Asharren: Fan-Made Map Design

[Xarkly 12580]

A Fan-Made Map Design

ASHARREN

 

View my other mapdev posts here:

Map Narratives | Region Design

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Hello!

 

Most of you will know that our server's next map - and it's next big step - is being developed after two years, and I think that, in this formative phase of creating 9.0, community input and discussion is really important. As 9.0 is a map for the community at large, not only should this communal consensus be a foundation of the new map's design, but it should also feature a lot of ideas and things that we want to see. And so, that's more or less the point of this post -- unlike my previous two posts, linked above, it's not so much a suggestion per se as it is a demonstration of the region design philosophy discussed in my last post, and also a general creative project that I've enjoyed chipping away at over the last two weeks.

 

OK, so a few quick notes before we get into the meat and potatoes of this post.

 

What actually is this post?: This is creative project of a fan-made map, but in design only (I didn't actually build a Minecraft map). You can see the image above the map in full, but the rest of this post is devoted to breaking down the design philosophy for each individual region. Like I set out in my Region Design Post, I think one of the biggest things 9.0 Mapdev needs to focus on is intent when designing regions (i.e., is a given region intended for nation settlement, events, travel, etc.) instead of just creating regions to fill up the map that inevitably ends up in an abundance of dead space, like on Almaris. So, in the rest of this post, I discuss the design for each individual region named in the above map.

 

The Ringroad Design: A few of you might see from the map itself, proposed nation placements are set out in distinct ring around Cloud Temple. I think the old fashioned ringroad - i.e., a singular main road that connects all nations/major regions in a circle - is a huge step back in the right direction in terms of reducing dead space. It also think it just shapes the map really nicely, in terms of it revolving around this ringroad connecting nations, and keeps nations equidistant to reduce the need to **** around with hubs etc. 

 

Hubs Are Bad: In relation to the above, I disagree with the use of Hubs, because I think they're indicative of poor map design. Your map becomes fractured with 4 travel nexuses instead of 1 (Cloud Temple), and so the space between these becomes dead space (like it has on Almaris). If your map is too difficult to travel, then that is a problem that should be addressed in mapdev, and therefore I just think Hubs are a bandaid solution and an open admission to poorly-thought out region design and nation placement.

 

Lore/Backstory: As you'll see below, I briefly divulge some backstory for the regions. This is purely demonstrative - I think that, when designing regions for a map, it's important that they're relatively informed by the history of the area, and the map as a whole. This helps give each region a sense of character and uniqueness - an idea that there's something to see/learn/experience in this region rather than just another generic real-world region, and, like I explain below, it's a massive boon for environmental storytelling. So, throughout the rest of this thread, I use a demonstrative backstory to give these regions some of these bonuses. Key word is demonstrative.

 

Environmental Storytelling: The reality is that we don't have enough ET staff to always give various regions the life they're meant to have. We can design a region to be dangerous and chock-full of monsters, but in practicality, this is never going to be the case if a group of players wander into the region and see none of this. So, not only can be design regions to tell a story unto themselves through specific design - like remains of a battlefield with various visual clues as to some great war that transpired here, for example - but we can also take this a step further an utilise Minecraft mechanics like effects or even mobs to help afford regions certain characteristics. Obviously, this needs to be done within reason and certain limitations, like only where it makes sense and with ample warnings for players so as not to obstruct RP. For example, you'll get a warning if you wander into a dangerous regions with an ambient message like: "You hear the howl of hunting wolves growing closer ... [[This region contains hostile PvE mobs.]]. I know concepts like this can be a turn-off to some RP purists, but I think, if you consider that we use Minecraft mechanics all the time to enhance the player experience (farming, crafting, etc.) then I fail to see how ideas like this fall outside of our established norms.

 

Tiles: Just as a quick note, it should be assumed that this map uses a tile system and that each of the regions labelled on the map are made up of several tiles.

 

Space/Size: The space and size of my map here isn't exact. For example, both the Vale and Aargad and Yaksha's Table are meant to be nation sites, but they don't look equal in size. This is just a consequence of how I drew the map, and you should assume that all nation spots should be relatively equal in size. 

 

Fantasy Regions: As part of LotC's identity as a fantasy server, I always thought it was a shame that we model our map nearly entirely off generic real-world regions without much to alleviate the boringness or engage players and prompt them to explore. I include a lot more 'fantastical' touches in this map design, but this also works in tandem with region backstories to help give each region a unique identity and characteristics that make it worth exploring.

 

 

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Cradle of Souls

THE CLOUD TEMPLE

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The fabled Cloud Temple, veiled in waterfalls, is a floating ruin above Lake Varria.

 

Long revered in Asharreni legend as a place of healing and rebirth, the airborne Temple has attracted scores of pilgrims who travel to the Lake beneath to pay tribute and pray for its blessings. These pilgrims, however, can never reach the floating Temple itself, for legend claims that only those born anew can walk through the collapsed parthenon, and cast themselves from the shore to the Lake below. Whether the Temple really possesses this power of rebirth remains an enigma, but it has nonetheless become a staple of countless folktales in Asharreni culture that speak of heroes born again atop the island to fulfil some divinely ordained duty.

 

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The Cloud Temple is the spawn location for all players.

 

The concept is one most of us are very familiar with. This approach tries to reasonably place the Cloud Temple in the overall narrative as a place of mystery and rumoured rebirth - which masks the ‘revival’ mechanic in a sufficiently-vague veil of roleplay - which has the knock-on effect of inspiring many stories in the map’s history and culture about rebirth, though whether they are true is, of course, dubious. 

 

One thing the Cloud Temple should seek to do is capitalise on the fact that these are the first steps all players will take upon joining. To this extent, I think small tidbits of cornerstone server lore - like creation, the Four Brothers, etc. - in the form of murals and epitaphs right in the player's faces as they descend from the Temple’s collapsed parthenon to the shore. On this shore, we should include the usual graveyard for deceased players, where the waterfalls cascade into the Lake below. I think it makes for an atmospheric and unique experience to have the Cloud Temple be floating, with parts of Asharren spread out beneath it, and for players to mechanically jump off the floating shore to begin their journey.

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Pilgrim's Rest

LAKE VARRIA

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Beneath the floating ruins of Cloud Temple is Lake Varria, the heart of Asharren.

 

For generations, pilgrims from Asharren’s many cultures and civilizations have gathered peacefully to pray and offer tribute to the Temple above as its waterfalls crash down ceaselessly. Any place of pilgrimage, of course, also attracts trade, and so cunning merchants and pilgrims in need of coin alike hawk wares on the Lake’s four small islands. These four islands, sitting in each of the cardinal directions, have a bridge connecting to the Asharreni mainland. The isles are overlooked by enormous, eroded statues of heroes who were supposedly reborn atop the Cloud Temple at the will of a higher power. 

