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The Urals at this point correspond two the modern oblasts of Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk - on the map they appear as 'Eykhoth' and 'Kord.' This is one of the richest mineral producing areas in the world, which was why I decided to assign the area to the Dwarves. Thus, these are both big Dwarven cities, and the central part of this map is under the Kingdom of Hoth. The lands around Great Bolger, on the west of the mountains, is 'Bulgrastan,' which is a left-over territory from the Mongol raids, always remembering that the Mongols were orcs (urukai). Bulgrastan is controlled by a hierarchy of ogres ruling urukai, so it's a mean little region. North of Bulgrastan is the Kingdom of Bjarmaland, land of the gnolls, while south of Bulgrastan, and showing partly on the southeastern corner of the map, is the great Jagatai Empire ... which I've linked to the real thing. My Jagatai, however, is occupied by orcs. The history comes pretty close to matching up, although the exact borders are a bit different (my version is larger, as it includes parts that Russia never seized in my game). Finally, the northeast corner of the map is occupied by the Kingdom of Magloshkagok, or that of the goblins.
The dwarves, then, are in a sea of enemy races, but the dwarves are easily the strongest, most protected force in the region; except for Bulgrastan and the ogres, Hoth is well able to manage their own affairs ... and there is always a way to stir up the orcs or the gnolls against Bulgrastan if need be, as the dwarves are very rich.
Very well. Further east, I've begun working on this map:
This shows the enormous flatlands between two great river basins, the Ob on the north, and the Irtysh on the south. Both rise in the mountains that border on West China, and as was shown on the previous map, they inevitably meet. The rivers are highways through central Russia ... and indeed create a means of travel that extends to the Yenisey, the Lena and the Amur, right across the Asian Continent. Each of these rivers flows generally north, and are deep. They have tributaries that are deep as well, and the tributaries run east-west; thus, the Russians in the 18th century were able to ride up a tributary of the Ob, portage to a tributary of the Yenisey (showing in the very top right corner), then ride down the Yenisey in order to find another tributary going even further east. Roads were unnecessary, as the whole continent could be travelled fairly quickly by water. This was the manner in which Russia conquered the top of Asia.
Of course, there were no orcs, hobgoblins, goblins and other creatures in the real world, so Russia wasn't met with formidable enemies. My world, on the other hand ...
The map above is divided into three entities; Magloshkagok on the northwest, the Jagatai Empire in the south, and the great Vostoch Empire, controlled by hobgoblins, in the northeast. Of these, the hobgoblins are the most warlike; but they are chiefly concerned with threats to the east of their Empire, and the great swamplands (shown above in yellow) of Vasyugan are virtually uninhabited.
I trust the reader is enjoying these. When I finish the Ob & Irtysh map above, I'll post it again.
