Minas Tirith but with slopes that don't need you to get into your climbing outfit. Instead one can get from one ring to another by any means of transportation, including vehicles.) When the dwarfs (and all the other races) disappeared from the world, mankind took the liberty of adjusting Sern to their needs. Through the centuries it has changed from a LotR city to a modern Tower of Babel with skyscrapers all over the place. Sern remained the cultural hub and proud of the East until the Last Eastern Conflict (1948-1951) in which half of the city was laid to waste by bombardements from the Ragna Empire. In the remaining ten years before the event that would forever be remembered as the Dawn of The Haze the population of Sern managed to rebuild most of the northeast hemisphere. The southwest side however would never recover and its ruins stay until this very day as a grave reminder of the atrocities commited by men.


No idea why I put this up but maybe the text can help you a bit, imagining the city. *shrugs*
As I mentioned before this is the first attempt on a city map and I'm far from complete. I only managed to finish the first two Inner Rings. I haven't coloured the lots yet as I am more concerned about the layout now but I will come back at it when I'm done. Would be pretty upsetting if there wasn't any greenery at all, now wouldn't it? While I'm at it I might as well throw in my first question to the lot of you: How are you doing dead-ends on maps like these? I looked at many city maps but most don't seem to have 'em. How do you put in round(ed) buildings without them looking damn out of place, haha?


Kind regards,
Mikael