Imperfect Maps

A world building info dump station.

[imperfectmaps]

Pit Stop Run #1 - Ezi and the Snow Monkey

yes -1

yes, and - 2

yes, but - 3

no - 4

no, and - 5

no, but - 6

Ezi’s character is a shifter who can turn into a snow monkey. He is a very patient man, but when angry, he’ll fight you. He is a fighter. Moral of the story, don’t make him angry. Don’t approach him from behind, either. Just don’t do it. He’s a pirate by trade. Since most of the cities in Pit Stop are on the coast, this is going to go well. Very well, I think. The goal of this campaign is to liberate the neighboring world. Snow, Ezi’s character, is here on Pit Stop to gather a crew.

Snow hails from the coastal town of Eros on the southwest continent of Pit Stop. Being a pirate, he has been all over the world and has seen many things. He is restless and has no intention of settling down until he has completed his mission of liberating the neighboring world. He’s very attractive and does not lack lovers at all. His true love is the ocean, though. 

SO IT BEGINS. 

Snow is walking down an alleyway in Eros and sees a group of thugs kicking a dragon egg around like a soccer ball. They don’t know what it is, but Snow knows exactly what it is and is enraged. Ezi rolls to shoot the leader in the leg. 

3 - yes, but one of the thugs tackles you. 

Ezi rolls to reach into their pocket and grab a knife and stab him in the side. 

1 - strong yes. 

Snow stabs the man in the side and shoves the man off of him. Snow needs to intimidate the thugs to get them away from the egg. Ezi wonders if they can convince the thugs to leave peacefully. 

4 - strong no. 

The thugs refuse to listen to reasoning, so Snow draws his gun. Ezi rolls to kill all but one. 

1 - strong yes.

Snow tells the lone survivor to leave immediately or he, too will die. He gets the memo and leaves. Then he picks up the dragon egg tenderly. Judging by the markings on the egg, Snow can tell that it’s a sea dragon. He’s seen sea dragon eggs before on a cliff. Ezi rolls to see if Snow has an existing ship.

6 - no, but he thinks he’ll win one in a competition. 

The other night, Snow went into a bar and entered into a shooting competition with a very drunk man who had a very nice ship. The shooting competition hasn’t happened yet, but the man said to come back to the bar the next night and they’d make it happen. So Snow goes back to the bar. The man is still there, and surprisingly, he remembers Snow. They set up a very small bottle in the bar’s backyard and whomever can shoot the bottle first wins. Ezi rolls to shoot at the bottle three times and then incapacitate the man with the rest of the bullets in the gun. 

6 - no, but you “miss” and shoot him in the head. 

Snow makes a break for it. Ezi rolls to see if he gets spotted by the authorities. 

2 - yes, and they don’t care. 

Turns out that nobody liked that guy, so the authorities see him, nod at him, and then move on with their lives knowing full well what he has done. He hides the egg and goes off in search of a crew. He goes to a tavern to scope out the clientele. He sees a man who looks like an ideal candidate for a first mate. He looks like a wolf on two legs and is very intimidating. Looks like he would be good at keeping order. Snow approaches him to talk about joining his crew. Ezi rolls for the result. 

4 - strong no.

The wolfman says no before Snow even opens his mouth. Ezi rolls to persuade the man. 

3 - yes, but he requires a drink in return for him hearing Snow out. 

Snow buys the man a drink and he talks about his mission. Ezi rolls to see if the man will join Snow’s crew. 

5 - no, and he says not to bother him again.

Ezi rolls to say goodbye to the wolfman by smacking his butt. Ezi rolls for success.

5 - no, and he throws Snow across the room. 

Tossed like a ragdoll across the room, Snow feebly draws his gun and aims at the glass next to the wolfman. Ezi rolls to see if he hits the glass.

2 - yes, and the man is now paying attention.

Snow clears his throat and asks once again if the man will join his crew. Ezi rolls for success. 

5 - no, and he comes over and kicks Snow in the stomach. 

Snow lays there for a second, pondering the meaning of life. After a while, Snow gets up and wants to fight. Ezi rolls for a result. 

6 - no, but he ends up attracting the attention of at least one other person who wants to join his crew. 

The man stops Snow from starting a fight and asks to speak with him. Ezi rolls to see if Snow even gives him the time of day. 

2 - yes, and he even buys the man a drink. 

[imperfectmaps]

A world in progress inspired by my character Basil (from the world Gaia). It's gonna be a ride. I worked on the volcanoes for about 2 hours alone. I'm very proud of it so far.

