| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Divinity |
Posted - 03 Dec 2018 : 00:03:40
I'm creating this thread as a place I can post my cartography and various other 'stuff' as well as a place people can reach me with comments and questions. Please feel free to post here as you like.
So... I'm going to step into my some of my cartography. I looked through the code of conduct and it didn't say anything about not posting images, but, as of yet, I don't think I can recall any images ever being posted, so I'll keep it to posting links to everything; that seems to be the norm.
I'll start with some previous maps I've done and work into the current one I'm doing. A few of the previous ones I've done are my own realm, but I'll post links so you can at least see some of the styles I've used in the past, since, compared to most cartographers, I've not created too many maps.
Realm of Rhielōn
This is my own realm. It's based on the Forgotten Realms - as you'll be able to see. After some mapping of it, I mostly moved on, preferring to map areas of Faerūn.
Nordikana Continent
The central continent.
Trade Sea
The Trade Sea area of the Nordikana Continent. These are my favorite mountains. Unfortunately, I made them in a very long, complicated and destructive way that wasn't detailed. Doing them like this on a large scale would be terrible anyhow. My hope is I can replicate something similar using my current method of making mountains, however, so far, I've not been able to find just the right way.
Nation of Xortaal
A continent up in the northwest of the realm.
Forgotten Realms!
Alright, things you care about...
Cormyr 1
This was my first go at Cormyr. I've played nwn on a Cormyr persistent world since 2005 (though this specific edition was actually for another server where Cormyr was at war with Shade) so I have a lot of history in it. The map is based on Mike Schley's 4E map. This particular one has the 'dungeon' areas faded with emphasis on the war - purple being Cormyr and red being Shade. This was maybe the second map I ever made.
Cormanthor
This was another map I did for a server I briefly played on. I really like the cleanness of it.
Cormyr 2
This was my second attempt at Cormyr. I used the same style as the Cormanthor map. This was tailored to the server I've played on forever. It includes many server-canon locations and edits.
Continent of Faerūn - Last updated 10/10/2021
This is a continent-wide map of Faerūn. The locations have been extensively researched through maps, Candlekeep, PDFs, and other internet resources. If you have comments or notice mistakes, please let me know so I can change them or explain why I did something the way I did. I would argue this is one of the most detailed and lore-correct maps of Faerūn made to date. I will continue to update this link as I update the map.
So! There you are. Enjoy! |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Divinity |
Posted - 13 Jun 2022 : 01:14:11
The main map layout I used was mostly based off the 3e continent map. I spent a very long time researching dozens (maybe a hundred or more) maps and sources from canon to non-canon in an effort to place things in the most correct places - and when correct wasn't possible, most likely to be the most correct. I did add one river from the Shining South maps, but I then went back to remove it. Unfortunately, I had already done terrain details that made it look odd with it removed, so I replaced it and moved on. Those other rivers may or may not be there, but I chose not to include them due to them not being other places and some other details on the Shining South Maps that kept me from feeling they were as accurate as other sources.
In regards to the Forest of Gundar and Kolapur, I spent many hours at least two different times studying this part of the world, and as far as I decided, the Shining South maps weren't correct. The 3e Faerun map had the river going to the wrong bay which made a mess of things. When I went back to earlier editions it was much clearer how the river came to the sea. This was verified by pictures I found of Ed's hand-drawn map.
I'm not still working on my first version, but I am poking away here and there at my second version. Most of the northern sword coast to the anauroch is detailed. Long ways to go still as I have to research each place again as I go so I know how big to represent it or how the city needs to be drawn.
Thank you for caring enough to point those things out though. I appreciate people looking for mistakes so I can fix them on the next map or explain why I did what I did. |
| deserk |
Posted - 01 May 2022 : 07:55:30
Really like this map. Not sure if you're still working on it, but I noticed in the Shining South (3E) book, there are some additional features shown in the Shaar and the Shining Lands, which are not present in other maps of Faerun.
