ATLAS ELYDEN #10 - Vaalk

“At the end of all things there will remain only one. When the seas are gone and the land is dust and death, one being will be left, observing. As Elyden dies He judges the actions of those who perish. He is the Knower. He is the keeper of tales, the rememberer of histories, the crux of all knowledge.”

- Vaalkan Legend

Atlas Elyden #10: a map of Vaalk 

The Knower is more than national folklore, he is the closest thing the people of Vaalk have to a religion. He is such a part of everyday life that people justify their actions by thinking how the Knower will judge them. “By his actions will the Knower Judge him,” is a common grave quote.

Vaalk was once a Korachani territory, though following the Sundering of the empire in 3705 RM the empire lost most of its southern territories to the Reformed empire of Sarastro. Vaalk, whose loyalty to the Archpotentate Malichar (ruler of the Korachani empire) was absolute, resisted Sarastroan takeover and fought against his forces for 31 years before being finally defeated. Worship of the undying machine was, which was never strong, slowly died, and was replaced with a more fervent worship of the Knower. It remains now as a martial territory and its armies still look to Malichar as a patron.

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This one was done relatively quickly - the topography and most of the labels were already done thanks top my older maps, and it was a relatively small land area to work with. The large empty space in the top right corner will likely be filled in with something informative (maybe a city map of the capital or a zoomed-in version of somewhere else, not sure yet).

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 :)

#Vaalk, #Elyden, #Atlaselyden, #Fantasycartography,

what's next? Atlas Elyden

Ok, so now that the Almagest map is ready, I’m thinking about what to do next. The next logical step is to continue with that general region. Now that Almagest, Azazem, Korachan and Pelasgos are done, All that’s left to complete the N-E part of the Inner Sea coast are Skaros (S of Almagest) and Laaskha (S of Skaros and W of Azazem), and I’ll have a continuous string of nations stretching from almagest in the N to Pelasgos in the E.

the Inner Sea - finished maps so far

If I also complete the nation of Vaalk (S of Laaskha, across the Inner Sea) that will complete what’s known as the ‘Seven Tribes of Korachan’ - basically the first 7 nations (Pelasgos, Azazem, Laaskha, Skaros, Vaalk, almagest + Korachan) that were taken over by the Archpotentate Malichar in the first decades of the Korachani empire’s rule, 4 millennia past (of course the Seven Tribes are no longer recognised in the present day – Vaalk is part of The Sarastroan empire, and Almagest gained independence 1,000 years ago, for instance).

There’s a few other regions I’m itching to map.

The first is Khamid, which is probably the oldest region in terms of my writing – Khamid was a campaign setting a I had devised for D&D about 12 years ago – an Egyptian-themed setting, heavily influenced by Stephen Sommers’ the Mummy and the Mummy returns, amongst others. Even in that old iteration it was a region shaped by a massive magical calamity that sundered thousands of square miles, reducing the landmass of Khamid, leaving the entire region flooded and peppered with cliff-sided archipelagos – the remnants of the land. Only a small hooked peninsula remained in the west, enough for the region to not go entirely extinct and to remain, embittered by the glories and hubris of the past. (the setting was basically transported into Elyden as I started fleshing it out many years ago and remained one of my favourite regions since. I have mapped this area before, as part of the Venthir and Tzallrach map, though it’s never been the focus of a single map before.

Another region I’m interested in fleshing out more is Saviud, or the Surrach as it is known in the Korachani empire. It’s a vast dry region of independent city-states, each ruled by charismatic individuals – tyrants, otherworlders, sorcerer-kings, theocracies, mystery cults, etc. Each city is unique and tends to control a particular resource, making trade an important aspect of life, with merchant caravans and caravanserais a common sight. It’s the setting of the serialised novel I’m working on at the moment and deserves to be fleshed out more. The problem is its an even larger area than Almagest was and the the A3 format I’m working with seem a bit too constraining. I might work on a larger map and then divide it map in two – Surrach north and Surrach south – for more detail, with the larger one featuring in a generic overview of the region that concentrates more on territories and resources.

Any feedback?