[imperfectmaps]

Today’s project - mapping my friend’s world, Porvillia! This features the first topographical map I’ve ever done and I’m really pleased with this set! It started on notebook paper and then I traced it in Autodesk Sketchbook. Paint-overs were done there, as well, but all the text was done on Canva.com! I am so glad that she asked me for help!

[imperfectmaps]

The Eryans Of Delan - The Emperor

After gaining the support of Ielle, Feyn was faced with the difficult task of keeping the peace in the rest of Delan. The Benvei cult still has strongholds in the wilderness, and they posed a serious threat to the stability of the Empire. He needed to show the rebels who was really in charge, and the thought grieved him. He did not want to resort to violence, but if he was to be taken seriously, he would have to.

He couldn't sleep one night, so he got out of bed and began to pace. What would Imi and Adan do? he thought. They had done all they could and still barely managed to keep the empire from crumbling. He would have to change tactics.

He remembered Imi's offer to help him gain power over life and death. He knew that it was unwise for him to tap into that magic. He decided to adapt her ruthless philosophy into something that would become uniquely his own.

Feyn was by nature a merciful man. He did not harm unless harmed first, and the nature of his chosen magic would not allow him to take an innocent life. Even when he was crafting weapons, he would never give someone a weapon they could use unjustly. He knew that for a time, this would have to change if he wanted to save the empire.

He thought back to the snakes that had protected him the night he was left to die, and as he went to the snake pit for morning feeding time, he got an idea. He picked the largest snakes in the pit and gave them a new purpose. He gave them humanlike bodies and the ability to speak and think for themselves. If he could not touch life and death, then he would use what he could. "Do what you can with what you have" became his motto and he reunited the Eryan Empire with it.

The snakemen he created that day became more than just his soldiers, they became his friends and advisors, as well.

People already found Feyn odd, but the snakemen were enough to raise alarm. Many of the old royal advisors handed in their resignations or fled the continent without explanation. This did not faze Feyn. Many of them were out of touch with the time and set in old ways. He needed to start fresh if he was to succeed. He chose his new advisors not for rank or status, but for their performance, wisdom, and ability.

He made his second in command none other than String. This was a wise choice, String had a sharp mind and acted decisively on many occasions. String knew Feyn well and they worked well together, another very important detail. String pointed out holes in Feyn's logic and was a calming influence when he needed one.

Another thing that people found odd about their emperor was that he showed no interest in finding a spouse, at least at first. People suspected that Feyn and String were lovers, but that was untrue. Feyn was viewed love as a distraction from his duty, but love soon came to him.

On his first military campaign, there was a group of rebels hiding out in a cave system in the East. Feyn himself pursued the group deep into the caves and was gravely wounded by a warrior wearing a striped mask that was more skilled with the sword than he was. He vowed that if he survived the wound, he would find the warrior again and best him in a duel.

What he didn't know was that the  warrior was a woman. She was the daughter of the former ruler of Tanna, a territory that fiercely resented the Eryan takeover. Her name was Eley, and her father had been killed in battle by Adan herself. Upon hearing the news of his death, she swore revenge against the Eryans, saying that she would kill the Eryan ruler or die in the process. She began her quest by training daily, both with magic and with weaponry.

At the age of twenty-two, she wounded Feyn of Delan, though she did not know who he was at the time. When she heard that she had failed in her mission, she went into hiding for many days.

While Feyn was healing, his head snakeman general, Nicholas, asked to make a final push against the rebels. Feyn agreed on one condition - that if he found a warrior wearing a striped mask, he would bring the warrior to him unharmed. Nicholas agreed.

A few hours later, the rebel force fell and the tall snakeman returned to Feyn carrying Eley, unmasked and unconscious. Eley was not what Feyn was expecting. He asked if Nicholas was sure that he had found the right person, and Nicholas said yes.

Feyn waited patiently for his enemy to wake, and when she did, she just stared at him. No one knows for sure what she thought for sure, but some legends hold that she saw a vision. Others say that she fell in love with Feyn at first sight.

Most, if not all sources agree that Feyn fell in love with her as soon as he saw her without her mask. Feyn could not bring himself to duel her, and instead she joined him on his journey.

Eley insisted that they return to Ielle at the end of his first campaign, and he agreed even though Ielle was very far away. She had heard the story of Feyn's large horse and wanted to see if it was true for herself.

They stayed in Ielle for three months and Eley helped establish a cavalry division for Feyn's army. All of this would be needed soon enough.

