In
this post, we're going to get the forests and mountains (actual mountains) added to the map and start
discussing the climates in the regions of the world as well as start
thinking about the specific biomes represented in these areas.
For
forests, I usually use a brush with a spatter appearance (I've
included a screenshot below with the pixel size highly exaggerated to
give you a better glimpse of the specific type). I find that using a
brush size of about 30px is appropriate, though to get the best
effect, using a variation of brush sizes in the forest is ideal
(hint: using the [ and ] keys is a
shortcut for decreasing and increasing the pixel size of your brush,
respectively).
As
for the placement of forests in the world, I don't have a clear
understanding of the wind circulations for the planet (there's not
enough information about our planet to determine the coriolis forces
acting on the atmosphere), but because I know that this region of the
planet isn't too close to the equator, it's a safe bet to say that
there will be at least periodic winds coming across this landmass.
Therefore, it's important to pay attention to the rivers and the
mountains that I've arranged so far, because the mountains will
determine the severity of any rain shadow effects (see the link
below), and while not all rivers would encourage significant tree
growth along their course, some definitely will (just think of the
Amazon River).
That
in mind, I decide that I would like to see a coastal forest in the
Northwestern region, just to the West of the mountain range there and
abutting the river that runs from the north to the ocean there.
Additionally, I know that I would like a temperate forest to sit at
the fringes of the desert region in the southern-central part of the
map, so I brush that area in. I realize that it might be difficult
(biologically) to explain the presence of the forest there, but as
this is a fantasy world, some liberties can be taken. Maybe it's
magical. I've already been tossing around the idea of a realm that
acts as a sort of Casablanca for feys that have been displaced from
their native plane of Faerie. It could be fun working in some
sort of mechanic later as to perhaps how the forest is magically
sustained by dryads or nymphs or somesuch. There's also a decent
river that runs from the East to a pair of smallish lakes just south
of the large sea. I decide that I like the idea of strong winds
funneling through the gap between the two mountain ranges that
converge at those two lakes, and as such, it seems like a good idea
to have a high altitude forest here, fed by the winds blowing over
the sea and the lakes and the river that courses past it – in fact,
I think this might be an alpine plateau (possibly), but that remains
to be seen. Later, I'll figure out the specifics of the climatic
zones. For now, I dot in some other forested regions here and there,
mainly just to add some points of interest in other zones. Some of
these small forested regions might harbor specific details that will
be worked out later in the design process on the whole.
To
finish with the forests, I add a black stroke to the outside of the
contents of the layer. Set it to 3px and to an opacity of 75%. This
will give the spatter pattern put down earlier a nice shadowy,
layered look that looks pretty nice, in my opinion.
Now,
returning to the mountain ranges, I'll use a triangular shaped brush
to represent the mountains. You can also paint divergent lines from
the lines we drew before (the ones representing the highest altitude
along the range) which would simulate the wrinkly look mountains have
when viewed through a satellite image. Given that the whole purpose
of the map is to look somewhat more antiquated, it would defeat the
point to use a method that would end up presenting the map as more
modern. So, for my map, I stick with representing mountains as
triangles of different sizes. It's a little inaccurate, but it works.
For the brush, I use a smattering of sizes, with the largest
triangles following the line representing the highest altitude and
with smaller triangles clustered around this main line. I don't want
the area to be saturated with mountains, so these ranges are
relatively “sparse”.
After
the mountains are in, I'll go back and delete the red guidelines I
drew in before. You can also add a stroke at 3 px and 85% to the
mountains – it helps tie the whole image togeher, as we've added a
lot of pseudo-inky looking qualities to the map so far.
Before
moving on to anything else, I think it's about time to at least add a
little color to the ocean/seas, if anything just to tie the image
together better. I change the white layer to hex 9ba997, which gives
it a brownish blue coloration that fits with the Age of Exploration
thing we have going on here.
Now,
on to climates. As mentioned before, the southern-central area is a
desert. I don't think the entire area is one rolling sea of dunes or
anything along those lines, and there will definitely be a gradation
between the aridity of the biome. I'm thinking that it will be a
rocky desert toward the center with a cluster of more Mediterranean
Chapparal regions clustered around the periphery. Temperatures in
this area will be more mild and temperate, whereas the climate will
be more severe and hot in the center. I'd like one of the countries
in this land to be pseudo-Iberian, so this will work out nicely. With
one major area hashed out, that really only leaves the northwestern
region, the eastern region and the northeastern regions unresolved.
Our
map is approximately 10in by 14in (landscape orientation), so, with
our established scale in mind, that of 0.25” = 10mi or 1” = 40mi,
we can say that our map is basically 400mi by 560mi. 600 miles is a
paltry sum as far as latitude is considered, so it would be a stretch
to say that there will be a huge amount of climatic variation in this
part of the world. Again, this is fine, as the extreme areas will be
a dry rocky desert topography and a more temperate Mediterranean
climate. It may also be a bit of a stretch, but I am tentatively
thinking that the land between the two mountain ranges that converge
in the East is of much higher elevation than the rest of the
landmass, and therefore will be much cooler.
