The Village of Spyr-Anaisz (Patreon)

Spyr-Anaisz is a small drow village in the Black Loch. The residents here aren't big city drow, they're rural drow. Drow hillbillies, if you will.

I don't picture them chewing tobacco or wearing cowboy hats, but I imagine there's a different sort of culture here. A bit less backstabbing and cutting throats to get ahead. Not much infighting among the nobility, since there's only one noble house. And I think the city drow would probably look down on them, as inferior drow from an inferior place.

With an economy based around fishing and mushroom farming, Spyr-Anaisz isn't a particularly wealthy community, but they are a fairly safe one. Built in and around a cluster of giant stalactites, the village hangs 80' (25m) above the ground, making the list of dangerous creatures the people of Spyr-Anaisz have to worry about quite a bit shorter than it would be if they lived down below with everyone else. It isn't the most convenient living arrangement, but sometimes convenience has to come second to security. Especially in the Underdark.

Next up, I'll be drawing last month's Cartographic Congress winner. This will be a multi-level village built in and around the branches and trunk of a giant tree, with bridges running between the buildings. I haven't drawn a map like this in ages and I'm really glad to get another chance.

It's not the first map of a tree village anyone's ever made, but I think it'll be a pretty unique take on the idea. I've got a lot of ideas about it swimming around in my head right now and I really want to start sketching things out and see how they look on paper. I think I'm gonna get started on that now.

Well, I hope you like Spyr-Anaisz. Let me know what you think!