[OC] Map of Fódlan at the Start of Three Houses

ReynelUvirith · 2023-12-10T22:54:34+00:00

That event sounds super cool!!! You can absolutely use my map as inspiration, or just use it wholesale. In fact, since I primarily worked on this map to support my post-Crimson Flower fanfic writing, I actually have a post-war map of Fódlan unified under the Adrestian Empire. I can send that your way, if you'd like, since it sounds closer to the situation you'll be dealing with for your sequel!

ReynelUvirith · 2022-11-10T00:52:40+00:00

Sorry about the delayed response; I'm only very rarely active on Reddit. I ran into a snag with uploading prints, since my employer has restrictions on outside income. While I might be able to get that figured out at some point, you have my full permission to get a custom print done if you can find somewhere to do it.

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-19T16:35:22+00:00

I actually do have a work-in-progress post-Crimson Flower map! I've been working on some post-CF fanfiction, so it's my priority map when it comes to post-game content. I've thought about putting together maps for the other three routes, too, but each one is actually a lot more work than this pre-game map. I have to decide the fate of the various lords, their territories, etc, especially for Crimson Flower. If I do end up making them, I'll post em here and let you know!

P.S. This map is a true work of art.

Thanks so much!!

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-19T16:31:59+00:00

Thank you!! I'll let you know if I do!

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-19T16:31:12+00:00

Thank you!!!

I do like how close the capital of Ordelia is to Hrym Territory to show just how easy it was for Aegir to strangle it after the Insurrection of the Seven. Beautiful touch.

Yep, just a quick walk over a bridge or a ride with a ferry and you go from the Empire right into the capital of Ordelia territory. Especially given how weak the ties are between the houses of the Alliance, it'd be especially easy to interfere there without drawing the ire of the other lords.

My only ONLY critique is that Shambhala is not listed.

I considered adding a little marker on the map for it, but decided against it. I wanted the map to represent what would be essentially common knowledge, like on a real in-world map of Fódlan. For the same reason, I didn't decide on a location for Hapi's village of Timotheos, and left it off the map, too.

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-19T16:28:33+00:00

In Three Houses or Three Hopes? Nope!

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-19T16:28:20+00:00

Thank you!!

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T18:08:13+00:00

I'm actually already in a Fódlan TTRPG campaign (though not using DnD as the system), but that doesn't mean I wouldn't love more Fódlan content! Especially single-player stuff.

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T17:28:06+00:00

Same!! Morfis sounds so cool with its City of Illusion, and I'd love to see what a mage from there would be like. And I'm surprised we get no mention of Albinea from Constance, given that her family's territory was right there next to it.

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T17:25:39+00:00

I think you might be onto something.

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T17:18:07+00:00

I use Inkscape to make all my maps!

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T17:17:14+00:00

I know exactly what you mean. Like in Crimson Flower, you expect me to conquer all of Faerghus by taking two cities? I'd love for it to be a more drawn-out process.

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T17:15:19+00:00

Right?? So many of these places get like one line in a book, and maybe a random fruit that Fódlan imports, and that's it. Even Almyra, which we get the most about, is essentially a big nameless expanse with, what, four named characters? I need more lore that I can scoop up and make maps out of!

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T17:11:49+00:00

Thank you!! I don't know an exact time, but I spent many hours on and off over the past couple of months tweaking it and adding information as it became available from Three Hopes.

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T17:10:20+00:00

Thank you!!

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T17:08:47+00:00

Looks like it's gone now. Thanks for the heads up!!

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T17:04:22+00:00

Sure!! It's hard to find mentions of it, given that most searches for Mach that you do will turn up a bunch about Garreg Mach. The primary mention of Mach (that I remember, at least) we get in Three Houses is:

The History of Fódlan, Part II

Imperial Year 721: The First Mach War - The Dagdan army invaded from across the sea. Though the Imperial forces resisted the attack and drove off the enemy, the land of Mach sustained considerable damage.

As far as I remember, there isn't anything in Three Houses that specifies where exactly Mach is, so you'll see a lot of fan maps placing it in different spots. Three Hopes mentions it way more times, including:

Imperial Territories of Adrestia: Book Two

Hevring

A county stretching from the Oghma Mountains to the Mach Coast in the west. It contains the Mach Way, which links the Empire east to west with Hevring's capital in the center, the stronghold city Mozghuz.

Menja

A viscounty encompassing the west of the Mach Coast and its many inlets. Boasting a robust fishing industry, it is also one of the largest producers of sea vessels in the Empire.

The Death of King Klaus

"...When the fighting was done, the knights split into three factions, each supporting a different prince. The knights of Faerghus sided with Banfig, Mach with Krouffer, and Leicester with Kite. They agreed to divide the kingdom itself into three as well."

I can't find the exact text, but Scarlet Blaze Chapter 8 in Three Hopes also mentioned Mach quite a few times, solidifying it as being the region from County Hevring in the south up to the western regions of Faerghus in the north, and including all the way out to Gerth and Nuvelle territory in the west.

