3173 A Head Of The Game
Sorry this was later, I fogot to upload it last night. Still you’ve got it for the weekend.
Also, as promised, here’s a detailed, accuratish and recent map of Elegrost.
It was originally published in the Artist’s Sketchbook section of one of the YAFGC volumes. Others included older, less accurate maps and some that showed more of the world -but are horribly out of date.
I’m currently working on one that will fit to the north of this one and will detail the Goblin Lands.
Enjoy!
-Rich “BeholderKing” Morris
****EDIT:****
Okay, so, I fixed the Map of Elegrost:(Thanks to Toughluck who pointed out problems with my bridges)
And I created a map of the Goblin Lands:(Which lacks some important details I haven’t fleshed out yet.)
And then roughly stitched the two together to see what the bigger picture looks like.
As T’Chall pointed out to Ashantai in the comments, you can see them all big and clear if you right click on them and open them in a new tab.
What think people? Going to use these in your next campaign setting? Hahah
-Rich
Hehehehe. Oh Hehehehe!
Apparently petrification takes JUST long enough for you to recognize and understand what you’re looking at.
Perfect! ^_^
SOMEONE called it.
She forgot Rule One of the History Monks.
Well, maybe she could be forgiven that. I don’t see a wrinkle on Trevor anywhere….
First thought:
"The Br’er Rabbit gambit? Really?"
Second thought:
"Nah, not really. It was accidental. I think Trevor was being sincere in not wanting to give the unmasked medusa’s head to the lamia."
I think she would look lovely in the park as a pigeon roost
First helpful thing she ever did I’d guess
Gonna need to be really careful cleaning that up, unless the rules of Medusas in Elegrost are that they only have enough magic post-mortem to do one stoning….
I am not sure, but I think you have to make EYE CONTACT, not just see the head, and that would require getting your head in between the statue’s and the medusa’s.
Karma.
…oh, that was a cane! I don’t know why I thought it was a double weapon last strip.
And thanks for the map!
(Any world maps lying about?)
You’re welcome.
I do have the world map here, and /could/ post it up, but what bothers me about it is that it’s a) really rough and b)… not really complete. And can’t be. I’ve been concentrating on certain parts of the world (The Black Mountain and its range, Elegrost, Uagi, Drostardy…) and a lot of stuff I have only wild guesses about and am unready to commit to. I suppose I could do a very basic explorer’s style map but I worry about leaving out entire islands and continents I could dream up later.
So, what I’m saying is, I’ll consider it. I’ll give it a proper lookover and see if I can come up with a basic overview map to share.
I should have specified, not asking about a whole world map — I’m just trying to figure out where the areas you’ve already shown us are in relation to each other. Thanks for your consideration!
I’m on a bit of a map kick now. I’ll see what I can put together.
You could draw the parts of the world we already know, and leave the rest as a blank space. You can always just add to it the "newly discovered" areas, as you "dream them up". 🙂
I don’t actually see Drostardy on the map… where is it?
Beyond the sea, if I recall correctly. It's another kingdom, these maps are just Elegrost and the Goblin Lands.
Suuuuucker
The silver lining is that, as a statue, she’ll forever be lovely looking. And mostly harmless, once the gorgon’s head is removed/covered.
Ironic, it takes a snake to beat another.:P BTW, love the design of your map Rich.
Thank you, Rich, for the map! Is wonderful! How poetic it gets posted during a story arc dedicated to The Little Librarian.
As suggested above, it would be kind of neat to make the statue of Lady Malyss a permanent display (once it s made safe, regarding a loaded gorgon’s head). My first thought had been a public park, but my second thought is that she should go on permanent display in the Library in an appropriate location. She is, quite literally, a part of history, just as much as any scroll or tome.
My third thought involves some sort of spell or other precaution to ensure that she can never be reanimated. That could be a nasty surprise a century or three into the future … but, also, what a Chekhov’s Stoned Lamia for some future generation of adventurers to encounter.
Final note, what a wonderful bit if Trevor character building that he has sincere regrets. Not entirely surprising, but still much more charitable than I am certain I would feel in his place.
You know, the simplest solution would be to carve a hole in the bottom and insert a steel shaft for mounting. If ever returned to flesh, instant impalement.
I get the impression Trevor wishes every dragon, literal or metaphorical, was the sort with whom one could gently talk out one’s differences over tea. From his mention of having been called many things in the past, I can only suppose he remembers what it was like to be given the label of "monster," and he hopes…sometimes against odds…that every "monster" he meets is cruelly mislabeled. There’s something carthartic for the misunderstood, to become the vector through which understanding reaches another person.
(I strongly suspect the little librarian has a few scary-looking friends who come to visit under cover of shadows, for fear of frightening the townsfolk, who are indeed sweethearts, once given trust and space to be.)
I imagine Trevor quietly hopes every "monster" he meets is merely misunderstood, confused, unaware that there are better ways. Just…sometimes they aren’t, sometimes they know exactly what they’re doing and choose to do it, and sometimes…well, one must honor the choices of others, even to most unfortunately needful consequences and unfortunate ends. Sometimes the only respect one can show for another’s agency as a being is to accept their choices, and respond accordingly.
Also, if I ever form another band, "Chekhov’s Stoned Lamia" is a serious contender for its name. Thank you.
> I imagine Trevor quietly hopes every "monster" he meets is merely misunderstood
Absolutely. Even the ‘monsters’ who are Human.
So here’s my question: How do you read the word ‘lovely looking’ in his regrets?
– Does he mean ‘lovely’ as in ‘a lovely specimen’ from an educational standpoint?
– A cynical reading would suggest that he only wants her to live because of aesthetics, as with the very common Human notion that it’s okay for bad things to happen to the ugly and unattractive.
– Does he think all ‘monsters’ look ‘lovely’ and that it’s a waste when they aren’t beautiful on the inside, particularly when that leads to their doom?
t!
If I know Trevor, I lean heavily toward the third interpretation. I suspect also that he feels a particular need to find beauty in "remixed biology," in combination of elements that others might find unnatural or inappropriate…for obvious reasons. A person with a past including "misfit/monster/freak" labels may well feel a particular need to speak up about the beauty of others, especially those who might be tarred with similar labels.
Trevor strikes me as the sort of fellow who’d find beauty everywhere, short of cruelty or suffering. I suspect he’s mourning here that one more being refused the call to what those sharing his view of the world would call "higher nature," and after a few repeated offers, he had to respect their "no," even knowing that it meant that this one would need to soon become statuary.
That one player in the D&D circle who wanted to talk out every encounter socially, and sit down with the dragon and chat for hours? The one who wilts when the DM cuts him/her off and demands a simple CHA check instead? Were Trevor a character in a game rather than a literary character, I suspect that’s who and what his player would be.
> If I know Trevor
Are you being disingenuous?
I’d always figured these characters in Tempul began in a game you ran with Rich & Leorin.
t!
Not disingenuous, but rather, acknowledging that YAFGC is, always has been, and always will be, Rich’s story. Whatever role I may have played in inspiring bits of this arc, this is Rich’s story, and it is Rich’s vision of who and what Trevor is that drives Trevor.
I am well past "pleased" and into "giddy and delighted" with his read on the fellow, mind you, but I also freely and openly acknowledge that what we are seeing here is Rich’s vision, and Rich’s interpretation of the characters and events depicted.
This means that, ultimately, his version of Trevor may surprise even me.
Creative collaboration is rather like parenthood; two parents pour themselves into the life of a child, but the life is ultimately the child’s own. I feel that I would do both Rich and Trevor a great disservice to take more credit than I ought, here.
Let me simply say that it is the dream of every author to see his or her characters realized beyond his or her own means, through the combined efforts of a brilliant screenwriter, director, and actor. There is a moment when one looks back upon the new creation and says, "I was only the midwife. This is my child, fully grown and self-realized, coming into his/her own, and it’s beautiful."
Rich is screenwriter, director and actor. I merely had a small role in the source material so adapted, and so, this both completely is, and completely is not, the Trevor Larkin I know…in both cases, in the most wonderful, and sometimes mindblowing, ways. I am less interested in caging this little librarian into my past understanding of who and what he is, than I am in meeting, and getting to know, the person he’s become, through Rich’s amazing storytelling.
So, no. Completely sincere.
I also need to be extremely careful with assertions about Trevor, for this reason. If I’m right, I risk spoiling things…and if I’m wrong, I risk confusion and misdirection. So I am taking extra care not to venture too many opinions or observations, lest they distract from direct engagement with Rich’s material. That’s why we’re all here, after all…and the greatest way to emphasize my faith in Rich, and my delight in this story, is to step back and let the story speak for itself.
Excellent points, all. Thanks for that.
I trust you understood that I was not accusing you of duplicity, merely the caution that you wisely indicated mitigates your risks.
I really have nothing to add; you covered everything, and I’m in full agreement.
t!
Absolutely, t!. No offense taken; you asked a question, I answered. (Other reply misplaced on earlier branch of thread, sorry.)
Reading conversations between you two is like if my favorite composer and my favorite poet somehow found eachother and started freestyling symphonies. Except the coolest part is you’re both musicians and can turn language into poetry.
It’s kind of nice too that -in this forum at least- you both say really nice things about me. So it’s a great way for me to feel really good about life.
Absolutely, t!. No offense taken; you asked a question, I answered.
Cool. Makin’ sure. Cuz I like ya.
t!
Wanted: Temple cleaner
Qualifications: Must be blind or able to operate while completely blindfolded. Must be able to lift and carry at least 20 pounds while walking for a considerable distance.
Job Description: Remove harmful contaminants from the Great Temple entrance-way, in preparation of the relocation of a statue of Lady Malass. Cleaning equipment and protective clothing can be provided if requested.
Compensation is negotiable and will be discussed during the interview for qualified applicants.
Contact Trevor Larkin at the Great Library for more information.
This is why you never mess with a librarian.
Like the twist…even though I kind of saw it coming.
And count me as another person who appreciates Trevor for his empathy and regret at the end there. Other characters–I’m not speaking of anyone YAFGC-specific here–would have meant that line as a James Bond one-liner piece of snark…but he genuinely means it.
Good thing she let him go before being to stone….
All things considered, shouldn’t a current map of the world have The Black Mountain relabeled as The Black Crater?
The map was made before the Grande Explosionne ™, but I don’t think the monsters who lived there will ever consent to calling it the Black Crater. At current time in YAFGC (the year is still the first of the Age of Darkness) they’re too busy to make new maps. And neither they nor I have thought of a new name for that region of the map where the Mountain once stood.
Not that you need even MORE ideas in your backlog, but Glon (and/or Maula, together/separately-but-concurrently) leading a refugee expedition back to the Crater, and then proclaiming its new name, would be something I’d love to see you present.
t!
oooOOOOooooo….
Might need to chat you up on that one.
Trevor’s damn lucky she let him go before looking.
Ah, Trevor. You should go to a Japanese comic if you want the cute monster girls to be nice.
… although many of them there are still naughty.
If you had that head you could make an interesting foray into the enemy to statue conversion business. With a few plants, a fountain, maybe some ivy, would look quite nice in the garden 😀
That’s so Trevor. <3
Don’t worry, you can heal her with the correct music tone and unguent…in fact you must give it for all the body
Just a couple of comments on the map. The bridges are marked wrong (unless they are actually tunnels beneath the rivers, which would be quite a feat, but with magic, easy peasy).
Second, I assumed Elegrost was on a river or by a lake. As it turns out, it’s not quite by the Elegrost Lake, which is odd. Every large city needs a steady supply of water and unless there is plentiful water in the aquifer, or the city is within a shallow artesian aquifer, it would be much easier to simply situate the city by the lake.
Two very good points. I didn’t notice that I’d put my bridges on backwards. Thanks for pointing that out. That I can fix. Problem seems to be that I had the rivers marked in blue before I drew out the roads and didn’t erase bits of the river where they crossed -like I SHOULD have- but broke up the roads instead. MISTAKE.
As for Elegrost’s water problem, (sigh) I placed it before I marked in the rivers and lakes I think. Anyway, as I’m not going to relocate the city, I will say that Elegrost lake has an underground connection that runs under where Elegrost sits, and so there’s a huge natural cistern there that they access via wells and such.
As a Geologist, reporting in. You guys are overthinking the Elegrost water supply a bit much. The lake is plenty close to provide substantial water tables for the city (at least, at this point in time since we’re not talking about an industrial city with a population of a million or more).
A "natural cistern" of that capacity would not just be rare almost beyond imagining, it would be unstable and dangerous. The chances of it collapsing into a sinkhole are frighteningly high, and only get even more dangerous the more activity there is on top of it, around it, and as water is drawn from it.
So long as the land between Elegrost and the lake is reasonably level, perhaps gentle rolling hills of 100 feet or so, the lands surrounding the lake will be well-watered (great agricultural lowlands) and generally be unsuitable for major city-style development.
With the mountain ranges to the North and East, just imagine there are major strata of rock that are permeable and layered that run into the lake and underneath it, and then stretch to the city. Simple wells will be continually replenished by the water pressure of the lake and will not run dry so long as the lake exists. Multiple layers of permeable rock means that if water usage is unusually high, dig deeper wells. The current ones might only need be a dozen or 20 feet or so. As the city increases in population and increases water use, digging into deeper strata (perhaps 50 or 100 or 150 feet) will access deeper aquifers. Aqueducts and canals are also options, when needed one day. Especially with magic available, there is no problem here that can’t be solved with relative ease.
The city is in a good location since it is built on solid ground that doesn’t flood, and isn’t some sort of boggy, mosquito-infested wetlands.
tl;dr — don’t worry about it. Elegrost doesn’t have water problems. It looks like just the opposite: fantastic agriculture to support the city, plenty of potable water in general, and it will avoid the other big water problem: getting flooded.
Uh. Wow, though.
Upon further study, there is a much more interesting problem. I don’t see which river drains Elegrsot lake. All the rivers seem to run into it ..? That doesn’t work out well for anyone even in the relative short term. You end up with an inland sea, like the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Water runs in, filled with all sorts of dissolved minerals & salts. It cannot escape, except the water itself evaporates and leaves an increasingly salty/mineral water behind until pretty much nothing can live in it. A naturally occurring lake like that would become a Great Salt Lake (Utah) in a few thousand years. Also see: the Great Rift Lakes of Africa (which are huge, so they are heavily mineralized after only a few million years).
My suggestion would be that the Dark River has somehow found a path to the sea and acts as the drainage river, even though it’s junction with the Long River is a bit bizarre. That could at least be explained by some fascinating, strange & wonderful geological anomaly. The Dark River may have broken into a subterranean channel and flows under ground from about Elfmeet to the sea, for example. Which could happen, although erosion collapses such structures in short order (a few thousand or maybe a million years depending upon the rock type it is running through). Of course, magic always offers interesting alternate solutions in situations such as this.
Interesting side though on that, assuming a model where the Dark River is drainage: the destruction of the Black Mountain was such a s cataclysmic event, the shockwave could have collapsed such an underground river tunnel. part or most of Gloomforest might become a new (and stagnant) lake Then Elegrost Lake wouldn’t be draining anymore, the lake levels would just keep rising until a new river formed overland to the sea. Possibly backing up the Long River and breaking the banks at Boaton, then forming a new river past Eastgate to Coastal By The Sea. Towns like Warfton on Water and Lakesedge would probably become submerged and the surface area of Elegrost Lake might double.
There are similar problems with pretty much every other lake on the map. Plenty of rivers feed into them, but no rivers drain & connect them to other river systems or the sea.
Best conversation ever. I’m loving this! I’d draw maps all day to keep you all talking about this forever! I’m learning much!!!
Any small amusement I can provide is small return for these wonderful stories you’ve shared with us. Thank you, Rich.
There’s a lot more science I could be throwing at you. For quick example: Barringer Crater Arizona (often just called Meteor Crater) is a destructive event that would be small-to-moderate in comparison to the event that destroyed the Black mountain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_Crater
https://www.barringercrater.com/
The evaporation of an entire mountain would be more like the Krakatoa event, but still even larger:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1883_eruption_of_Krakatoa
I mention this because the YAFGC world would likely see about a full decade of suppressed global temperatures. There could well be two or three summers in a row where there is virtually no summer, just "less winter" in comparison to the real winters which are much more severe. The first summer after the destruction of the Black Mountain would be almost normal, but the following ones would catch up with a major global cooling event.
The Desolation of Ranna would be a band around the entire globe, spanning 20° to the North and 20° to the South of the Black Mountain where the worst effects would be felt. Deep winters, no or virtually no summer, several years of crop failure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer
The Mount Tambora eruption may be closer to the destruction of the Black Mountain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1815_eruption_of_Mount_Tambora
Also reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatepe_eruption
Anyway. This one action by Ranna would be felt for several decades. And so I propose that the time period (the first 10-30 years of this Age) and also the physical crater left behind might be termed "The Desolation of Ranna." And that’s not even considering everything else she is doing.
