Forgotten Realms 4E Word Map Alternate
I’m posting here just for an easier way to find. This is my world map alternate created for my campaign. Feel free to use or discard.
Map 1: imageshack.us/photo/my-images/62/thedark...
Map 2: imageshack.us/photo/my-images/825/thedar...
Sorry if it takes a little time to view but wanted to keep the map detailed
The Dark Angels Realms World Map
Tows/Cities/Regions (Added or altered)
The North
- Citadel Felbar
- Ruins of Ascore
- Myth Glaurach
- Myth Adofhaer (Spell Plague ends the magical status of the old Siluvanede city, returning her back to Faerun and the Delimbiyr Vale)
- Fey Wood (Forest that in conjunction with the Deep Maw is heavily laden with Fey of all kinds along with unearthed ruins of lower Nethril).
- Ostoria
North East
- The Colossal Kingdom (The Land of Titans)
- A Thousand Caves (Home of the Spider Goblins)
The Moonsea/Sembia Region
- Myth Elenath (a city/adventure created by “The_High_Blademage” however I have a different backdrop and obviously a different location to fit in with my 4E campaign)
- Tesswave
- Zentil Keep (removed ruins)
- Ravaeriss (changed from a city circle to a square, since it’s a ruined fort)
- Sakkors
The Middle Realms
- The Land Under (Replaces Land’s mouth. Even During a bright lit day the land seems to be cast in shadow. It is a land contested by those above and below, particularly Dwarves who seek passage to their ruined realm of Deep Shanatar).
- Xain (Altered)
- Surkh (The Lizard-folk realm)
- Nathlan (Removed: has been taken out and replaced with the Nentir Vale from D&D4e Dungeon Masters Guide. See “Special” ).
- Hlodeth (Always a fan of this city, not sure why they took it out in the first place)
- Ormpetarr (moved)
- Vilhon Wilds (adjusted)
- Plague Wrought Lands (moved)
- Nagawater
The South
- Ss’inthee’ssaree
- Mhair Archipelago (including Black and Mhair Jungles. Overall I think it adds a lot to the map)
- Serpentes (How dare the try get rid of Serpentes)
- The Sharr
- Underchasm (Significantly changed/Altered)
- Amatar Forst (altered)
- The Sharr Desolate (Altered)
- The Black Hills (Hobogoblin and there triceratop like mounts)
- East Rift
- Deep Watch Keep (Dwarven Keep, guarding/overlooking the Underchasim)
- Underhome (made it a city alive and well)
- Sadrach’s Splinter (Altered)
- Rathgaunt’s Mote (Altered)
- Northern Lluirwood
- Isle of Luiren (Isle of Halfling Tribes)
- Selunarria
- Selunarra (City of Devas. Floating Netherese City saved by Selune. The Spellplaugue forced it back into Toral’s space and time)
- The Ruins of Halruaa (Altered)
- Akhkaur Swamp (Altered)
Lots of other Map Changes. You have to look around to find all of them
Special: The Dark Angels Realms v3b (Map 2) is the same with one major different... Nathlan is still removed (I think the territory description is just out right stupid and lacks any type of creativity to put it politely. Really? A “Shou” city in the middle of the Heartland Realms? Is this the best the writers can come up with?!?!) Anyhow… I left it open so you can create your own thing or leave it as the old “The Shinning Plains.” If someone has a creative idea and I like it, perhaps I can put it in at some point. As of now, I kinda like the Nentir Vale.
I just wish someone would make an alternate map that has no canon changes, but instead just fixes cartographical errors/oversights in the official map. :P
I like that you added The Black Hills with the Hobogoblins triceratop-like mounts.
Hobgoblins need more time in the spotlight in the Realms. Orcs have been taking it all up.
I may dislike some of the changes, but over all it's a nice map. Well done.
I just wish someone would make an alternate map that has no canon changes, but instead just fixes cartographical errors/oversights in the official map. :P
Sorry I can't help you with that... I have always felt canon was a tool to work off of and then let your imagination run. An fyi... city wise, there's really only one city (Myth Elanath) and one keep (Deep Watch) that's not based off of canon. Personally, I think when they created the spell plague the writers just got lazy with a few things or had time issues with getting a book out to make a few bucks.
