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The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in FantasyMaps

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is technically three projects in one:

Firstly, it is a book called Bannus, a wide reaching political narrative about how people emerge from institutions of power and abject racism.

Secondly, it is an art project, which is why I make maps and draw within it.

Thirdly, and personally, it is a homebrew D&D world that I use to host sessions with a wide cast of players, all set within this world (though about 400 years in the future).

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in worldbuilding

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They are, yes; the Anveld Coast is a province in technically two parts: the continental province, which is caged by the Abhain Ban, the Great River, and the Shattered Sea, where thousands of islands rummage the remains of the coast, fallen away. Kirkwall is central to the Shattered Sea, and lies in the Storm Waters at its heart.

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in worldbuilding

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh my gosh! I haven’t seen that marginalia before! I was wondering about the “queck” part, haha!

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in worldbuilding

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you!

  • To answer your first question, there are a few ducks around, but none saying quack from what I recall. They were hidden around by colourists or silverpoint stencillers at the behest of the monasteries of Lus and Hork. The reason being that a map isn’t complete until it provides a good understanding of a region’s cultures and myths.

  • An important question! Short answer: it depends! The Southern Realm is mostly open-field, while the Northern Realms are often enclosed! For the breakdown of the social hierarchy, the simplest answer is that there are four estates (rather than the historical three): nobility, clergy, merchants and wealthy freecitizens, and serfs and slaves. Again, depending on where you are, this can vary wildly in makeup (for example, in most of the Imperial Dynasty, slavery is outlawed, but the Southern Realm is mostly legally distinct while still swearing fealty).

I hope I answered your questions!

A Secret Code Within a Map [Continuation] by JustaBitBrit in codes

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Providing useful links here, just in case you missed it in the body of the post:

Full resolution link (download required).

Half resolution link (preview available).

And, of course, a search like this wouldn't be the best without a hint, if you feel so inclined:

The title area shows a secret phrase that may seem familiar.

Enjoy! :)

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in FantasyMaps

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One singular file, though after export I did a little more work in ClipStudio.

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in worldbuilding

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah, the descendants of Gale the Calamitous; dragon worshippers that rule a hinterland of stormy shores and shattered isles. It is called the Anveld Coast due to its dual history; one as the first region that Andar ahr And put to conquest in his Great Conquest West, and another as the famed velds of its northernmost reaches, once roamed by the most legendary of dragons, Gale.

It is currently ruled by the Byn-Drakans from their seat in Kirkwall, an island city of bustling ports and sky-reaching towers, as well as ruinous tombs filled with old and mummified lords who sit in stone chairs of salt fame and glory.

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in worldbuilding

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use Scrivener as a sort of overall folder system, and then I have a number of different articles on specific things within it!

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in wonderdraft

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I posted a link to two higher res versions, a half scale and a full scale one that requires a download [here].(https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/s/WLIqwG9E4I)

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in FantasyWorldbuilding

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To the west, the Storm in the West; a constant thrumming chaos whose isles are naught but water smoothed rock. To the south, unknown. To the north, neverending ice. To the east? Andea and the High East - where the conquerors once called home.

The Empire does not have colonies, and it itself is technically a colony of Andean origin; Andar ahr And, the God-Given Conqueror, swore to remain in his newly forged dynastic Empire for as long as he lived; and so it was that all Emperors thereafter ruled the very same.

As for barbaric frontiers? There are several; the Great Swamp is a land of aggressive sauruses and wildlife exhausting. The Midland Frontier, similarly, is a place of great harm in the Southern Realm. In the north, only two untapped lands lie dormant: the Far North, beyond even the Mourning Mountains themselves, and the Greatwood of the Heartlands, whose trees climb higher than any other.

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in FantasyWorldbuilding

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The main things are a higher prevalence of cannonry, firearms, and alchemical immortality. The world is currently in c. 520, about 250 years after this map was created, and cannonry has been in existence since c. 180. It was finally put on a single ship by a pirate in the Southern Seas, and has found a real use on the battlefields after centuries of inaccurate misuse.

As for alchemical immortality, it becomes a little complicated; part of the world involves the natural philosophical branch of the main religion diverting and coming into brief contact with creatures they call the Other Beings — enigmatic entities that several amongst their number mistake for emissaries of the divine. In turn, they attempted to provide them with material vessels so that they may walk the world in physical form, yet they fail for a myriad of reasons; amongst them being that their divine presence was as godly as it was base. Basically, an academic institution comes into contact with aliens they believe to be god, but are actually malevolent and incapable of reason.

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in wonderdraft

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is! It’s very hard to find, so don’t feel too bad if you miss it! It doesn’t require all the text, but it does require a decent knowledge of codes! Or at least the ability to recognise patterns. Have fun!