Western Shaar: River Firesteap (the name), River Pelevar
https://www.realmshelps.net/faerun/shaar/pix/shaar.jpg
Eastern Shaar: River Uthangol, Rift River, River Shaundaular, Toadsquat River, River Azulduth
https://www.realmshelps.net/faerun/shaar/pix/shaar2.jpg
Shining Lands: Unnamed river from Dustwall Mts. to Huorm, unnamed river from Gundar to Curna Mts., hills around Myrmyr
https://www.realmshelps.net/faerun/estagund/pix/estagund.jpg
It seems as well Kolapur & the Gundar river is placed on the wrong side of the Gundar forest on your current map, and that the Dustwall Mts. & Giant's Belt are much larger and closer to the coastline.
|
| PattPlays |
Posted - 04 Jan 2022 : 06:32:00
I want to praise this road from Everlund to Silverymoon because the faint white lines I saw on other sources took the traveler off course for miles up and into the mountains, where there was an Inn. I have an NPC booking it on a harper v zhentarim mission and I imagined how much of a hassle it would be setting up a spare horse in the barren fields beneath the elevated terrain. Your map cuts the exact course that I had imagined she would have been bushwhacking through before. Good to know that my impulse was on target! |
| Divinity |
Posted - 04 Jan 2022 : 06:30:14
quote:
Originally posted by Rakshak the Tall
This is beautiful! Your previous Faerun map is one of my all time favorites, and I love the previews of your new ones!
If you are willing, I would love to see Valshada and Traispek added to the Calimshan map, near their locations on HandsomeRob's map. The two locations are from the 2e adventure "On Wings of Darkness," from Dungeon magazine #34. Again, though, thank you for your amazing work on this!
Thank you, I appreciate it. I'll certainly keep these locations in mind for the new map. Thanks for pointing them out. |
| Rakshak the Tall |
Posted - 03 Jan 2022 : 18:47:17
This is beautiful! Your previous Faerun map is one of my all time favorites, and I love the previews of your new ones!
If you are willing, I would love to see Valshada and Traispek added to the Calimshan map, near their locations on HandsomeRob's map. The two locations are from the 2e adventure "On Wings of Darkness," from Dungeon magazine #34. Again, though, thank you for your amazing work on this! |
| Grievous |
Posted - 26 Dec 2021 : 11:36:00
This is just fantastic stuff, Divinity. Thanks for sharing! |
| George Krashos |
Posted - 24 Dec 2021 : 23:46:37
If you ever need a Realms spellcheck help etc, let me know. Love your work.
-- George Krashos |
| Divinity |
Posted - 24 Dec 2021 : 01:21:45
I took a break from drawing roads and cities - I'd only gotten into the Savage Frontier - and I started labeling locations. Connecting roads to gates is actually tricker than I thought. Not everything connects as easily as it'd seem sometimes. I've also found a bunch of mistakes on my first map as I re-research everything. It's going to take forever though. I may do it region by region and break it into smaller regional maps that I put out until I'm done with the whole thing.
https://www.cartographersguild.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=132196&d=1640307355 |
| Divinity |
Posted - 15 Dec 2021 : 20:11:45
The map is coming along well, however, I've decided on one huge change and that's to map each city individually. It's obviously going to take a lot more time now to research each city's shape and what gates lead to which roads and trails.
Check out the progress here:
https://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=50233 |
| Divinity |
Posted - 01 Dec 2021 : 19:32:26
quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
Love these maps! Thank you for sharing.
Gang - on the subject of maps, are there any in the public domain of both the Eastern and Western Heartlands that have most cities on them and roads? I am not finding a good one that I can have printed and made into a picture board for my mancave.
Thank you.
I learned something interesting during the creation of this last Faerūn map and that was how different groups perceive the map. Posting the map here was very much about the information on the map - what was right, wrong, missing, its edition, etc; while the feedback I got from the Cartographers' Guild was nearly exclusively how it was made and what it looked like - style, fonts, textures, etc. It's certainly not an artistic masterpiece like the stuff that gets posted there - that stuff is crazy amazing and is more art than useful map in most instances. But I also didn't make it for the art, I made it to be useful so it may not be something that someone prints for their wall as much as uses actively as a resource. That said! I did photoshop it onto one of my walls and I think it looks pretty alright. 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZfGuSRF9DZPCtbDm9dTrIUHmigEOVZKI/view?usp=sharing
I've recently started following a guy called Impractical Cartographer. I'm not sure if he comes here or not but if you do say hi! I love your hand-drawn maps!
@ImpracticalCar1 on Twitter
MapyNiepraktyczne on Deviant Art where you can download some of his things.
He draws Warhammer and FR maps by hand then adds the wording digitally. He works in English and... some other languages(s). He definitely does work worth printing (and people do print it).