The three things that bothered me the most was all the "chasms"... how many scars in the world are needed? The second thing was Nathlan. Out of all the races and to drop in there the best they could come up with is Shou in the middle of the heartlands? Isn't that what Thesk is for? The thrid would be the Sharr Desolation. So from a Africa like prairie to a big boring desert???
I can't make everyone happy with the changes I've made but I'm happy you apperciate the work I put into it.
Very nice work!
I like that you added The Black Hills with the Hobogoblins triceratop-like mounts.
Hobgoblins need more time in the spotlight in the Realms. Orcs have been taking it all up.
Thankyou! Had the idea from Behemoth's (MM3/4E) aka triceratops. I also imagined the south needing a a different threat, something new, and I've always like the militaristic Hobogoblins. I think they are also a nice counter to the dwarves not to far off.
The Thousand Caves also houses old Dwarven ruins with a new Goblin species I made that can climb most surfaces. The idea comes strait from Fellowship of the Ring movie and the goblins ability to climb down the pillars.
I may dislike some of the changes, but over all it's a nice map. Well done.
I just wish someone would make an alternate map that has no canon changes, but instead just fixes cartographical errors/oversights in the official map. :P
Sorry I can't help you with that... I have always felt canon was a tool to work off of and then let your imagination run. An fyi... city wise, there's really only one city (Myth Elanath) and one keep (Deep Watch) that's not based off of canon. Personally, I think when they created the spell plague the writers just got lazy with a few things or had time issues with getting a book out to make a few bucks.
The three things that bothered me the most was all the "chasms"... how many scars in the world are needed? The second thing was Nathlan. Out of all the races and to drop in there the best they could come up with is Shou in the middle of the heartlands? Isn't that what Thesk is for? The thrid would be the Sharr Desolation. So from a Africa like prairie to a big boring desert???
I can't make everyone happy with the changes I've made but I'm happy you apperciate the work I put into it.
The work is great, and I'm certainly not trying to suggest that you should have stuck to cannon. I'd love to see what I asked for in a Dungeon article.
And I have no particular problem with Nathlan. I got a feeling of them being cut off from their homeland, and that not being "the plan" and an unhealthy amount of desparate paranoid isolationism as a result. Definately something I can make good use of.
Just a Rough Draft. Will eventually take the style of the "New Cormyr" and "Chessenta" maps
Is this for your home game, your own world? Or a place you're putting somewhere on Faerun?It's part of "my" 4E faerun. If you look at the original 4E or even 3E FR map there's nothing really there, however the location is also painted on my revamped 4E map above (map 1 and 2). The Draconan Aerie Mts are part of the Icerim mts and the Great Ice sea should be easy to find but it's located north east of Winter Keep.
Story wise... I'm still working on the location but oviously it includes lot's of Giants o0 Eventually I'll turn it into a full pdf with 3e/4e compatible. Since nothing is there almost anyone can use it including someone beholden to strict canon.
Thank you!! It's still a work in progress, never really did maps before but I'll get better at them.
It's part of "my" 4E faerun. If you look at the original 4E or even 3E FR map there's nothing really there, however the location is also painted on my revamped 4E map above (map 1 and 2). The Draconan Aerie Mts are part of the Icerim mts and the Great Ice sea should be easy to find but it's located north east of Winter Keep.
Story wise... I'm still working on the location but oviously it includes lot's of Giants o0 Eventually I'll turn it into a full pdf with 3e/4e compatible. Since nothing is there almost anyone can use it including someone beholden to strict canon.
Very cool! I see where you've placed it now.
Well, not sure if you'd like some ideas... but, even though it's not yet been detailed, there are some old legends about the place if you'd like to hear them.
work, it would be a big time saver me too.
FYI... anyone else with ideas... I would apperciate the ideas.
I'd love the ideas Jorunhast!!! ... let your imagination roll and we can work it out... I'd love to give wotc a run for their money for creativeness. Also... if I can concentrate more towards the art work, it would be a big time saver me too.
Alrighty, here goes...
The Endless Wastes, of course, are home to the Tuigan Horde. At least in the southern part of it, all around the "Golden Way" road to the Eastern Lands. Winterkeep, at the southern edge of the Great Ice Sea, is a set of truly ancient city ruins with a long-fallen palace of the Raumathari kings. Although it's destroyed, there are rumors of immense wealth in catacombs and chambers under the palace. Still, the Tuigans avoid the ruins entirely, as they're afraid of the spirits of the ancient Raumathari. Some even believe that "angry ice gods rose up to trap the Raumathari in blocks of ice..." and that such "ice demons" wander the ruins even today.
