As a hobby, I draw maps for various locations in the fictional world of Arturium. All are of similar quality, though they have improved and I have made adjustments to colour as my sketching has progressed. Each set of maps is organised by location and focussed on the key cities and towns of each nation. The above is the world map, edited and updated as the players of games of D&D influenced parts of the setting. The Queendom of Fandalay, found on the central continent, did not exist when the world was created and was added by a player through their actions in-game.
All of these images are produced using Photoshop and a Wacom Intuos Pro Large drawing tablet, and are solely produced by me.
As it stands the world is broken up into five functional continents. Including the north pole and the land attached is Almahd, a term for 'cradle' and the birthplace of the Elven nations from which they spread throughout the world long ago. It comprises of a chilly taiga where many Halflings live, a peculiar rainforest shrouded in silence home to one of the monk temples, and then the black sands of the desert of stars, made from ground down volcanic rock. Directly south of Almahd's desert is the Crayshaw Mountains, a continent consisting predominantly of massive mountain ranges, with a central marshland and a small strip of coastal meadow along its Western fringe.
West again of Crayshaw is Lucivis, the largest and wildest continent with the greatest connections to old and forgotten magic. Consisting of mountains, forests, savannah, plateaus, swamps and taiga, you can find a vast range of climates on Lucivis. Worst of these is the wasteland, a mass of self-destructive landscape from a magical mishap in the distant past. Directly north of Lucivis is Mabarin and the Evaldin Sweep, the most temperate continent and its long island ally. Plains, hills and forests for the most part they are visually unremarkable, though a mountain range separates this pleasant land from the desert to the North where nomad bands trek through hot sand.
Finally to the North-West of Mabarin you have the Shattered Isles, a cluster of shrapnel-like islands that mix forest, swap and glacier depending on how far north you are, and the least known. With only a small nation a certainty, there are countless little dens and homes that have been dug into the islands and who knows how many lost things.
The Universe
This is the planar map, laying out the various worlds that make up the setting. At the centre is the inner planes, representing the material plane where mortals dwell, the dark and natural reflections of it, and the elemental planes. Below it is the bridge of lower planes, places of struggle and darkness, and below that sits the abyss, to which the dregs of the world sink. Above the inner planes sits the realm of the council, the homes of the gods who preside over mortal affairs. Above that is the realm of the divine duty, the gods who preside over vital aspects of reality. And above all is the Divine Realm, wherein rests forms of power closest to the fabric of the world, and in turn the most removed from mortal matters. Threading through them all is the spine of the world, routes which allow individuals to travel between these worlds.
The Structure
Each section of the planar structure has its own purpose within the world, home to specific sets of individuals. With the highest three tiers given over to the world's deities, the centre to more mortal beings barring the Faerie, and the bridge below being where things sink to when they've no other place to go.
Power Encumbent - The homes of the primal forces of the universe that were given sapience by the gods. Their power is effectively unchallenged, but they're generally passive. The Divine Realm where they reside is a hostile place for all other beings, representations of it being purely symbolic, as it has no physical form.
Overarching Duty - The realm of more substantial deities whose duty is to oversee certain other fundamental forces. These gods are more present than those above, but are still rather distant.
Domain of the Council - The realms in which the Council of the Flawed reside, the gods whose domains concern themselves primarily with mortal affairs such as duty or betrayal.
Elemental Planes - A swirling mass of structured chaos organised into the base elements, serving as both a shield and proving ground for beings of the material plane.
Prime & The Wilds - The plane upon which mortals walk and its sister light and dark reflections, the Prime Material is the centre of the cosmos and the Wilds are its guardians.
Limbo - The chaotic non-world between the dimensions, Limbo is untapped reality to be shaped or shape in turn. At its base it is formless, but observation changes this, as Limbo reacts to those who see and experience it. The will of those who exist within it shape the space around them consciously or otherwise, and even the space of Limbo about the material worlds is warped to mimic the worlds themselves. But it remains a dangerous place - strange things swim in the sea of nothing, and the further one goes from the centre of the cosmic map the more dangerous it becomes, the harder it is to impress one's will on the surroundings.
The Nine Hells - Where the Archdukes of Hell and their Fiendish armies preside, they serve as both overseers and gatekeepers against the many lower planes.
Bridge of Lower Planes - A barrier wall of planes formed by the collective effect of the multiverse on Limbo, shaping aspected desires of mortal and immortal alike.
The Abyss - The lowest point, to which all dark eventually sinks and coalesces, the Abyss is the most horrifying parts of the world condensed, kept at bay by the Hells.
Continents & Nations
Occupying the majority of the South-Eastern chunk of Mabarin the Oberstyre Confederacy is a handful of city-states that banded together for the goal of cooperation and combined defence. Each city is responsible for its own exports, along with law enforcement and government. Thus, while the confederacy can stand together against common threats, the daily reality is more often infighting between various political groups and differing ideologies, from theocracies to dictatorships to democracies. Each year the leaders are required to convene in Fort Oberstyre, to reaffirm the treaties they signed.
It's a place of rapidly-changing fates, befitting the humans who founded it. They enjoyed great economic success after the war waged to topple the Elven kingdom that had dominated the continent's centre, but shortly after lost some of their city-states to a new vampire queen, Bellatrix. Though she is said to rule fairly and makes frequent attempts to trade, this sudden loss of land and the threat posed by vampires prompts regular skirmishes along their borders.
Formerly a kingdom of the long-lived, the manner with which they treated nearby nations brought the wrath of many down on this kingdom, scattering many of its former occupants and sending them into the Ark'Shasa and Hangman forests, the formerly-oppressed moving in to take their place and implementing a government of merchants and bankers. All over the signs of war can still be seen, abandoned fortresses and ruins ruptured by siege.
The Evaldin Sweep
Above is the Evaldin Sweep, and the many forested towns set along this thin strip of land. All but the Central Stonebow Temple serve as havens for pirates and renegades of all kind, difficult to approach without being spotted by their watchers and safe from the mainland authorities. Even so, they give the temple a wide berth, for its elites are known to sink ships with their greatbows.
Niarhurthi Okarth is a nation known for its position, sometimes known as the Fortress Nation, built along the edge of the great Shaden Swamp in the shade of the dense forests that surround it. It has suffered in the past from senile leadership but new movements have given recent change to the government. As the citizenry struggle against their leadership they are guarded from outside threats by the hunting lodges, skirmishers suited to the terrain and the Shivi, the defunct and incompetent standing army.
In fact, its the terrain that gives Okarth it's staying power on Lucivis. Its hunters being able to navigate the difficult landscape dynamically in teams has meant that in their conflicts with the neighbouring Lords' Alliance the worst they have come away with is a sore stalemate. This apparent ability to hold against a better-equipped foe instills the nation with a false pride in itself, entirely in-keeping with its government's revisonist thinking and willingness to alter the history books for its own favour.
A land where high fantasy and ancient magic still holds sway, Suvora was wrought from a handful of disparate city-states by a holy warrior. A monarchy whose capital is nestled in the shade of a mountain, the cities, towns and villages are still primarily governed by the squabbling nobility ruling over a peasant caste. A place locked in an older age, many towers crackling with arcane energy and ancient, still-intact warrens of tunnels are evident, speaking of past glories.
