The Necropolis of Ur (1 of 3)

[vexillation]

So, I've been a lurker on this site for a while, and I think I've finally worked up enough courage to post one of my own pieces! This is the Necropolis of Ur, part 1 of 3 detailing the gloomy, supernatural mysteries that have taken up residence in the locale.

Here is some additional flavor text that I penned for the piece, if you care to read...I like to put together maps for places that I've envisioned in my mind, sort of as a way to make them a bit more real. A lot of these make their way into my homebrew games, eventually (depending on what the players actually decide to do).

In the moldering tunnels that wind beneath the old city of Brayhurst lies a sprawling labyrinth of catacombs dating back to the time of the Lords of Aramoor, when Gallador was still little more than a tenuous alliance of smaller kingdoms, known as Galazon. The catacombs meandered through a natural network of karsts, fed into an immense necropolis, lined with looming towers and crypts that housed the remains of the venerated dead. After nearly a thousand years of interring the deceased, darkness began to fester in the shadows of the crypts there, and rumors spread of something sinister that walked the halls of Ur. The Duke of Brayhurst ordered that the halls be sealed off and that no one was to enter the necropolis again. Over the years, smugglers and other miscreants found hidden methods of reaching the tunnel system, which proved to be ideal for their activities. Nevertheless, after the necropolis had been unsealed, several of the townsfolk went missing, never to be seen again, and there were frequent sightings of shadowy things that walked the streets in the small hours of the night.



Anyway, thanks for looking! If you have any thoughts or questions, I'm always happy to answer or discuss!

[XCali]

I like it

The lineart is good. The warm colors of the light is good. I do have to point out the shadows. It doesn't conform incredibly well with the light sources. I'd suggest thinking about where light is not going to hit from the lanterns or whatever the sources are and crafting the core shadows accordingly. Your cast shadows are nice and soft, but yeah the lack of a bit harder core shadows does make the map pop less.

Still, that said, it is a really nice map. The color usage is also solid and I do like the stone texture. All in all a thumbs up.

[mapmage]

Oh man, I love a good necropolis! Spot on!

[vexillation]

I like it

The lineart is good. The warm colors of the light is good. I do have to point out the shadows. It doesn't conform incredibly well with the light sources. I'd suggest thinking about where light is not going to hit from the lanterns or whatever the sources are and crafting the core shadows accordingly. Your cast shadows are nice and soft, but yeah the lack of a bit harder core shadows does make the map pop less.

Still, that said, it is a really nice map. The color usage is also solid and I do like the stone texture. All in all a thumbs up.

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, I can see how the candles would probably cast some stronger shadows, but I figured they would be overwhelmed by the light shaft conducting daylight in from above, but you're right - I think the cast shadows could be reinforced a bit. The general ambient shadows were placed as a circular gradient in PS - what I could probably do is softly erase the shadows around the ancillary light sources and up the luminosity of the candles and that might do the trick! Seriously though, thanks for the insight! It's always nice to get input from someone who is seeing the work from another perspective!

[Kellerica]

I'm always a sucker for gloomy colour schemes like this, loving the palette used here. The water texture is a tad blurry when zoomed in to a 100%, but works well enough further away. I like the overall design on the place too.

Always glad to see lurkers emerge from the shadows. Welcome to the Guild proper!

[Adfor]

Taking me back to Naxxramas with this one.

Solid battlemap. My players would certainly love to play on this one, well done.

Also digging the small touch of backstory, I like your writing.

IR

[JogBrogzin]

Good to see you here vexillation. I'm pretty much the same, I've been lurking around forever. Made my first map in 1991 (or earlier if you count making maps in the editor for Repton 3) and shared my first one online in 2019