Eley would go on to say that the only constant thing in life is change. Her words would hold true in the coming years, for the Eryan Empire's greatest enemy was not found on Delan, nor was it even found on Doloras.

[imperfectmaps]

The Eryans Of Delan - Feyn

(A Doloras Story)

After the incident with the snake pit, Feyn Adare became the talk of the palace. Boss George, as the chief palace bully was called, was baffled. That runt was the first one to survive the snake pit. Everyone else they'd tossed in there had died within minutes. How did he survive, of all people? Why did he return to the snake pit every day? The boy must truly be magical, and magic was something that could not be tolerated.

The bullies didn't see Feyn around much anymore now that he was no longer a blacksmith in training. Feyn's new role as chief cupbearer made George angrier - teenagers came from all over Delan to try out for the role and the runt impressed the empress just by surviving a pit of snakes for one night? Impossible. He must have charmed her, too, somehow. George promised himself that he would get to the bottom of this.

In the meantime, the empress Imi was also impressed with Feyn. He was talented with magic, and that was admirable. She saw his potential, especially because he started his training so young, and offered to train him to use life and death to achieve his goals. He politely refused, saying that he should not be trusted with that kind of power. He knew he would not use it wisely.

This was true. He had frequent dreams that he decimated entire armies with the nod of his head, that he could raise a hand to the sky and summon the full power of the heavens. He knew that he could have that kind of power if he wanted it. He knew better than to want it. If he called that power into his life, there would be no getting rid of it.

Once someone chooses magic, his adoptive mother once told him, the magic honors that choice and it is with them for life. Many people in that day and age viewed magic as a plaything, something that they could control, and they paid for it dearly. In his Book of Magic, he wrote -

"Be careful how you use magic. It is never something that is in your control. You are simply a vessel, you can only channel it. It is, has been, and will eternally be bigger than you.

Choose your magic the same way you would choose your dearest friend - wisely and cautiously. What do you hope to accomplish? Who will benefit? Who will suffer? Does one outweigh the other in your mind? Ask yourself why.

Do not shy away from profound questions, for that is the only way you will come to know yourself and know your true power."

Imi respected his decision and praised the boy's wisdom. She knew that someday he would be more powerful than her. She also knew that she was not to be afraid.

While serving as cupbearer, he learned the importance of paying attention. Adan trusted many, and a few of the people she trusted were not worthy of that trust. As he served at meals, he heard many things. Though he was young, he knew more about the world than many of his peers and indeed more than many of the noblemen. He knew who was trustworthy and who was not. In his years in his position, he learned of several plots to take Adan's life. He relayed the information to Imi, and they worked together to eliminate the threats.

A time came where Imi and Adan returned the favor. Feyn went to visit the blacksmith's shop where he used to work one fine spring day. Boss George and his cronies praised him excessively, and Feyn knew that something was wrong. He informed Imi of his concerns, and Imi listened. That night, the pale Empress herself paid the bullies a visit.

The lone survivor of the visit was a small boy known only as String. He had no idea why he had been spared. He later asked Feyn why Imi had passed him over. "She knew your heart," Feyn replied. "You don't have any malice there."

Feyn took String under his wing and helped him heal from his time under Boss George. He even taught String magic.

When the time came to help Imi condense the laws of the land, Feyn helped by researching the things that Imi needed him to. In the process, he learned many things about the world outside the palace walls. All of this helped him in his next stage of life.

Shortly after all of the laws were compiled, both empresses died, leaving behind a power struggle. In order to keep Delan from falling into ruin, he devised a contest to determine the empire's next ruler, one he had no intention of winning.

The city of Ielle in the far west of Delan had a problem with a wild  horse. No one knew how to get him to calm down. The governor of Ielle agreed to support whomever could soothe the horse as ruler. Ielle's support was crucial to the Eryan Empire, for it was the second largest city in Delan. Feyn knew next to nothing about horses, but he suggested that as the contest that would determine the future ruler of the Eryan Empire.

Upon arriving in Ielle, Feyn noticed some important things about the horse in question. First, the horse was enormous. Second, though he was large, he was afraid of his own shadow. Feyn kept that knowledge to himself so that when the time came for the contest, he might have some idea of how to win.

It seemed like the whole city gathered to see the high and mighty imperial men try and do anything with the horse. Feyn's contenders failed one by one to calm the huge creature. Then it was Feyn's turn. He approached the horse slowly and calmly spoke to him as he turned him away from his shadow. The horse began to settle. The citizens were astounded. Why hadn't they thought of that? After a time of stunned silence, the city knelt before Feyn and declared him emperor.

