Fantasy Maps

written by Rodney Elliott @wyrmwoodmaps

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The young man sat on a fallen tree beside the road. The old man noticed the tracks from tears on his dusty face, and approached him slowly.

“Are you alright, young man?” he inquired softly. The young man looked up, eyes glistening with more tears threatening to fall.

“Sir, I’ve travelled so far, and now I’m lost. I have no idea where I even am,” his voice quivered with emotion as he answered.

The old man sat down beside him and laid a hand gently on the young man’s shoulder. He turned and rummaged in his pack for a moment, and brought out a rolled parchment which he extended to the young man.

With a wide, genuine smile, the old man said, “Being lost isn’t about not knowing where you are. You’re only lost if you don’t know where you’re going.”

The young man took the parchment hesitantly as the old man heaved himself to his feet and began to slowly walk away.

“Sir, wait. What is this you’ve given me?”

The old man paused, turned to look at the young man again, and with a small chuckle said, “It’s what you need if you don’t know where you’re going. It’s a map!”

I’ve always had a fascination with places I’ve never been. Drawing fantasy maps means you will never run out of new places to explore. The unknown captures our imagination, that’s why maps from centuries ago always had strange creatures: sea serpents, dragons, and other elements from folk tales and superstition decorating the unknown areas of the world.

There’s a sense of wonder that comes from finding a new place, with new stories, to make your own. But the best part, in my opinion, is when someone else gets to look at a map I’ve drawn. Because for every person who looks at that map, there’s a different story to be found.

A few years ago, I got to experience this in a way I never could have imagined.

After participating in a map making challenge on Instagram, I found myself wondering, ‘who drew this map?’ In a moment of inspiration I came up with the Guild of Free Cartographers. It was meant to be just an interesting way to decorate the border of the map I’d drawn, and give recognition to those who participated in the challenge. But, it became something more.

People began to ask what the Guild was, and if they could join. Eventually, I came up with a story for the Guild, and it’s home base, the teleporting city, Banar-Kinting. From that one map, about a dozen other creative people ‘saw’ a world they wanted to explore. This is where it gets good…..every person who joined the Guild, had a very distinct vision. Some had robots, and discreet, high tech aspects, others enjoyed seeing it as a low tech, low fantasy setting, someone had even created a robot Cartographer as a member of the Guild. The amazing thing was, everyone’s vision worked. There was overlap amongst the stories as they wove around a central tale. But there was never any conflict.

THIS is the magic a map can make.

If you think it might be fun to try drawing fantasy maps, please try it! And don’t be afraid to share the worlds of your imagination with others! There are more stories in your worlds than even you know.

A map can guide your imagination, without putting blinders on it!