Hello Guild,

Like many of you, I am strongly immune to every known vaccine against cartographer’s fever (and yes, I’m referring to those people and/or circumstances that can dissuade the best of us from pursuing the delightful hobby known as mapmaking.) With that said, it should come as no surprise that I’ve been working on this project essentially since my last contribution, for a grand total of approximately five months of labour, interspersed with work and frequent cat feedings. I don’t mean to suggest that I’m completely satisfied with my final result; in fact, several aspects of the conworld are riddled with flaws, which collectively make my map somewhat implausible. For instance, my mountain building algorithm still needs some tweaking to produce more realistic mountains of the kind, for instance, that grace the work of Ilanthar, one of my exemplars. Additionally, my (implied) tectonics may not be the most realistic; but keep in mind that in this project, I simply prioritized aesthetic appeal over absolute realism. (Perhaps in an update I’ll include an animation of the tectonics.)

I’ve named this project “Deianerra,” who according to legend, was Hercules’ wife. I chose the name because, in 1994, I developed an infatuation with the stunningly beautiful actress Renee O’ Connor, who (back then) played the role of Deianerra in an episode of Hercules: the Legendary Journeys (before she won the role of Gabrielle in Xena: Warrior Princess). Another inspiration for this project also dates back to the summer of 1994, when my friend invited me to stay at his father’s cabin in central British Columbia (Canada) for a two-week camping adventure in a pristine wilderness. Ever since, I’ve been aspiring to flesh out the world of my dreams, an ideal Medieval-esque paradise closely modelled to (and inspired by) J.R.R. Tolkien’s work. Thus, Deianerra represents not only a beautiful young woman, but also a colossal, complex world that I’ve been daydreaming about during my menial jobs for about 99% of the last 25 years, no exaggeration. (I’ll leave it up to you to guess what the remaining 1% was spent doing, lol.)

Deianerra was cooked up entirely on Wilbur and Gimp, using a 10 year old dinosaur of a computer, simple because I cannot afford the coveted, higher-end programs such as Photoshop, nor can I afford to upgrade my computer or purchase a tablet/stylus. (Caring for a demanding senior cat is already costly enough for someone living in my situation, lol.) As you can imagine, I am constantly dealing with crashes and dysfunctional keys on my computer, which may account for the delay in this project’s completion.

Aside from crashes and dysfunctional keys, another roadblock I struggled to overcome was seaming together two different projections in an effort to create an accurate-looking equirectangular projection, with realistic polar distortion. (If you look close, you may notice the seam line.) I realize the entire process could have taken minutes rather than a month, if only I had access to Photoshop. (By the way, can anyone recommend a freeware program that has the capability of beginning with, say, an orthographic projection; then, after defining a pole or other reference lines, changing the projection to equirectangular? Doing it manually is very time consuming!)

Minus the visual rendering, I can assure that I’ve modelled the physics of Deianerra very accurately and painstakingly, including the solar system she belongs to, using the familiar world building formulas that are available on in the World Builder’s Cookbook and other Internet sites. I’ve calculated many physical aspects of the world, including the magnetic field, which, if you’re interested, was computed as a function of Deianerra’s rotation, age, and the size of its molten outer core (where the field is generated). The inset showing a cutaway diagram of Deianerra isn’t merely for show; rather, the breadth of each layer was calculated with precision assuming a largely Earthlike composition. (Don’t hesitate to critique if you notice any errors.)

The attributes for Deianerra’s home star (Rolphus) were generated using the website “www.rainman.astro.illinois.edu,” assuming a particular user-defined mass and metallicity; thus, I hope the luminosity data are accurate, for a wealth of further details hinges upon the luminosity value. I used Clima-Sim to model Deianerra’s climate, initially desiring a habitable polar region; so, for many days, I kept tweaking my semimajor axis, eccentricity and such until the software produced a climate that met my satisfaction. Regarding climate, you will notice that Deianerra has a rather high eccentricity—0.1067, which would make the planet’s total temperature fluctuate by about 30 degrees Kelvin from perihelion to aphelion. I don’t know if such a high eccentricity would produce a habitable climate over the long run; rather, I just relied on Clima-Sim’s output perhaps a little too faithfully. Thus, to discuss the ramifications, I’ve created a world where the temperature variation causes the sea level to fluctuate considerably between perihelion and aphelion (perhaps many meters?); unfortunately, I lacked any handy formulas or software to calculate the fluctuation precisely. (Can anyone help me here?)

If you’ve read to this point, thank you for your interest. If you have critiques or any suggestions on how I could improve my craft, I would be delighted to hear them. Like many of you, I dream to eventually work for commission and one day afford a lightning-fast PC or laptop, with the latest version of Photoshop and a tablet/stylus. My cat, on the other hand, would appreciate a seven-foot cat tree so that her highness could retire in luxury.

And if, perchance, you’re interested in a realistic world built for your novel, game, or hobby, simply send me a message.

And to everyone who has discovered the infinite joy made possible by the hobby of fantasy cartography: keep on churning out those maps!

Peter
Click image for larger version.  Name: Deianerra Final Map Scaled3.png  Views: 400  Size: 9.09 MB  ID: 118165

P.S. My original map exceeded the Guild's size restrictions, so I've had to resample the image at a much lower resolution. If you're interested in the full resolution file, please let me know. Alternatively/additionally, if someone could please inform me how to post an oversized file, I'd immensely appreciate your favour. Thank you so much!