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[Valtharius]

Beatings and Salivations!

I am an old time gamer whose roots run deep. I’ve been gaming since 1974 (yes, I am old as dirt and my mind is slowly experiencing the ravages of senility thanks to Pro Fantasy’s software! LOL!). However, this is my first experience with Fractal Terrains Pro (and soon CC3 once I get the world situated). My world is called ”Argontath”. I’ve used this campaign setting (non-d20 system) since 1978 and have ran the course of too many hand drawn maps to count. I am including photos of the last hand drawn map (from 1990) and a few pieces of art for places of interest. All areas on the old paper maps are hand done. City and special places of interest, names of countries, rivers, etc, were printed, cut out and glued to the master map. It took me about 2 months to complete. Thank God for computer programs now!

I am looking at revitalizing the world with new maps, new continents and new experiences. The Fractal Terrain maps below are a rough draft of sorts. I am still trying to fine tune the map. Once I figure out and have the FTPro draft finished, I am going to go through with Campaign Cartographer 3 to complete the map. So, pardon my questions if I yell out for help at times. =) I’m open to suggestions, creative criticism, hints, and of course eating your brains… err.. I mean gathering up all your knowledge.

I have always loved cartography and enjoy looking at old maps from the middle-ages. My educational (Masters from Cal-Berkeley ‘87) background is in Medieval History and Literature with emphasis on Ancient Language and Mythology. Now I spend my time raising my family, coaching football and learning how to use FTPro and CC3 along with three new Photoshop plug-ins, LunarCell, SolarCell and Glitterato.

I hope to be an active member of the forums! Enjoy!

~Valtharius the Mad

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Argontath - Fractal Terrain Pro Maps

FTP-Argontath – World Map (Gaea)



FTP-Argontath – World Map (Altitude)



FTP-Argontath – World Map (Gaea – Known World Outlined)



FTP-Argontath – Known World Map (Gaea)



FTP-Argontath – Known World Map (Altitude)



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[Valtharius]

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Argontath - Old Paper Maps

Old Argontath – World Map (Paper Map)



Old Argontath – Northwest Continent (Paper Map)



Old Argontath – Southwest Continent (Paper Map)



Old Argontath – Northeast Continent (Paper Map)



Old Argontath – Southeast Continent (Paper Map)



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Argontath - Places of Interest

Art – The Shimbalan Capitol of Moonrise

The Shimbalan (elven) Capitol of Moonrise, stands majestic within the waters of a lake in the western most regions of the known world. Standing over 2000 feet high, this ancient city serves as the Keep of the Moonstone, the source of all magic. When the sun rises and first touches the great spires and powerful cascade of scintillating light is sent out across the sky and can be viewed from over a thousand miles away. The only way into the city is by way of heavily guarded teleportation gates. The spire itself is made of magically hardened granite and corundum.



Art – The Temple of the Iron Crown

Hidden within the Talian Mountains, this temple is the most ancient structure still standing. The temple is self-dedicated to the 22 gods of Argontath. Within are the 21 statues that represent the Lord of the Mantri, Kirei, Lethin, and Khaas. One statue represents the All-Father, Odaden. Held inside the pedestal of each statue are the true codex's of each god's religion, except Odaden and Tara whose codex's are kept in the temples of Ardalakhor and Loth-Tiren respectively. This temple also houses 13 other statues of similar stature to the 22 gods of Argontath, but their origins are unknown, nor do their names translate into any known language. One pedestal and statue are in complete ruins as the stone has turned jet black with blood-red streaks running through it. The only word that can be made out on the pedestal is "Kathar". The temple also serves as the Keep of the Sunstone, the Orb of Creation, or the Source of Life. The temple is sealed from outsiders by ancient and powerful runes. The temple has no known inhabitants, nor does legend state by whom it was constructed.



Art – The Coral Walls of Manetoaka

The blue coral walls surround each coastal city of Mahg-Maranda. These walls were erected as a gift from the sea-god, Manetoaka, for the faithful services rendered by the Marandans during the First Age of Khedra. The Marandans are considered by many to be the finest sailors in all the known world and their ships are second to none.



