The new world map for Khoras has been posted to the web site. Rather have having three separate continents, I'm just going to treat it all as one unified world. I'm putting several sizes online – ranging from low resolution (and small file size) to ludicrous resolution (and gargantuan file size). I personally recommend either the 10,000 pixel or 20,000 pixel versions, though they will take awhile to download on older, slower internet connections.
This is actually the fourth incarnation of the Khoras map, so I'm calling this version 4.0. I will put the three previous incarnations of the Khoras map online as well for comparison. The Khoras map has come a long way from that initial hand drawn paper map.
Just like newly released software, I will likely discover a few "bugs" in the map that I need to fix. There are also a few things that I didn't have time to include in this initial release. So, I'm going to tweak the map a bit, add a few things, fix a few things and then publish a slightly updated "version 4.1" later in August sometime.
This new world map has dozens of small changes. A few towns had their name changed. Some kingdoms have new cities and towns. Other things shifted location slightly. For the next few weeks, I will be making minor adjustments throughout the web site to match the changes on the new map.
I'm also going to spend time this August putting new "nation maps" up. These will replace the existing nation maps. The new nation maps will be higher resolution and will include roads and a bit more detail.
Some of the geography in the new map has shifted a bit.
The southwest region of Ithria (Karth and Myria) was enlarged and altered. Karth is also a much smaller nation now, which I think makes sense given the small population of the Karthasians.
The Border Clans region that lies between Anquar and Padashan has been adjusted. It now lies truly between those two big nations and forms more of a barrier (as it was intended to do).
The Pieces of Eight campaign, which is nearing its conclusion, introduced lots of new things and those have all been included on the map now. Some of those additions include the city of Qazadeen, the city of Salhanrasha, the port town of Pujar, the ruins of Jaruska, the narrow canyon leading into the Border Clans known as "the Throat" and the ruins of Katroda – just to name a few.
The single most significant change is probably the city of Vogue. I have moved the entire city more than two thousand kilometers. It is now down south near Drakkel and it is now a formal member city of the Drakkellian Alliance. There were several reasons for this. Vogue never really made sense where it was and it was a bit of an anomaly in the north. Realistically, a city of wealth, art and culture with little military strength would have, long ago, been annexed by Vorrik or been razed by an orc horde or suffered some similar fate. The wealth and culture of Vogue fit far better with the Drakkellian Alliance. Also, as a member of the Alliance, it would enjoy some measure of military protection. Overall, I think it just fits better as part of the Alliance.
Speaking of that, the Drakkellian Alliance is going to get a bit of a face lift in the near future. It's supposed to be an economic and military alliance of five separate, independent major cities and several smaller towns. Now that Vogue has moved down into the Alliance, there are two major cities there. The other three towns will get upgraded to full cities one by one.
So that's it. The new map is finished and online. I hope everyone likes the new map.
Comments, critiques and questions are welcome.
An interactive version of the map is online now. It's functioning correctly, but it's also very much a work in progress.
Wow! That's a lot of big changes all at once. I guess I'll have to sit down sometime and do a deep dive pretty soon, and get up to date. Glad to see that the world is still growing and improving!
Thanks. yeah, the new map was a pretty big project. It incorporates many small changes that have accumulated over the past four years. But I'm really liking the direction it's going. Of course, it's going to take MONTHS to get everything on the website synced with the new map. That's ok.
I'm also planning on doing more art in 2019. Once the current D&D campaign is wrapped up (and it's going to be wrapped up soon, maybe two more sessions), I'm going to switch gears and spend more time adding artwork to Khoras. Chiefly 3D computer generated stuff. I've got a couple dozen things in Khoras I'd like to illustrate with some really great 3D art and I also want to get better at 3D. I've had an itch to dive deep into 3D artwork and Khoras is the perfect playground for that. The new image of the Citadel is one example of the new artwork (although that new image can be improved upon as well).