 

In the north sits Ryken’s Isle, named after Ryken of the Noon who founded the Silvarien and felled the Aether Imperia; to the east, Kranna’s Isle is dubbed for Kranna the Wild God, a druidess said to have buried herself as the nexus of roots beneath the Archwood of Belesis to become spirit-like protector of the woods; to the south, Cursebearer’s Isle houses the twin idols of Ura the Uncursed and Rokar the Drake, two descendants of Krug who tried to lift the Orcish Curse of Bloodlust; and eastward lies Yaksha’s Isle, commemorating the ruthless Dwarven conqueror, Yaksha the Tide. 

 

The isles of Lake Varria are a place of peace and prayer, and the first steps into Asharren proper.

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Lake Varria is the central hub region.

 

Like the Cloud Temple on many past maps, Lake Varria fulfils the function of the epicentre of travel routes throughout the map, and contains features like Staff shops selling otherwise unobtainable items. With a core aspect of Asharren’s design being the ringroad encircling the Cloud Temple, and by extension Lake Varria, and connecting the major nations, Lake Varria connects to the northern, eastern, southern, and western lengths of the ringroad.

 

Again, similarly to the Cloud Temple itself, Lake Varria is important in that all players, especially new ones, will pass through it, and so it can be utilised for more insights in the lore and narrative of the server, just enough to get players engaged and to indicate that there is a story to be discovered out there on the map proper. The four statues overlooking the four isles serve that role perfectly, and could feature epitaphs recounting the folklore of the depicted figures and give an insight into the culture and aspect of Asharreni history they represent. 

 

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The North Road

RAEDWULF'S FRONTIER

 

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Raedwulf’s Frontier is the northern road, connecting Lake Varria to the Vale of Aargad (west), the Fellwinds (north), and the Stumps (east).

 

Long ago, during the height of Silvarien power, this central trade route between the Stumps and the Vale of Aargad was harried by the infamous Broken Tusk Bandits, who ambushed every trading convoy from the dense foliage and slipped away from any Silvarien army. Their domination came to an end when Knight-Captain Raedwulf built a road like no other; a highway, thirty feet in the air, that spanned across the marauder-ridden surface below like a bridge adjoined with tall watchtowers. 

 

Trade flourished now that the Broken Tusk had no dens for ambushes, as wayfarers travelled on the elevated highway, which was easily patrolled by Silvarien horsemen. However, the surface of the region went neglected, and became a cesspit for brigands, monsters, and other unsavoury specimens. Though weathered and reinforced with makeshift repairs, Raedwulf’s Frontier remains a standing and reliable route across northern Asharren, so long as one does not dare to tread the surface below. 

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Raedwulf’s Frontier is the northern section of the Asharren ringroad. 

 

The Frontier tries to establish itself as unique through its main characteristic in the form of the elevated highway, spanning above the woods, hills, and caves of the surface beneath as it connects the northern nation sites. It naturally invites a heavy degree of vertical design, in the form of the road overhead with watchtowers connecting it at intervals, and the overgrown wilderness below. 

 

The abandoned watchtowers could make for ideal spots for small tidbits of lore - such as through environmental storytelling or books - about the Silvarien, who built the road, while the surface below offers ample opportunity for classic ST events, given its narrative background of being overrun with undesirables. This wilderness, especially given its history, would be an ideal spot for various lairs that want to avoid detection, like bandits or spooks.

 

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The East Road

THE ARCHWOOD OF BELESIS

 

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The Archwood of Belesis is the western road, connecting Lake Varria to the Stumps (north), the Isles of Okaria (east), and Rokar’s tomb (south). 

 

When the Aether Imperia fell and the fledgling Descendant nations took to plundering the once-vast Archwood for their lumber, the powerful druids of the Belesian Circle did nothing. For, to them, the use of their sacred druidism in war was a cardinal sin, and to boot, they believed in accepting fate as it came, even if it meant their destruction. This philosophy was a deeply controversial one among the Seeds of the Archwood, and gave rise to the Cult of the Red Sap, who followed the lead of the druidess Kranna, who rejected the tenets of the Circle and led her druids in battle. The Archwood was wracked by civil war and invasion, until Kranna, through some sinister perversion of druidism, entangled herself with the roots of the great Archtrees, and exerted control over the entire wood. She became revered as a protective spirit, thwarting all those who bore ill will to Belesis - including both its invaders, and its former masters.

 

Today, the Archwood is an expanse of the enormous Archtrees with all signs of habitation long-since covered in wildlife, and the fabled Rain Trees flood most of the forest floor. An eerie sensation of being watched haunts wayfarers as they traverse along roots and narrow bridges over the flooded trunks. Overhead, however, travellers can squint to make out some of the homesteads of the surviving Red Sap in the highest of branches, unreachable and untouchable. 

 

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The Archwood of Belesis is the eastern section of the Asharren ringroad.

 

Laden with heavy narrative context, as a key story region focusing on Kranna’s ascension as a vengeful protective spirit of the woods and the violent Cult of the Red Sap, this region should represent a prime example of a main road being interwoven with an area ripe with event potential. Although it serves a major connecting road, it can showcase the regional narrative pretty well through things like the floods from the Rain Trees, abandoned settlements destroyed by Kranna, and the abode of the Red Sap in the branches overhead, visible but with no obvious route, so that it serves as a clear enticement for players to explore and want to learn more about.

 

In line with the region’s backstory, the road shouldn’t be ‘built’ (as the Red Sap destroyed most constructed things), but more so a natural route through the woods, incorporating features like path through plants and branches and overgrown wooden bridges over the flooded forest floor. Needless to say, this region offers ample event opportunity, and also another prime location for certain lairs, and ideally should be the setting for one of the map’s major eventlines.

 

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The South Road

THE CLOUD PILGRIMAGE

 

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The Cloud Pilgrimage is the southern road, connecting Lake Varria to Rokar’s Tomb (east), Yaksha’s Table (south), and the Scholars’ Steppe (west).

 

The Cloud Temple, floating above Lake Varria, has always been a site of worship upon Almaris, and the Cloud Pilgrimage was historically the path pilgrims took to the Lake before newer roads were built in the north, west, and east. The waters of Lake Varria spill over the folds and cliffs, creating dozens of waterfalls that mark the path to Lake Varria and birthing an abundance of tropical vegetation. Much like Lake Varria, the Pilgrimage is characterised by iconography glorifying the Temple’s fabled healing powers, and, more interestingly, many of the cliff faces are carved resembling masked faces. 

 

These faces, through which the waterfalls pour, act as tombs for the wealthy and powerful who were honoured with burial near the foot of the Temple. Travel through the Pilgrimage is a tremendously peaceful experience. The constant drone of the waterfalls and dripping water creates a peaceful ambience, while the tropical flora and shrines further contribute the calm and soothing aesthetic of the Pilgrimage.

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The Cloud Pilgrimage is the southern section of the Asharren ringroad.

