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Werthead
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
 Posted - 17 Aug 2022 : 17:57:33
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Hi all.
After creating my 2E-inspired megamaps of Faerun, Maztica, Zakhara and Kara-Tur a couple of years back, I've embarked on a new project to map each nation-state of Faerun in greater detail.
After a brief side-trip to the Inner Sea, I've so far completed Aglarond, Amn and Calimshan.
The base maps come from the Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas, are then copied over and compared with the source maps (the FRIA is a great resource but sometimes over-simplifies the coasts because of its vector approach). The maps are based on 1E-2E (and, happily, now 5E, at least the coastlines) but I also integrate 3E-5E locations where they are referred to as canonically existing in the 1-2E timeline. I've also integrated some changes from the 3E map to these maps where they make sense (i.e. the new rivers they added along the south coast of the Aglarond peninsula).
Before anyone asks, yes, this means a map of Impiltur should materialise. It's currently #18 on the list (which keeps changing as I realise some places are too small to warrant a full map and combine them with somewhere else, or someone reminds me of a microrealm that I forgot even existed), going alphabetically.
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Edited by - Werthead on 02 May 2024 12:22:59
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Asharak
Learned Scribe
France
270 Posts |
Posted - 19 Aug 2022 : 10:09:19
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| Very good work, thanks for sharing. |
"Soyez réalistes : demandez l'impossible"
Sorry for my English... it's not my native tongue. |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3287 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2022 : 04:36:50
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| Looks great! Thanks for sharing. |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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Werthead
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2476 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2022 : 21:13:18
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Fantastic work. Thanks for sharing.
Is there a chance that you will make maps for the more recent nations? |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
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Werthead
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 21 Aug 2022 : 16:54:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X
Fantastic work. Thanks for sharing.
Is there a chance that you will make maps for the more recent nations?
If we ever get canon maps of them to work off, sure.
So Elturgard is currently doable and the 5E versions of the North, Sword Coast and Chult, but anything beyond that is a waste of time until WotC gives us some canonical updates to other regions. |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2476 Posts |
Posted - 22 Aug 2022 : 20:54:49
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| Such a shame. I do understand your point, though. And thanks for your time. |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
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Werthead
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
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EricMinde
Seeker
Canada
97 Posts |
Posted - 23 Aug 2022 : 23:17:57
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| Thank you! |
"When you understand the impossible, it changes to improbable and that means there's a chance!"
~Baroth Quagmire, built an orphanage, grew a castle in his friends home, the home did not survive the birth. Died three times and fought his way out of hell. Only player I've ever seen roll three 1% in a row. |
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Werthead
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 25 Aug 2022 : 21:30:03
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I figured the Cormyr map would be the easiest of the batch because it's such familiar territory, but it's in fact the hardest, because there are so many canon maps and so many resources to double check (including a 17-page thread here) and there's a startling number of locations from novels and sourcebooks that have never made it onto any map of the country.
I think the end is vaguely in sight and should be done with it in the next couple of days, but I suspect this is the one that's going to be the most heavily updated after the fact as people find errors and omissions. |
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer
USA
2067 Posts |
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Werthead
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 26 Aug 2022 : 20:49:31
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CORMYR!
There's an interesting discrepancy I noted on the FRIA map, that it has a "Firehammer Vale" next to the Vast Swamp that I couldn't place. Eventually I think I worked out it's supposed to be "Firefall Vale" from the novel Stormlight, which was otherwise missing. However, it's in completely the wrong place (Firefall Vale is further north, near the Immerflow) and has the wrong name, so I couldn't rule it out being a separate location from some other source. |
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cuiilv
Acolyte
Sweden
44 Posts |
Posted - 28 Aug 2022 : 17:30:06
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quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd
This map has done the best job of finding obscure sites in North-Central Faerun. As far as I know, he hasn't done the rest of the Realms.
https://www.deviantart.com/cuiilv/art/North-Central-Faerun-map-804876202
Thanks Eric! And you are correct, that is the only area of the Realms that I have covered.
And Werthead, keep up the good work!
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Werthead
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 28 Aug 2022 : 18:28:15
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| DAMARA! Where people hung out with Orcus and Bahamut way before it was cool to do so. |
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PattPlays
Senior Scribe
469 Posts |
Posted - 29 Aug 2022 : 03:30:31
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| Wait what did Baphomet do there? I knew about Orcus and other demon lords siring offspring to fight over the throne for a few thousand years. Did Baphomet rock up or did he have a kid mess things up? |
:The world's greatest OOTA fan/critic: :"Powder kegs within powder kegs!": :Meta-Dimensional Cheese: :Why is the Wand of Orcus just back?: :We still don't know the nature of Souls and the Positive Energy Plane: :PC on profile, Aldritch Elpyptrat Maxinfield: :Helljumpers, Bungie.net: :Rock Hard Gladiator, RIP Fluidanim, Long Live Pluto: :IRC lives:
https://thisisstorytelling.wordpress.com
T_P_T |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 29 Aug 2022 : 05:11:33
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quote:
Originally posted by PattPlays
Wait what did Baphomet do there? I knew about Orcus and other demon lords siring offspring to fight over the throne for a few thousand years. Did Baphomet rock up or did he have a kid mess things up?
