Erlkazar's Back! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Erlkazar's Back! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Markustay
03-31-07, 04:57 PM Been doing more work on my World Map, mostly just 'correcting' stuff that either went missing or was moved between editions. The eventual plan is to make a map that works with both 2e AND 3e, by slightly shifting stuff around but not actually changing dimensions or the continental outline.

And I'm doing it one pixel at a time..... :eek:

Anyhow, I have both a full-size version, adapted from and size-compatible with the High-res version available from WOTC downloads, and a smaller sideways version that will print out perfectly on a normal 8½ x 11 sheet for those of you who can't handle resizing and what-not.

Heres THE LINK. (http://markustay.deviantart.com/)

I have a little description on the site under the maps, but here it is again in case anyone feels like reading what I did.

This is my map of Erlkazar.

I created this map by doing a LOT of copying and pasting in Photoshop, using the Original High Res map from the WotC site. The region known as Erlkazar was left off the 3e map, mostly because the maps were modified and it no longer fit properly. Unfortunately, certain novels and even some source material takes place here, so it IS a fairly important region historically. The first thing I did was move the Snowflake Mountains up, closer to their original location. I then broke apart the Iltkazar Mountains into the original smaller pieces that make that range up, mostly by dividing up the Cloven Mountains. I added in most of the smaller locales off of the official 2e maps and Lands of Intrigue source material. I placed everything as close to their original positions as possible, given the newer shape of the continent. Also, this was taken from MY modified continental map, which includes both Zakhara AND Kara-Tur, so you may notice that the map has been slightly rotated (9.2º) clockwise. That was necessary for me to fit the continent together properly, but everything is still in the same places. Try to remember that this area has been highly compressed since 2e, so certain places (like Lachom) were VERY difficult to place, but I did the best I could to get everything backwards-compatible with earlier editions. Also, Rivenshield was originally placed as a site of interest, but the text stated that it was indeed a village, albeit an Ogre one. It’s interesting to note that they are allied with Erlkazar, and trade with the local human population, so I placed it as a normal town now. Also, I named Cadderly’s temple “The Spirit Soaring”, instead of Soaring Spirit, because I’m pretty sure that’s what it was called in the novels. If I’m wrong, oh well, sue me. This map is also considered property of Wizards of the Coast, as part of their Forgotten Realms® Campaign Setting. All rights reserved.

Anyhow, I hope some of you may find this useful --- Mark
lavekkia
03-31-07, 05:01 PM wonderful job :D
Demetrios
03-31-07, 05:25 PM Erlkazar's been back since page 123 of Serpent Kingdoms anyways...
Lord Karsus
03-31-07, 06:46 PM -Good luck with doing all that, one pixel at a time...The results, once it's all done, will be amazing, and well worth it, though. :)
Markustay
03-31-07, 07:25 PM It does look amazing, and I keep going back and touching up areas. I'm very **** about stuff like that. The hardest part is re-doing all the names of places, because I rotated the map to make everything fit, and now the names are diagonal. That means replacing each pixel in places like mountains and stuff. Ah welll... it kills the boredom. :D

Erlkazar's been back since page 123 of Serpent Kingdoms anyways...What I meant was that it is back on the map.
;)
Karsus the Mad
03-31-07, 11:23 PM What I meant was that it is back on the map.

Excellent work. It looks beautiful. Looking at your map, and the original 3e map, I can't help but wonder why they couldn't have simply kept Erlkazar. There's plenty of empty space between the Snowpeaks and the Cloven mountains to include Erlkazar.
Lord Karsus
03-31-07, 11:29 PM Excellent work. It looks beautiful. Looking at your map, and the original 3e map, I can't help but wonder why they couldn't have simply kept Erlkazar. There's plenty of empty space between the Snowpeaks and the Cloven mountains to include Erlkazar.

