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Frog's Haven Crannog
🕑 Added 2022-11-28 22:26:46 +0000 UTCIn the last post, I talked about my plans for the first island of the as-yet-unnamed big project. There will be two civilizations living on the island, one of which will be a kingdom of wild elves.
Over the past century, the wild elves have been shifting from a tribal, nomadic society to a settled one. While the elves have become better at building large structures of timber and stone, their skills at architecture are still well behind those of other civilizations. To reflect this, many of the wild elves' settlements will be inspired by Iron Age Celtic buildings from Ireland and Scotland. Here's a breakdown of what I have in mind:
Crannog - A crannog is a man-made island with one or more houses on it. The island was often surrounded by a wooden palisade and had either a narrow causeway or a path of stepping stones leading to the shore. Crannogs were most common in Ireland and Scotland. Frog's Haven will probably be the only one.
Broch - A broch is an old style of Scottish towerhouse, which looks like this. I think I'd draw this fairly similar to the one pictured, perhaps with some farmland around the walls. I'd also give it a slightly more elven, tribal look.
Motte and Bailey (or something similar) - A motte and bailey is an old style of wooden castle, which looks like this. I'd probably use a more elaborate version of the design and I'd make it more of a walled village rather than a fort. Again, it'd have an elven style to it as well.
Oakenhold - This is one of the first maps I ever posted. I've never redrawn a map, but I want to redraw this one and I want it to be the seat of power for this wild elven civilization. I'll change plenty about it, but it'll be the same basic design. This is where the king or queen lives.
That's the plan so far. There will probably be other locations as well, but I want to get your opinions on these ideas first. If the response is largely negative, I'll come up with something else. If it's positive, I'll get started on a map of the island and we can start figuring out where things are and who the elves are sharing the island with.
Anyway, let me know what you think of the Celtic wild elves. Positive or negative, I really want to hear your opinions!
Comments
Milby's Maps
Yeah, I really want to redraw Oakenhold. I think it was a cool idea and it deserves better than an old, black and white map.
Bruce Ward
Really like the ideas you're describing - in particular, I would love a refresh of Oakenhold. Have been eagerly awaiting that particular map because I really love the concept, but would love a full color version for VTT use!
