Around the B-Ring

I have been working on maps, but there hasn't been much time to post them.  On Saturday, I got completely around the world (with the B-Ring).  So here are those maps (note the pretty maps are on the bottom):

The eastern extension of Baffin island, which comprises no more than isolated villages.  Like
most of these maps, this will look much more familiar when the coast line is added. 

Across the Davis Strait from Baffin, this is the first real coastline that's emerged since Russia.  This
is the west coast of Greenland, which looks busy - but remember the hexes are 20 miles wide
and are therefore still mostly empty.  The three pink hexes on the far right represent a
piece of Greenland's east coast.

This is the Denmark Strait between the east coast of Greenland and Iceland.  That's Iceland on the
right.  The orange line is the 30th parallel west, and the remaining bits are the east coast of
Greenland.  Nearly all the way around.

And this is the east end of Iceland.  I'm not sure what that bit is higher up, left of centre; I'm fairly certain
it's Greenland stretching towards the east.  Jan Mayan land, for those who might be interested,
should be somewhere on the right hand side - but it has no permanent habitation, so
until I create coastlines for this map, it won't appear.

And this is the coast of Norway above Tromso, with part of Sweden to boot.  This part HAS been
made, and what a difference.  I remember how nasty was that coastline when I drew it - and then again
when I upgraded this map.

This, of course, is northern Finland, Sweden and Norway, with part of the Kola Peninsula of Russia.
The eastern shoreline around the White Sea is mostly occupied by an Elven Kingdom, Ulthua,
while northern Sweden is dominated by Gnomes.  But its a comfort that the left areas on this map,
Lansi, Nordland and Angermanland, are parts of human Sweden and Norway.

Last map; this is mostly the Gnoll Kingdom of Bjarmaland, divided between Glu'Bak, Gaa'Kaa and
Yak'Margug.  As a reminder, the darker gray areas are barren mountains, the lighter gray are
barren tundra and the yellow are muskeg swamps.  Jotunheim, at the top, is mythically
the Kingdom of the Frost Giants.  I haven't had anyone visit yet.

Going all the way around the world, then, that's 18 maps in the B-Ring.  The C-Ring will have 24.  Which is to say I haven't hardly begun to add maps ... but most of the ones above did not take much time, just plotting the few occupied hexes on a big empty nothing.  The coastlines for those will take MUCH longer.

Remember that these are pretty big maps - 600 miles by 700.  Yet it takes many dozens to even map the upper part of the globe. Thankfully, much of the globe is covered by empty ocean, which does not require detailed coastlines or even islands.  The B-Ring is, I think, the only one where all the way around the globe there are no sea-only maps.

But of course I'll have to see.

Empty Maps in Canada

So little to show, so little to show.  Was working heavily on my book last night.  Worse, I am working my way across northern Canada, which is sadly bereft of inhabitation:

It's very difficult even to imagine what part of the world this might be.  In fact, it is an area called
the Barren Grounds, stretching across what was once the Districts of Mackenzie and Keewatin,
 largely taken up by Nunavut today.  Empty.  Staggeringly empty. 

And this ... the 90th Parallel west, which would be approximately the north-west shore of Hudson Bay,
which I can use the European name for because it was discovered 40 years before the time of my world.  The map
(I think) would also include part of Baffin Island, along with Foxe Basin and the island of Southampton.
I wonder what on earth a party would be doing here?

City Workbooks, with Maps B-11 & B-12

There are a couple of maps further down, that I'm adding as I continue to work my way east around the world, between 62 and 73 degrees north. First, I've been doing some prep work for Spain, with the expectation of mapping it, and a very little bit of research work for Britain (specifically Ireland); those files can be found on the wiki.

A lot of the work I do has no immediate sexy impact, which is part of the reason I wanted to start this blog. I wanted to give a sense for how much time some of these things take, plus the fairly worthless way I spend my life (heh heh).

I admit that I probably do spend too much time mapmaking, when I could be working on redesigning the spells or characters like I was last year, or getting myself together to get work done on upgrading the monsters - but heck, I like maps. So here they are:

Here is the 60-degree turn in the hex map that matches the 150th Parallel west (or as I call it, 210 E).  This cuts
right through the middle of Alaska.  The square in the upper left is the previous map, B-10, overlapping.  The
top of the map would be the Beaufort Sea.

A dismal map, for certain.  Only the left side of the map is actually taken up by the Yukon territory.  The
drift of inhabited hexes (pink) from the bottom right to top middle follows the giant Mackenzie River, which
I'll end up calling something else for my D&D world ... if I ever figure out just what lives here.
A lot of big animals, probably.  And maybe stone giants.