 

This southern travel region embodies a rainforest aesthetic, complete with heavy vertical design through layers of cliffs - leading up to Lake Varria/Cloud Temple - curtained in many waterfalls that originate from Lake Varria and flow down through the region. Narratively, the region was once the main path pilgrims took to the Cloud Temple, and this is reflected in the shrines and altars, similar to those found at Lake Varria, that mark the path up to the Lake. Similar to something like the path to High Hrothgar in Skyrim, a cool feature would be road markers featuring small bits of lore.

 

A lot of event potential exists not only in the tropical woods cloaking the cliffs, but the face-carved waterfalls that act as tombs. With these narrative features, I think the Cloud Pilgrimage offers a memorable and aesthetically-cool region design through players travelling across these waterfalls as they descend into the lowlands of southern Asharren.

 

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The West Road

THE PLAGUED PATH

 

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The Plagued Path is the western road, connecting Lake Varia to the Vale of Aargad (north), Moonfall Head (west), and the Scholars’ Steppe (south). 

 

During the height of the Aether Imperia, among their many tools to control the surface world was disease, namely a plague dubbed Vraem’s Blessing, though this was no ordinary plague. Created by Vraem, a Praesul of the Aether Imperia, this plague enhanced the strength and stamina of those it infected, but at the cost of their free will, forcibly inducting them into a hivemind controlled by Vraem. Those who resisted the will of Vraem suffered an agonizing death, where their blood hardened into sharp spikes that shred the skin.

 

The area known today as the Plagued Path was Vraem’s testing grounds, where he developed the plague through rigorous experimentation that has consequently left the entire region festering with these metallic vines of hardened blood. The region was also the site of Vraem’s ill-fated rebellion against the Aether Imperia, where his plagued thralls served as his army. Though Vraem and his plague are long gone, the Plagued Path remains as a bitter reminder of the horror it inflicted upon the world, and it is only ever travelled with reluctance and apprehension.

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The Plagued Path is the western section of the Asharren ringroad.

 

Like the Archwood of Belesis, the Plagued Path rests on a heavy narrative backstory relating to the Aether Imperia, but also a unique memorable design in the form of a region overrun with the unique scar of Vraem’s Blessing. In this regard, it should resemble something like a very normal real-world biome, but then glazed in signs of this otherworldly and magical disease that covers and dominates every little aspect of the region. 

 

Like all many other regions, it should be designed with environmental storytelling in mind, namely to do with the floating empire of the Aether Imperia in early Asharreni history, and how they came to vassalize the surface world. Vraem, his plagued thralls, and their interaction with the rest of the world and the Aether Imperia could be conveyed through ruins such as very old laboratories where Vraem perfected his plague, and sites of battle between his thralls and the Aether Imperia during his rebellion. 

 

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The Silverlands

THE VALE OF AARGAD

 

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In the shadow of the Rykenwall mountains lies the Vale of Aargad.

 

This northerly region of gentle slopes is characterised by its unique Bell Trees - trees with silver-white, glass-like leaves that clang together in the wind like a chorus of windchimes. This land was once home to the Silvarien, a faction of human knights who earned their prowess through rebellion against the Aether Imperia, and they reviled any ties dark, evil, or Iblees with far more zeal than any other culture. Lying and dishonesty became a criminal offence under Silvarien law, and they practised a litany of rituals, such as always carrying a lit light source to ‘protect’ themselves from any darkness. Even with the fresh memory of the Aether Imperia to justify these customs, the Silvarien culture of honesty and chivalry was not achieved with a tyranny of its own.

 

Their former heartland of the Vale of Aargad, with the chime of the Bell Trees echoing in the air and their silver-white blossoms in the wind, still holds traces of the Silvarien, through many ruins large and small. Today, the Vale of Aargad still makes for an ideal settlement spot for any civilization: the land is mostly flat and gentle, disturbed only by sparse hills, small woodlands, and many rivers that afford the soil its fertility. 

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The Vale of Aargad is the north-western nation settlement spot.

 

The intended primary attraction of this region is the nation that would be settled upon it, and this goal is facilitated through the land being generally gentle and flat to allow building. This doesn’t mean the region is superflat - there is obviously natural variation through rivers, hills, and woods, but it just translates into the region not being frustrating to build upon, like something such as the Archwood of Belesis would be. 

 

The region still tries to exhibit a memorable characteristic of its own, mainly in the form of the Bell Trees that should be notable, but not intrusive features in the region. Like in Silvarien lore, it could be cool to encourage these Bell Trees being symbols of prosperity and fertility in player settlements by placing them as capstone features on pieces of land that might be particularly ideal to settle on. To boot, narrative and eventlines relating to the Silvarien can be encouraged through the region’s ruins.

 

 

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The Astral Peninsula

MOONFALL HEAD

 

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Jutting out into the western Glassed Sea is Moonfall Head.

 

Moonfall Head is an ancient glacier beached against Asharren’s western shore, and, as such, it is a landscape of frigid ice. Great arches and cliffs, eroded and melted over time, make the glacier into a region of its own right, especially where it is warmest and flattest at its southern tip. The massive ice landscape hides many secrets; those who have made the journey through the cold have claimed to behold people, creatures, and even entire settlements in stasis within the ice. This is the work of the Asja, a mysterious society of Dark Elven astrologers deeply committed to cosmic study, and who were said to ‘collect’ things by placing them in the ice. 

 

Even before the Asja settled the glacier, Moonfall Head had a lunar affinity for the way that its ice reflected the light of the moon and stars a hundred-fold, illuminating the land on clear nights. The Asja, enthralled by this phenomenon, built strange moondials, astrology towers, and other bizarre structures from the ice to trace and study the movement of the stars. Consequently, the Asja were rumoured to possess a sort of lunar magic, and that, despite their race and religion, were close allies of the Silvarien for the role they played in the rebellion against the Aether Imperia by calling down a meteorite that destroyed one of their floating islands above the Scholars’ Steppe. 

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Moonfall Head is the western nation settlement spot. 

 

Icy regions don’t tend to have much favour among the players, thanks to places like the Rimeveld which are utterly inhospitable to any kind of settlement and even travel due to the sheer - and dangerous - cliffs. Moonfall Head attempts to create an ice region free of these issues by keeping the terrain facilitative for building, but also varied through elevation changes in the ice, such as plateaus. Important to remember at this point is that these regions are hypothetical examples of how we could consolidate competing designs like unique aesthetics, building suitability, and event potential, while acknowledging that not every nation might be eager to settle a glacier. 

 

While the landscape makes available many suitable tracts for buildings, its backstory as the homeland of the Asja offers a lot of event potential. The concept of buildings frozen deep in the ice, showing players there is clearly something down there if they can figure out a way down, could be one of the cooler concepts for dungeons we’ve had in a while. The region could otherwise be populated with old Asja astrology towers and things like moondials carved into the glacier.

 

 

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Brigandsmarch

THE FELLWINDS

 

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The Fellwinds marks Asharren’s northernmost point.