More northerly, which your map details, tribes of humans eke out a living on the ice and from the icy shores of the great sea. Are these humans related to ancient Kara-Turans, old Rashemi cut off from their more southern cousins, or the tribes of the Tuigans, or perhaps even the Ulutians? Could they be the descendants of the fallen Raumathari? Old Raumathari ruins might dot the region, particularly along the shores of the Great Ice Sea, but also perhaps in the mountains; such ruins would appear as clusters of tall towers, guarded with ancient magics that are said to warp living flesh, mutate monsters, or suddenly unleash damage or cause death in a large radius.
It has been ~1600 years (if you're in 4E) since Narfell and Raumathar essentially destroyed each other... but it might be worth risking death to claim the treasures and magic of such ancient and powerful empires. It's said the ancient Nar wizard-priests made blood-pacts with demon lords to gain power, and that the Raumathar battlemages used magics in concert with their swordplay. Only the bravest and strongest Rashemi have dared to explore the ruins on the edges of those great empires, and only a few of those have returned.
The Icerim Mountains are famous for having all sorts of monsters, including frost giants, remorhaz, white dragons, and taers. One ancient myth speaks of the complex rune magic of the giants, and how, if one is hardy enough to bypass the other dangers of the region, the giants might teach their ancient skills for the right kind of tribute. Throughout the mountains, tribes of orcs and old clans of dwarves fight for dominance and the warmth of the deep undermountain caverns; it's said they both come out to hunt for game, which in this region largely translates to dangerous monster-hunts for remorhaz and the like.
Perhaps even more northerly than your map, there is an incredibly ancient myth of a region of steamy warmth. It's said that either a ring of volcanoes or a permanent gate to the plane of elemental fire keeps this region warm, perhaps both. What wonders might exist in a place that is absent of ice, kept warm and nearly tropical for millenia... and who might live in such a place?
...more later, if you like these.
Did you just write that out of your head? I can write but i'm terribly slow at it. In any event please write more!!
Here are some ideas floating in my head (keep in mind this isn't set to stone but just an idea hub):
I haven’t read anything 4E that has given Goliaths a homeland and this may be one of them. I'm kind of envisioning them as a slave race to the ruling Titans, with the exception of some free tribes located in the Runt Hills. Like Ostoria, they follow the old code of the pecking order among the Jotum but in the end... might makes right.
I'm thinking almost everything "big" ... so lots of dire creatures... even the elk.
Tears of Othea are earthmoots.
The coast between the Hunting Grounds and the Fury Peaks would be wild with storms, do to hot meeting cold, (a play ground for storm giants). Even the lobsters would be huge.
Wall of a Thousand caves... old Dwarven hold were goblins hold sway now. They are like the Lord of the Rings Goblins were they have claws that allow them to climb vertically. (I plan to make an off-shoot race).
Jotun Alm... the seat of power that the council of Titans meet.
Gordum Ralm... were giants settle their differences... a minor slave city/town. Lots of gladiator fights between giants, humanoids and wild beasts.
Storm's Rest... a trade town... human, hobogoblin, est. barbarian tribes trade with giants (more with firbogs and such).
Grey Peak Spires... a maze of sharp jagged hills. Perhaps a hidden city that once thrived long ago. minotaures and other wild creatures rule the area and are independent of the titans.
Vallyes of a Hundred Sons... hill giants, ettin, est.
other ideas include... not all giant clans beholden to the titans and they fight for independence.All in all despite some type of order here or there, it is an environment filled with chaos.
That's actually fantastic and you hit hammer on the head with "Perhaps even more northerly than your map, there is an incredibly ancient myth of a region of steamy warmth. It's said that either a ring of volcanoes or a permanent gate to the plane of elemental fire keeps this region warm, perhaps both. What wonders might exist in a place that is absent of ice, kept warm and nearly tropical for millenia... and who might live in such a place?"
Did you just write that out of your head? I can write but i'm terribly slow at it. In any event please write more!!
Hehe, nope... all that stuff I wrote is canon stuff for the region... I may have written with more flourish, or organized it somewhat, but it's all stuff from a variety of 1E-3E sources.
I'll work on putting together some more and post later tonight. Lots of info, really. And quite a lot of it is fairly open for interpretation and personal creativity. Particularly the old Raumathar Empire.