All that said, I've started remapping the whole continent again. This time I won't have much of the research since I've already done it! It's still really early in its progress but its style will be more 'drawn' and have a much flatter feel. It should make labels pop more and its 20k wide size will allow me to get into more detail, especially around placing locations.
Here's an example of the very early land progress at 100% view.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KdObXsHUMvLhdYk4p3-lkuHoCvCYBccF/view?usp=sharing |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 15 Oct 2021 : 06:26:21
I really enjoy looking at that map. Well done. I even saved a copy to my Google Drive. |
| Zeromaru X |
Posted - 14 Oct 2021 : 14:13:21
I see. The map seems pretty well done, but since I don't play in that time period, I don't have an use for it. Thanks for answering, anyways. |
| Divinity |
Posted - 14 Oct 2021 : 07:16:40
It's 3/3.5e with later edition additions if those additions would either go back to the 1370's or are part of an area not previously detailed and thus not really overwriting anything 3e. |
| deserk |
Posted - 11 Oct 2021 : 17:01:34
I would say it's mostly a 1370s DR map, though it has a few features from 4E/5E, particularly in Chessenta, Vaasa and the Raurin Desert. |
| Zeromaru X |
Posted - 11 Oct 2021 : 08:03:04
Is this new map up to the current lore of the Realms? With current, I mean post-secondary Sundering. |
| cpthero2 |
Posted - 31 Oct 2020 : 06:01:42
Seeker Divinity,
Well, as promised: unfortunately there is nothing. Those locations are private towns that were added to those maps on a homebrew basis according to Master Krashos.
Best regards,
|
| Divinity |
Posted - 27 Oct 2020 : 22:07:06
That'd be great! I overlooked any information on those two small dales. Anything you find would be wonderful. |
| cpthero2 |
Posted - 27 Oct 2020 : 06:29:32
Seeker Divinity,
I wanted you to know that I've done some research about the environs of Mettledale and Spearsmouth Dale, and to date, have uncovered nothing except one little statement from Master Krashos from back in 2006. So, I've reached out to him in that scroll, hoping that he will be so kind to provide any information that mayhaps has been discovered! :)
Whatever I find, I'll pass along to you. I'd love to have those things all wrapped up! :) My next sandbox campaign is in that larger area.
Best regards,
|
| Seravin |
Posted - 22 Sep 2020 : 19:06:23
Love these maps! Thank you for sharing.
Gang - on the subject of maps, are there any in the public domain of both the Eastern and Western Heartlands that have most cities on them and roads? I am not finding a good one that I can have printed and made into a picture board for my mancave.
|
| cpthero2 |
Posted - 21 Sep 2020 : 06:38:33
Seeker Divinity,
That is absolutely fantastic!
I also have to say: thank you, thank you, for keeping this pre-Spellplague! :) You hit the nail on the head with this notion that there is not enough lore in 5e. There likely will not be significant lore for a while, if ever, coming from WotC. It is expensive for them to keep going on that, and Realms enthusiasts want it consistent, which is more cost. Those smart people that keep the Realms written about are not cheap!
Best regards,
|
| Divinity |
Posted - 01 Sep 2020 : 03:52:13
Updated the Faerūn map. See the original post. Some updates and additions. I added texture to the water and completely redid all the mountains and hills. |
| cuiilv |
Posted - 27 Aug 2020 : 01:04:20
I feel confident that Minauthkeep's location is fairly accurate based on the descriptions, and Brian R James (who did indeed name Naed Creek) uses the same location for it on his personal Moonsea map https://twitter.com/brianrjames/status/1279062445189824513, so we might as well be consistent on that. It's far worse when you have to place a location and all you got is that it is somewhere in Cormanthor, or somewhere in Sembia. |
| Divinity |
Posted - 27 Aug 2020 : 00:09:03
Thanks. I've made those changes and additions. I'd wanted to add the individual Dales, but it felt forced in. I went ahead and added them though.
Minauthkeep took some thinking, but based on where Cuiilv put it on his map and the descriptions I found, I thought I'd go for a similar position. It makes as much sense as any, and I think it makes sense for the sake of consistency. If something is really vague, we may as well stick together to keep from making things too difficult on those who use and compare the maps. |
| deserk |
Posted - 26 Aug 2020 : 11:41:31
I noticed a spelling error as well. Helios in Chessenta should be Heptios.