I
also think that it's somewhat safe to say that this map represents
part of this world's Tropic of Cancer, assuming that the orbital and
axial characteristics of the planet are not too dissimilar from
Earth's (I know that this information was generated by the fractal
map generator back when we started, but given that I cannot speak for
the implications of having a planet with such widely different tilt
or size, it seems best to not deviate too far from Earth. As a matter
of fact, for this series, I'm entirely disregarding everything that
the fractal map generated, apart from the region I selected). So, the
southernmost points of the map are at least partially inside the
Tropic of Cancer (or on the fringe), and as such, are likely either subtropical or
temperate in their climate characteristics (depending exactly how far
north the latitudes for our map region are – which is largely a
matter of creative fiat at this point). We won't go into wind
patterns and Coriolis effects, mainly because that level of
meteorology and atmospheric detail is getting a bit too dense for our
purposes here. We want something that is believable, but not
necessarily entrenched in realism. It is a fantasy world, after all.
After
considering all of this information, I've grouped the map into the
following climatic zones: in the southern portion of the map, between
the two ascending mountain ranges, there is a dry, rocky desert biome
(1); north of the desert and in the mountainous areas immediately
surrounding the desert, there is a more mild, Mediterranean clmate,
filled with a chaparral ecosystem and complete with a large temperate
forest in the center. It's logical that precedents from Greece, Rome
and the Italian Republics could be used for inspiration to fill the
aesthetics of any countries built in these regions (2). However, I
think that one of the largest nations in the area will be modeled
after Iberian precedents, and transform to something pseudo-Syrian at
the bottom-most region of the desert; the area between the two
mountain ranges in the East seems to be a natural location for a
valley, perhaps a glacial valley at one time in the geological
history of this place, but I like the idea of the valley starting off
at a lower elevation in the southeastern region and increasing its
overall elevation as you move north, gradually becoming more of a
plateau or highland, and therefore susceptible to colder
temperatures, probably compounded by the amount of offshore flow from
the northern sea. The reason for this is mainly to break up the
otherwise homogenous climate that would prevail in this area (that is
to say, I don't want the entire map to be a desert or pseudo-desert,
so this dramatic change in elevation is an artificial means of
creating the variation that I would like to see in a campaign
setting). Thus, the area marked as (3) is probably something akin to
sub-alpine Italy, with a mild climate that dramatically changes with
increased altitude as you move toward the Northern mountain range;
therefore, the area marked as (7) (and to a large extent, probably
area (6) as well) would be more of an alpine region prone to colder
prevailing temperatures and harsher winters.
Actually, as I think
about real-world precedent, the northern sea would be analogically
similar to the Black Sea, and as such, area (7) could mark the
transition into a decidedly more Slavic region (to use modern
analogy), and as such, I will probably reference Bulgaria, Romania,
Ukraine and Georgia in looking for precedents and other inspiration
for the ethnoculture to fill the region. So far, these regions are
fitting well with what I would like to see as far as variation and
dynamism are concerned, but also as far as what I would expect given
that this region isn't too far removed from the Tropic of Cancer (ie.
The real-world Black Sea is at approximately 44 degrees N and 35
degrees E on the globe). To further justify the proximity of our
desert region to the pseudo-Black Sea region, just look at a map of
Earth – Syria is not too far from the Black Sea. As such, both of
these elements are not too far removed from the Tropic of Cancer, so
I think that by arranging our climatic regions as such, we are
preserving as much realism as possible. The question is: how much do
we adhere to the ethnocultural precedents from the real-world
analogues that we've discussed? It's really a matter of creative fiat
as well. Granted, I'm running away with my logic, so I'll try to dial
back into the basics here. That leaves regions (4) and (5). Region
(4) will be rocky plains bounded by the mountains to the west and
south as well as a significant amount of wooded area; it will be
temperate as well, with a moderately cold winter and a warm summer.
On the western side of the mountains, the temperatures will drop
again, producing a cooler alpine region, and I think I'll model this
region after Anglo-Saxon culture, mainly because I want at least one
region to have something based on the more “canonical” elements
of a fantasy world, that is medieval European (specifically English)
elements. Lastly, area (5), probably buffered from the hot, dry winds
of the desert by the Southwestern mountain range (much in the same
way that Area 4 and 6 are shielded from the sirocccos), would also be
a more temperate, fertile region, given the proximity to the shore
and the prominent river that runs through it. I think that this area
will probably be a holding of the Iberian nation that exists to the
north over the mountains. Although, mountain ranges do usually make
for ideal borders between countries – so maybe it will be a
principality, suzerainty or somesuch relationship to Area 2. That
remains to be seen and will be something that we will begin to
discuss next time.
Well.
That was a long one, and I think this is where we'll call it for the
day. So far, we have a strong understanding of the climatic zones and
what sorts of real-world details can be extrapolated to our new
world. Next time, we'll look at how these regions are divided up into
nations and states and what those nations and states are. We'll also
look at some of the fundamentals of a campaign setting, such as the
prevailing level of magic in the world, as that will influence how
the countries of the world came into being as well as influencing
their relationships with one another – militarily and
diplomatically.
