The Mighty Cartographer

[Venefyxatu]

Apparently, I'm not planning to remain a Quill Bearer for the rest of my earthly days or I wouldn't be posting this. After a period of idleness, some semi-activeness, a return to the Mighty Pen and the official abandoning of my previous Quill Quest (if it's still marked as active somewhere, whoever maintains that list is hereby asked to update it ), Gwaihir has managed to poke me into Questing for a Quill once again, conveniently forgetting that, since I'm bearing it, I must already have one

 

Yay Gwaihir!

 

After some discussion, it was decided that my Quill Quest will have a somewhat different nature from others. No worries though, it's still an art form that I want to get better at, and writing will be involved. Somewhat.

 

Enough with the introductory small talk already ... time to see if I can explain what exactly I intend to do here. The Quest will consist of two (yes, 2) parts, numbered 1, 2 and 3 for your convenience :

 

1. First, there will of course be time to sign up. Depending on how quickly participants show up, this may or may not last very long.

 

2. Meanwhile, I'll see if I can get a hold of the necessary people to draw a map of the Mighty Pen Keep and its surroundings. Given the highly magical nature of the area, this map may be out of date by the time it is finished, and may be very weird in places (it might even fail to be drawn at all), but I would love to give this a try. This is the part that requires no sign-ups ... I'll find you

Of course, if the victims lucky Pennites I end up bugging aren't interested, don't have time, or have other reasons for not wanting/being able to participate, I'll either find someone else or do whatever I want without their advice.

 

Anyone who wishes their personal area in the keep to appear on the map would do good to contact me with some descriptions! While I can't promise that I'll be able to add every area (my papers are limited in size, y'know ) I'll do my best ...

 

3. When the map of the keep has been completed or designated as being "impossible to draw", the main part of the Quest can start. The big idea behind this is to create maps and do some world-building, all of which will depend on the participants.

I would like to try and add some worlds to the Portal room, as well as map out some of the ones already described there. For this reason, it would be interesting if at least one or two people who have posted a world there signed up for that world (although they would of course be welcome with a new world as well!), in addition to the horde of world-building-happy sign-uppees.

 

What will happen :

 

I will discuss with you what parts of your world to map, the style to be used for the maps and fonts, what to put where, etc. If necessary and/or desired, this will also involve creating those parts together with you and writing up descriptions. When I feel I have enough information I will make a very rough sketch so you can see whether I've put everything in the right place. Once that is done, I'll begin working on the final version, which may or may not (but probably will) need multiple drafts. Eventually I'll have a final version which I'll photograph or scan (depending on available technology) and, after your approval, post it to the Pen together with the necessary descriptions from you/me/us.

 

By the end of this Quill Quest I would like to have a physical book in which all of the maps are collected, sort of a Mighty Atlas. Pictures will be made of it (I have two photography enthusiasts in my direct family who can and will be recruited ) and posted as well. Every map should will be accompanied by a (short,) hand-written and illuminated descriptive text.

 

 

 

 

 

I was thinking about doing 3 to 5 maps per person : one very general one (think continent or world), and a few more detailed ones (of a country, a city, a province, ...). Given the fact that, once I have all the necessary information, drawing a single map takes at the very least one afternoon + evening and that I won't have time / feel like drawing every weekend, I can see this Quill Quest taking a few years. But that's okay, it's not like I'm in a hurry ...

Let's say I'll limit sign-ups to 10 people at first. Depending on a whole bunch of factors, I might reopen sign-ups at one point. If there is interest, I might continue doing this after the Quest has finished and become a Mighty Pen Cartographer.

 

A few final notes :

• Keep in mind that "world-building" is to be interpreted very loosely : it doesn't need to be an entire planet but could be, say, a country as well.
• While I prefer fantasy stuff, I'm willing to experiment with other genres as well.

After this rather lengthy (and possibly boring) speech, Venefyxatu summons a skeleton that holds a piece of parchment. The underling sits down at one of the tables and produces a quill, ready to write down the names of those interested ...

[Tanuchan]

hmmmmmmmmmmm....

 

A curled-up wolf scratches her head with her tail after being woken up by a rather enthusiastic necromancer... or would be a Ranger?

 

Alright... I might regret this... but I'm willing to try... where do I sign?

 

Looks suspiciously at the skeletal underling, bare fangs and licks her mouth, and after succeeding in making the bag of bones run for his unlife (or at least physical integrity of his bones), leaves a paw-print on the parchment.

 

 

[Quincunx]

Uppity-dated!

