An Expanded Representation

It's about time that I updated the map of the Cradle of Eldwan. The detail maps I had in 'Cartographic Iterations' don't match up with the world map that I formulated in the later posts 'World Maps' and 'Geographical Changes'. Mainly because of the scale of the maps which caused the disagreement in the diameter of the Cradle. So, it had to be reworked, this was the result :

Figure 1 - The Scanned Version of the Cradle Map (Version Six)

I took the circumference of earth, divided it by twenty-four, to reach the approximate magnitude of the Cradle on the world maps. Some simple rounding helped me decide that a decent scale would be one centimetre to one hundred kilometres. In total, the circle with an eight centimetre radius now represented an area closer to the size of Mexico than North Korea, which was comparable area for the previous iteration of the map of the Cradle. In other terms, the diameter of a thousand and six hundred kilometres which is approximately the distance between Brisbane and Adelaide.

Naturally, since I now knew this map was enclosed by the circular mountain range, I drew it in to the border, unlike the earlier versions that faded off into areas that might as well have been filled with 'here be dragons'. After scanning and colouring, the result was :

Figure 2 - The Coloured Version of the Cradle Map (Version Six)

If there is one gripe I have with this map, it's that the names are outdated and don't fit in with the constructed language of Eldwan, Tas Eldwaraj. At least in its current state... Conlangs are fickle creatures.

But yes, I do hope that the colours make it easier to interpret. The blues are obviously for water bodies, whether seas or lakes and rivers. The green refers to vegetated areas, mostly where there is an adeuqate supply of water. The khaki marks a relatively dry region. Finally, the grey indicates the highlands; dry, and elevated by precipitous cliffs above the other areas by at least four hundred metres. One major exception is Mirrorsea, which is located on the same level as the highlands. Water, from its four child rivers, streams over the cliffs to the lowlands in fantastic cataracts. Mountains enclose the entire area, which is why the map is encircled by the highlands.

The approximate distances between the cities can now be properly established :
Eleris to Alaris : 350 km ~ London to Paris
Alaris to Caxiris : 215 km ~ Jerusalem to Damascus
Eleris to Mivaris : 160 km ~ London to Bath
Ilvaris to Generis : 230 km ~ Rome to Florence
Ilvaris to Alaris : 890 km ~ Beijing to Xian
Ilvaris to the West Settlement : 415 km ~ Tokyo to Osaka

Now that I've looked at it, I really should have made this map with the east at the top of the page. That would have been more appropriate to the culture of the Age of Light; looking to the rising sun for direction. And less Eurocentric.