Map 61 - Barychd Fraa

[Ifrix]

Barychd Fraa - The Furrowed Land

Barychd Fraa Notes.jpg


Geography:
Very rugged, mountainous landmass which is kind of what drew me to this location. Glaciers flow down from the corries into the southern sea though further north many of them have retreated and stay at higher altitudes. Travelling from east to west involves finding passes through each mountain ridge and then traverse the valleys between. Which can make communication by land difficult.


People and Government:
Which brings us onto the government of the land and why they don't really have one. A central ruling body for the country doesn't work and so the land is split into natural regions that govern themselves. They can still communicate well and swiftly across the country if an urgent message is needed. A network of beacons upon several of the peaks can send signal fires or raven from one peak to another (yes like that one scene in LOTR ). The northeast is warmer and more populated with towns (will determine the locations after the geography is done). Further west into the tundra a lot of the older cultures still thrive and each village and community pretty much keep to themselves.


Culture:
A lot of the country still keeps to old religions and customs passed down from their ancestors. One old belief is that a great herd of Barychiir furrowed out the land, raising mountains and carving valleys to create walls to protect their lands. Barychiir are huge beast of burden with shovel-like antler-tusks. Much of the culture of the people revolves around the migration of these Barychiir that make their way every few years back to the calving grounds in the tundra and then migrate back to various herds eastward. A lot of the culture also revolves around slaying the more dangerous creatures that lurk in the valleys.
Much of the culture is still yet to be determined, these were just some initial thoughts.


Fauna:
Barychiir are huge mammoth-like herbivores and often smaller creatures will hitch lifts and stick with these herds for protection. And protection is needed as the valleys are dangerous, even for a creature as large as a Barychiir. Strange creatures lurk and scuttle through the frozen crevasses of the glaciers, swift predators stalk the forests, large cavern beasts erupt from the mountainside to descend upon a passing party or a lone Barychiir. Not even the skies are safe for ice-drakes make roosts on several of the peaks. Travel by boat is probably safer (as long as you stay away from any sea-serpents ).
...Yes I have been playing Monster Hunter recently...

Trade and Conflict:
This will obviously depend on my neighbours who I'll contact soon. I imagine they may have Fey refugees fleeing over the mountains from what I've read of the National Fairy Republic. The country isn't so populated to the south so there probably wouldn't be too much contact with Khovania though I think it would be likely there would be settlements on the southern coast to the east. There may be some trade north to Yilseudor though there aren't a huge amount of settlements on the southern coast of that island.
All in all I feel the country would be mostly self-sufficient with the majority of trade being betweeen communities.


Magic:
Currently, I'm not sure. If they do have magic it won't be the high-fantasy "fireball" magic and more something primal/druidic and tied to the land or to the creatures. They definitely have some knowledge of herblore/alchemy as potion making and medicine is a large part. The beacon watchers also have various powders and such they can use to produce flames of different colours or intensity to signal different messages.

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So, being off work for the indeterminable future and with time on my hand I thought I would have a go at this (I may even get around to streaming some progress). Not sure yet exactly what style I'm going to go for but probably similar to my last challenge entry, except cleaner and less rushed.

[Ifrix]

So, some progress has actually been made:
### Latest WIP ###
BF wip1.jpg

I actually did keep my promise and had a go at livestreaming it. However, given I am not the fastest mapper, it was 2 hours of just drawing mountains. But if that doesn't deter you from wanting to see my process, the vod is up here (only up for 14 days though).


The other thing I have been doing is procrastinating and pestering the discord with sketches of creatures from the region:
FaunaSketches1.jpg
(mh and bh are pronounced as "v" as in Scots Gaelic)

Ok, the barychiir there is not 100% as I imagined - their horns are off but it's the same general shape.
The ice-drakes, or djäbhaian, make their roosts on lofty mountainsides. They are familial creatures and in the right time of year a mating pair will be seen taking their hatchlings on a hunt, though it is rare for them to raise more than 1 or 2 young. Though many of the larger creatures of the valley have some ways to defend from an aerial assault, few can hold out against a hunting djäbhaian family and so they eat well from their territories. Territorial disputes between djäbhaian result in terrifying aerial battles to establish dominance, while this may leave the loser injured it rarely results in death. Their main hunters are glory-seeking humans who set off from the nations below to claim a kill or, on occassion a lone djäbhaian may wander and find itself lost and in the territory of a landslide wyvern, the treacherous Krelinbhaian.
The Krelinbhaian are thankfully a very rare sight. Being aggressively territorial they are only ever seen alone and little is known of their ecology or habits. Given their tendency to cause avalanches with their booming roars and beats of their club-like tails any confrontation with a human hunter almost inevitably ends with the Krelinbhaian picking out its meal from a pile of snow and scree. Should you ever find yourself in the territory of one, your safest option is to leave the mountainside - even if that means risking traversing the glacial ice.
For dangers lurk within the glacial crevasses. Sleek snowblind lizards scuttle and almost swim through the caverns in the ice. These are djumhiir and they never hunt alone. They have uncanny senses, picking up the rhythm of footsteps upon the ice from miles away. Sometimes a lone djumhiir will make its way onto the ice, luring an unsuspecting hunter to approach, while the other pack members navigate their way through the ice tunnels into position to surround their prey...
Not all life is quite so violent in the region. The fiodirodd of the lower valleys are slow and lumbersome but curiously ingenious. With large serrated horns and protruding incisors they fell trees to build shelters from. In the hillier regions these ramshackle constructions are usually against a hilside or cliff-face to give shelter against the wind. But further westward the fiodirodd of these flatter regions live closer to large bodies of water. Here they will construct large dams or strange floating crannogs that they live within, safe from the harsh winter winds.

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So if you couldn't tell I was one of those kids who always drew dragons XD
I may draw up more of these in between mapping as I've always loved creature design. Don't worry, not all of them are going to be as huge as these
Also for those of you who haven't, you should come check the discord more often. Given the recent circumstances it's seeing much more use and discussion and more is always welcome