Call for Suggestions - Region Map Name Ideas (Patreon)
Content
Hey Everyone!
For a few months I have been working with the incredibly talented Misty Beee to create a Region Map that encompasses many of the locations we have developed over the last couple of years. You can see a work in progress shot of the map above. (Text style is all placeholder at the moment, and there is still plenty of colouring and rendering work to do)
As you can see Ostenwold, Dorran, Driftwood and Samarahd are all present, as well as many of the smaller settlements and important monuments. Also included are some as yet unseen locations, giving us something of a road map for the coming months and years.
But before I get too far ahead of myself, there is a glaring issue with this map at the moment. It has no name! This is something I want your help with. Leave your ideas for a name for this region of the world in the comments below, and maybe some of the inspiration behind the name. I will choose some of my favourites and run a poll to get a winner.
When complete, this map will be released to all Patrons!
To help give you some context, here is some background information on the region:
The Unnamed Far Region
The Metamorphosis
The world was formed an unknown length of time ago. The first creatures to exist were a titanic immortal race that had the power to slowly shape the world and create new life. They worked together to build a utopia, filling the planet with beautiful creatures, although none of them were given true sentience, as these god-like beings feared competition in their ownership and unchallenged rule of the world.
Age of the Titans
An apocalyptic, earth shattering event tore holes in the fabric of the universe allowing beasts and demons to cross over from the other planes. It is unknown what this event was, but it is believed to have been a natural occurrence, possibly a global eruption caused by a meteor. At this time, almost all mortal life was erased and the Titans, fearing the loss of their power that stemmed from the planet, came together to force back the tide of evil and regain control of the world. The Titans created many of the sentient known races during this time to help them in this battle.
The Great Flood
Much of the world had been cleansed, but the most distant continent (where we find ourselves) was isolated from the rest of the world and was still inhabited by the demonic creatures that had crossed over through the great fracture in the planes. Some believe the event originated here, and certainly the planar openings were the largest and most frequent. A rolling purple fog seeped through the rifts and covered the land, aiding and strengthening the evil forces. Until this point only the Titans could grant magic through their divine power, but this Myst brought a new, wild, chaotic source of magic to the world, one that the monsters fed upon. Although this Myst was not itself inherently evil, it was incompatible with the divine magic of the Titans and they saw great threat in this. Some of the sentient races were drawn by this magic and chose to serve the demonic races instead.
After centuries of warfare and battle, the Titans accepted that they could not defeat the monsters of the far continent with their armies or magic, and so instead devised a plan to melt the vast polar ice caps, flooding the low lying continent and drowning out the beasts or forcing them into hiding. In order to do this though, they were forced to draw upon the magic of the Mysts as well as their own power. In combining the two, they were able to succeed, but their very essence was changed by the Myst. It drew everything from them and many were destroyed in the process. Those that were strong enough to survive were torn from their corporeal forms, and trapped in a limbo plane, where they could no longer directly influence the world. Instead they were forced to work through their followers, who worshipped them as Gods.
Age of the Gods
With the monsters all killed, banished back to their own planes, or driven to the crushing depths of the oceans, the gods remaining followers were able to close the rifts, at least those they could find. The Myst diminished and was not seen again, although its long lasting effect on the land led to the emergence of new sentient races. The Elarians, the most powerful magic users of the Gods, chose to stay to guard the land and ensure the rifts never reopened. Their city, Elaria, was once of the few settlements to escape the great flood, standing at the peak of a great mountain range.
With the gods disconnected from the material plane, and the Myst seemingly cut off, the strength of magic in the world slowly diminished, generation by generation. Although never disappearing entirely, the magical feats of legend were lost and most of the sentient races forgot that there had ever been such power in the world.
The other peoples of the world dispersed, finding their new homes. With the God Titans removed and the monsters destroyed, this world now belonged to them.
Age of Exploration
As the divine magic of the gods withered over many thousands of years, the polar caps once again began to cool and freeze and the seas began to drop. The far continent re-emerged from the ocean and bit-by-bit its land were re-inhabited. Races & species that had fought on opposite sides in the Wars of the Titans now co-habited and intermingled peacefully, their violent history long forgotten.
The Elarians were the only remaining peoples that remembered the Age of the Titans and the Great Flood, and they feared that there may still be open rifts and dormant aberrations in the depths and so sought a great source of power to stop the coming ice age.
They delved deep into the earth below their city, discovering some remnant of the Myst still remained and tried to channel it as the Titans had before they became the Gods, but they could not control it and were destroyed.
The Dorric Empire
The entire land mass that makes up the Dorric Empire was completely submerged until around 300 years ago, and the Dorran family led a large-scale expedition to settle this fertile land on a continent that had been largely unexplored by the dominion of men prior to this time.
Although a relatively young city, Dorran has grown quickly due to strong leadership from the Dorran family who founded it just two centuries prior, and its well-established ship, rail and road links to natural resource deposits and allied settlements.
As the Empire has grown, more of the peoples from other continents came to the region and also settled The Freeholds and Halen. Tentative alliances were formed between the three, and with the older cities further into the continents interior. This once battle torn land is thriving in an era of peace.
Unbeknownst to the races of the world, some of the ancient rifts have been uncovered in the far continent and Myst is seeping back in. The chaotic entities are starting to find their way back in and the power of the chaotic magic of the Myst is growing once again.