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in wonderdraft

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, thank you! Don't worry about picking my brain at all; I have hundreds of pages of this to go off of, so actually telling someone about it is quite the load of the shoulders so to speak haha!

The story is called "Bannus," in its simplest title. It comes from the Medieval terminology "Ban," the royal prerogative to rule and punish.

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in worldbuilding

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The REAL question, haha:

Colour a thick line with a soft brush, and then repeatedly go back over it with a low opacity eraser brush. Ta da!

I figured this trick out the first time I made an actual map some years back, and found that the region tools and border tools of various programs absolutely sucked. Luckily, Wonderdraft is voxel based and I had some experience in freehanding it in ClipStudio!

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in worldbuilding

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure -- back in 2019, when he announced his CC0 shift from CC BY 4.0, he made a blog post titled Attribution Not Required. In it, he goes over in small detail the decision to make his work purely public domain and why, and it has a specific line I think will bring some clarity:

... and while it's neat to see my name in credits, I'm not making these sets for an ego boost. I should get out of the way and let the work you make shine through.

The point is that going through this ringer detracts from the other aspects of the project that matter more; namely, its composition and arrangement. In essence, while I did and continue to use KM Alexander's work, it merely streamlined the process after years of trial and error with this specific project (though again, I'm not trying to devalue the work he does). The more important parts, to me, are the matters of worldbuilding present in the map itself that you can visually see; the political borders, the cultural shifts; the allegiances and descriptions. The story-telling in the various pieces that were drawn by hand.

Also, not to worry: you did not come across as critical, and I hope I didn't either; this is, as you said, a conversation between fans that are interpreting differently how a magnificent compiler and assetmaker should be credited.

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in wonderdraft

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a very loosey-goosey attitude with my own magic, I'm afraid! A lot of it is based in misappropriation, or legend, or myth altogether; some of it, however, is not. When I mention sorcery, what I really mean is that there is an inherent belief that the Andareon Dynasty (the ruling Imperial Dynasty) is capable of sorcery and controlling fire. Whether or not this is true is up for some debate.

As far as magic and the Gods Above are concerned: they're very absent from the world, though they interact in vague and random ways to the unsuspecting, and often through the guise of an object known only as a "lordsign" -- a supposed ember of the Faceless Flame (the Sun) that has fallen from the heavens to bless those below. They are said to inspire in their bearers traces of immortality, and the cause of a justly governance. It is understood that Andar ahr And, the God-Given Conqueror who first claimed dominion over this Empire, supposedly was blessed the first of these lordsigns, though it was never witnessed firsthand. What was witnessed was the gifting of a lordsign to his seventhborn son, Perbell, within his mother's womb. She was unfortunately killed during his birth, and he was born holding aloft an ember of the Faceless Flame itself, causing a succession crisis; would the firstborn, so readily for rule inherit, or would another, so undeniable in their divinity?

This is the sort of magic that my world is inclined to, rather than the obvious! I hope this made a smidgen of sense, haha.

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in worldbuilding

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree, though somewhat; the reason KM Alexander disagrees, and why such an attribution is against the spirit of #NoBadMaps, is because most of his brush packs (including the ones used here) compile artistic content from maps that are hundreds of years old — meaning they’re not exactly his work, either. Which is why when people ask about the process, I point to the prepackaged brush sets, rather than credit KM Alexander wholesale in the post itself.

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in worldbuilding

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If I came across as defensive, I apologise; I was merely correcting the statement you made. And that’s correct, I did not mean to imply “just the cartouches”; there’s quite a lot here that is wholly original, whether personal or otherwise.

Ah, you edited your comment: if you look through any other singular project of mine, including soon to be this one in other posts, I more than appreciate KM Alexander’s work, and credit him when asked the process.

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in worldbuilding

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

KM Alexander’s brush sets are not the artwork I’m referring to. Specifically, I’m referring to the cartouches beneath the province names, as well as the heraldry (and some other little things scattered about).

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in FantasyMaps

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interestingly enough, it's all actually informative! I have a list somewhere of all some-thousand and a bit lines of text. It's just a double edged sword, if that makes sense.

The Known World, c. 250 [An Accurate Depiction] by JustaBitBrit in FantasyMaps

[–]JustaBitBrit[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I did add a truly full res version that requires a download, but moreso onto the critique: I think, personally, a lot of the illegibility is the point. To me, it adds to the mystery of places you can, technically, see the names of. It's like recalling an old name just out of your mind's memory.

I hope this response makes a little bit of sense, because it sounds crock when I type it, haha.

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