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Muz
2011-05-25, 05:04 PM
So here I am, wanting simply to share the result of my own homebrew campaign with a map of the gaming continent, which was originally designed based on The Giant's articles in the Gaming section here (The New World).

We originally started off in the northwest, with just a vague idea of the directions and locations. Eventually, wanting a living, breathing place, I got ambitious, creating the shape of the entire place, nations, general ideas of politics and recent (along with some ancient) history, and filling in details as the game continued. Personally, I think it's pretty darned nifty (especially given my lack of artistic skill) how it's turned out so far, but of course I'm a little biased.

The map is below, spoilered for size. Since I love referencing other, more popular worlds and such, you might catch a few of them in the place names (I also stole names for a certain nation's cities from wines, and a number of others I gave an Arthurian feel...) I'm curious to see what people think. :smallsmile:

Note: The scale of the place is likely a bit hokey. I have poor concept of geographic scale, but oh well. :smallbiggrin:

Warning--BIG image: http://home.blarg.net/~muz/Mikeland.gif

A brief nation guide:
Prydain: Recently fractured by civil war, Prydain previously controlled what is now the nation of Albion as well along with the area around Ravenholm, Dunpeldyr, Cigfrain, and the Lake Crystal area. Capital city: Astintaine. The Prydish favor Jupiter as their official deity.

Albion: Formerly part of Prydain, now led by the (younger) twin brother of the king of Prydain. Capital city: Monmouth. The Albionese (Albionians? The place is young enough to where the adjective hasn't been settled on, I guess.) favor Apollo as their official deity.

Coalition of Rhyl: formerly a collection of small kingdoms, they banded (semi-loosely) together approximately 3 decades prior in response to aggression from Treger and Prydain (the latter of whom only assisted for political reasons, and was the primary force in the peace process). The Treger/Rhyl border has recently drifted southward from its former location at Castle D'Irving due to a brief border war. Capital city: Hyfryd. Residents of Rhyl generally favor Minerva as their state deity.

Treger: Was 2/3rds its current size prior to the war 3 decades ago when it snatched up pre-Rhyl territories north of the Lorax Mountains. About six months ago, an enormous plume of flame rose from the Queen's castle in Tregier. Tregerian authorities reported, however, that everything is alright now, we're all fine here now, thank you. (How're you?) Though rumors ran wild, no official explanation was ever given. A plague broke out in Tregier some couple of months afterward, resulting in a quarantine of the city, which failed to prevent the plague's eventual spread to Rennes. The Prydian border was closed soon after. News out of Treger is sketchy, but reports indicate that the plague may have spread to Artois and beyond. Capital city: Tregier. The Tregerians revere Juno as their official deity.

The Dwarven Lands: Great name, huh? Dwarves live here, with Delnoria as their capital. Other dwarven settlements can be found in the Dragonspine mountains, but are far more isolationist.

Solunar: Home of most of the elves native to the continent; high elves, specifically. Capital city: L'ial Soluna.

Elves of the Emerald Forest: A combined group of sylvan and grey elves live here in symbiosis, having arrived and settled by sea relatively recently (2 centuries ago). Only in the past decade have they begun to venture out into the rest of the continent.

Great Kesh: While the name is blatantly stolen from Raymond E. Feist, Kesh is a nation of gnomes. (Gnomes ahoy!) Great Kesh is the only nation still existing from the time of the Dragon War 3,000 years ago (more below). Great Kesh is a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a fez. Extremely isolationist. Non-gnomes who do enter Great Kesh either disappear or return remembering nothing of what they have seen. Speculation on the nature of Great Kesh and its peoples runs the gamut from "weird for weirdness sake" to "those gnomes are up to SOMEthing..." Keshian gnomes may occasionally be seen traveling in the rest of the continent, always wearing their signature red fezzes (though gold- and purple-fezzed gnomes have occasionally been spotted), and always acting just a liiittle nutty. "We are all Kesh."

Itrusca: Not actually on the map, the Itruscans were a nation that spanned nearly the entire continent before swarms of evil dragons came to plunder the land 3,000 years ago. While good-aligned dragons eventually came to fight them, the nation was plunged into ruin, collapsed, and never recovered.* Istruscan ruins can still be found (noted by the dark purple dots), some even (partially) un-plundered.

I won't bother explaining all of the other little points of interest and such on the map (except to say that "1st part, 2nd part, etc." refers to the Rod of Seven Parts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_of_Seven_Parts) adventure that was adapted for use in our world. Not that I wouldn't enjoy answering questions if anyone is curious...

So, there it is. Since it was built over a long period of time via both behind-the-scenes prep and shaped by PC actions, I'm quite pleased with it, and couldn't help but show it off--though I guess I already said that. :smallwink:

*At least, that's the short version.

Edit: Comments welcome. :smallredface:

Muz
2011-05-31, 11:24 AM
96 views and not a single comment. D'oh. *makes notes to infest part of the continent with swarms of crickets carrying permanent Eerie Silence 5' Radius auras penetrable only by their chirping* :smallwink:

Morph Bark
2011-05-31, 11:48 AM
96 views and not a single comment. D'oh. *makes notes to infest part of the continent with swarms of crickets carrying permanent Eerie Silence 5' Radius auras penetrable only by their chirping* :smallwink:

That actually does give me a great idea for a monster.


Just a note about this: "Albion" is a name for Great Britain that means "white coast" or "white cliffs" or such. Switching the names of Albion and Prydain (since they were once one country) might be more fitting.

Muz
2011-05-31, 01:09 PM
That actually does give me a great idea for a monster.

Just a note about this: "Albion" is a name for Great Britain that means "white coast" or "white cliffs" or such. Switching the names of Albion and Prydain (since they were once one country) might be more fitting.

But that denies me the sheer joy of name-theft! :smallbiggrin:

Plus Albion didn't show up until a year or two after the setting was in full use, so having the separatist factions taking the name (and the loyalists being okay with that) wouldn't have quite made sense in the in-game scheme of things.

I knew Albion was a name for Britain, but I didn't know it meant "white coast," though. Nifty. :smallsmile: