The Phaeris Empire
The Phaeris Empire in its final form:
Long ago, the humans of the world fled their destoyed and forsaken homeland. In their pursuit for survival, the humans ventured toward the elder lands of Endaria. Upon arrival, they found nothing but sand. A vast and lethal desert. Some of the travelers wanted to turn back, some wanted to push forward in search of greener lands. Ultimately, this problem was resolved when a corrupt and ruthless general overthrew his equals and asserted control of humanity. He led his followers through the desert and toward the lush forests and coasts that were promised. In the midst of this betrayal, however, a group of people would not follow a traitor and stayed in the desert. Centuries later, these people continue to persist in the harshest environments the continent has to offer. These people, the Phaerians, slowly and quietly build up their strength. One day will will rise above their treacherous foes and take the land that belongs to the loyal.
For this map, I exclusively used Photoshop and my Wacom Intuos tablet. This is only the second time I've digitally created a map, so I'm still trying to find my workflow.
Given that the focus of the map is a desert empire, I spent a lot of time looking at Persian art for inspiration. While the map itself is rather ordinary in terms of style, the border was my fantasy interpretation of the old Persian styles. I acknowledge that it may be a bit derivative to associate Middle Eastern art with a fantasy desert culture, however, I'm glad I was able to admire and appreciate the art through my interpretion of it.
The colors I used are very intentionally bright and faded. I was going for an aged look without relying on torn edges or damage to the paper. I figured that a desert navigator would be holding this out beneath the hot sun regularly, so a faded look would fit tonally.
In all honesty, I didn't want to put the provincial or national borders on the map, but I made this map for a D&D campaign and the DM requested that it have the land boundries visible.
My WIP thread can be found here:
https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...089#post380089
Last edited by AlfansosRevenge; 07-18-2018 at 08:59 PM. Reason: After making some extensive tweaks to the map, I fixed this post to show the actual finished map.
You can definitely tell the Persian art influence. To me, it gives me flashbacks to the Alpiran Empire in Anthony Ryan's "The Raven's Shadow" series. I love the script used as it compliments the theme quite well. I also like the simplicity of the colours because I find it easier to relate to a desert environment. All in all, very well done. I hope to one day get my own skills up to this calibre. Have some rep!
That's very kind of you! I appreciate it
The colors make it look like the map had a bad case of sunburn. Not only does it work well with your setting but it also looks really nice ! Kudos for the idea !
As I already told in the WIP thread, I'm definitely fond of your colors : the feeling of a desert map is perfectly done, and the borders are an amazing touch of color that just reinforce the whole style. Congrats !
I'm pleased that everyone likes the colors. It's relieving to know that they turned out well. For awhile, I was considering getting rid of them to keep the map simpler. Clearly, keeping them in was not a mistake!
Interesting look, it certainly has some flair! And I'm very fond of your trees.
Personally, I'm most fond of the trees along the eastern edge of the map. Admittedly, I used Jonathan Roberts' tutorial on trees to guide my style: http://www.fantasticmaps.com/2016/04...rees-on-a-map/
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