Bahamut, the platinum dragon, not Baphomet, the rather unfriendly gent from the Lower Planes. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
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PattPlays
Senior Scribe
469 Posts |
Posted - 30 Aug 2022 : 03:02:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by PattPlays
Wait what did Baphomet do there? I knew about Orcus and other demon lords siring offspring to fight over the throne for a few thousand years. Did Baphomet rock up or did he have a kid mess things up?
Bahamut, the platinum dragon, not Baphomet, the rather unfriendly gent from the Lower Planes.
Definitely a case of seeing what you want to see. Haha.
May I say that the rate at which you are posting these is nuts!
I actually have a question about Damara. I have an NPC who traversed the whole of the top half of Faerun from Rasheman into the Savage Frontier. I thought it fun for him to, during the mid 1400's, get to bloodstone keep only to find it has just closed, and he has to go around. This takes him to Mulmaster, and eventually into the fragmentary remains of the Zhentilar (after seeing the 'amazing city of Zhentil keep' as a smoldering wreck and promptly leaving town).
I wondered, is it possible for daring travelers to cross the Glacier of the Worm from Damara? In college I heard stories from people who had traveled over the Himalayas under extreme duress and making it (some of them). Westward bound and stopped at Bloodstone gate, how would your NPCs handle such a detour? Is it simpler to gun it for the Vesper river? Threetrees pass fits the narrative of dumping the NPC at Mulmaster.
Has the glacier.. retreated? It's hard to tell what's "climate change" and what's "esoteric giant curse fading away" with the recent changes to Vaasa's map and the apparent continued retreat of the Great Glacier and if the Glacier of the Worm would react similarly to the passage of the years. |
:The world's greatest OOTA fan/critic: :"Powder kegs within powder kegs!": :Meta-Dimensional Cheese: :Why is the Wand of Orcus just back?: :We still don't know the nature of Souls and the Positive Energy Plane: :PC on profile, Aldritch Elpyptrat Maxinfield: :Helljumpers, Bungie.net: :Rock Hard Gladiator, RIP Fluidanim, Long Live Pluto: :IRC lives:
https://thisisstorytelling.wordpress.com
T_P_T |
Edited by - PattPlays on 30 Aug 2022 03:08:03 |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6666 Posts |
Posted - 30 Aug 2022 : 04:08:27
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I hate to say it, but why are you even questioning this? Does it suit your game for them to be able to cross the Glacier of the White Worm, or not? I can't see that people here at Candlekeep telling you it can or can't be done answers that question. Whatever makes your game better, do that.
-- George Krashos |
"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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Werthead
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 30 Aug 2022 : 22:00:48
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I don't see why not. You can reach the glacier via the narrow mountain passes and pathways leading up to the Monastery of the Yellow Rose, and then you can cross down onto the glacier easily enough. The ruin of Barroch's Hold are elsewhere on the glacier and you can probably get down via the valley of the White River into the Moonsea region, although the terrain at the eastern end is mountainous and rough (plus you risk stumbling into Ironfang Keep).
The Glacier of the White Worm is not retreating or shrinking though,and there is some concern that *something* is keeping it frozen after the Great Glacier retreated, and messing around on or under the glacier might be a good (or bad) way of finding out what that is. |
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Werthead
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 01 Sep 2022 : 20:58:58
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DAMBRATH!
Lots of fun on this one as no two maps seem to really agree on the precise shape of the Bay of Dancing Dolphins and especially the southern peninsula (and I'm 90% certain that Dannash and Darmesh are the same city that got misspelled and repeated somewhere along the line).
Also interesting that 3E added new rivers leading to Crimar and Cathyr and then didn't name them.
It's also one of the more random things about FR that Cathyr is universally spelt "Cathtyr" right through the history of the setting until the end of 2E, and then 3E unilaterally decided that didn't scan and renamed it "Cathyr" from that point on. |
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PattPlays
Senior Scribe
469 Posts |
Posted - 02 Sep 2022 : 03:04:58
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| And now I know about space lizard mercenaries from the Kethid. Neat! Also, yay- more portals for my collection... |
:The world's greatest OOTA fan/critic: :"Powder kegs within powder kegs!": :Meta-Dimensional Cheese: :Why is the Wand of Orcus just back?: :We still don't know the nature of Souls and the Positive Energy Plane: :PC on profile, Aldritch Elpyptrat Maxinfield: :Helljumpers, Bungie.net: :Rock Hard Gladiator, RIP Fluidanim, Long Live Pluto: :IRC lives:
https://thisisstorytelling.wordpress.com
T_P_T |
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Azar
Master of Realmslore
1309 Posts |
Posted - 02 Sep 2022 : 23:33:40
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| Is there any chance of a non-5e version (of any map)? I don't mind 3e material, but I have zero interest in Realms-related material from 4e onward. |
Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.