 

Though named for bitter winds that cut the flesh, this tundra of heavy snow is revered as beautiful for the ripping aurora borealis overhead that tints the sky green, purple, pink, red, and teal throughout the night. Beneath these ripping otherworldly lights, a  winter wonderland spreads out along Asharren’s northern coast. There is no ‘road’ branching off from Raedwulf’s Frontier to lead into the Fellwinds -- instead, travellers skate along the frozen River Iedring which meanders through the region between sloping snowfields and white-glazed woods.

 

Once considered the hinterlands of Silvarien territory, the region earned the moniker of the Brigandsmarch for the bandit clans that settled here, relatively protected from their Silvarien neighbours by the cold and heavy snow. Under the tentative leadership of allied bandit clans - from the Orcish exiles of the Kolla, the shrewd Blue Plume mercenaries, to the Broken Tusks - the Fellwinds enjoyed a period of anarchistic freedom where folk from any and all walks of life were allowed to live in peace and protected so long as they paid due tribute to the bandit clans. Outwardly, the Fellwinds were regarded a cesspit of criminals and undesirables, and while this was not entirely untrue, the people within experienced a freedom not felt anywhere else on Asharren, in the harsh northern cold, and beneath the rippling sky lights.

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The Fellwinds is the northern nation settlement site.

 

Whereas Moonfall Head is focused on ice, the Fellwinds is based more on snow and a winter wonderland aesthetic. As opposed to a standard road, players can travel into the Fellwinds via a frozen river that acts as a road. The gentle snowfields make for excellent settlement spots for northern-inclined nations to settle and expand upon with towns and vassals, and it would be a very cool touch to maintain one of the central mechanical designs of the Fellwinds - its frozen river-roads - which could branch off from the central River Iedring to make paths to all these various settlements.

 

Narratively, the region was a hinterlands of Silvarien territory that lay under the control of delicately-allied bandit clans who believed in complete freedom, the likes of which was impossible to enjoy under any of the other civilizations of Asharren throughout the continent's history. As such, all sorts of undesirables likely ended up in the Fellwinds, from dark creatures to mages, who were permitted to live in peace so long as they paid tribute to the reigning bandit clans. The region has a lot of possibilities for environmental storytelling, from frontiers where Silvarien rangers were driven out of the heavy snowfields, to hideouts of these undesirables, to the main abandoned settlements of the bandit clans.  

 

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The Last Bastion

THE RYKENWALL

 

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Said to be the ‘wall of the world’, the Rykenwall dominates the northern horizon.

 

These frigid mountains are unusual in shape: they are like a mushroom, with narrow bases that expand into broader plateaus and peaks. For centuries, it was considered completely inhospitable, but when the Silvarien felled the Aether Imperia and rose to power, they turned the Rykenwall into their defensive bastion. Though the peculiarly-shaped mountains were thought to be impossible to scale, the Silvarien carved stairs into the frozen waterfalls to ascend to the peaks above.

 

It was on those peaks that the Silvarien built their twin citadels -- Evenstar, to the west, and Fellstar to the east. While the Silvarien ruled from the Vale of Aargad, the highly-defensive Rykenwall was their military backbone. Despite the difficulties posed by the mountain climate, the frost-glazed walls of Evenstar and Fellstar hold much more surviving records and secrets of the Silvarien than the crumbled ruins of the Vale of Aargad. Any who risk the expedition up to the Rykenwall do not just have the cold temperatures to contend with; the twin citadels are built atop precarious slopes, and no shortage of monsters lurk atop the high peaks.

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The Rykenwall is a northern mountainous region designed for events and exploration.

 

Should a player chose to scale the stairs carved into the frozen waterfalls of the Rykenwall, they can find themselves atop the wind-beaten and snow-capped peaks and plateaus of the mountains where the Silvarien built their forts. While it should be permissible for a nation to expand into parts of the Rykenwall, the terrain here is less friendly towards player builds, as the region’s primary focus is on events and exploration.

 

These two goals are facilitated in the monster-ridden nature of the mountaintops, and, of course, the twin Silvarien citadels - Evenstar and Fellstar - which could serve as premier event dungeons for the map, focusing on large-scale narratives that relate to the Silvarien and human history on the map. As discussed in the introduction, and although controversial, this region could be an ideal candidate for some hostile mobs to create a sensation of danger, risk, and reward that roleplay alone cannot always capture, and give this region a unique character.

 

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The Eternal Autumn

THE AMBERWOOD

 

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Swaying in the north-western winds are the treetops of the red-gold Amberwood.

 

Though the Amberwood once formed of the colossal Archwood of Belesis, it became severed from the main body of the forest when the Descendant lumberjacking cut a huge swathe into the Archwood, creating the land known as the Stumps. Legend has it that when Kranna became the vengeful protector of the Archwood and slaughtered both the invaders of her home and her former masters of the Belesian Circle, one of the surviving Archdruids of that Circle fled to the Amberwoods with a band of survivors -- his name was Krosyn the Rosegold.  

 

This scant surviving section of the Belesian Circle vowed they would one day cleanse the Archwood of Kranna’s corruption, and so they kept their Circle’s name despite relocating in the Amberwood. The myth goes on to claim that Krosyn and his ilk were somehow cursed by Kranna, so that their home and Druidic powers were eternally autumnal -- each plant and tree grown would always be the orange-gold of autumn, at the verge of death. A cruel joke on Kranna’s part, most think, if there is a shred of truth to it.

 

To this day, it is said that the Rosegold Druid can be found meditating somewhere in the Amberwood.

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The Amberwood serves as a hybrid region, ideal for settlement and narratives alike.

 

Located between two primary settlement areas in the Fellwinds and the Stumps, the Amberwoods is an ideal location for nations in either of the aforementioned to expand into. As the name implies, the unique design characteristic of this region comes in the form of the perpetual state of autumn that grips the forest, locking all the trees and wildlife in the orange-red-yellow palette of autumn in line with the curse that Kranna was said to have inflicted upon the region.

 

Narratively, the Amberwoods relates to the story of the Archwood and Kranna, in this case from the perspective of the remnants of the Belesian Circle who were driven out of the Archwood. It offers a lot of storytelling potential through exploring how the competing Elven philosophies of Kranna and the Circle held up against real-world threats, facilitated through things like settlements (perhaps even ones that are still actively inhabited) by the remnants of the Belesian Circle, and players could even be able to contact Krosyn the Rosegold.

 

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Belesis' Shame

THE STUMPS

 

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In the northeast lies the Stumps, where once the Archtrees stood.

 

After the fall of the Aether Imperia, fledgling Descendant factions such as the Silvarien and the Table took to pillaging the Archwood of Belesis for lumber to fuel their industry. There is no greater testament to this than the Stumps, where the Silvarien proclaimed their superiority over nature by felling the Archtrees that grew here. The creation of the Stumps is what fuelled Kranna’s rise and the formation of the Cult of the Red Sap within Belesis, who promptly decimated the Silvarien colonies in the Stumps.

