Monday, April 11, 2011

Zagadur Isles

Here is a draft map for the default sandbox setting for Wounded Gaia, the Zagadur Isles (made in Hexographer).


To the north, fully exposed to the icy winds, are the Island of Ice and the Island of Ghosts. The Island of Ice was once, during the Age of Blossom a smaller island sporting a busy trading-port on a major shipping route; now, the ice chokes the crumbling ruins of this city, though much of its wealth still lies in waiting under the glaciers. The remnants of the Age of Blossom's Machines still roam this Island, and there are rumors of a temple for the inhumanly cold Koschei - the Clockwork God - located deep under the city. The Island of Ghosts used to hold a major Shaman's tower, but when the ice came, something terrible happened there, weakening the barrier between the Mortal World and the Realm of the Dead; the spirits and remains of the dead roam its cold rocks to this day.

Barin's Isle is exposed to the icy winds and blizzards in its northern parts, but the mountains along its spine shield its southern half from the cold wind, allowing massive pine forests to thrive there. Mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses and sabertooth cats roam these thick forests, and only the hardiest hunters dare to venture into their heart. Along the coast, however, lies the mixed Human-Dwarven fishing and trade town of Noringorod, and up in the mountains is the bust Dwarven mining-town of Barin's Stand, where the great Dwarven hero Barin Ironhelm made a stand against the creeping forces of ice and death that once threatened to topple the mortal settlement on this island. On the riverway Between Noringorod and Barin's Stand lies the forestry and trade village of Baringorsk, where weary barge sailors and traders rest on their journey to and from the coast/

The safest and most civilized island, relatively speaking, is Olav's Isle, shielded from the icy storms both by Barin's Isle to the north and by its own mountain range. In its heart lies fertile lands exposed by the receding sea level and filled with rich soil brought by the three rivers streaming down the Isle's mountains. The city of Olavsburg, the largest Human settlement in the Isles, lies at the mouth of one such river, and seven villages farm the fertile soil of this island. In the foothills of the mountains, a coal mine, an iron mine and a copper mine feed the craftsman's quarter of Olavsburg.

Chaotic Beastmen about on Ogokash Island, in the shade of Fort Ogokash where the dread Giant King reigns. From its frozen east to its grassy west, this island is choke-full of monstrosities and Beastmen wallowing in the Giant King's chaos, and, on occasion, raiding trading ships sailing between Noringorod, Olavsburg and Lesgorod.

The Cursed Island is a frightening place where ships and their sailors disappear in the sickly marshes where the accursed City of Arches, exposed when the sea level receded, reigns the landscape. Rumors tell of a horrible "god" - probably a major Spirit - who rules from that city and who is worshiped by the fish-men and wild Men of this island.

As its name implied, the Isle of Forests is mostly covered by thick pine forests, the home of wild beasts such as mammoths and sabertooth cats. The only settlement on this island is the town of Lesgorod, which trades in forest products, which is situated in the marches at the mouth of the Lesgorod River. Somewhere up on the slopes of the active vulcano which dominates this island lies the legendary Lost Dwarven Mine, a diamond mine now abandoned, where untold riches are rumored to remain buried underneath the rocks.

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