# map of main story



## Moxis (Apr 5, 2014)

This is the island of Moon Crest its the main location in my story that I'm going to start posting. Thoughts and advice on anything is appreciated.


However some of the citys have canged names some for creative resonse (traitors cove nolonger exist) and some for copyright. Now the maps not finished but i am open to critics with open ears.

Here is a clear slate to see a little more clearly


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## Jake Creamer (Apr 5, 2014)

It might be fun for you (but unnecessary to the reader) to know exactly why the roads meander all over the place. Topographically speaking, terrain features generally guide borders and dictate where roads, cities, etc are located.


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## Moxis (Apr 5, 2014)

Oh sorry I forgot to say those are boarder lines not roads. The purpose of the map for me was to keep track of where city's were to each other and for a general idea of where my characters are when I'm writing. The island is about the size of Australia. Sorry for the confusion.


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## kilroy214 (Apr 5, 2014)

As a Geographer and Cartographer, the map provided works as a political map, but I would suggest adding physical features in as well, ie mountain ranges, rivers, forest, etc. If this is a continent and world sized, so to speak, remember that polar caps and tundra will more than likely (but not necessarily) be a factor too. 
Adding moundtains, rivers and forests might not sound like a big deal, but recall they play a big roll in the physical world. If you have a mountain range, odds are one side is going to be in a rain shadow, and will therefore be in more arid environment, possibly even barren desert. Rivers stem from mountains, so the area directly on the windward side of the range will be very moist, and if close to the equator, more than likely tropical rainforest.
But this all depends on wind patterns and ocean currents, and I know this all sounds like a lot of technical data, but just remember one key thing;
 climate is affected by physical terrain, and climate is a massive deciding factor on the culture of an area.

If you have a country that you want to be strong, militaristic, and rule powerful armies led by a monarch, then butt them up against the leeward side of a mountain range that would make their entire country a desert, that culture would not work. More than likely it would be small groups of wandering nomads lead by elders or chieftens who are very technologically hindered and who herd sheep or something equivalent from oasis to oasis. These people would generally not care about world events that don't directly affect them and wouldn't even bother with borders on maps.

I'm not trying to scare you off of your idea, in fact, to create a world of your own takes some guts. There's more than just drawing lines on paper to creating a plausible world, and I don't want you to find that scary. I want you to find that inspiring. A chance to add some real depth and believability to it. It will breathe a sense of life into it you never knew could exist, and once it is finished, the feeling of accomplishment can only be surpassed by writing a completed story in its setting.


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## Moxis (Apr 5, 2014)

Wow I never thought about climate and the environment like that I should go and add more depth into the map.
And would you mind if i came to you for questions on making it belivable?


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## kilroy214 (Apr 6, 2014)

I'd be more than happy to!  And anything I don't know I'm sure I can get a line on reference material to get us a satisfactory answer.


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## Moxis (Apr 6, 2014)

That sounds like a really awesome plan!


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## connerm96 (Apr 7, 2014)

I love it. It kind of reminds me of Northrend in WoW and Northrend is awesome!


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## Moxis (Apr 8, 2014)

See that kind of concerns me because I just drew this at work one day before there was a story to it and your not the first to tell me that so I'm wondering how much is it similar. I don't play wow is it gonna be a copyright thing?


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## connerm96 (Apr 8, 2014)

Nah, of course not. It's not similar enough to be a problem. It just reminds me of it, it doesn't look like it. See, now if you had like a more similar shape, and similar landmarks then i could see it being a problem. But as it is it just reminds me of Northrend, and that's alright. The world I designed for my book looks very similar to Westerosin _A Song of Ice and Fire _​and that's ok, as long as it doesn't have similar landmarks, and completely similar shape.


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## Ariel (Apr 8, 2014)

It does look like Northrend!  A little more of a concave-ness than Northrend and an extra island bit.

All joking aside any large continent-size crescent-shaped map set on its points will look similar.


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## Moxis (Apr 8, 2014)

Well as long as there is no issue I'm happy:unconscious:


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## dmr400 (May 24, 2014)

Good rough draft, I think that having a map for a fictional world is a very valuable tool for avoiding mistakes while writing, as long as it's flexible and can be changed if the story requires it, AND is actually updated if the story does change!


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## InS_ght (May 24, 2014)

Hey. I do stuff like this. Want me to whip you up a delicious version of your map?


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## Elvenswordsman (May 26, 2014)

Africa, Italy, and Sicily.


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## AMiller (Jul 20, 2014)

This is awesome! I love maps in fantasy maps. It's very Tolkeinesk 

You should show water, mountains, and/or forests!!!


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## NickWolfe (Aug 9, 2014)

I was thinking the same as a lot of others, it looks a lot like Northrend. That isn't a bad thing, Northrend is awesome haha! Good luck


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## Lucydity (Aug 9, 2014)

You should have a highlighted harbor town/city on the "inside" coastline which connects perhaps sea trade to all of the main cities of the continent, that's realistically where a harbor would be placed imo, safer from the sea and more difficult to invade due to the bottleneck it also creates, it would be like the main harbor town of the continent.

Kind of like Portsmouth - UK or Pearl Harbor - US


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