 

Though the land is relatively gentle, it is marked with the enormous stumps of the Archtrees, which rise from the land like wooden mountains. Given the nigh-indestructibility of these namesake stumps, many of the human colonies used these stumps as castles and walls for their settlements, and the ruins of these remain in the stumps to this day. Kranna’s onslaught wiped the region of any trace of settlement, and so nature is abundant as Kranna’s own proclamation over the Silvarien colonisation. Today, meadows blooming with flowers blanket the land around the stumps.

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The Stumps is the north-eastern nation settlement site.

 

As with all nation settlement sites, the land here is generally designed to be gentle and as facilitative towards player builds as possible. Also like other settlement sites, it does so without sacrificing interesting traits and narrative backgrounds. In the case of the Stumps, it tries to achieve a unique aesthetic through its namesake stumps, which are like hills and cliffs but made from wood, testament to the colossal size of the Archtrees. These stumps could make for cool spots for various settlements, but they make for a key narrative tool in terms of holding ruins and potential eventsites that relate to the stories of the Belesian Circle, the Cult of the Red Sap, and the Silvarien.

 

---

 

The Wild God's Slumber

KRANNA'S VIGIL

 

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In the far north-west, a great battle was fought in the swamps.

 

The Belesian Circle, outcast from their home of the Archwood of Belesis by Kranna and her Cult of the Red Sap, made their final stand in the swampland at the northwestern edge of the Archwood. Very few details of the battle, even when it was fought, survive, but the region is littered with signs of it - the corpses of great animals, from Thorqal to Vastags to Crowdrakes, lay across the bog after they aided their druids in battle, in tandem with swathes of briars shooting out haphazardly across the land as if attempting to hit something.

 

While little details of the battle are known, folklore claims that the survivors of the Belesian Circle ambushed Kranna and the Red Sap when they learned where her body was located. In the massive battle of nature that ensued, most of the Circle was said to have been killed - except Krosyn the Rosegold - while Kranna was so spent from the fight that she fell into a deep slumber. This gave rise to the rumour that Kranna’s body may actually be located beneath the swamp, instead of under the main body of the Archwood as most think. The only way to learn the truth may be to dig through the watery grave, and descend to the deepest depths of the swamp.

______

 

Kranna’s Vigil is envisioned as an event and exploration region.

 

The main focus of this small region is the narrative climax of the history of the Elves of the Archwood, where the Belesian Circle engaged in their final stand against Kranna and her Cult of the Red Sap. Consequently, there should be rich environmental storytelling in the form of the half-sunken corpses of beasts that fell in combat, and signs of combat between druids, like massive tracts of thorns and other plants that looked as if they were summoned in combat.

 

Tying in with other related regions, like the Archwood of Belesis, the Stumps, and the Amberwoods,  Kranna’s Vigil would be ideal for dungeons and eventlines that explore this history, and maybe more active narratives, in full. Examples of this could include descending beneath the trees of the swamp, and perhaps finding the resting place or actual body of Kranna herself, tied into the entire Archwood, which ought to form a climax of any kind of eventline relating to these areas.

 

---

 

The Garden of Oni

THE ISLES OF OKARIA

 

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Along Asharren’s shattered eastern coast are the Isles of Okaria.

 

This fringe of the Archwood of Belesis - consisting of jagged-cliffed islands topped with bamboo forests, silvergrass meadows, and blossoming sakura - was tended by the Tal’Kina, who were once an esteemed Elven Seed before their lineage was sullied with human blood. To atone for their miscegenation, the Belesian Circle commanded these Half-Elves to curate the solitary Isles, where the bodies of fallen Belesian Elves were laid to rest. In line with this duty, the Tal’Kina became a deeply spiritual people versed in funerary rituals, and so were rumoured that they could commune with, and even command, departed spirits.

 

Exiled on their Isles, the Tal’Kina were, at first, forgotten in the civil war between the Belesian Circle and the Red Sap. When Kranna usurped the Archwood, however, the Isles of Okaria fell under heavy assault from the Red Sap. It was said that, to resist the invaders who would surely desecrate the Isle’s graves, the Tal’Kina performed strange rites that summoned their beloved dead as masked spiritual warriors - dubbed the Oni - moved gracefully through the falling blossoms at nightful, hunting down any Red Sap invaders.

 

Like the rest of Asharren, the Tal’Kina dwindled and faded, though it is said some remain on the Isles even today … and so do their Oni.

______

 

The Isles of Okaria is the western nation settlement site.

 

The region is heavily inspired by Asian nature, featuring sakura and bamboo forests across the tall-cliffed islands rising out of the sea that make up this region. As always with nation settlement sites, ample land should be made available that facilitates player building without compromising the overall aesthetic and unique identity of the region, which should pose little difficulty, as this kind of climate is generally well-regarded by players. The height of the islands offers a large degree of verticality to be utilised, too. 

 

Forming an interesting contrast with its beauty, narratively the Isles of Okaria have a heavy association with death. The graves of revered Belesian Elves, honoured with burial amidst the beautiful nature, should be found in abundance here, alongside signs of their assault from the Cult of the Red Sap, and the Tal’Kina’s summoning of the vengeful Oni to repel them. These concepts alone form the basis for many potential events that tie in with the story of Kranna and the Archwood, while providing inspiration for many other kinds of stories.

 

---

 

Conqueror's Plateau

YAKSHA'S TABLE

 

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Befitting its history, Yaksha’s Table dominates horizons in southern Asharren.

 

In ancient times, this plateau was a launching site for hot-air balloons that ferried supplies to the floating islands of the Aether Imperia, but after the fall of the sky-kingdom, the abandoned strongholds became the host to the High Table -- a grand alliance that spanned multiple races across souther Asharren. Seeking to draw out the strength of all Descendants, the High Table had rigid social divisions: Dwarves worked as craftsmen, Elves as farmers, Orcs were their soldiers, but they had no tolerance for humans.

 

The plateau and its surrounding glens were amply fertile from the waters that flowed from the Cloud Pilgrimage, the tunnels beneath the plateau rich with ore, and the deserts of nearby Rokar’s Tomb raised only the hardiest of Orcs. For a time, the utopian vision of the High Table prospered under their elected leader - Yaksha the Tide, an ingenious Dwarven strategist - but, despite numerous conquests, the High Table never realised their vision to control all the continent after Rokar the Drake, leader of the Table’s Orcish warriors, was said to succumb to the Curse of Bloodlust, and Yaksha had not the heart to strike him down.

______

 

Yaksha’s Table is the southern nation settlement site.

 

This region mostly consists of several broad plateaus, divided by wide valleys, that make for ideal building sites with different levels of verticality. Yaksha’s Table should really represent how to make mountains (or at least elevation) a central aspect to a region intended primarily for player settlement without being utterly useless for building or traversal. The idea of a plateau - a flat topped mountain that suits the name of ‘Table’ - fixes this rather nicely. 

 

Narratively, as the site of one of old Asharren’s major powers in the form of the High Table, Yaksha’s Table comes with a strong foundation for potential storylines that explore the history on southern Asharren, and, in particular, I think exploring the idea of some kind of short-lived Descendant unity society could be a cool concept. Furthermore, the plateau’s ties to the Aether Imperia in the times before the High Table, such as abandoned launch bases that were used to travel to-and-from the floating islands, also has a lot of possibilities.

 

---

 

The Infernal Sands

ROKAR'S TOMB

 

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Surrounded by sea and mountains, Rokar’s Tomb smoulders in the south-east.

 

Under the splitting sun spans a desert of pale sand, sparse oases, rocky canyons, and the ominous and otherworldly Dal’Kara Pyramids. The region is frequently subject to firestorms, drifting down from the Plumes volcanoes, causing swathes of sand to solidify into jagged glass, and nurtures the unique Tynebloom, a rare plant that only blossoms when aflame. During the reign of the High Table over southern Asharren, the Dal’Kara Orcs, forged in the harshness of the desert, formed the warrior caste led by Rokar the Drake, a vicious combatant who earned his moniker through deadly efficiency. 

 

An equal to Yaska the Tide among the Table, Rokar pondered the Orcish Curse of Bloodlust, and a potential cure, for many years. Folklore claims he turned to Shamanism, and the guidance of Spirits, for answers, but that he stumbled upon a truth that remains obscured to this day. This truth, though, whatever it was, caused Rokar not to struggle against the Curse, but seemingly embrace it; abandoning all civility, Rokar and his closest followers, who branded themselves with the mark of the Drake, were said to roam the lands like beasts, slaughtering all in their path. It was not until Rokar’s former companion, Ura the Uncursed, sealed him in the Dal’Kara pyramids that his vicious onslaught, which spelled the decline of the High Table, was ended.

______

 

Rokar’s Tomb is the south-eastern settlement site.

 

Deserts are normally tough regions to execute, as they typically amount to empty and excessive expanses of sand. This design tries to relegate the desert to just a small region of the map, and alleviate the sand with features like magma rivers flowing down from the nearby Plumes, the natural formations of glass, and the central feature of the Dal’Kara pyramids -- a complex of pyramids, arrayed in a strange pattern with floating and non-floating inverted and non-inverted pyramids, revolving around a central diamond pyramid -- in which Rokar’s Firebrand Orcs are said to be entombed.

 

While, like Moonfall Head, a desert is a niche region, it facilitates settlements through, as usual, plenty of unintrusive space that tries to retain some interesting characteristics through not only the regions backstory, through its ties to the High Table, Rokar and his Firebrands, and Shamanism, and the ruins that come with that, to the more unique and interesting desert features like the glass outcrops and magma rivers. In tandem with its backstory and environmental storytelling, the Dal’Kara Pyramids has the potential to be one of the flagship event dungeons for the map.

 

---

 

The Hammer's Ascent

THE PLUMES

 

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Named for the constant pillars of smoke that rise above them, the volcanoes of the Plumes burn in the far south.

 

The most ancient folklore claims that these blackened crags and fire-rent lands were the birthplace of Asharren, and home to the Tzal -- a supposedly primal people formed completely of metal, and who could control rock and mineral with their will alone. These old stories allege that it was the Tzal who helped the Aether Imperia ascend to the sky and bestowed them with many of the tools and techniques through which they established dominance, though what the Tzal received for this trade has been lost to time, much like the Tzal themselves.

 

During the time of the High Table, the Dwarves of the craftsmen caste often made pilgrimages to the smoke-hazed heights in search of rare metals, and in particular, the Forge of Ashka -- a crater at the height of the Plumes said to retain some of the power of the Tzal, and so it can shape metals in ways that are beyond normal Descendant means. The path to the Forge of Ashka is fraught with danger, however, from the steep ascent, choking smoke, and hostile creatures, but those who endure to the veins of rare ore, or to the Forge of Ashka at the peak, may find themselves suitably rewarded. 

______

 

The Plumes is an event/exploration region located in the far south.

 

Mostly unsuitable towards standard settlement (though still possible in parts), the Plumes are a range of active volcanoes on the southernmost point of Asharren. Volcanoes are another region that typically struggle when it comes to implementation, and so the design of the Plumes is based around a tailored exploration experience. With specific destinations in the heights of the Plumes - such as Tzal ruins, rare ores, or the Forge of Ashka - player can be faced with a gauntlet to reach these locations. 

 

While Staff events are an obvious plug here, we can also incorporate in-built challenges such as parkour up the peaks, sections where players might be placed on a ‘timer’ to reach the next part of the Plumes while affected with poison or withering, and, again, even ambient mobs if we decide to invest in something like that within reason. Otherwise, the outer reaches of the Plumes, near Yaksha’s Table, should be milder karst lands suitable for some kind of player settlement and expansion from a southern nation.

 

 

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The Deep Gate

THE SCARS

 

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Known as the Deep Gate, this series of massive ravines bores deep under the earth.

 

Once a breadbasket of farmland, the land was shattered when the cosmic sorcerers of the Asja called down an asteroid to fell one of the floating islands of the Aether Imperia. Unlike the neighbouring Scholars' Steppe, a series of existing caves and caverns caused the rubble landing upon the Scars to collapse, creating the enormous crevasses that exist today. In the time of the High Table, the Dwarven Caste utilised these ravines to mine valuable ores from the earth, and so the upper levels of the Scars consist of many mining facilities, which have decayed to a haphazardous state over time. Yet, as the High Table dug deeper, they discovered unsettling things in the depths of the Scars.

 

Flesh creeping over rocks, and blood dripping from stalactites in the place of water, belayed something deeply sinister far below the surface. Those of the High Table who dared dwell even deeper discovered this effect worsened further underground, until the point where they found themselves in a network of tunnels composed only of flesh and blood. Other random biological features, from teeth to eyes, haunted explorers as they progressed through the Deep Gate, and many were said to be driven mad. When the High Table sent one of its Orcish battalions to chart the full depths of the Scars, and discover the source of the eldritch flesh at its depths, but they never returned.

______

 

The Scars is an event/exploration region located in southern Asharren.

 

The region, nearly completely dependent on its vertical design, has two primary levels -- the first is the main body of the ravines, marked by a deeply treacherous descent through the old mining outposts and facilities of the High Table, while the second is the eerie eldritch horror that seems to have taken over the depths of the Scars. This is obviously not a friendly terrain for standard building, though the mines along the ravines' descent could be a great place for small lairs to make their home, but otherwise the region is intended for exploration. If designed correctly, a lot of these events and exploration can be self-running without the need for Staff; players making the deep descent towards the bottom of the Scars can contend with tricky parkour and other challenges - not unlike the Plumes - to make their descent an interesting challenge.

 

This challenge should continue as they reach the bloody eldritch depths, where strange teeth, blood, and eyes mark the walls, but obviously take on a different theme. All the while, players could be driven by the greater motivation of actually figuring out what is this thing that lurks below the Scars and getting an answer to this mystery. 

 

 

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The Ruin-Yard

THE SCHOLARS' STEPPE

 

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Beneath the warm sun of southwestern Asharren lies the ruin-strewn Scholars’ Steppe.

 

Descending from the Cloud Pilgrimage to the coast of the Glassed Sea, this land earns its name from the countless ruins scattered across its surface, which are remnants from when the lunar mages of the Asja struck down one of the floating islands of the Aether Imperia. While otherwise an unremarkable stretch of grassy slopes and rocky outcrops, the terrain is heavily modified through massive ruins that form terrain of their own. Instead of trees, for instance, Aetherian ruins dapple the landscape. The remains of massive buildings, half-swallowed by the earth, serve as archways under which roads pass, and in many cases, the region’s road has been carved from these ruins.

 

In the age after the Aether Imperia fell, the ruins that littered the Steppe were of great interest to those who sought to learn the secrets of the fallen Imperia for themselves, and so most of today’s knowledge of the Aether Imperia - scant though it is - is divined from these ruins. In particular, the High Table learned a great deal from this study. Archaeological dig-sites, expedition outposts, and even the towers of High Table mages can be found along the Steppe today as testament to this scholarly intrigue in the ruins. It is said that, to this day, one can learn some of the teachings of the Aether Imperia from these ruins, including how to ascend to their remaining floating islands … 

______

 

The Scholars’ Steppe is the southwestern nation settlement site.

 

The land itself is a warm-climate steppe, but attempts to be unique through its history as being the site where most of the debris from the collapse of the Aether Imperia’s floating island landed, totally altering the landscape. An otherwise unremarkable land descent of palm trees is altered by how these ruins have fallen, from the skeletons of a colosseum that form massive archways along the road, to the road itself being formed from various ruins, all of which obviously brings a lot of potential for events and storytelling.

 

This should remain in line with the theory that a settlement site should offer ample gentle space for a main nation to expand across and build upon. Therefore, the population of these characteristic ruins should be within reason, especially in terms of size, and ideally concentrated in specific areas so as not to be overly intrusive. Many of these ruins, in line with the region’s backstory, could have the potential to be eventsites, and, in particular, I think it would be fitting for this region to hold the clues as to how players can find the hidden paths to ascend to the remaining floating islands of the Aether Imperia. 

 

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The Tyranny of the Sky

THE AETHER IMPERIA

 

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Though their power is long lost, the islands of the Aether Imperia remain ominously floating in Asharren’s sky.

 

The first Descendants to settle Asharren were said to be renounced followers of the Archdaemon, exiled and adrift after their master’s defeat, and who built a new home, free from persecution and war, on the far-flung land of Asharren. Yet, while they renounced their old master, they did not neglect the many secrets and magics they had been taught in their service, and legend claims it was this knowledge that followed them to enchant pieces of land to be able to float in the sky. From above, this learned and enlightened people established dominance over all others who came to call Asharren home.

 

For centuries, the Aether Imperia ruled over most of Asharren. Those who lived on the surface below were serfs to their overlords in the sky, and forced to pay tribute in the form of food and materials that were carried to the islands above by massive hot-air balloons. Through their use of old magics passed down by the Archdaemon, the Aether Imperia could never shake their association with the dark -- indeed, many of its leaders - the powerful Praesul - were said to be chosen because, in their mind, they felt a entity known of as 'the Presence', which many believed to be the shadow of the Archdaemon. Between the dark associations of the Aether Imperia, and their subjugation of the surface, it was no surprise that rebellion eventually led to their fall.

______

 

The Aether Imperia is a series of eventsites in the form of floating islands across the map.

 

Historically, the Aether Imperia is the oldest power on Asharren, and ruled over the land from their floating islands with technology and magic that dwarfed the rudimentary means of the Descendant peoples on the surface at the time. Their floating bastions once flourished, with grand Romanesque buildings, forums, and plazas for a variety of purposes, but today are mostly overgrown and retaken by nature. The Aether Imperia used hot air balloons to travel between major islands, and also carry tribute up from the surface. As a result, the Aether Imperia have a deep association with the sky and air-travel, featuring things like balloon ports.

 

The event potential of the Aether Imperia should be obvious, and seeing these floating islands all throughout the map should be a major point of intrigue and engagement for players who see them from the ground, and spark their interest in finding a way up to any of these islands. The islands themselves, asides from the major ones like the Aether Imperia's capital, should all mini-dungeons of a sort, and because there should be several of them, there's a lot of different event purposes they could be used for tied to the overall history and story of the Aether Imperia. I think it would make for a good series of self-running events for players to figure out how to ascend to these various islands -- for example, there could be clues gleaned from places like Yaksha's Table and the Scholars' Steppe, directing players to find a hidden cave in a different region like the Amberwood, where they find some kind of portal or hot-air balloon that leads up to one of the islands.

---

[UnBaed 8910]

first

 

also looks like we got our next map figured out

[Ryanark 1924]

Really liking this and I wish this is what we are getting for the next map, excellent work and consideration put into it.

will be expecting a full map built from scratch by you in 2 weeks.

[Laeonathan 3925]

Asharren.

 

I love the name since it's been a lore place since 2019. It's something one of my character has a connection to, a land he always wanted to visit.

[MailC3p 1143]

This is very good imo! Though, a few questions. I do recognize you said that you've made no Minecraft map for this but in a hypothetical how big do you think it would be if you (or someone else) where to make this into a minecraft map?

[DrakeHaze. 2479]

I feel like the people in charge of the various aspects of the next version of LoTC are too opinionated and have too many players they don't like or trust which is costing the community. What phase of the next version is the team even on, will they even discuss a post like this at this time?

Cool post, I also hate hubs.

[Xarkly 12580]

8 minutes ago, MailC3p said:

This is very good imo! Though, a few questions. I do recognize you said that you've made no Minecraft map for this but in a hypothetical how big do you think it would be if you (or someone else) where to make this into a minecraft map?

 

To be honest, I have no concept of physical map sizes, otherwise I would have included something. I can't remember how big Almaris is or any previous maps.

 

To give some kind of idea, though, I think it should be a good bit smaller than Almaris.

 

We don't need fringe regions like the Rimeveld, mountains behind Norland, and basically most of the border areas down south since no one uses them, they don't look great, and they're massive, making the map look big and feel empty.

[ReveredOwl 5314]

Excelent ideas, as always, its just a shame that they'll all be ignored. God knows why they've not added to you the next map build team yet

[NotEvilAtAll 9926]

This has my mark of approval.

 

My only concern is that (at least from the main map graphic) a lot of the grass colors seem to be a bit dead/dull, although I'm pretty sure most of that is just artistic license and an actual worldpainted Asharren would have the non-volcanic/desert, non-swamp, and non-icy areas be plains, forest, or taiga biomes for the livelier grass colors.

 

Yaksha's table is a cool concept. We haven't had a proper plateau on an LOTC map for a while, and obviously including one is a great way to throw in some Y-level variation without ruining the area for settlement building.

 

The Scars might be a hit or miss honestly. If done well it could easily be one of the cooler areas on Asharren but if done poorly it'd just give everyone PTSD from Almaris' swiss cheese mountains and not get used much.

 

In general I think one big flaw of this map concept is that it relies heavily on the Story Team to pull a lot of weight to keep these areas interesting. Having 1-2 event biomes is alright, but with the amount of lore and story put into Asharren, it's likely an area or two might not get too much attention from staff events and default to nation/settlement/lair territory that's bought up when all the more desirable land is taken and filled with vassal settlements that'd have a much easier time building on non-event terrain.

 

This map concept needs an active, devoted Story Team to work at 100% efficiency.

 

My suggestion: Replace the Plagued Path with something a bit more usable. Your description for it doesn't even mention it existing as an event-zone, yet such a large area is still taken up by it that's WAYYYYY less desirable for settlement what with the magical taint all over it. There's three nation spots near the Plagued Path that might want to expand into it so I think it's due for a replacement with something that can suit that goal better.

 

On another note, the two nation spots on Yaksha's Table I kinda feel bad for because they are hemmed in. The nation spot nearest Rokar's Tomb would be GREAT for Orcs but the other nation spot is much less desirable. Blocked in one direction by another nation on Yaksha's Table, and with The Scars (event/lair/challenge biome) to the west and The Plumes (not very hospitable) to the south, and finally with waterfall-visual biome to the north, there's just nowhere to go! At least the Table itself is a good biome for building stuff on.

 

ok ramble over. I think it's an amazing map but I'd suggest a few changes if staff actually do go through with this.

[Xarkly 12580]

18 minutes ago, DrakeHaze. said:

I feel like the people in charge of the various aspects of the next version of LoTC are too opinionated and have too many players they don't like or trust which is costing the community. What phase of the next version is the team even on, will they even discuss a post like this at this time?

Cool post, I also hate hubs.

 

In particular, I hope they don't continue the previous policy of secrecy, as if the details of the next map need to be kept mostly hidden for the purposes of hype or something. Mapdev Team has said they plan on doing a lot more Your Views, so that's good as long as they stick to that. From what I hear, there's a current draft that's been painted, so I hope we get some community input before Mapdev Team decides to stick with a particular design.

[Gemini 1639]

ok omg this looks so good

[Xarkly 12580]

7 minutes ago, NotEvilAtAll said:

This has my mark of approval.

 

My only concern is that (at least from the main map graphic) a lot of the grass colors seem to be a bit dead/dull, although I'm pretty sure most of that is just artistic license and an actual worldpainted Asharren would have the non-volcanic/desert, non-swamp, and non-icy areas be plains, forest, or taiga biomes for the livelier grass colors.

 

Oh yeah this is probably just a result of me not figuring out Inkarnate had way more grass brushes until I was like 70% done (which is where I started putting more detail on grasslands in the south).

 

8 minutes ago, NotEvilAtAll said:

 

Yaksha's table is a cool concept. We haven't had a proper plateau on an LOTC map for a while, and obviously including one is a great way to throw in some Y-level variation without ruining the area for settlement building.

 

 

I know Mapdev Team has said they're planning to include more verticality in 9.0, so that's great, and I feel like a plateau is great way to do that too. This was one of two areas I took inspiration from Shotbow's MineZ (a 2013 map, of all things), take a look:

 

https://gyazo.com/17642dd5f7e888a635bc6aec0a5cdc1f

 

Obviously it shows its age, but I remember when traversing this area (I loved this map), there was a very tangible feel of verticality between wandering around at the bottom than the top, and finding ways up/down was a cool objective.

 

12 minutes ago, NotEvilAtAll said:

The Scars might be a hit or miss honestly. If done well it could easily be one of the cooler areas on Asharren but if done poorly it'd just give everyone PTSD from Almaris' swiss cheese mountains and not get used much.

 

Yeah to be honest, I left the Scars until the very end because I struggled with the concept a bit. I know what I wanted to do in theory, but wasn't sure how to go about it. The idea was (and this ties in with your next point about the ST) it would be a semi-sufficient event location, wherein the event itself was trying to descend into these treacherous ravines and explore whatever was down there.

 

'If done right' is pretty much the caveat for all these regions, but it definitely applies to places like the Scars, the Plumes, and the Rykenwall, as these regions completely lose their point (event/exploration) if not done right.

 

15 minutes ago, NotEvilAtAll said:

In general I think one big flaw of this map concept is that it relies heavily on the Story Team to pull a lot of weight to keep these areas interesting. Having 1-2 event biomes is alright, but with the amount of lore and story put into Asharren, it's likely an area or two might not get too much attention from staff events and default to nation/settlement/lair territory that's bought up when all the more desirable land is taken and filled with vassal settlements that'd have a much easier time building on non-event terrain.

 

This map concept needs an active, devoted Story Team to work at 100% efficiency.

 

Obviously you're right, but as I talk about in the introduction, we generally just don't have the resources for the ST or within the ST to pull that off. Sure, they can keep doing what their doing, but I tried to design a lot of this map with environmental storytelling and in-built engagement -- so, like with the Scars, that comes with the puzzles involved in descending down these massive ravines and maybe learning lore/secrets from eventsites there, or the Plumes which is meant to be a gauntlet of environmental challenges - withering effect caused by smoke putting players on a timer, and scaling the lava to the Forge of Ashka, or the same theory for the Rykenwalls with potential PvE mobs. All this serves to make these specific regions an engaging challenge and a sort of event in and of itself without the need for constant ST involvement.

 

19 minutes ago, NotEvilAtAll said:

My suggestion: Replace the Plagued Path with something a bit more usable. Your description for it doesn't even mention it existing as an event-zone, yet such a large area is still taken up by it that's WAYYYYY less desirable for settlement what with the magical taint all over it. There's three nation spots near the Plagued Path that might want to expand into it so I think it's due for a replacement with something that can suit that goal better.

 

 

That's probably my bad for the insufficient description, but the idea is that the area would have had some eventsites relating to the namesake plague. I totally get what you mean, though, in that it's not like the other 3 road regions that could have some interest to nations. Maybe that one could be tailored to be smaller, but I definitely see your point.

 

21 minutes ago, NotEvilAtAll said:

 

On another note, the two nation spots on Yaksha's Table I kinda feel bad for because they are hemmed in. The nation spot nearest Rokar's Tomb would be GREAT for Orcs but the other nation spot is much less desirable. Blocked in one direction by another nation on Yaksha's Table, and with The Scars (event/lair/challenge biome) to the west and The Plumes (not very hospitable) to the south, and finally with waterfall-visual biome to the north, there's just nowhere to go! At least the Table itself is a good biome for building stuff on.

 

 

Lastly, I noticed this a little bit before posting, so I mentioned in the introduction that readers should assume the nation sites to be all be relatively equal in size, just because I didn't pay enough attention when sizing Yaksha's Table in comparison to, say, the Vale of Aargad. If I were to adjust it, I'd just expand it down into the northern part of the Plumes before the volcanoes actually start.

 

[JJosey 1215]

stunning work!

[Nozgoth 2897]

I love it.

[Capt_Chief26 1205]

Big Brain Conor is at it again