Vaniya by Ramah

[farvardin]

This is incredibly well done. I don't know how it could be better. Everything is perfect, the colors, the forests, the mountains, the decorations.
It really looks genuine.
I love it!

[ravells]

Great pick and a beautiful map!!!

[Clercon]

So now is the question....where can we read the stories you're writing. If they are just close to the feeling of the map they must be a great read :-)
Greta map by the way.

[Robbie]

Yes, and I want an autographed copy of the book too.

[Gandwarf]

I am curious about the Child Fair...

[Ramah]

The Child fair does exactly what it says on the tin.

It wasn't supposed to be a town on its own like that, it was supposed to be IN a town or city but at the time I couldn't think up a decent name so I just placed it on the map as is.

Due to The Blight that the land is suffering, children have become worth their weight in gold. The states sell off any orphans to fund their war efforts, kidnapping and roaming armed bands hunting for children are commonplace - it's not a great time to be young.
The Child Fair is the biggest such place, where people bring their wares (including destitute fathers selling their own children) from far and wide to get the best prices. There are various smaller fairs and auctions throughout the lands, but the one in Rydony is the biggest.

[Gandwarf]

That is certainly a cool background story... now, why didn't I think of that

[RjBeals]

Congrats - I'm loving this map. Can you give me some insight on how you did the mountains / hills? They all look so unique, did you draw by hand then scan in? Or is it a custom brush or something you made? A+ !!

[Ascension]

And here I thought the child fair was a medieval disneyworld. Man, that sounds like a very bleak place to live.

[Ramah]

Congrats - I'm loving this map. Can you give me some insight on how you did the mountains / hills? They all look so unique, did you draw by hand then scan in? Or is it a custom brush or something you made? A+ !!

The mountains and hills were all done with custom brushes I drew. For the mountains I probably had about 20 brushes in the end but only used about a dozen (the rest of them were bad I guess, they never looked right when I placed them). The hills were the same although there were probably less brushes made and used - probably about 10 regular ones used. If you knew the order I did the hills in you could probably see how they become slightly more varied as I added more brushes.

I found making the brushes extremely tedious as I did them with the mouse and it gets a bit soul-destroying having to try and draw another curve that looks ok and then try and shade another large swathe of brush with my non-writing hand. :s So because of that I'd add one or two new ones every few days, hence the hills done at the end having more brushes used.

Personally I think the hills look more varied than the mountains anyway because the only way I could get them to look half decent in my mind was to do the shading between the brushes which make them look more hand drawn.

If/when I do a zoomed in map or maybe another continent in which another story (I once started and never finished ) takes place, then I'd LOVE to get myself a tablet and make a better job of the mountains.