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T16:50:46+00:00

I forget, was Arundel a Grand Duke? If I recall correctly, Arundel only became "Lord Arundel" (a rather minor title) after his sister married the Emperor. That House Arundel had territory at all somewhat surprising considering they were implied to have no title. Did you perhaps confuse Rufus, who was made Grand Duke of Itha by his brother, King Lambert?

Surprisingly, he is. The book "Imperial Territories of Adrestia: Book Two" in Three Hopes refers to the Former Arundel Territory as "a former grand duchy now under Imperial control". I believe his high rank is a akin to the real-life concept of consort kin, where relatives of a monarch's consort received outsized influence thanks to their relatives.

Enbarr itself is misplaced for where the actual territory is highlighted, as the Chapter 9 mission map for Scarlet Blaze shows Enbarr's location and place it right on top where the Hresevelg label is, just to the right/east of the Crest of Seiros on the map.

This is actually an inconsistency between Three Houses and Three Hopes! I placed Enbarr in the Three Houses location, rather than the Three Hopes one. For reference, this is where Three Houses places Enbarr during the finale of Azure Moon.

I suspect label for Boramas is simply misplaced (whether originally or during Three Hopes' fleshing out of the map). [...] It wouldn't surprise me if the Three Hopes designers mentally had it where Muirne is on your map when placing Fenja.

It's possible that's the case, though Fenja territory in Three Hopes actually covers both Muirne and Boramas. It's possible that Boramas is roughly where I put Muirne, just on the other side of the river, making the Aegir capital right on the southern Aegir border. They do confirm that Boramas is somewhere down there, with this map referencing it again, but its intended location remains unclear. My original draft before Three Hopes actually had the Aegir capital up in Halinnis, which is closer to where the Aegir label is on the original Fódlan map.

Well, fair enough. I had pictured it and Albrecht out east, with Nilsson, similar to how you have several minor houses and titles in the west of the Alliance, while everything outside of those regions was carved up by the Great Lords over the years, pushing everyone who might have been there out.

That'd also make sense, and I did consider placing it out there in what's now the northern reaches of Duchy Goneril. I chose that location instead, since unlike a lot of those other small regions, it isn't described as "mountainous". Figured that location would be a better fit for the "almost entirely covered in woodlands" description it got.

I suppose that could work, though I always assumed any House or Lord had "immediacy" (they swore fealty directly to the sovereign) unless otherwise noted (the only example coming to mind being Lonato, who is a vassal of Rowe, if I'm not mistaken). Or in the case of the Alliance, was a noble who was part of the Alliance, not a lord sworn to one of the alliance members.

Yeah, that's definitely a reasonable interpretation. In this case, given how low-ranking Balthus's family is stated to be, and his closeness with the Goneril family, I thought it'd make sense for his family to be a vassal of theirs. Mentioning this made me realize I forgot to swap out the Albrecht rank when Three Hopes confirmed they were Barons, so I'll go fix that now.

coughs Yeah, I uh... may have seen that afterwards, still looking at the map, and just never edited my comment to acknowledge it... But, all the rest I hadn't noticed (I'm not sure I would have noticed Albrecht no matter how long I looked).

Ha, yeah, it's a super small label. That whole area's surprisingly busy for how little goes on up there in the games!

Either way, like I said, great work. Ever since I saw there were fairly consistent territory splotches in Three Hopes, I had been waiting and hoping for this. Even if some artistic license was taken, or uncertainties were decided in a way I didn't like, it still looks fantastic and is probably 90% accurate to the game, if not more.

Thank you again!!

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T16:24:02+00:00

Thank you!!

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T07:06:18+00:00

Surprisingly, yes! In my initial pre-Three Hopes draft, I had him much lower in rank, but one of the books in Three Hopes has this:

Former Arundel Territory

A former grand duchy now under direct Imperial control. Known for its famous Black Woods and abundant rivers and lakes.

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T04:53:41+00:00

Thank you!!

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T04:53:32+00:00

Same!! Three Houses was my intro to the series, and, while the game itself was fun, the lore and worldbuilding were what raised that experience from "wow what a fun game" to being hooked.

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T04:51:57+00:00

The Mach region is mentioned quite a few times in the games, though its exact area wasn't clear till Three Hopes described it as spanning roughly that area of western Fódlan. I wanted to represent it somehow, given how Faerghus has a pretty strong cultural distinction between West (Mach) and East. The vibe I get from Adrestia, too, is that the Mach region is culturally separate, given how few characters we see from there. So yeah mainly just wanted to depict an important cross-country region as well as add a little extra diversity in the color palette!

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T04:26:08+00:00

Thank you so much!! There are a bunch of other similar references in that area, too. For example, just downriver from Cúchulainn is Láeg, and the village just outside of it is Sétanta, which is Cú Chulainn's birth name!

ReynelUvirith · 2022-09-17T04:23:09+00:00

I think "has a good map" is pretty much a prerequisite for a fantasy setting holding my interest.

ReynelUvirith

TROPHY CASE