[imperfectmaps]

The Eryans Of Delan, Part 2 - Wars, Revolutions, And A Pit Of Snakes

(a Doloras Story)

In the twenty third year of the reign of Adan and Imi, there came a great wave after an earthquake that destroyed the trading port of Sharr. This port was vital to the Eryan economy. Many people were quick to blame the gods, but even more people blamed the Eryans for not providing Sharr with the defenses necessary to withstand the great wave. Most of the people that blamed the Eryans were not Eryans themselves, but rather vengeful conquered peoples that desired the downfall of the Eryan Empire. The local governors, who were loyal to their empresses, tried to quash the rebels. They were unsuccessful. The rebels shattered a fully trained force of ten thousand strong at the Battle of Mella in central Delan. This incurred Imi's wrath and she sent a squadron of Immortals to crush the new rebellion. They were met with fierce resistance and ended up getting choked off and slaughtered at the Battle of Kypher Pass under mysterious circumstances.

The stories say that the brave King Idas sacrificed himself to slay the remainder of the undead army. Nobody knows for sure what the truth is or what the sacrifice was. People say that they've hiked through Kypher Pass and heard mysterious whispers and seen visions of a massive explosion and writing on the mountainside, but as it is in Ancient Eryan, it is indecipherable.

Wars and rumors of wars rocked Delan for the next decade. Some deity was aiding the rebels, it seemed, a deity that was angry with the Eryans. The Eryans had disrespected him, he told his priests. He was the one true deity, the father of all, and the Eryans had spat in his face by worshipping other gods before him. He would visit the Eryans with swift vengeance if they didn't turn their hearts to him.

The Eryans did not take kindly to being told to abandon their long standing traditions. They stood firm in their beliefs. Things only changed when a prophet came from the East, a man of visions speaking for this new deity. His name was Len.

He arrived in Sharr shortly before the great wave destroyed the city and was driven out for his controversial views and thoughts on fate and the soul.

He preached in public and wore beggar's clothes. He gained popularity among the rebels and the oppressed, a growing majority in Sharr, and he led them from the city a few days before the earthquake and wave, thereby sparing them from the destruction of the city. Following the fall of Sharr, he was hailed as a prophet. He began to travel around Delan, preaching his message to ever growing crowds of people.

His message had the opposite effect of what he intended. It lit a fire in the hearts of the people, one that could only be put out by ruthless bloodshed. He did everything that he could to stop it, but once the revolutions began, there was no way to undo what he had started. While he had told the truth, the oppressed majority took it to heart a little too well, and his patron deity favored them in their conquest.

Modern sources call him Benvei, a New Delani word meaning 'vengeance'. We now believe that he did not have a proper name when he was worshipped in ancient times and was instead referred to as Majesty.

It is impossible to truly discern whether or not Benvei was good or evil, for there were both good and evil things that came from his period of worship. The revolutions brought about much loss of life, but they also taught the Eryans a thing or two about administration, things that have found their way into modern law through word of mouth and tradition. The Eryan dynasty managed to survive the rebellions, and Imi's final act before she died was to condense the scattered imperial laws into a concise, orderly text, gathering inspiration from Benvei's words, the Delan cult, and the traditions of the entire continent.

Adan died shortly before Imi, and they left behind no clear heir. The heir that they chose was but ten years old at the time and was frail, sickly, and easily disposed of. Rumor has it that the captain of the guard got rid of the child and set himself up as emperor, but he, too disappeared. The throne fell to the most unlikely of candidates - Adan's favorite cupbearer, who was but nineteen at the time.

Feyn Adare was a gentle soul who had fallen upon hard times as a child. His mother and father died when he was six years old in a house fire, and he was taken in by a beautiful and kind enchantress who found him crying by the side of the road, half starved. He would spend the next six years learning the art of white - or good - magic. When he was twelve, he was sent to the imperial court to get a proper education. There, he learned the arts of swordplay and metalwork. He infused the weapons he crafted with his power and would not let a person leave with a piece he had crafted unless it fit them perfectly. The other boys were jealous of his gifts and the favor he earned from the palace blacksmiths, and they conspired to get rid of him.

They snuck up on him in the dead of night, catching him off guard. They threw him in a pit full of snakes and left him for dead. It was the next day that Feyn got the name his is now known by, for Feyn means snake in New Delani.

