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vorropohaiah — ATLAS ELYDEN - #8: a map of Varr

#cartography #fantasycartography #fantasymap #map #worldbuilding #elyden #atlaselyden #vorropohaiah
Published: 2016-06-08 17:41:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 5584; Favourites: 67; Downloads: 88
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C&C are more than welcome, and remember, you can follow my patreon for high-res maps, textless maps, more details on the world and other exclusive content , thanks

A key/legend to the map can be found here

Vârr is an unfortunate place, haunted by the echoes of a past tainted by the actions of a mad god. Vorropohaiah, he was once known as, though his name is now whispered only amongst the most learned of scholars. He was one of the Two-and-Twenty worker gods – the Demiurges. They were abandoned by their creator as punishment for their hubris in creating the mortal races. Vorropohaiah went mad following his divine emancipation and spent his days shaping the features of Elyden into monuments: first to his Father, then to himself, and finally to nothing at all. Many of these ancient monuments survive in the dead parts of Vârr, testament to his godly artifice.    

    None, however, as famed or feared as the twin wonders of Carceri and the Varrachon. The former is a world-spanning cavern built by the god in the latter days of his insanity. None know its purpose or how even such a monolithic edifice can survive the timeless movements of the land itself, but it simply IS. To descend into its depths is to court madness and the whispers of the languid god, or, if one is lucky, merely death.  

    In more recent memory, Vârr was occupied by the Korachani empire, which used it as little more than a resource to be plundered. For over two millennia the empire mined its ores, cut down its forest, and fished its seas. IT left no resource untouched and retreated only 300-year ago after taking all it could. Vârr now lives in the shadow of that empire, al and unwanted and uncared for despite its attempts at rebuilding the ruin that Korachan left behind.

    A dichotomous leadership – in the form of the priestly Heirogoths and Regent-kings – picked up the pieces left by Korachan. Some of the abandoned quarries and open cast mines are not fully spent, and they work them at great toil to get what they can from the land. Forests stripped bare by Korachan are only now starting to regrow and the Vârrans have learnt to tend to them, careful not to take too much, as the risks of what await over-exploitation are all-too apparent.

***

So map #8 is done, and with it the journey around the Inner Sea slowly continues. This was a relatively easy map to do – the south west was ready from previous maps (Korachan and Pelasgos), and the region of Vârr itself was pretty well-thought out in my head. This type of map doesn’t do the region justice at all. I have a mood board for this place filled with pictures of grey hills covered in tree-stumps, sprawling open cast mine, industrial pollution, wastelands and other inspiration. It’s a bleak place, but I have a morbid fascination with such things, and that’s really where Elyden came from. Vârr is probably the epitome of what Elyden and the Korachani empire are.

    Some of you might recognise the word Vorropohaiah – so now you know where it comes from and what it means J



I've actually made some updates to the maps - making the territories outside the focus map paler. I’ve also made the roads thicker and clearer added a bit of hue/saturation to make the colours 'pop' a bit more.  I also started applying a greyed-out colour to show areas of corruption, which I felt was missing before. I now have to go back and update the older maps to match this one.

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Comments: 8

Etohautakuva [2016-06-09 16:11:29 +0000 UTC]

Maps of this detail both inspire and intimidate me.  They make me want to work on my own maps, yet when I work on my maps, I begin to compare too much and get bogged down in concerns over my own map-making skill.  I ultimately get over it, and continue work anyway, knowing that I'll improve in time, and I just have to work at it; but that first moment is always rough.

Ultimately, that's what good work should make someone feel, that combination of 'despair' and 'inspiration' that creates the feeling of 'desperation' to make your own great work!

(see what I did there )

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vorropohaiah In reply to Etohautakuva [2016-06-09 18:13:36 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! Honestly I get bogged down in minutiae and other details. As this is part of a larger work I spent ages writing a description of each label in my encyclopedia which bogs down the whole process, and I often get sidetracked on tangental entries that dont really have anything to do with the map. but adds to the realism of the region, at least I hope so

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Woodgnome01 [2016-06-09 10:22:48 +0000 UTC]

Nice addition to your map series, and I like the way you've greyed out the surrounding regions so you can see how Varr's topography relates to the areas around it.

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vorropohaiah In reply to Woodgnome01 [2016-06-09 10:46:57 +0000 UTC]

thanks, hopefully it's clearer than the older versions

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NovaScotiaDream [2016-06-08 18:55:14 +0000 UTC]

This is a beautiful map! At first, I saw the date 1791, and tried to figure where this alternate earth was located; so real it seems compared beside my Oxford atlases. Truly this style does wonders for the fantasy world builder, bringing so much to life; I'm sure that many would love for you to take a picture of the accompanying mood board for this area

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vorropohaiah In reply to NovaScotiaDream [2016-06-08 18:56:48 +0000 UTC]

thanks the mood board is a digital one (basically a folder with different images)

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NovaScotiaDream In reply to vorropohaiah [2016-06-08 20:39:42 +0000 UTC]

Oh yeah...digital age...I've been doing the same with my writing, inserting pictures for mood; helps a lot with inspiration. How do you make these maps? They look straight out of an atlas!

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vorropohaiah In reply to NovaScotiaDream [2016-06-09 06:24:06 +0000 UTC]

once i get my man cave/study sorted out i want to add a big cork board and print out images pertinent to whatever i'm working on at the time.

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