Here are some ideas floating in my head (keep in mind this isn't set to stone but just an idea hub):
I haven’t read anything 4E that has given Goliaths a homeland and this may be one of them. I'm kind of envisioning them as a slave race to the ruling Titans, with the exception of some free tribes located in the Runt Hills. Like Ostoria, they follow the old code of the pecking order among the Jotum but in the end... might makes right.
Oh, nice... I like. We know almost nothing about the ancient frost giants, except the early legends of Ulutiu and all.
I'm thinking almost everything "big" ... so lots of dire creatures... even the elk.
I like.
And you know, there's even a good reason for this. The Nar and Raumathar Empires were at war a pretty long time, and they used a -lot- of summoning magic on both sides. Dire beasts, unusual monsters, and especially demons were things they used against each other. And when both nations fell, they may have left behind a lot of summoned beasts, demons, devils... anything really... Anything strong enough to survive a fairly harsh winter on plains/steppes may have survived and bred.Tears of Othea are earthmoots.
Noooooo! Earthmotes are eeeeevil!
None of that silly 4E post-spellplague goofiness!The coast between the Hunting Grounds and the Fury Peaks would be wild with storms, do to hot meeting cold, (a play ground for storm giants). Even the lobsters would be huge.
Dire lobsters are delicious with butter.
If you really want a floaty adventure location for the PCs, make it a floating storm giant citadel. Big gleaming metal and crystalline spires, built for stormies and floating on a cloud. Those are good.
Wall of a Thousand caves... old Dwarven hold were goblins hold sway now. They are like the Lord of the Rings Goblins were they have claws that allow them to climb vertically. (I plan to make an off-shoot race).
Ooh! You could even make them a variant goblin. The Nar priests were seriously evil SOBs that did all sorts of horrible things, even experimentation with other races so they could enslave things. The claws could be a modification to not only increase battle prowess (to attack the dwarves), but also good for mining once they settle in to the dwarf-holds.
Jotun Alm... the seat of power that the council of Titans meet.
Gordum Ralm... were giants settle their differences... a minor slave city/town. Lots of gladiator fights between giants, humanoids and wild beasts.
Storm's Rest... a trade town... human, hobogoblin, est. barbarian tribes trade with giants (more with firbogs and such).
I love all things giantish. One kinda cool thing you could say, if you want... perhaps many of the giants have been in a sort of hibernation until fairly recently. Because the glaciers have melted somewhat and the ice has drawn back in 4E Realms, many things once frozen over with ice could've been uncovered. The reason for this might have been that either something with the spellplague, or perhaps an adventurer, broke the old deity Ulutiu out of his slumber... or his wife might have awakened.
Grey Peak Spires... a maze of sharp jagged hills. Perhaps a hidden city that once thrived long ago. minotaures and other wild creatures rule the area and are independent of the titans.
How about this... it's a little crazy, but... a hidden city of the ancient Imaskari.
It's quite possible that after the fall of Old Imaskar, some of their people fled to the far north. Just as the Deep Imaskari went underground to survive, perhaps a group of Imaskari nobles fled early in their war with their slaves. Perhaps they took some of their magic with them (maybe even one of the lost Imaskar artifacts), and a number of slaves they could still control. Being masters of portal magic, maybe they fled to one of the nobles "summer palaces" in the upper north, and didn't even have to trudge all the way there. Over time, with their slaves, they developed it into a city... but it eventually fell to something. Maybe the Nar or the Raumathari whacked them, or their own summoned creatures did them in and now live in their former outpost city? Maybe there's even a permanent 2-way portal that's still active (but forgotten) between that city and some abandoned ruin in the middle of the Raurin desert?
Of course, both the Nar and the Raumathar also had a certain amount of Imaskari refugees as well, not just being composed of their escaped slaves. With blending over time (who knows exactly what happened, really?), it'd explain why both cultures had the languages they did (derived from Imaskar), and also why they were both so good with portals, summoning and area-effect magics.
Vallyes of a Hundred Sons... hill giants, ettin, est.
other ideas include... not all giant clans beholden to the titans and they fight for independence.All in all despite some type of order here or there, it is an environment filled with chaos.
Love it!
More later...
Sounds good. I may not be on to much the next two days with work but i'll touch base soon
No worries, I got flooded with work also. I'll put up more info when I can.
EDIT: I'll send you future stuff by PM.