Adan came walking near the pit of snakes the next day because she had heard the other boys snickering about the boy they had dumped in the pit the night before. She went to see if what they were talking about was true and to give the boy a proper burial if need be. Nobody deserved to die alone in a pit of snakes. But to her surprise, she found Feyn very much alive, sleeping peacefully, surrounded by snakes that were keeping watch over him in case of further intruders. Adan called to the boy and the snakes began to charge her. Feyn woke with a start and rebuked the snakes, who listened to him. Adan was so impressed that she made him chief cupbearer and to the end of his days, he returned to the pit of snakes to feed them every morning before dawn.

[imperfectmaps]

Imi and Adan

(a Doloras Story)

A map of Doloras, the world in question, is at the bottom of this post. Delan, Adan's continent, is found at the bottom left.

According to the Dolorans best informed in history, the Eryans began the quarrel. They came over the Northern mountains in such great numbers that many supposed that they were invaders, but many modern sources suggest that they entered the Wide Plateau virtually unopposed. A few others suggest that the Eryans overtook a technologically advanced civilization and erased them from history by destroying the keys to deciphering their written language and monuments, but those sources are few and far between and I personally do not believe them. 

There is evidence that a civilization existed before the arrival of the Eryans. They had advanced sanitation systems and a written language. Even the most uneducated archeologist will agree with me that this old civilization vanished long before the Eryans arrived, leaving behind only ruins. 

In any case, the Eryans largely ignored this older civilization, bringing their language and culture over the Northern mountains and into the Wide Plateau. This language is no longer in existence today and no living languages are descended from it. All we now know about their culture comes from archeology and translations of translations of their literature, for all of the original documents have been lost for centuries. 

The greatest of the Eryans, Adan of the Berka clan, brought about the Eryan golden age when she conquered all of the neighboring tribes and claimed the continent for her empire. She named the continent Delan after her patron goddess, and it still bears this name today. 

In a bold move, Adan took a wife from Cheli, the chief enemy tribe of the Eryans. She was beautiful, ambitious, and intelligent. Adan saw this from the start and was determined to marry her. At the point where they met, Adan was only beginning her conquest and Imi, as her wife was called, was the most desirable woman on the continent. Men from everywhere came to court Imi, for her father, Astya, was a very wealthy high nobleman and they wished to gain his favor, marry his daughter, and thereby be wealthy for life. Astya was in for the shock of his life when Adan's honor guard found their way to his doorstep in a rainstorm carrying Adan, badly wounded and dying. They asked for his daughter, whom they heard was the best healer in the land. 

He recognized that Adan was his enemy, but he'd also been having dreams that his daughter would marry the conqueror of Cheli and their kingdom would benefit from it. His dreams were never wrong, so he agreed to take her in. Adan was sick with a high fever for many days. Imi took care of her. She worried for seven days and seven nights as her patient slipped in and out of consciousness, doing all she could to heal her. 

On the eighth day, Adan began to feel better. Imi came into Adan's room with breakfast to find Adan trying to sit up. Imi wept from relief. Adan was confused as to where she was and why there was a fair skinned woman weeping in front of her. Adan introduced herself in Eryan, and to her surprise, Imi replied in the same language. Adan quickly learned where she was, who Imi was, and that her loyal honor guard hadn't left the house while she recovered. Adan asked bluntly why they hadn't killed her. Imi explained that her father was a man of visions and that he must have seen something, for not even her many suitors were allowed in the house while Adan healed. Adan would never know what Astya saw. 

Three days later, Adan asked Astya for Imi's hand in marriage, for she knew that that was the only way she'd ever see Imi again. She timidly approached Astya and asked for permission to marry his daughter. His laughed and wept. His reply was "if she agrees, yes." Imi did agree, but Adan had to go to war and finish her campaign again before they could get married. Adan made Imi a promise that she would return in six months with the whole continent under her control. True to her word, she arrived at Imi's doorstep at sunset on the final day of the sixth month of her absence, having finally brought Cheli under her rule peacefully the day before.

One of Imi's suitors, a man named Areus, refused to go quietly. He believed he was entitled to Imi's hand because he was the most handsome man in his tiny fishing village on the northeast coast. He convinced the rest of the suitors to attack Adan the day before their wedding ceremony. Imi learned of the plot and tried to warn Adan, but it was too late. The suitors had already surrounded Adan and she was outnumbered. There were thirteen suitors and only one Adan. As she watched her fiancée fight off the suitors, something inside her snapped and she began to sap the life forces of all of the men attacking Adan. 