-Apparently, when the Great Wheel disappeared, Erlkazar got sucked up and went with it, too. ;)
Old Sage
04-01-07, 12:14 AM Excellent work. It looks beautiful. Looking at your map, and the original 3e map, I can't help but wonder why they couldn't have simply kept Erlkazar. There's plenty of empty space between the Snowpeaks and the Cloven mountains to include Erlkazar.As Steven Schend says... "Chalk it up to Sembian mapmakers or something to overlook their existence, that's all."

Additionally -

"Re: places: a novel free zone erlkazar
No, it's still there, whether or not it gets acknowledged on the map or in the Lands of Intrigue listing in the FRCS.
At least it's still there in my mind. They just crunched it all into smaller space (and I wasn't around or paying attention when they did this with the main maps of Faerun, so I don't even know the logic or explanation behind the changes).
Just remember that world maps for our own world changed multitudinous times over the centuries, so I'd say use whatever maps make you happiest with the Realms and be done with the rest.
Steven It is never too late to be what you might have been. (George Elliot/Mary Ann Evans)"
Karsus the Mad
04-01-07, 12:52 AM As Steven Schend says... "Chalk it up to Sembian mapmakers or something to overlook their existence, that's all."
Interestingly enough, that's the exact reasoning I use to explain the drastic (and not so drastic) inaccuracies in some of my home drawn maps of the Realms. Sembia is more centered, and larger than presented, which forces surrounding regions to appear smaller (and thus of less importance compared to Sembia). All because the pcs had bought a map from a Sembian cartographer.
My response was one of curiousity. Previously I had heard the reasoning for the removal of Erlkazar from the map due to size reformatting, and I never dwelled more about it. But I saw Markus' map, and started to wonder, so I pulled out my old faded white map (the one that shows Evermeet amazingly closer to mainland Faerun), and noticed the 3e map does indeed still contain a majority of the area that comprises Erlkazar, with more than enough space to include the cities, etc.
Edit: Just noticed, on the map that came with the 2e FRCS, it's not mapped out either. Interesting.
BrennonGoldeye
04-01-07, 02:16 PM Wait a minute. I thought Erlkazar was a swedish pop group.:uh-huh:

