Map 03 - The Silverlands

[ChickPea]

I finally made a serious start on this. I've been struggling a bit with it and not feeling particularly inspired, so I'm just going for an antique-style political map, basically ripped off a pic I saw on google.

My idea is that The Silverlands is home to a bunch of reclusive elves who are rarely seen in the outside world. I've been re-reading Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry books recently, and there are creatures in them called Lios Alfar who are elves in all but name. Their homeland is shrouded in mist which confuses travellers, so they can't enter. They can remove the mist if they choose, and the land sorta glows at night (hence Silverlands). It's very similar in idea to Tolkien's Lothlorien or maybe the Girdle of Melian from The Silmarilion. That's the sense of what I'm going for.

Anyway, since these elves are so remote from the regular world, not much is known about them, except that they are clearly better than you. Even ships trying to land are repelled by some sort of magic and there are no port towns along the coast. Those who do manage to reach the shore and set foot in the country get lost a couple of miles inland and rarely return alive. Because the land is so closed off, there are only old maps from a few hundred years ago together with a lot of rumour and speculation. This cleverly sidesteps my having to write a whole history!

As for the map itself, I've got the basics down but there's lots to do. I'm not sure what to do about the rivers than run along the borders. I haven't included any yet, because I'm not sure how it's all going to line up. My current thinking was that since these Silverland Elves don't care about the outside world, as far as they're concerned, everything stops at their borders and they have no interest in what lies beyond. But I'll be working some more on this. Not entirely happy with the shape of a couple of the rivers, so I'll be redoing them.

So, not a whole lot to look at really, but this is where I'm at for now.

### Latest WIP ###

[J.Edward]

But Yay for getting started
No worries - it'll look great when it's done.

I'll be sure to stop in regularly and rabble-rouse your stoic elven peoples.

[Diamond]

FINALLY! Geez.

Go go ChickPea!

[Ilanthar]

Reclusive magically-protected elves... No wonder we didn't hear of this country before !

Great to see you started. I like what you have so far!

[Greg]

Aha, my other neighbourino!

Great to see your entry coming to life ChickPea! I hope the inspiration comes to you, but you've made a nice stylish start to it nonetheless!

(Oh and, as promised, there is a coconut hidden on my map in some shape or form just for you )

[arsheesh]

Hey hey, I'm not the only one beginning their map on the 11th hour! I like your general concept for the map. Part of my reason for going with my own "indigenous first peoples" concept was similar to what's motivating you in this map: I 'm a bit short on time and didn't want to spend tons of time thinking about the back-history here. Anyway it's a nice beginning and I look forward to seeing it progress.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[Abu Lafia]

Glad to see you starting too neighbor! Looking really good and "chickpeaish" so far. But... magically protected elves ... that's unfair! Where should the swarms of giant locusts dwelling near your border go for dinner then? Btw. i changed the river on our border and put it fully on my territory. Now it comes properly from the nearby mountains and you don't have to worry about it anymore. Hope you're ok with that.
Cheers,
AL

[Tonnichiwa]

Good to see this one get started. Looking forward to what you do with it Chickpea

[Bogie]

Yup, glad to see you could find some time to jump in on this.

[ChickPea]

Thanks for all the comments, everyone. I'm woefully behind. In a fit of madness, I decided to upgrade my OS to the newest Ubuntu release and now Gimp keeps crashing on me. I've submitted a bug report and am hopeful for a fix soon, but I'm almost scared to work on the map in case I lose what I've done. Gimp's always been rock solid for me and I'm really bad for saving as I go along, because it never crashes.

Never a dull moment....