They all fell to the floor one by one, leaving Areus as the only suitor left alive. He pleaded for mercy, but Imi was not kind to those who were cruel to her or those she cared about. She snapped her fingers and he fell to the ground, lifeless. Adan respected Imi even more now that she knew about her power. There were many times during her long reign that she could have asked Imi to use her gift, but she never did. Imi decided to do that all on her own, and her army of Immortals became one of the reasons that the Eryan Empire became feared for centuries. 

Over time, Imi came to the conclusion that her gift was useful and helpful. She used it to reanimate fallen soldiers to create an unstoppable, unfeeling force that could crush a city in a matter of hours. Imi became known to most of the Eryan conquered territories as the Pale Horsewoman. She struck terror into the hearts of all who saw her with the exception of Adan, who loved her fiercely.

[imperfectmaps]

whiteboard doodles!!!

I'm streaming tomorrow at 9 PM Pacific and doing more stuff like this.

Twitch

Twitch is the world's leading video platform and community for gamers.

[imperfectmaps]

The Adventures Of Blaida, pt 2

Y'all may remember Blaida from the last post. You might know how she defeated a goddess with a diagram that was just too gorgeous for this world. You might know that she is very good with throwing knives. But here's a story about Blaida that you don't know yet.

After the incident with the pesky goddess, people came to her for advice on how to escape pacts with their deity overlords. She refused to help them unless they were able to solve a very complicated math problem. Nobody managed to solve this math problem until a very handsome man approached her. He introduced himself as Fyne, which means death in the language of magic. No one bore that name lightly. Now, Blaida was very old at this point and had nothing to lose. She asked him to solve her math problem, and he solved it with very little trouble. So she invited him in for tea.

After some small talk, she asked him why he was there, really there. He said that he was there to take her with him to the afterlife. She was so stubborn, he said, that he had to come collect her in person. She told him "damn right, I am, come back when you have a better reason to take me."

Fyne had heard of her fearsome stubbornness, so he determined to be just as persistent. He knew that force was not the way to go - he had heard of her prowess with knives - so he determined to win her over with his charm. He sent her flowers, he called her on the phone. He respected her boundaries and never returned to the house, but made sure that she knew he cared. Over time, Blaida began to care for her gentleman caller, Death himself.

He found himself laying awake thinking about her one night and that's when he realized that he had feelings for her. Fyne never fell in love with anyone. He knew what would happen if he brought her to the afterlife - he would never see her again. That was the rule. Fyne was bound by eternal law to not fraternize with the spirits in the afterlife. After much debate, he called her in the morning and asked to come over. She said yes. Blaida usually took pleasure in solitude, but she'd been wanting to see Fyne for some time. Today was a special day. It was a leap year. Pit Stop's orbital period was imperfect - the world orbited its star at a rate of 300.3333333 (repeating, of course) and 1/400th days. In other words, there was a leap year every three years to compensate for the imperfect orbital period. This was one such year. Blaida had a surprise for Fyne if he came around on this day.

On Earth, women could propose to men on a leap day. In Pit Stop, though, women would give men melons and ask them to be their partners. Blaida wished to do this, but he had to pass a special test first - he had to present her with a math problem that she could not solve. If he managed to do this, then he would be welcome to come in and receive her surprise.

Fyne came around with a surprise of his own, a melon, which was both of their favorite fruit. The problem he posed to her was "Do you know why I haven't come around before?"

Blaida simply chuckled. "Because you care about me and it doesn't add up?"

Death himself blushed and said, "You know me too well. May I come inside?"

"Absolutely," Blaida said.

There was an awkward silence and then Blaida said "you know what day it is, don't you?"

Fyne said, "Leap Day?"

Blaida smiled. "Indeed. I have something for you."

She went into the kitchen and halved a tiny melon. Fyne was left waiting, so he tossed his melon around and ended up dropping it and shattering it all over the floor. Blaida said "don't worry, I have you covered" and handed him one half of her melon with a wink. They cleaned up Fyne's melon and then kissed. Fyne called his assistant in the afterlife and said "I quit. I've been given a melon."

The assistant took a quick note and said "Duly noted, sir. See you around."

Fyne granted Blaida two things - eternal youth and an eternal supply of melons. They got married and remain that way in Tecumseh-Sherman to this day.

[imperfectmaps]

I was thumbing through old pictures on my Facebook and beheld this beauty.

I'm normally not highly interested in diagrams, but this is a SEXY diagram. I am surprised I ever FORGOT this diagram in the first place. So I must tell a Pit Stop Story with this accursed diagram that I make up on the spot.