I wonder as well if would not be better to remove Dalelands title, and title the individual Dales rather (useful to know where is which Dale), since it isn't a unified state.
Also some other possible settlements to add to the map. Minauthkeep (Vhaeraunite drow settlement and HQ of House Jaelre), it's location is a bit dubious, but it is most likely around the Old Elven Court since that is where the Vhaeraunite drow are most prominent. It is also mentioned to be next to a small stream which could likely be a tributary of River Duathampar, so most likely near that river.
Al Qahara (an elven underground water-well town mentioned in FRCS 4E) seems to be located where Atao is on the map in the Raurin Desert. Looking at some maps by Markustay, looks it's from his maps this name comes from. Maybe an alternative name for Al Qahara? Also noticed that there are settlements in the Raurin listed as "Burried", which should be spelt "Buried".
|
| Divinity |
Posted - 25 Aug 2020 : 22:27:34
quote:
Originally posted by cuiilv
Vaasa: Vaasa, not Vassa. Same with Vaasan Gate.
Moonsea/The Ride: Glumpenflow seems to have lost a 'l'. Need Creek should be Naed Creek (I do wonder who named that place).
Keep up the good work!
Fixed and thanks. I actually had your map open when I read your comment. I must say, I've done a lot of research, but -you- have soooo many locations named. You certainly dove deeper than I did. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 25 Aug 2020 : 12:31:51
quote:
Originally posted by cuiilv
Vaasa: Vaasa, not Vassa. Same with Vaasan Gate.
Moonsea/The Ride: Glumpenflow seems to have lost a 'l'. Need Creek should be Naed Creek (I do wonder who named that place).
Keep up the good work!
Pretty sure I saw on Twitter recently that Brian R James named that one, and he knew what he was naming it.  |
| cuiilv |
Posted - 25 Aug 2020 : 12:23:27
Vaasa: Vaasa, not Vassa. Same with Vaasan Gate.
Moonsea/The Ride: Glumpenflow seems to have lost a 'l'. Need Creek should be Naed Creek (I do wonder who named that place).
Keep up the good work! |
| Divinity |
Posted - 24 Aug 2020 : 21:12:42
Thanks for the support!
Instead of continuing to post updated links that get quoted and I can't remove, I've decided to edit the original thread with the updated link each time. I'll just post that it's updated.
Today's update is a name fix and nations/regions were added. |
| deserk |
Posted - 24 Aug 2020 : 20:36:16
Really nice work on the map |
| PattPlays |
Posted - 24 Aug 2020 : 09:42:29
quote:
Originally posted by Divinity
I'm glad you like it. Thanks!
I spent the last few days 'finishing' (is a map ever finished?) rivers and roads, and updating some things. I still have more bridges to add, waterfalls to name, and I need to sort out mountain peaks since some are labeled like locations, some are labeled like geography, and some I ignored until I figure it out. I must say though, the 500gb M.2 I got to use solely as a scratch disk for Photoshop has been amazing for editing these. Plus I've linked the maps together so when I update one it automatically updates the merged layer of that map in the other maps so fixing things is much smoother now.
Anyway, here's a link to the map: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ca-g-aUgsrH2wpcJxnYRcxaCflKOLMaW/view?usp=sharing
-----------
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
quote:
Originally posted by Divinity
A few days ago I posted my Faerūn map in another thread. Since people mentioned wanting to use it, I went ahead and added a legend and distances. I also moved some location text around for clarity. I updated the link in that other thread and added it below.
Here's a 100% (10,000px wide) jpg: **link removed**
Please let me know if you see any mistakes. I'll either fix them or let you know why I have them the way they are - if I can remember.
How would you like to know of any errors, on this thread or via PM? At a glance I've found a few typos and misspellings.
-- George Krashos
Yea, anyone can post any mistakes they find, or information I've missed here in this thread. If you want to nitpick through Impiltur so you feel like it's something you'd be happy with, I'll work with you on that too if there are changes to make.
The old link got killed, glad to see a new one! I will enjoy looking for new details. Thanks!
Edit: I never noticed Jortay's Folly before over in the Fallen Lands. I love how so many minor details exist in these massive maps. (This post is now the second post in all of Candlekeep to even mention the name.) |
|
|
