Terrgie

[- JO -]

This map is a kind of "commission" for me (one of the first if you except maps drawn for my wife's stories)...

I recently learned that my cousin wanted to write a heroic-fantasy story, that he had everything in his head but not yet written a line. I asked him if he had drawn a map, he sent me a draft and I drew this, after two or three corrections from him.

Before the river police fall on me and handcuff me, I want to say right away that I know (and so does my cousin) that there is a mistake on the watersheds... but it's not really a mistake since it's intentional and the explanation is magic: Terrgie is a world where magic is everywhere because of water. The water that starts from this magical lake lost in the mountains and irrigates all the land with water and magic.

Of course, I respected this kind of anomaly wanted by my cousin's worldbuilding. All the elements of the border are also derived from its design: dragons and blue diamond for magic, symbols of the 4 races in the 4 corners (humans, elves, dwarves and orcs).

I also tried to work fast enough to be able to offer him this map for Christmas, which made him very happy. I hope you will also like it....

[Neyasha]

Beautiful map! I love the fact that you just included several city maps in it as well. Estour looks especially interesting.

Before the river police fall on me and handcuff me, I want to say right away that I know (and so does my cousin) that there is a mistake on the watersheds... but it's not really a mistake since it's intentional and the explanation is magic: Terrgie is a world where magic is everywhere because of water. The water that starts from this magical lake lost in the mountains and irrigates all the land with water and magic.

His world, his rules. But now I have some funny (or disturbing?) pictures in my head about the river police searching the forum and arresting innocent map makers.

[- JO -]

Beautiful map! I love the fact that you just included several city maps in it as well. Estour looks especially interesting.


His world, his rules. But now I have some funny (or disturbing?) pictures in my head about the river police searching the forum and arresting innocent map makers.

Thanks a lot ! River police is actually a thing : some guild members have a badge under their name and they pay attention to the good disposition of all rivers on the maps (the usual suspects : river dividing, more than one exit for a lake, etc)

[waldronate]

His world, his rules. But now I have some funny (or disturbing?) pictures in my head about the river police searching the forum and arresting innocent map makers.

We don't arrest: we correct and serve. First offenses usually get off with a warning to read the "getting your rivers in the right place" thread. In this map, there really isn't anything that's too out of place. If Lac Scintillant has an internal source of water (e.g. a gate to a source of water), then water might flow out to both the north and south. If Lac Sellise is the high point in the chain, then water might flow north out of it. Rivers can and do cut across mountain ranges even here on Earth, but it's a fairly uncommon configuration.

As an illustration type of map, I think that this one is quite effective. It shows cities disproportionately large to demonstrate internal detail and leaves out details for areas that are unimportant for the story. Rivers are overly wide, again for illustrative purposes. Everything is clean and the eye is drawn to important, story-relevant details. It also leaves ambiguous areas (e.g. the hydrology configuration) so that people viewing it might be interested in pursuing the story behind it all. Good job!

[rdanhenry]

The only real issue I see with the rivers is cutting through two mountain ranges when the sea would seemingly be more easily reached by going a much shorter distance to the right. While unlikely, it isn't impossible, so long as a channel has been cut through the mountains so that the water can continue to descend as it journeys to the top of the map. Realism issues hit harder on the matter of scale. The cities seem to be rendered much larger than they would actually be, which would be fine except that there is a scale. If Google translate has not lied in confirming my guess, it says that Previce takes two days to walk across (and one to ride... although horse travel is not faster than foot travel in general; relays of horses can outrun a man, but so can relays of men). That's insanely large and implied that the lighthouse is much too far from the city to be of use in guiding ships to port. (Although maybe I'm wrong and that isn't a lighthouse... could be a necromancer's tower.) I really like the drawings of the cities, but they don't match the scale, especially given how few buildings they have for the implied size. (I suppose the land could be under a curse that greatly slows travel... "a day's journey" is a very, very imprecise unit of distance.)

I guess it is also a little odd for Lac Sullise to only have one river feeding it.

[- JO -]

We don't arrest: we correct and serve. First offenses usually get off with a warning to read the "getting your rivers in the right place" thread. In this map, there really isn't anything that's too out of place. If Lac Scintillant has an internal source of water (e.g. a gate to a source of water), then water might flow out to both the north and south. If Lac Sellise is the high point in the chain, then water might flow north out of it. Rivers can and do cut across mountain ranges even here on Earth, but it's a fairly uncommon configuration.

As an illustration type of map, I think that this one is quite effective. It shows cities disproportionately large to demonstrate internal detail and leaves out details for areas that are unimportant for the story. Rivers are overly wide, again for illustrative purposes. Everything is clean and the eye is drawn to important, story-relevant details. It also leaves ambiguous areas (e.g. the hydrology configuration) so that people viewing it might be interested in pursuing the story behind it all. Good job!

Thank you Waldronate for the details on the river police! I greet and respect your work! It is true that it is nevertheless important not to commit too many omissions to the laws of physics, even in imaginary, magical or fantastic worlds!

The only real issue I see with the rivers is cutting through two mountain ranges when the sea would seemingly be more easily reached by going a much shorter distance to the right. While unlikely, it isn't impossible, so long as a channel has been cut through the mountains so that the water can continue to descend as it journeys to the top of the map. Realism issues hit harder on the matter of scale. The cities seem to be rendered much larger than they would actually be, which would be fine except that there is a scale. If Google translate has not lied in confirming my guess, it says that Previce takes two days to walk across (and one to ride... although horse travel is not faster than foot travel in general; relays of horses can outrun a man, but so can relays of men). That's insanely large and implied that the lighthouse is much too far from the city to be of use in guiding ships to port. (Although maybe I'm wrong and that isn't a lighthouse... could be a necromancer's tower.) I really like the drawings of the cities, but they don't match the scale, especially given how few buildings they have for the implied size. (I suppose the land could be under a curse that greatly slows travel... "a day's journey" is a very, very imprecise unit of distance.)

I guess it is also a little odd for Lac Sullise to only have one river feeding it.

Thank you for your understanding, Waldronate! And at the same time, I totally agree with you, Rdanhenry.... In fact, I mostly tried to make a map that corresponds to the world created by my cousin. For this, I respected his sketch and the dimensions he gave me, especially for cities. It is absolutely true that the scale is not respected, at least not for cities. But this is sometimes the case on old maps, in order, as Waldronate says, to provide information on the layout of streets, the location of points of interest, etc. I know I'm not very good at making strictly accurate maps in terms of scale, relief, tectonic plates, watersheds, etc. but drawing maps is mostly a hobby for me and I try to draw maps that please me (and in this case, that please my cousin).

Thank you in any case for your precious and precise comments! It is always very appreciated and it helps to improve... Sometimes it also gives ideas for new ways to explore.

[MistyBeee]

A pleasant map in many aspects. I especially love your details on towns and fields, and this... marsh/corrupted water in Tomariel

[- JO -]

A pleasant map in many aspects. I especially love your details on towns and fields, and this... marsh/corrupted water in Tomariel

Thanks a lot Misty ! It's true that it's always a little strange to see a detailed city map on a continent map... These are distortions of scale that pass or not pass. I feel like sometimes it's a matter of luck.

[steelmccoy]

The way you incorporated the cities is awesome. Estour in particular is really cool - I love the way it wraps into the mountains.

[Ilanthar]

Great job, Joël! I agree with others, those cities are so detailed and awesome!
I think it has an "old historic flair", since in the past, the main things where represented bigger and more detailed (like the islands on an old naval chart).