There was once this tiny mathematician in the eastern adjoined cities called Tecumseh-Sherman collectively about 200 years back. She was regarded in the local university as being the best mathematician in the history of Tecumseh-Sherman, if not the world. There was one catch. She was a jerk, even to people she liked. And if she disliked you, hooooooweeeeee, were you in for it. She was highly skilled with throwing knives and if you were caught whispering to a neighbor in her classes, you'd get your hair chopped off by a thrown knife without warning.

One student got tired of her bull and made a pact with a local minor goddess that if she was to take this mathematician down, he had to do whatever she wanted. He reluctantly agreed.

It turned out that the mathematician had made a pact with the same goddess when she was five, which granted her supernatural powers of calculation at the expense of a horrific headache that would never end unless she did the one thing that pleased the goddess - make a beautiful diagram. The mathematician HATED diagrams. She continually chose the headache over the diagrams because they annoyed her that much.

The goddess was displeased with this distinct lack of diagrams, so she was excited for this pact. This new person was not about diagrams, either. So when he learned that the mathematician had experienced the same thing for years, he wrote her a letter. She received it, read it and the two of them decided to take down this goddess in revenge for the headaches and for asking them to draw crappy diagrams, differences aside. So they worked together to draw a diagram so beautiful that it would cause the goddess to release both of them.

They worked for three days and nights and created the world's most beautiful diagram. They summoned the goddess, who looked the diagram over. She wept, shouted "it is finished" and released them from the pact. They went back to their usual distaste of one another, only now they acknowledged one another in the university halls. The end.

[imperfectmaps]

This mathematician is still alive. Her name is Blaida and she is so stubborn that she can ward off death.

[imperfectmaps]

I was thumbing through old pictures on my Facebook and beheld this beauty.

I'm normally not highly interested in diagrams, but this is a SEXY diagram. I am surprised I ever FORGOT this diagram in the first place. So I must tell a Pit Stop Story with this accursed diagram that I make up on the spot.

There was once this tiny mathematician in the eastern adjoined cities called Tecumseh-Sherman collectively about 200 years back. She was regarded in the local university as being the best mathematician in the history of Tecumseh-Sherman, if not the world. There was one catch. She was a jerk, even to people she liked. And if she disliked you, hooooooweeeeee, were you in for it. She was highly skilled with throwing knives and if you were caught whispering to a neighbor in her classes, you'd get your hair chopped off by a thrown knife without warning.

One student got tired of her bull and made a pact with a local minor goddess that if she was to take this mathematician down, he had to do whatever she wanted. He reluctantly agreed.

It turned out that the mathematician had made a pact with the same goddess when she was five, which granted her supernatural powers of calculation at the expense of a horrific headache that would never end unless she did the one thing that pleased the goddess - make a beautiful diagram. The mathematician HATED diagrams. She continually chose the headache over the diagrams because they annoyed her that much.

The goddess was displeased with this distinct lack of diagrams, so she was excited for this pact. This new person was not about diagrams, either. So when he learned that the mathematician had experienced the same thing for years, he wrote her a letter. She received it, read it and the two of them decided to take down this goddess in revenge for the headaches and for asking them to draw crappy diagrams, differences aside. So they worked together to draw a diagram so beautiful that it would cause the goddess to release both of them.

They worked for three days and nights and created the world's most beautiful diagram. They summoned the goddess, who looked the diagram over. She wept, shouted "it is finished" and released them from the pact. They went back to their usual distaste of one another, only now they acknowledged one another in the university halls. The end.

[imperfectmaps]

There is also a small town outside Protagonist called Espionage now.

[imperfectmaps]

Break Before Shining

slavetomyheadcanon: “tiredscarfman: “ cynthrey: “ saltycorgie: “ delta-toons: “ softmushie: “ aquascribbles: “ cartooncommubackup: “ dooojoj

Because of this fabulous post, I require a hat shop filled with hats in Pit Stop that control you in this world. The owner of this store is taken as a magic user at first, but some kids investigate them further and find that they are a mad scientist. A very mad scientist....with a vendetta against this one government official who is addicted to buying hats and retail therapy in general. They're hoping to control this government official to get revenge for humiliating them about ten years prior.

I am thinking that this shop is in the center of Protagonist, a city close to the south of the world. Perhaps also close to a train station so that the hats can be distributed throughout the continent and get sold after their owners are desperate to get rid of them. The scientist is also thrilled to get any information they can get from the hats' owners. #espionage

[imperfectmaps]

Info dump part 1: The City Of Nyx

Hello, I am here and brainstorming. I hope that you’re ready for this because this could be a long entry. One of my friends was asking about a city called Nyx, located on the west coast of the bottom right continent.  I am still working out the finer details of the world, but I had this idea where most of the people on Pit Stop’s equator are specially adapted to the climate after centuries of inhabiting Pit Stop and sometimes intermingling with one another, creating a very hardy bunch of people. Nyx isn’t quite on the equator, but it still gets quite warm there. As a result, there are people adapted to that particular climate there that aren’t adapted to the climate of slightly further north.