 

The Many Rooms of the Mighty Pen Keep is several years old, but still valuable.

[Gwaihir]

Gwaihir would happily bribe a necromancer with living plants* to have the garden area of the keep included in the map

 

*Because clEArly all necromancers need more plants

[Mynx]

I'm up for it

[Quincunx]

". . .Because clearly all necromancers need more plants. . ."

 

*zapping noises from the garden, interspersed with high-pitched squeals of "I got one!" plus one "spectre, cut that out, you're not supposed to help!"*

[Wyvern]

Wyvern steps into the sign up area only to bump right into the skellie servant that Tanuchan had scared so badly, tumbling back as the bag of bones turns into something more akin to an emptied sack of bone confetti. The overgrown lizard grunts and brushes a funny bone from his tacky plaid business suit, then shuffles a few bones out of his way with a white cane which has a little imitation bronze dragon figurine sticking from the top. He tips his corn-cobbed horn cap as he spots Venefyxatu, then mosies his way over to sign up booth where Tanuchan currently stands.

 

"Hiya Tanny! Great too see ya helping out Venefyxatu as the sign-up booth notating person." Wyvern grins, then raises a claw. "Wyvern Q. Almostdragon. That's W, Y, V, errrr, well different people ssspell it different ways n' stuff, but you know the rest. If you could include a lil' description praising my ambitious scheming to give Venefyxatu the right impression, I'd appreciate that assss well."

 

Wyvern takes out a prosthetic limb holding a quill to sign his name. He turns his head towards Venefyxatu as he writes, accidentally bopping Tanuchan's head with a prosthetic elbow in the process.

 

"Trusssst me Vene, this Almost Dragonic Brand Anti-Musement Funland Park™ will be a top hit when it comes to the Portal Room. Heck, I'll even provide ya with a Portal... I'm thinkin' of making it one of the more dangerous rides of the Park, actually."

 

;-)

[Elvina]

I'm not sure if this is of any use, but if you're interested in making a map you might find this GNU mapper useful: AutoREALM. Here are some Tutorials as well, in case they're needed. I'm not planning to join this Quest, but I thought you might find AutoREALM useful. Good luck to all!

[Venefyxatu]

Cool! I knew about AutoREALM but hadn't really used it. Those tutorials are going to come in handy

 

The plan was to do most of the maps by hand, but I was already thinking about sneaking in one or two computer-drawn ones, too.

 

So, lemme see where signups are at ...

 

World mapping :

• Tanuchan
• Mynx
• Wyvern
• Patrick
• Peredhil
• Canid

Gwai, am I right in assuming that yours was a post to request only that I add the gardens to the map? If so, consider it done, but please ... undead plants only

 

*shudders at the thought of living stuff in his rooms*

 

Edit : update list

Edited March 8, 2008 by Venefyxatu

[Patrick]

I'm definitely in.

[Peredhil]

I'd be willing to work with you on my Pen Keep places. Peredhil and the boys have Adept Portal short cuts all over the place, a few are anchored so sturdily that others sensitive might be able to use them.

 

I've some maps and such for my FARS world, which I could scan and let you "clean up" if you wanted to add them. I already envision them as being connected to the Pen in some way. I'm going to be using them in a book prolly in the next year, though, and I'm broke, so if I use yours to publish, would you settle for Artist Credit?

[Gwaihir]

V, yes.

 

Honestly, I don't have a world to map except for my pen places.

[Degorram]

Awesome idea V! I'm here to volunteer Kikuyu on the map drawing. Did you know that she has a HUGE map that she drew herself hanging on her wall? Dimensions probably being 2X3 feet. It's of the entire world which her quintet resides in.

 

So feel free to bug her for artistic suggestions. I give you permission. And of course, if you need any basic sketches or someone to clean up your notes into a more manageable system, I love doing both. Organizing is sort of a hobby.

 

I personally can't think of any specific areas that I'd like to see in the map. Kikuyu and I live pretty much in the main towers, near the top....so we don't get out much. *shrug*

 

All in all I think this is too cool. Heres to hoping the map is completed! With that I offer my services for anything you might need.

[Venefyxatu]

Cool - more signuppees!

 

Peredhil - I've got no problem with that. Artist Credit sounds purrrrr-fect for me

 

Degorram - for a brief moment you reminded me of my brother offering my services to just about anyone he can come up with Seriously, though - thanks for the offer! I'm definitely going to keep it in mind.

