Blackheart, 8 miles per hex
…this is an ominous, twisted, and unnatural forest kingdom founded by anti-social wizards — and for other such wizards — who just want to conduct their experiments, especially the more grisly and socially unacceptable ones, in peace. This kingdom is dotted with castles, towers, and underground lairs of wizards with their laboratories. The forests are filled with monsters who have escaped or been released from the labs. Since there are few laws here, it is a popular place for especially chaotic non-spellcasters to live — the local wizards can always find a use for a capable adventurer in this kingdom.
from Dawn of the Emperors, by Aaron Allston
Map (updated 26th March 2018)
Sources
- Frisland, 8 mile per hex map by Bruce Heard
- Foresthome, 8 mile per hex map by Bruce Heard
- Stoutfellow, 8 mile per hex map by Bruce Heard
- Dawn of the Emperors (1989) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
- The Empire of Alphatia 24 mile per hex poster map
Fan Sources
- Ramelin Mystara Blackheart, 8 miles per hex
Comments
Unfortunately, Bruce Heard never completed his reworking of Alphatia, leaving the provinces of Shiye-Lawr and Blackheart undeveloped. Blackheart fared better than Shiye-Lawr map-wise, with as much as half appearing on the edges of other maps — and in a fully detailed state. (It’s a shame that Bruce’s project was derailed; on the other hand, we did get Calidar as a result.)
Luckily, Ignacio Ramos stepped in and filled in the missing regions, smoothly emulating Bruce’s style to complete Blackheart’s map. He went further and developed the Shiye-Lawr – Blackheart border area, too. Without reference to Bruce’s original maps, you’ll be hard-pressed to tell which areas come from Ramelin Mystara. The Atlas considers this to be the best source for Blackheart, and is therefore adopting the missing areas to complete Bruce’s maps.
Notes
- Ramelin Mystara — this map uses Ignacio Ramos’s designs to complete the holes in Bruce Heard’s coverage of Alphatia. In Blackheart’s case, the southern half of the nation comes from Ramelin Mystara.
- Rivers — the Atlas adds more rivers throughout the new section of map, expanding both Bruce’s and Ignacio Ramos’s so that most wizard’s towers are located on a river.
- Shiye-Lawr border area — the 24 mile per hex map shows clear hexes in this area. However, it seems likely that this was to avoid cluttering too many symbols into these hexes rather than deliberately marking these hexes as clear terrain. A discussion on Facebook yielded lots of ideas, but little consensus. The Atlas has therefore adopted a compromise solution, splitting the area into a mix of forest and small clearings.
References
Thanks to:
Francesco Defferrari, Bruce Heard, Ignacio Ramos
