Ramelin’s Orc’s Head Peninsula, 8 miles per hex
The second earliest map I have of Jose’s is this wonderful composite of the Orc’s Head Peninsula area. This one is even more complete than his earlier Frisland excerpt. As I understand it, his project underwent various stages of evolution and redrawing over an extended period, culminating with his unveiling of a great many maps. That this is an example of his early mapping shows the extent that he completed before going public — which he did not do until later in 2015.
As well as expertly combining the original source maps, Jose took things a step further, adding in new details of his own. His genius lies in his ability to match his new creations in style with the features around them — especially the labels — and we can already see a few present even in this early map. To list a few examples: Cay’s previously unnamed forests are now Loo Cay Forest and Cay’ee Forest; Herath’s largely undetailed southern province is now the Duchy of Hizou, complete with four new named settlements (Miradh, Adeth, Hallaveh, and Kurfeh); and the Orclands have lots of new lairs, as well as a few new named features.
It is this talent for seamlessly augmenting the original designs that defines Jose’s work in Mystara.
Fan-made Map by Jose Ignacio Ramos Lomelin (July 2015)
This is an original map created by one of Mystara’s excellent fan cartographers. For more information on the cartographer, including a gallery of all their maps, see also Appendix M: Mappers of Mystara.
Sources
- The Voyage of the Princess Ark Part 30: Web of the Wizard-King, Dragon 183 (July 1992)
- The Voyage of the Princess Ark Part 32: Silence of the lizards, Dragon 185 (September 1992)
- The Voyage of the Princess Ark Part 33: Lords of shade and hue, Dragon 186 (October 1992)
- The Voyage of the Princess Ark Part 35: The return home, Dragon 188 (December 1992)
- The Known World Grimoire: The sting and the sun, Dragon 192 (April 1993)
- The Known World Grimoire: A new definition of bad: the orcs of the Dark Jungle and their master, Dragon 196 (August 1993)
- Savage Coast Orc’s Head (1996)
References
- All of Jose’s maps at the Atlas of Mystara
- Jose’s entry in Appendix M: Mappers of Mystara (upcoming)
- Jose’s author page at the Vaults of Pandius
Chronological Analysis
This is a fan-made map. It was published in July 2015. The updated Atlas version of this map is not yet available. See also Appendix C for annual chronological snapshots of the area. For the full context of this map in Mystara’s publication history, see the upcoming Let’s Map Mystara 2015. (Please note that it may be some time before the project reaches this point.)
The following lists are from the Let’s Map Mystara project. Additions are new features, introduced in this map; Revisions are changes to previously-introduced features; Hex Art & Fonts track design elements; and finally Textual Additions are potential features found in the related text. In most cases, the Atlas adopts these textual additions into updated and chronological maps.
Coming Soon
Revised 29th August 2023 — rewrote the map overview, adding examples of Jose’s new labels.