 

 

Also : I demand pictures of said wall-hanging map

*intrigued*

[Quincunx]

Undead PLANTS?

 

If any of those rotten druids turns my skellie into a PLANT, I'm gonna bonk them over the head! Didya know they can DO that?!

 

*more zapping noises from the garden*flash of green light*

 

I got another one!

[Venefyxatu]

*A few inconspicuous zaps come from nearby, heading straight for the garden, one of them with a (slightly scorched) note attached*

 

How about turning those plants into skellies, instead?

[Quincunx]

*a light green twist of a gemstone gets tossed back over the wall, with a reply*

 

I could but skellifyin' doesn't stick the way plantifyin' does, an' skellifyin' is only a cosmetic change anyway. Um. Maybe plantifyin' wears off, but I dunno. . .An' dead plants don't count as corpsies so I can't raise them. There's no spot to put an animatin' force I think. Maybe if they were special plants while they grew an' had somethin' like a soul, but I doubt it.

[Degorram]

I'd be happy to take pictures for you V! I just have to ask Kikuyu's permission and then figure out what people did with my memory card reader cables.....

[Kikuyu_Black_Paws]

Say what now?

 

I'll be happy to help. If someone wants me to draw out individual sections or compile the whole thing, I'm open to any work that needs doing. Though I mean to give Degorram a wet willy sometime later...

 

I'll get out my cartography pens and music! Let the mapping begin!!!!

[Quincunx]

(Minta sails over the wall, tumbling end-over-end, and crashes into the center of the discussion in a rolling stop. The gnomie uncoils, sticks another twisted light green gem into her mouth and slurps until it dissolves, then pops back to her feet unhurt.)

 

Waterlily didn't wanna be reanimated. Has got a really strong throwin' vine. . .

[Venefyxatu]

As it turns out, Minta sails in just in time to stop Venefyxatu from asking about the wet willy, which is most likely just as well.

 

"Err ... aren't they supposed to be dead before you reanimate them?"

 

 

More on the subject of maps and Questing Quills, though: I'd love to discuss mapping via some sort of chat system (IRC, one or more of the messengers listed in my profile, ...), so Kikuyu, you know where to find me...

 

Degorram : I find that hitting people over the head until they tell you where you can find whatever it is that's missing is an excellent way of recovering missing stuff

[Tanuchan]

Vene: I'm currently having some trouble to deal with IRL, but do poke me whenever you see me! The only problem is that I might not have regular internet access for some time yet

[Canid]

If there is any room left on your sign-up Venefyxatu, I'd like to do this.

I'd like to describe the Pen Chat-Room, river and surrounding country-side if I may, but if that's not what you had in mind, Canid is up for re-building her fortress.

[Venefyxatu]

Canid : you're most welcome to join in. And rebuilding won't be necessary - maps should depict what's there, what's there shouldn't change to fit the map

 

(sorry for the long time in replying ... RL is kind of a time-hog at the moment >.< )

[Tanuchan]

Is it possible to volunteer a secondary character?

 

 

 

An octopus approached the skeleton underling with a slow swim, using just his trailing arms to propel himself through the air. The skeleton was not concerned at all with something that seemed as out of place as an octopus out of water, but Octy definitely called Venefyxatu's attention.

 

Oblivious to the Nether mage's presence (actually Octy had chosen to examine him later), Octy spread its mantle right above the skeleton's skull keeping his balance perfectly in the invisible and unsensed air currents. He examined the bones below, and frowned mentally as he tried to mimic it. The result was pretty close to a skeleton with eight limbs and no torso floating like an inverted, misshapen mirror of the original skeleton.

 

Octy seemed a bit puzzled himself, raising each limb to his eyes to examine them better, and at each time making the "bones" pattern ripple. For anyone watching him, it suddenly looked like the skeleton "mirror" was dancing to some unheard tune, all "bones" shaking and rippling randomly.

 

With a sigh that sounded like water gushing out of a narrow passage, Octy decided that the pattern he was trying to emulate wouldn't work as camouflage unless there was an army of the bonethings around him. And, having concluded that, he reached down with an arm, curled its tip around the quill, and yanked it from the skeleton's fingerbones.

 

The purpose of the quill was not strange to Octy, who had seen it in one of the few planes he had visited before. The pattern of a smug smile appeared at the bottom of his head, then he brought the quill under his mantle, bubbled in laughter at the tickling of the feather, and brought it out inked on his own supply of ink.

 

He scrawled the figure of an octopus on the parchment, curious also to see a Cartographer working.