Art – The Pillars of the Dragon

The Seven Pillars of the Dragon sits within the murky water of the Morthian Swamp and represents the four gods of the Lethin (elements) and three of the Lords of the Khass (creatures of the oerth), with the largest of the seven pillars representing Rithgar, Lord of Magic and Dragonkind. The dragon entwined about the center pillar is made of solid, now-indestructible, ruby and as legend has it, hold the secrets of true magical powers, Rune Lore. The pillars were erected several thousand years ago by an ancient cult of Rithgar that existed neat the now fallen city of Tor-Morthian.



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[torstan]

Wow - that's quite a set of maps and some lovely art. Do I detect just a hint of a Tolkein influence?

They are great! On a future note - it's possible to hist the files directly on this site, by clicking the paper clip in the top of the advanced editing view when you are composing a message. This allows you to upload images to here and means your threads are less prone to the whims of other websites. When you've uploaded all the images you want to put in a post, you can place them in the text by clicking the paperclip again and selecting the image you want to place.

Welcome and have some rep for some truly beautiful maps.

[Valtharius]

Torstan, thank you for the heads up on the paperclip file option and for the compliment. As for Tolkein being an influence... I hadn't read any of Tolkein's work until after I graduated college in '87. lol If you are wondering about the name Argontath (yes, only one letter away from Argonath. I get that comment every now and then ), I was sitting with a friend of mine doing our chemistry homework and also throwing around names for the "new" world map I had created. I saw 'argon' in my chem-book and on the suggestion of my friend I should add the name of my "Paladin-Explorer" Tathis to it and came up with Argontathis... it sounded corny, so I cut the name short.

My fantasy influences were Lawrence Watt-Evans, Roger Zelazny, Michael Moorcock, Raymond E. Feist and David Eddings. I've always found Tolkein to be a very dry read as I enjoy a more high fantasy type of story. I did enjoy the movies though.

~Valtharius the Mad

Wow - that's quite a set of maps and some lovely art. Do I detect just a hint of a Tolkein influence?

They are great! On a future note - it's possible to hist the files directly on this site, by clicking the paper clip in the top of the advanced editing view when you are composing a message. This allows you to upload images to here and means your threads are less prone to the whims of other websites. When you've uploaded all the images you want to put in a post, you can place them in the text by clicking the paperclip again and selecting the image you want to place.

Welcome and have some rep for some truly beautiful maps.

[Korash]

Damn those are NICE work !!

Wish I had the time and/or patience to do stuff like that when I was younger.

Repped for the nice art work (including the maps)

[Ascension]

Count me in as another vote for the hand-drawn/painted stuff...can never get enough of that good artistry. Very nice.

[Steel General]

Welcome Aboard!

I think I actually like your older paper maps of your world better than the newer FT ones. Though all of them are nice. I also enjoyed your other work.

Have some more rep *bonk*

[Valtharius]

Thanks Steel! I like my paper maps, but when you calculate the distance from one city to the next it gets absurd. lol After pouring over maps of Western Europe (circa 1450) distances between cities were only 20-50 miles apart. On my paper map they were hundreds (if not thousands) of miles apart. *eek!* I'd hate to know how many pairs of shoes a person would go through walking. Also, most of the world is explored.. no new territories to conquer, or have some other new invading race to appear from.

I know teleportation in fantasy worlds is the norm, but when it isn't available it makes it difficult at best for an adventuring group to travel overland from one place to another. I figured I would scale down the size of the countries from 4 million square miles (little larger than the United States) down to a manageable size ranging from 50,000 (little larger than the state of New York) up to 200,000 square miles (little smaller than France). This would allow for continuity of culture, quicker travel times between populated areas and best of all and whole bunch of unexplored territories!

The FTPro map is not finalized as far as how the land (coastal) is shaped for each country, but it gives me a rough idea of where each country lies. Here is a rough idea of the borders:



And a thank you to Korash for the comments! I too wish I had the patience that I had in my youth.

~Valtharius the Mad

Welcome Aboard!

I think I actually like your older paper maps of your world better than the newer FT ones. Though all of them are nice. I also enjoyed your other work.

Have some more rep *bonk*

[guyanonymous]

Welcome! I'm also new to the board and must admit, I'm envious of (and inspired by) your paper map! Thanks for sharing.

Dave

[Midgardsormr]

I like people who make a big splash with their first post. Very nice work all the way 'round. And allow me to add another round of applause for those hand-drawn maps; real works of art!