I’ve still been working away on my islands for the RPGBN co-op setting. Most of what I have written is notes and scribbles so before any of you folk get to read it I need to clean it up and get it typed as well. That might take a while.
Anyway I’m currently at the point where I’m beginning to describe the capital of the my island nation and I’ve gone as far as broad statements can go without having something drawn up that I can use as a map for the city. I’ve been having a great deal of trouble getting it drawn up at the scale that I want it as my PC just can’t handle the file sizes and the tutorials I’ve been following are all for much smaller scales.
I’ve came to realise though that my original ideas for the city were too grand. I originally had a huge city 2-3 miles across and it would take forever and a day to map that out but the limits placed on me by my computer have actually made me realise that a) my nation could never support a city that size and b) if I cut up the land into blocks my PC can handle it far easier. Yet again I’ll be following a tutorial by Ascension from the Cartographers Guild but I’m taking a lot of hints from Coyotemax who put his own slant on the tutorial during his work in progress thread.
The as yet unnamed city is the capital of The Isles. Each island has their own ruling family and the King is drawn from the most powerful family. For many years the seat of government moved around the islands depending on who ruled the roost at that particular moment and this was fine until one year a neighbouring nation declared war and sacked the Kings island and kidnapped him looking for a ransom. The Islanders rose to the challenge and rescued their King but at was at this point that they decided a dedicated stronghold built to withstand any attack was needed.
First phase
Capital situated on a promontory in a bay who’s entrance can easily be defended. The land behind the castle is mostly deep bog preventing all but the most tenacious/foolhardy attacker attempting an overland assault. Keep, barracks, religious, diplomatic and council wards built and surrounded by wooden palisade. Only entrance to the palliated area is via small harbour beside the Keep. Siege weapons hidden at mouth of bay with Signal towers High up on cliff tops.
Second Phase
Wooden palisade upgraded to stone wall and gatehouse built to allow access to the the market and encampment that grew up around castle. Additional larger barracks added at this point and the harbour increased in size to accommodate military ships.
Third Phase
Shipyard built and market harbour built to increase rapid growth of market. Dedicated crafters quarter set up. Wooden palisade built around encampment and some permanent buildings appear within these walls. Mostly inn’s and taverns at first but as the crafters became more settled smiths and other heavy industrial crafts build more permanent premises.
Fourth Phase
Encampment is now 80%+ permanent structures. Land outside of palisades gradually converted to agricultural land. The city is still unable to be self sufficient and has to ship most of it’s food in from other towns and islands.
Fifth Phase – Current.
Market Harbour increased in size and coastal defences upgraded to safeguard the entrance to the city. Land surrounding city can now support the basic needs of the people but all luxury goods and foodstuffs still need to be brought in from outside.
This is going to be time consuming and most likely tedious at times but it is the heart of my small part of the setting and so it needs completing before I move on to the other islands.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
