Ashtagon’s GAZ2 Ylaruam, 8 miles per hex
Emma’s first map of 2024, following on from her Thyatis map of late the previous year, was a replica of GAZ2’s Ylaruam. She explained her concept for the map in her post at DeviantArt:
The Emirates of Ylaruam. near-replica map of Ylaruam from the gazetteer, incorporating the underground region as depicted within the gazeteer and a fanon placement for the lost city of Cynidicea. Made using Worldographer and an expanded version of Thorf’s hex art.
So in fact this map wasn’t so much a replica as a fusion of two maps from GAZ2, with Cynidicea also marked. Emma called it a fan placement, but the general location was clearly marked on the Expert Set (1983) Known World map, so really it was a simple 24 to 8 mile conversion of that location (possibly via reference to another fan map, of course).
This trend of combining and adding extra features was a novel and very welcome development. Along with her revised palette (barely noticeable in this particular map), this showed that Emma was willing to push the boundaries of her own rules, with an underlying desire to create something new and valuable to the community in addition to replica maps.
She would continue along these lines over the next years, with some amazing results.
Fan-made Map by Emma Rome (February 2024)
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
- GAZ2 The Emirates of Ylaruam (1987) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
- Ylaruam, 8 miles per hex
- Barimoor’s Underground Complex
- Expert Rulebook (1983) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
Fan Sources
- Musings on Map Symbols discussion thread at The Piazza (February 2022)
- The Emirates of Ylaruam discussion thread at The Piazza (February 2024)
References
- All of Emma’s maps at the Atlas of Mystara
- Emma’s entry in Appendix M: Mappers of Mystara (upcoming)
- Emma’s author page at the Vaults of Pandius
Chronological Analysis
This is a fan-made map. It was published in February 2024. The updated Atlas version of this map is Ylaruam, 8 miles per hex. 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 2024.
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. 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.
Under Construction! Please check back again soon for updates.
