The Cartomancer's Map

[jshoer]

I've got a new project that's reached a nice point to show on the Guild!

Austable du lo Vellumi is the Master Cartomancer in the noble court of Hocaute, and this will be the map he uses to practice his magical art.



Cartomancy is a tricky but powerful magic: the cartomancer must first construct an accurate representation of the land as it is, and then alter the map to realistically capture changes to the land. Using glyphs and inscriptions based on the cartouches of cartography - windroses, scale bars, and so forth - the cartomancer casts the spell to make the changes take hold. The more dramatic the changes, the more painstakingly accurate the maps must be, which typically limits the ability of a cartomancer to alter the world with a simple flourish of the pen.

This is the map that du Vellumi uses for overall maintenance of the Barony. Adding a peninsula to shelter a harbor, diverting a river to improve crop irrigation - these tasks and others are within the cartomancer's power here. Other specialized maps are used for targeted applications. Du Vellumi even once accompanied the Baron out into the field as a battle-cartomancer - making trenches appear for the Baron's shelter, erasing orchards to deny the enemy supplies - but he prefers the familiar comfort and slower pace of work of his drafting laboratory.

Here's a closer shot, so you can see some of the detail work I'm doing with that pen a little better -



My plan is to finish out the linework for this map, and then I will take another piece of paper and start cutting out pieces to paste on top to make alterations. Each change will be surrounded by cartouches in another color ink. Until then, I am just having fun with a narrow pen nib and my sumi ink.

Oh, before I started, I searched this forum for the word "cartomancy" and I didn't find anything. Somehow, I was surprised!

[Badger]

Nice Pen and Ink, which is my favorite medium. Outstanding work! I love the idea of Cartomancy, very clever and original!

Del

[Kellerica]

It's already looking great! The border design is simple yet beautiful, and I love the layout of the land. Can't wait to see this developed further.
Interesting worldbuilding idea too, much storytelling potential there.

[Ifrix]

Ooh I love this and particularly the implications of Cartomancy. Would make region maps incredibly valuable and secretive things as you wouldn't want to let it fall into an enemy Cartomancer's hands

[Ilanthar]

Excellent, the frame in particular is a plain success! I remember seeing this on twitter.

[DrWho42]

i really like the idea of cartomancy. it kind of reminds me of borges' on exactitude in science

[jshoer]

i really like the idea of cartomancy. it kind of reminds me of borges' on exactitude in science

That is a terrific short story!

[rdanhenry]

Note that cartomancy is an existing word, meaning divination by cards.

[KMAlexander]

"carte"mancy could work, or perhaps "charta"mancy if you want the latin root.

This is a fun little project and narrative.

[jshoer]

Note that cartomancy is an existing word, meaning divination by cards.

::smack:: I can't believe I searched this forum to see if anybody had thought of the word -- but I didn't, like, google it! And then I inked the label.

Oh, well. I like "cartemancy," KM, thanks. I only inked the word once so far, so I might be able to alter the it...hmmm... If not, I can always pretend that "carto-" is still the correct prefix in the Romancish language I'm hinting at with the inscription on the border.

Anywho, I am glad you all like the concept! Speaking of the border, I have been considering whether I should do any more work on it. Maybe adding texture to the plates and blocks along the horizontal edges. I will have to go consult some old baroque maps. I'm still working with the line art before I get into the alterations. I decided to add a layer of freestanding trees around all the forests, and I think they look much cooler now. I also worked on the coastline a bit.

### Latest WIP ###