Earth names in the Realms are more common than you may think. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 03 Sep 2022 : 03:30:02
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quote:
Originally posted by Azar
Is there any chance of a non-5e version (of any map)? I don't mind 3e material, but I have zero interest in Realms-related material from 4e onward.
Uh... Almost all of these maps are circa 1371, as it says in the title of the discussion. That's the 2E era. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 03 Sep 2022 03:30:40 |
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Azar
Master of Realmslore
1309 Posts |
Posted - 03 Sep 2022 : 05:42:16
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Azar
Is there any chance of a non-5e version (of any map)? I don't mind 3e material, but I have zero interest in Realms-related material from 4e onward.
Uh... Almost all of these maps are circa 1371, as it says in the title of the discussion. That's the 2E era.
I saw these following bits in the initial post ->
quote:
The maps are based on 1E-2E (and, happily, now 5E, at least the coastlines) but I also integrate 3E-5E locations where they are referred to as canonically existing in the 1-2E timeline.
That's what spurred me to comment; I was covering all the bases. |
Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.
Earth names in the Realms are more common than you may think. |
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PattPlays
Senior Scribe
469 Posts |
Posted - 03 Sep 2022 : 06:03:42
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| Yup. With the Second Sundering they reshaped the world to the 2e base and reverted many big changes since 2e, like Chult. The Star Mounts are finally back where they belong.. |
:The world's greatest OOTA fan/critic: :"Powder kegs within powder kegs!": :Meta-Dimensional Cheese: :Why is the Wand of Orcus just back?: :We still don't know the nature of Souls and the Positive Energy Plane: :PC on profile, Aldritch Elpyptrat Maxinfield: :Helljumpers, Bungie.net: :Rock Hard Gladiator, RIP Fluidanim, Long Live Pluto: :IRC lives:
https://thisisstorytelling.wordpress.com
T_P_T |
Edited by - PattPlays on 03 Sep 2022 06:05:16 |
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Werthead
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 03 Sep 2022 : 19:28:56
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Yup, I only count locations added in later editions if they confirm they existed in this timeframe (1371 DR). If they're founded or appear post-1371, no dice.
DURPAR, ESTAGUND & VAR THE GOLDEN.
For such a large region of Faerun, surprisingly limited information on this area, really limited to the two Shining South books (the 2E and 3E ones) and both get relatively short shrift compared to the likes of Halruaa. |
Edited by - Werthead on 03 Sep 2022 19:38:16 |
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Werthead
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 04 Sep 2022 : 23:11:19
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ERLKAZAR
A fun map given the landforms involved in the country, and a good reminder that mountains aren't just monolithic impassable walls of rock but places where it's possible to have settlements all through them. Ideally I'd like to find a better way of depicting mountains (the brown blobs weren't my favoured approach) but every other way I've tried has either wrecked clarity or become far too time-consuming, but I'll keep working away at it. |
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Werthead
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2022 : 15:33:11
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EVERESKA!
This was fun, as I got to incorporate a city map with the main map. However, the city map also quadrupled my normal production time, so I might not do that again in the future.
Also, the first possible victim of my dating decision, as it's literally just before the biggest events in Evereska's history take place, but I wanted to snapshot the Realms before the shades came back, so that was unavoidable. |
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1715 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2022 : 18:49:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Werthead
ERLKAZAR
A fun map given the landforms involved in the country, and a good reminder that mountains aren't just monolithic impassable walls of rock but places where it's possible to have settlements all through them. Ideally I'd like to find a better way of depicting mountains (the brown blobs weren't my favoured approach) but every other way I've tried has either wrecked clarity or become far too time-consuming, but I'll keep working away at it.
Wish I'd had this map when this was our game campaign back in the 80s… Thanks for making this bit of nostalgia better for us all!
Steven Schend |
For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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HighOne
Learned Scribe
216 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2022 : 00:03:04
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Wow, these are great. Very well done!
Now I want to run campaigns in all these regions. |
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Werthead
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2022 : 21:48:35
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EVERMEET!
quote:
Wish I'd had this map when this was our game campaign back in the 80s… Thanks for making this bit of nostalgia better for us all!
Thank you! Your work on the Realms was a mighty inspiration for all of this. |
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Nations & History of the Forgotten Realms (Maps)