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Markustay 03-31-07, 04:57 PM	Been doing more work on my World Map, mostly just 'correcting' stuff that either went missing or was moved between editions. The eventual plan is to make a map that works with both 2e AND 3e, by slightly shifting stuff around but not actually changing dimensions or the continental outline. And I'm doing it one pixel at a time..... :eek: Anyhow, I have both a full-size version, adapted from and size-compatible with the High-res version available from WOTC downloads, and a smaller sideways version that will print out perfectly on a normal 8½ x 11 sheet for those of you who can't handle resizing and what-not. Heres THE LINK. (http://markustay.deviantart.com/) I have a little description on the site under the maps, but here it is again in case anyone feels like reading what I did. This is my map of Erlkazar. I created this map by doing a LOT of copying and pasting in Photoshop, using the Original High Res map from the WotC site. The region known as Erlkazar was left off the 3e map, mostly because the maps were modified and it no longer fit properly. Unfortunately, certain novels and even some source material takes place here, so it IS a fairly important region historically. The first thing I did was move the Snowflake Mountains up, closer to their original location. I then broke apart the Iltkazar Mountains into the original smaller pieces that make that range up, mostly by dividing up the Cloven Mountains. I added in most of the smaller locales off of the official 2e maps and Lands of Intrigue source material. I placed everything as close to their original positions as possible, given the newer shape of the continent. Also, this was taken from MY modified continental map, which includes both Zakhara AND Kara-Tur, so you may notice that the map has been slightly rotated (9.2º) clockwise. That was necessary for me to fit the continent together properly, but everything is still in the same places. Try to remember that this area has been highly compressed since 2e, so certain places (like Lachom) were VERY difficult to place, but I did the best I could to get everything backwards-compatible with earlier editions. Also, Rivenshield was originally placed as a site of interest, but the text stated that it was indeed a village, albeit an Ogre one. It’s interesting to note that they are allied with Erlkazar, and trade with the local human population, so I placed it as a normal town now. Also, I named Cadderly’s temple “The Spirit Soaring”, instead of Soaring Spirit, because I’m pretty sure that’s what it was called in the novels. If I’m wrong, oh well, sue me. This map is also considered property of Wizards of the Coast, as part of their Forgotten Realms® Campaign Setting. All rights reserved. Anyhow, I hope some of you may find this useful --- Mark
lavekkia 03-31-07, 05:01 PM	wonderful job :D
Demetrios 03-31-07, 05:25 PM	Erlkazar's been back since page 123 of Serpent Kingdoms anyways...
Lord Karsus 03-31-07, 06:46 PM	-Good luck with doing all that, one pixel at a time...The results, once it's all done, will be amazing, and well worth it, though. :)
Markustay 03-31-07, 07:25 PM	It does look amazing, and I keep going back and touching up areas. I'm very **** about stuff like that. The hardest part is re-doing all the names of places, because I rotated the map to make everything fit, and now the names are diagonal. That means replacing each pixel in places like mountains and stuff. Ah welll... it kills the boredom. :D Erlkazar's been back since page 123 of Serpent Kingdoms anyways...What I meant was that it is back on the map. ;)
Karsus the Mad 03-31-07, 11:23 PM	What I meant was that it is back on the map. Excellent work. It looks beautiful. Looking at your map, and the original 3e map, I can't help but wonder why they couldn't have simply kept Erlkazar. There's plenty of empty space between the Snowpeaks and the Cloven mountains to include Erlkazar.
Lord Karsus 03-31-07, 11:29 PM	Excellent work. It looks beautiful. Looking at your map, and the original 3e map, I can't help but wonder why they couldn't have simply kept Erlkazar. There's plenty of empty space between the Snowpeaks and the Cloven mountains to include Erlkazar. -Apparently, when the Great Wheel disappeared, Erlkazar got sucked up and went with it, too. ;)
Old Sage 04-01-07, 12:14 AM	Excellent work. It looks beautiful. Looking at your map, and the original 3e map, I can't help but wonder why they couldn't have simply kept Erlkazar. There's plenty of empty space between the Snowpeaks and the Cloven mountains to include Erlkazar.As Steven Schend says... "Chalk it up to Sembian mapmakers or something to overlook their existence, that's all." Additionally - "Re: places: a novel free zone erlkazar No, it's still there, whether or not it gets acknowledged on the map or in the Lands of Intrigue listing in the FRCS. At least it's still there in my mind. They just crunched it all into smaller space (and I wasn't around or paying attention when they did this with the main maps of Faerun, so I don't even know the logic or explanation behind the changes). Just remember that world maps for our own world changed multitudinous times over the centuries, so I'd say use whatever maps make you happiest with the Realms and be done with the rest. Steven It is never too late to be what you might have been. (George Elliot/Mary Ann Evans)"
Karsus the Mad 04-01-07, 12:52 AM	As Steven Schend says... "Chalk it up to Sembian mapmakers or something to overlook their existence, that's all." Interestingly enough, that's the exact reasoning I use to explain the drastic (and not so drastic) inaccuracies in some of my home drawn maps of the Realms. Sembia is more centered, and larger than presented, which forces surrounding regions to appear smaller (and thus of less importance compared to Sembia). All because the pcs had bought a map from a Sembian cartographer. My response was one of curiousity. Previously I had heard the reasoning for the removal of Erlkazar from the map due to size reformatting, and I never dwelled more about it. But I saw Markus' map, and started to wonder, so I pulled out my old faded white map (the one that shows Evermeet amazingly closer to mainland Faerun), and noticed the 3e map does indeed still contain a majority of the area that comprises Erlkazar, with more than enough space to include the cities, etc. Edit: Just noticed, on the map that came with the 2e FRCS, it's not mapped out either. Interesting.
BrennonGoldeye 04-01-07, 02:16 PM	Wait a minute. I thought Erlkazar was a swedish pop group.:uh-huh: