Atlas Elyden #16 - Parthis

Yes, I've been away for a while - Christmas and new year is always difficult to keep the creative juices flowing, with family obligations, though this is the first new post of what will hopefully be a return to form over the coming year. This will hopefully see the Inner Sea region fully-mapped, paving the way for the two Inner Sea poster maps I've mentioned previously.

This is a map of Parthis and surrounding areas, and, much like the map of Almagest, took a long time to get done as it covers a very large area - much larger than the average map. The topography in the bottom left took a while to get right, also, though I'm pleased with it.

Having said that I am already working on updating some parts of the topography to make it appear less uniform.

Parthis is many things to many different people. It has been a rival to the Korachani empire for millennia, managing to oust it as major superpower in the Inner Sea over the past few centuries. To those jaded and discontented by warring religions and cults it is a secular haven, one of only few of such size and power. It is a centre of flesh-weaving, and is to that art what Korachan is to technarcana. To its rivals, it is a godless land whose profane chirurgeons mess with natural laws. To its supporters, it is an answer to a corrupt ancient order that has reached its death-pangs

Parthis as a secular republic appeared almost 1,500-years ago from the ruins of civil war where 2 kings opposed each other. Before this the region was known as Parthia, before this it was part of the Seven States of Azora. Before that it was known as The Parria. Before that it was Sama Paria. Before even that one of the greatest city states of the mythic world, and ancestral home of humans - Azer - was located there. The people of Parthis draw their roots back to this mythical time and are proud of such a long and ardent lineage.

The people of Parthis are amongst the most educated around the Inner Sea, with highly-literate merchants, and diplomats who have studied in some of the most regarded colleges in the known world. Slavery was abolished there in 3794 RM, making it the only major nation around the Inner Sea to do so. Its capital, Tethra, is a marvel of design and architecture and is dominated by an awe-inspiring administrative structure that can be seen from without its walls and acts as a beacon to outsiders and citizens alike.

Sneak Peak - Parthis

Here's a sneak peak of the next map in the Atlas Elyden series - the Secular Republic of Parthis, one of the major powers in the Inner Sea. It's the largest individual area I've worked on so far, larger even than my map of the Republic of Almagest and is taking a while to get finished.




This region depicts a fold mountain range inspired by the mountains of Pakistan and would realistically be the result of two plates colliding with each other, giving an indication to the region' history. Hopefully I'll manage to get the map done by the end of the month (LOTS of labels and rivers to do on this one as it's so big)

#Parthis, #Elyden, #Atlaselyden

New Map!

Digital necromancy at it’s best (or worst, depending on how you see it)! I’ve been busy at work finishing off the below map. It’s a personal piece I’ve been working on on-and-off for some time now in my free time, detailing Elyden in a Molliweide projection (currently the go-to-map for National Geographic world maps), from the point of view of the Parthisan Empire.

It’s very similar to the Stereographic map I keep on resurrecting but that never seems to get anywhere despite my occasional tinkering with it (adding labels as I slowly flesh out the world), though it’s much smaller (I’d say about a quarter of the total area of the stereographic map – by the demiurges, I struggled with manipulating this map, let alone the stereographic map!)  and contains much fewer extraneous details. And its those details – treatises, short essays, physical data etc. – that are really time-consuming. Well, those and the labels! My drive for perfection with such things means that I cant just add a random label or just write gibberish for the text boxes – whatever I write needs to fit in with established timelines and regional histories.

As a case in point: take the text boxes I this recent map. There are three in all (not counting small key information scattered around the map detailing the individual images): one detailing the state of the world, another detailing recent Parthisan history and another listing all the Emperors elect since its formation as a Republic. I had to come up with all that information specifically for the map as Parthis is one of the regions for which I have written very little, and that threw a spanner in the workd for a while, though I think It adds a bit of reality to the map. Same with the National crest (made on the fly, though I’m still not 100% sold on it). The physical data beneath the National crest I had already calculated for the larger stereographic map so replicated there.  

The map itself is not completely finished yet – I still have to add a few labels (many of the eastern and southern regions are not entirely fleshed out, so many nations are still sans capital cities, as you say, so I’ll need to concoct them specifically for the map – something I’m never too keen on doing as the languages for those regions haven’t been developed (or even thought of) yet and I don’t like naming areas that don’t have at least a basic language set in place (determining certain suffixes and prefixes, for instance). I also need to add a map key (kind of write myself in a corner with that as I have no idea where to add it – I might just have to remove some of the smaller text boxes to add the key) and some details (not sure what yet).

That brings me to something else – I’m never really happy with a map. I set out to make something that’s pseudo-realistic though always feel as if there’s something else I can add – a nicer neatline, more period-defining details  and so on, though always stumble on such details. Grrr!

The Globe of Elyden

Any criticism or suggestions are welcome!