Aleksei Andrievski

One of Mystara’s first digital cartographers

Profile

Nickname: Solmyr (Vaults author page)
Location: Finland (originally from Russia)
Maps Posted: 1997-2000
Areas of Interest: Regional political maps
Scales: Mostly non-hex, smaller scale
First Posted Map: Players’ Map of the Alphatian Region (October 1997)
Software: Campaign Cartographer for DOS (CC-DOS)
Mapping Style: CC-DOS style; also simple line art, sometimes brightly coloured
Fonts: CC-DOS fonts, Times

Bellissaria and Esterhold by Aleksei Andrievski, October 1997

Overview

Aleksei was a member of the Mystara Mailing List during its heyday in the late 1990s. He has not been active in the community for many, many years, and I have been unable to track him down or get in touch with him. Consequently, the only information available to us about him is what he wrote in his posts to the MML, and the maps he shared on his web site. I’d also like to thank Greg Weatherup for helping me track down some of these maps.

Aleksei stated on the MML that he started playing D&D around age 14. His interest in Mystara was “Glantri and anything about magic/wizards”. He participated in a number of discussions on assorted topics, and his contributions to the community are archived at the Vaults of Pandius.

Campaign Cartographer

*The Known World of Mystara by Aleksei Andrievski, October 1997*

He was active on the MML from 1997 until 2000, and posted a set of Campaign Cartographer for DOS maps on his web site in March 1998. These maps were among the earliest digital maps created for Mystara, contemporary with Thibault Sarlat’s earliest Grid maps. Aleksei went with a rather different style, using coloured line art on a white canvas rather than the familiar blocks of colour of the Gazetteer-style hex maps. He sometimes included a hex grid, but more often he appears to have used it as a stepping stone to creating a grid-less map.

Since he shared these maps in the native CC-DOS format rather than as image files, it’s unclear how visible they were in the community at the time — though I suspect that very few people were able to view them, as of course they require the original software. I was only able to convert them to image files with help from the friendly folks over at the ProFantasy forums, and most notably Remy Monsen, who kindly converted all of the files to the modern CC3+ format for us.

Play By Email Games

Aleksei was also active in the PBEM scene, running and participating in a number of games based on the Birthright rules from 1998-2000. He created a set of political maps for these games, including maps for the Savage Coast, the Hollow World, Norwold, and the Known World. The Savage Coast maps seem to be the most developed of these, with two different versions remaining to us, showing the state of the “game board” at the beginning of play as well as mid-game.

*Savage Coast Political Map by Aleksei Andrievski, July 2000*

The most striking parts of these maps is the breaking up of each nation and region into named subdivisions. To do this, he referenced not only the official maps and texts, but also fan-created resources at the Vaults of Pandius.

Political maps of Mystara are something that many fans have suggested or requested over the years, but Aleksei is one of the only fan cartographers who has created any. As such, his maps remain a valuable resource for us to this day.

Aleksei’s Maps

Name	Year	M	D	Date Source	Region	Scale	Notes
Players' Map of the Alphatian Region	1997	10	19	File	Alphatian area	Non-hex	PlayerMP.fcd
Bellissaria and Esterhold	1997	10	19	File	Bellissaria and Esterhold	Non-hex	East.fcd
Ochalea, Pearl Islands, Alatian Islands	1997	10	19	File	Ochalea, Pearl Islands, Alatians	Non-hex	Islands.fcd
Hinterlands	1997	10	20	File	Hinterlands	Non-hex	Hinter.fcd
Known World Area	1997	10	22	File	Known World area	Non-hex	KnownW.fcd
The Known World of Mystara	1997	10	22	File	Known World	Non-hex	SEBrun-P.fcd
Karameikos, 8 miles per hex	1997	10	31	File	Karameikos	8	Karameik.fcd
Karameikos	1997	11	1	File	Karameikos	Non-hex	Pkaramei.fcd
Minrothad, 8 miles per hex	1997	11	26	File	Minrothad	8	Minroth.fcd
Minrothad	1997	11	26	File	Minrothad	Non-hex	Pminroth.fcd
Glantri 1013 AC, 8 miles per hex	1998	1	30	File	Glantri	8	Glantri.fcd
Known World 1010 AC, 24 miles per hex	1998	2	1	File	Known World	24	SEBrun.fcd
Shadow Elves	1998	2	19	File	Shadowlands	Non-hex
City States Political	1998	7	23	File	City States	Non-hex	For PBEM game
Herath and Trident Bay Political	1998	7	23	File	Herath, Shazak, Ator, Cay, Wallara	Non-hex	For PBEM game
Orc's Head Peninsula Political	1998	7	23	File	Orc's Head Peninsula	Non-hex	For PBEM game
Savage Baronies Political	1998	7	23	File	Savage Baronies	Non-hex	For PBEM game
Savage Coast Kingdoms Political	1998	7	23	File	Bellayne, Renardy, Eusdria, Robrenn	Non-hex	For PBEM game
Arm of the Immortals Political	1998	7	28	File	Arm of the Immortals	Non-hex	For PBEM game
Iciria Political	1998	12	18	File	Iciria	Non-hex	For PBEM game
Shahjapur Political	1998	12	19	File	Shahjapur	Non-hex	For PBEM game
Selhomarr Political	1998	12	19	File	Selhomarr	Non-hex	For PBEM game
Savage Coast Political v1	2000	7	18	File	Savage Coast	Non-hex	For PBEM game
Savage Coast Political v2	2000	7	30	File	Savage Coast	Non-hex	For PBEM game
Known World Political	2000	8	8	File	Known World, Norwold	Non-hex	For PBEM game
Norwold Political	2000	8	8	File	Norwold	Non-hex	For PBEM game

Gallery

Alphatian Region by Aleksei Andrievski, October 1997 — Alphatian Region, October 1997

Ochalea, the Pearl Islands, and the Alatian Islands by Aleksei Andrievski, October 1997 — Ochalea, Pearls, Alatians, October 1997

The Davanian Hinterlands by Aleksei Andrievski, October 1997 — The Davanian Hinterlands, October 1997

Known World Area by Aleksei Andrievski, October 1997 — Known World Area, October 1997

Grand Duchy of Karameikos, 8 miles per hex by Aleksei Andrievski, October 1997 — Karameikos, 8 miles per hex, October 1997

Grand Duchy of Karameikos by Aleksei Andrievski, October 1997 — Karameikos, October 1997

Minrothad Guilds, 8 miles per hex by Aleksei Andrievski, November 1997 — Minrothad Guilds, 8 miles per hex, November 1997

Minrothad Guilds by Aleksei Andrievski, November 1997 — Minrothad Guilds, November 1997

Glantri 1013 AC, 8 miles per hex by Aleksei Andrievski, January 1998 — Glantri 1013 AC, 8 miles per hex, January 1998

The Known World 1010 AC, 24 miles per hex by Aleksei Andrievski, February 1998 — Known World 1010 AC, 24 miles per hex, February 1998

Iciria Political Map by Aleksei Andrievski, December 1998 — Hollow World Political Maps, December 1998

Norwold Political Map by Aleksei Andrievski, August 2000 — Norwold Political Map, August 2000

Known World Political Map by Aleksei Andrievski, August 2000 — Known World Political Map, August 2000

Sources

In researching this article, I searched out all the references I could find, and consulted with everyone I could track down. I have made every effort to ensure that the information is accurate, but in some cases I may have slipped up — especially when dealing with maps that are years or even decades old. I take full responsibility for any mistakes; please don’t hesitate to point these out if you find them! Following is a summary of my sources for your reference.