That aside, Nyx is a gambling town in every sense. People place bets on damn near everything, even whether a certain kind of bird will fly overhead at a certain time. A lot of the people give off strange vibes and once someone learns a person is from Nyx, they generally treat that person with caution.

People from Nyx are very superstitious as a whole. They are also deeply religious, with many people devoting their lives to the service of Felix, patron god of the city, luck, and happiness. If Felix is angry at a person, he will bring to them misfortune, depression, and in rare cases, an early death. They rely heavily on divination in their worship, trying to determine whether Felix - and therefore luck - is on their side. In exchange for luck, many people donate large sums of money to Felix’s temples. Most of Felix’s temples are corrupt and their priests are among the wealthiest people on the continent. Youngest sons of high nobility that possess magic powers are often sent to Nyx to study to be priests and thereby get rich.

The life of a Felix priest is not supposed to be an easy ride, but many think it should be. The doctrines that Felix revealed involve sharing money with the  poor and those who have fallen upon hard times, but the priests often hoard the money for themselves and give it to those they deem worthy, usually their friends and family.

That being said, Felix priest candidates must be: male-identifying, over the age of 21 (or their species’ equivalent), and in possession of magic abilities. Anyone who is found to worship a false god as a priest (read: use science) is put to death immediately. Science and technology are forbidden on temple grounds regardless of priestly status. To them, magic is the superior way of life even though both magic and science do the same thing.

The priests want science to be banished from the city, but the city’s government is supported financially by scientists and scientific corporations. This has been an ongoing conflict for centuries. Until they are able to create a majority in the city’s assembly, science is here to stay.

The townsfolk are pro-science because the priests are so awful and corrupt. They are tired of the theocratic Felix priests and how they treat the poor and worse off. They look to the scientists for help. Most of the scientists are compassionate and are willing to train the townsfolk in their ways, especially if it means that the scientists can unseat the Felix priests.

There’s no outright armed conflict in the city of Nyx, but there is a war for the minds of the people. Most of the influence that both magic and science users wield is gained through propaganda and public displays of their abilities. Science is viewed in Nyx as a sort of “magic for the common man”, something that can be learned and not bestowed or inherited. This is another reason magic has been unable to gain a foothold in the city’s assembly.

[imperfectmaps]

Things Get Political!

Not political as in modern political. Enjoy a political-ish phase in the Pit Stop map’s development.

[imperfectmaps]

The evolution of the world called Pit Stop (working title).

It all started off with half a cup of rice and a bunch of 8.5 x 11 inch sheets of paper. This half cup of rice helped the continents of Pit Stop take shape. I arranged the rice into mounds and traced their rough outline. 

I couldn’t stop with just one, two, or three continents. Instead, there were 8. That was the original map, It didn’t quite turn out that way in the end. I found one of those medium sized Priority Mail boxes we have in the United States and Mod-Podged the heck out of it. (Mod-Podge is decoupage paste that will make paper lay flat and be glossy, almost like magazine paper.) I have an entire notebook of sheet music paper that I covered the box with. It looked something like this when I started adding the continents that I cut out from the original drawing.

I added one more continent, then Mod-Podged it all together so it would lay mostly flat. Adding latitude, longitude, and cities to the map in a Mercator-projection style tied everything together:

As you can see by the image, this map is far from perfect. The equator line goes all over the place. I didn’t use a ruler to draw the latitude and longitude...whoops.

I wanted to see how this 2D map projection stacked up against a 3D globe, so I found a website called MapToGlobe that allowed me to do this.

Today, I decided to create a clean copy of the map on Autodesk Sketchbook because that map as it was was a little chaotic:

This is how it began.

I added several geographical features to the map -

and put it back through MapToGlobe...

Moral of the story...MapToGlobe is badass. So is Sketchbook. I highly recommend both.

[imperfectmaps]

Welcome to Imperfect Maps!

This is where I will put things related to fictional cartography and the worlds I create for stories and roleplaying games. My conlang blog is sineconlang.space. There will be some crossover between the two, so brace yourselves for some linguistic tomfoolery along with cartography. Stay tuned.