All that, though, and the Geologist in me is almost laughing at Ranna. Yeah, she did something truly horrible. But, on the scale of geologic time and the structure of the planet, she’s just a trumped up little psychopathetic nitwit. Smiting a single mountain is not very impressive at this scale, for a being that claims to be a goddess. This is almost a parlor trick that an extremely high-level wizard could pull off if knowledgeable and sufficiently motivated.
This is great stuff! I shall heed your science and research your points!! Though I confess that I had not previously considered the actual effect on the climate, there is what I considered a not-so-subtle clue going on in the art that the environment has changed in YAFGC world.
Any chance of getting a larger version of the map? I’m straining to see the smaller details and settlement names.
Great work!
You can move your cursor over the map, right click, and then click on view image. One more click and you’ll have a much bigger image. Or when you right click on the image the first time, save it, and then check out the map in your favorite image viewer.
Yeah, it’s 3,307px × 2,553px, bigger than most screen resolutions.
You could just save the image and resize it for your own screen. I put them in as printable 8.5×11 documents, the way I drew them.
When I open them on my screen they just fit themselves to the browser window.
Awesome! Thanks for the map!
Have you got a map for the other continent? The one currently ruled by an ex rogue halfling lady?
I do. It’s not of my own design, however, it was created by the GM of the D&D campaign wherein I played the original Eric of Drostardy. (YAFGC’s Eric of Drostardy is his grandson.) I got permission from him (Rob St.Martin) to use his map as part of YAFGC’s world.
Every city needs access to water, but also, cities need to be easy to defend — especially in a D&D world, with the constant threat of humanoid horde, mad necromancer’s zombie army, giant incursion, dragon attack, demon outbreak, etc.
So building the big city on a hill instead of just by the lake can make sense, if it’s a more defensible position.
I’m more surprised by the roads. That a large city like Tempul is off the side of the great axes is surprising, since it should attract roads. I’d imagine that the "traid on hub" would have drifted northward over the years to end up just outside Tempul. The North Way Road seems like it should either pass more southward to avoid the hills, or push further east to reach Tennequip and Flatbury.
Great info! Thanks! Naturally these maps were made in 1-2 sittings and being as how I have no deep education in geology or city planning, it’ll have flaws. The more I hear critiques, the better laid out the next interation of the maps will be!
Rich, beautiful maps! I could get lost in them for days!
I’ve recently begun learning how to use Profantasy’s Campaign Cartographer to make maps. When I saw your maps above, I was struck by the notion of using them as learning tool for the program.
Since it’s not my IP, I’d like to make sure you don’t mind, and would be happy to pass over to you the resulting work. I’m not looking to make any money or anything.
I’ve been doing campaign maps for my D&D campaigns for years (okay decades… I’m old), but obviously since I’m still learning the tool my progress may be slower than a professional would turn out. I’d use those old campaign maps in this effort but for three things. One, I’m not sure they were ever very good! Two, most or all have been lost to time (probably a good thing, see One). Three, I got inspired looking at your work.
Regardless of the above, thanks for doing what you do! YAFGC’s been a great ride all these years, and I can’t wait to see where else it goes!
My goodness, Geoff!
Thank you and yes please, I’m flattered to have you use my maps and I would really like to see how they turn out!! (Maybe you can help solve the lake drainage issue it apparently is having! Heheh)
I too have drawn a lot of maps back in the D&D days of honeycomb hex-paper and big-fat markers! Some of them I’m planning to translate into parts of YAFGC world, though they’ll need a bit of translater since they’ve got a real "teenager with a fistful of markers and hex-paper" feel to them.
Thanks for the maps! Are you planning on posting maps of Drostardy and the Uagi Desert one point too?
I’ll post them as I do ’em. I’m nearly done a Wyldwood/Dragonspine Mountains one.
Huh, Elegrost is closer to the Black Mountain than Greyfort. I didn’t expect that.
Indeed, I would have expected Greyfort to be quite close to the Black Mountain/Crater. Overall, it doesn't seem to be a terribly big kingdom, though.
Very nice map! Makes me want to fire up Campaign Cartographer, though taking up another project would be unwise right now 🙂
I thought Catianus and Adwen could see the black mountain when the beholder king kicked lolth out of it?
First off: I love the maps! ❤️
Second, my reason for commenting stemming from Trevor and the gift that he bears: Timeo Winnaloohoo-hoōs et dona ferentes? 😉