This month the "Release the Kraken" voting was on a list of a dozen exclusively urban maps. In the end the top slot was tied between two maps, so it is incredibly convenient that funding was over the $500 mark so both can be released! So today we get The City of Blue!
Ten pillars of pale blue crystal jut straight up...
2017-01-29 18:27:16 +0000 UTC View Post
This month the "Release the Kraken" voting was on a list of a dozen exclusively urban maps. In the end the top slot was tied between two maps, so it is incredibly convenient that funding was over the $500 mark so both can be released! So let's start with Dolem's Spire:
The original city of Dolem’s Spire is between...
2017-01-28 17:58:40 +0000 UTC View Post
As we approach the end of January, it’s time to post another piece in the collection of maps of the Jakallan underworld-like project I am taking on. The goal (started last year) is to produce a large set of maps that interconnect to produce something akin to, but very much different in style from, the original Jakallan Underwo...
2017-01-27 16:47:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Beyond the Highlands of Ku are the Shores of Hephron where canyons have been cut into the flinty sands and stone bringing water from the occasional torrential rains of the highlands almost straight down to the Grey Sea.
Along one waterway are a set of natural towers or spires rising up to sixty feet above the shoreline where h...
2017-01-24 20:00:54 +0000 UTC View Post
A magical stone dragon has hatched in the Ku Highlands - a call for adventure if ever there was one!
The flinty grey sands and basalt promontories of the Ku Highlands make for an inhospitable home to the three highland tribes. The nomadic tribes all share stories of various places of interest that r...
2017-01-20 15:47:28 +0000 UTC View Post
“Anyway, 10:30, the other night, I go out in my yard, and there’s the Wurster kid, looking up in those trees. I say, “What are you looking for?” He says “I’m looking for my burrow owl.” I say, “Jumping Jesus on a Pogo Stick. Everybody knows the burrow owl lives. In a hole. In the ground. Why the hell do you t...
2017-01-17 17:25:02 +0000 UTC View Post
I originally posted a map of the settlement at Jando’s Arch (officially the town of Hejmarko) back in December of 2015, and several comments across the various media sources commented on how the arch wouldn’t last long because of the river flowing across to the waterfall. Thus, I redrew it during Mapvember, this time ...
2017-01-13 17:31:31 +0000 UTC View Post
The old “Goblin Cut Gold Mine” is up in the hills, verging on what would traditionally be dwarf territory. But the lack of dwarven interest was appealing to the local lunatic when he found a small gold vein when hunting for some odd minerals required by the local apothecary.
Today, however, the vein is getting...
2017-01-10 18:06:11 +0000 UTC View Post
When the curse of the Naga Reborn was revealed to be creeping through the regions around the Black Mire, sages and dwarves alike brought out the archives of the Ghost King - the warrior-lord who sacrificed even his name in order to end the curse last time.
The problem in replicating his feat, however, is that his an...
2017-01-06 17:19:57 +0000 UTC View Post
What's the point of releasing all these krakens if they can't menace a city or town or other place full of "innocent" civilians, right?
So this month, all the maps up for RELEASE THE KRAKEN are cities and towns. Right now we are slightly below the $500 mark where I release two maps for the month, but that's probably...
2017-01-03 23:49:11 +0000 UTC View Post
In the mountains by the holy city of Thurfei are the tombs of those who have died in the quest to succeed to the Holy Imperial Throne. While there are a number of such tombs that house the dead of noble lineage, only one is said to also contain much treasure.
The Tomb of the 14 Imperial Princesses
When the 14 ...
2017-01-03 18:11:49 +0000 UTC View Post
Whoa!
First backstage pass of 2017 is here. Last month's backstage pass included two maps that I didn't end up releasing during the month, and didn't get aroudn to rescheduling yet so they aren't turning up this month either.
Instead you are getting a set of nine maps that haven't seen the pale electron ...
2017-01-01 01:56:25 +0000 UTC View Post
Every month that we keep funding here over the $500 mark we vote on a set of old maps to re-release under the commercial use license on the site. So just in time for New Year’s Eve, here’s the last commercial map release of 2016!
This map was 100% inspired by playing Fallout: New Vegas again (especially the Old ...
2016-12-31 18:03:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Here we are (once again) finishing off the month with a map of the series creating a massive undercity. The goal is to produce a large set of maps that interconnect to produce something akin to, but very much different in style from, the original Jakallan Underworld map that M.A.R. Barker used in his Empire of the Petal T...
2016-12-30 17:17:04 +0000 UTC View Post
This tomb on the edge of the desert of the gods is the resting place of four Huecuvas of unusual intelligence for their ilk, as well as a few guardian mites that served them in life and still serve them now.
In life the four Huecuvas were warlocks dedicated to four spirit nagas, all children of the same night hag wh...
