February 2019 Challenge: Angusta la Radieuse

[ThomasR]

Ok, time to jump in !

When I asked John to do an extreme make over of my « La Marche de Kanoba » map, he was kind enough to ask me what kind of map I thought I needed to practice and I was dumb enough to tell the truth. That’s why he asked me to do the capital city of the March, « Angusta la Radieuse » (Angusta the Radiant).

John asked about the city and here’s what I said.

First, let me tell you a bit about the March. It was a far province of the Old Empire (imagine ancient Rome). The Old Empire collapsed, eons ago, after a hard victory in the war against the Sorcerer King and the Father of Monsters breaking the territory into many satrapies no longer unified and the the idea of the Empire fell into the cracks of time to become a legend.

Angusta is a city located on the estuary of the river Serpentine. It was originaly separated in three parts :
- the western bank, now devastated ;
- the eastern bank, where the city endures ;
- l’Île aux Écailles (Scaly Island), doomed and deserted.
A terrible disaster hit the city not long after the fall of the Empire and nobody dared rebuild the western bank or the bridges leading to the island and no one has set foot on the island ever since (it’s been centuries).

Angusta was the name of Kanoba’s beloved wife.

The city is inhabited by roughly 10-12000 souls and has enduring antique buildings and new ones in the style of the early Middle Ages (think Charles the Great era, IXth century or so). No real castles at this time but big houses inspired by Roman Villa sometimes using natural features as fortifications.

John send me a bunch thumbnails for the display and I had to chose. I went for a square view in a circle and in a square (see images below).

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I decided to add some ornaments and go for a regular shaped paper sheet.

After some talk about it, we decided to keep a consistent style for the ornaments with a bit more flourish for Angusta. Also, due to the size of the region (about 1 km wide) I had to resize from A3 to A1 to get the level of detail I wanted. Let’s say it’s highly unlikely I’ll finish this one in time (I’ve got a lot going on these next few weeks including a big move and house renovation) but I’m gonna give John my best.

After playing for some (long) time with the paper, I ended up with something close enough to what he did and I’m finally done with the frieze (even if it needs some more tweaks where the parts overlay). Once I finish these ornaments, I'll have stalled enough, and it will be time to go and play with the map itself.

Here's an A4 version.

### Latest WIP ###


And I'd love to hear your thoughts on it

Cheers !

[Abu Lafia]

Oh, so much mappy goodness on the horizon! The border ornaments are awesome and i really like the general shape of the estuary. Looking forward to see this coming together.

[Josiah VE]

Nice start, I'm looking forward to seeing this progress!

[- JO -]

Now we are talking : first city map! So glad to see you in this particular challenge ! I’m sure you’ll pull out another wonder !

[Wingshaw]

Great start Thom! Looking forward to seeing the next stages.

Wingshaw

[J.Edward]

I'm glad to see this getting started.
I know you're busy, so do what you can as you can.
It's gonna be good. I like the way it's going so far.
This will nbe good to fill out your region and grow your personal map collection.

[Greason Wolfe]

I absolutely agree with the others about the border and ornaments, two things I am absolutely terrible at. Good luck with the map, the move, and the renovation.

[kacey]

This looks very promising, I love the texture and border elements so far... I’ll be watching this one for sure, great start.

[Diamond]

Ok, yet another awesome one right out of the gate. That is a unique and beautiful way to frame a city map! If I ever work up the courage to finish one, that's the way I'll frame mine.

[Voolf]

It is a promising start Thomas. So nice of John to discuss with you the commission
One questions. How do you do those nice borders? Its very similar to what John used in Kanoba. I always wanted to make something liem that, but i never have a good idea for the pattern, and have difficulties maing it so nice and clean.