2016-12-27 17:25:35 +0000 UTC View Post
Every month that our funding remains over the $400 mark I sift through my back catalog and bring up a selection of maps that we all vote on as to which will be released under the free commercial-use license. We ended last month at the $500 mark, so I put the roster up with TWO old maps being re-released this month – so ...
2016-12-25 17:49:11 +0000 UTC View Post
’twas the night before Christmas and all through the Skyrealm there was a raucous party!
And why are they partying? Because Mirelyn’s Skyrealm was drawn as my entry in the Cartographers’ Guild “Lite” challenge that ran from November 15 to December 14th. And that version above (with the paper background) wo...
2016-12-24 17:15:59 +0000 UTC View Post
(There are three maps in this full post - head over to the blog post at http://wp.me/psUVp-2qo to see the other two because I still haven't figured out how to include in-line images in Patreon's interface... )
So after teasing everyone with the rough maps ...
2016-12-23 16:36:58 +0000 UTC View Post
Mirelyn’s Skyrealm is also known as the Highplains Community, although that name has mostly been dropped in the last few years. Consisting of three small skyrealms with remarkably flat upper surfaces, the original Highplains settlers linked the three together with bridges to keep them from drifting apart.
The main...
2016-12-20 21:16:49 +0000 UTC View PostBackstage Pass Patrons!
After releasing the backstage pass this month, I took on a mapping challenge over at the Cartographer's Guild and the map is so awesome that I'm going to bump two of the maps from this month's rotation to bring this huge multi-part map into the mix instead.
So in the end, two of the maps in ...
2016-12-19 05:30:32 +0000 UTC View Post
In the valley of the eight spires there was once a massive sandstone labyrinth that separated the various structures here and was part of what made it such a holy site. But in the wars that followed the sundering of the faith, one group of heretics gleefully destroyed as much of the labyrinth as they could - both the natu...
2016-12-16 21:17:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Old and decrepit stone stairs lead down into this massive hole in land – down to the Hall of Daniau the Defender, last of the knights of the Order of the Ivory Sentinel.
The first side chamber on the descent is barred by a stone door magically closed awaiting the next member of the Order of the Ivory Sentinel to e...
2016-12-13 14:02:13 +0000 UTC View Post
In a slowly decaying orbit surrounded by debris is Low Earth Orbit Workstation Juliet 3 November CAD. One of the workstation’s four work environments has been blown open to vacuum and failures of various safety systems resulted in extensive damage to the interior of the other compartments and the deaths of many of those statio...
2016-12-09 16:23:31 +0000 UTC View Post
And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is TIME!
Live from Dyson's Dodecahedron, it is time to bring out not one, but TWO krakens to battle to the death! Or, instead, to be released under the free commercial license.
This month the top two maps chosen in this poll will be released under the Release the Kraken initi...
2016-12-07 18:04:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Jutting out into Green Shallows Lake is an abutment of grey stone capped with an improbable 320 foot tall spire of yellow stone - the Lodestar of Amaranthine Regrets. Fueled by some otherworldly magics, the top of the spire is lit with a watery flame that seems to bubble up from it with a lambent violet light.
Those who travel...
2016-12-06 16:39:45 +0000 UTC View Post
Oh mighty and generous patrons, I, your lowly cartographer, present to you the collection of maps that will (most likely) appear on the blog throughout the month of December.
If I stick to my plans.
Which I'll admit I don't always manage to do.
2016-12-05 22:02:08 +0000 UTC View Post
The northern reaches of the Black Mire were known as Karit Aun to the dwarves of Kuln - the areas where the swamps abutted directly into the foothills of the mountains west of the Ironflow. Karit Aun roughly translates to Stone Waters, but more generally the "Granite Marsh".
One of the outer structures of the Citadel of Kuln w...
2016-12-02 17:05:41 +0000 UTC View Post
The last of the votes were tallied and the second re-release has occured for this month (aka Release the OTHER Kraken!). So we're closing out the month with Behemoth Lookout, originally posted to the blog in April as a personal-use only map now being transfered over to the commercial maps collection!
I look forward to seeing i...
2016-11-30 14:29:35 +0000 UTC View Post
Here we are finishing off the month with map of the series creating a massive undercity. The goal is to produce a large set of maps that interconnect to produce something akin to, but very much different in style from, the original Jakallan Underworld map that M.A.R. Barker used in his Empire of the Petal Throne games.
This is...
2016-11-29 15:35:07 +0000 UTC View Post
(Head over to the blog post - http://wp.me/psUVp-2p2 - to see all three maps. The one shown above as well as the maps of the Iron House and the Basalt Dome)
There are many tales about the Valley of Burning Orchids and its name. Most are comp...
2016-11-25 19:23:16 +0000 UTC View Post
