Kaliphlin Guild: Homepage, Sign-up and Discussion

[NiceMarmot]

So, just to be clear, how shall I redraw the border of our two great nations? Should I just move it up so it cuts between the WitherWoods (excellent name, btw) or just pull the forest and grasslands down so it extends past the border?

I wish to have as accurate a map as possible, and not create a rift between Avalonia and its mighty ally Kaliphilin.

Lord Khelperth -- as Dextrus Flagg says, it's probably no big deal where the border is exactly, as cartography in our medieval time is certainly no exact science. Our map of the Siccus Badlands does not even have a border drawn on it yet.

However, since Dugal MacLean and his clan have staked a claim at the mouth of the Red River, and pledged for Kaliphlin, we should probably keep it north of the river's mouth. My best guess would be, on your map, that the border starts on the coast just north of small, green island below the word "Ocean", and runs approximately due east until it reaches the point where the Red River crosses the Barqa-Avalonia road, just south of those mountains, which we have always considered to be part of Avalonia. From that point east, we would probably agree with the existing border on your map.

By the way, does Avalonia's capital city have a name?

[Angeli]

WIP: Watchtower MOC

My watchtower is more of a mountaintop lookout post, high in the Rakath Mountains.

Skyrim :)

[NiceMarmot]

Southlanders!

I'm working on a (pretty much) final version of the guild map. It's done, except I was thinking of adding two more cities, if anyone wants to stake a claim and name them.

One would be where the Cedrica-Petraea road crosses the Arkbri River and begins to climb through a pass in the Great Escarpment up to desert and on the way to Petraea. This is a great location, and probably a huge trading center, as it is on the river and the road, controlling trade on the river between Barqa and the north and trade on the river and road between the north and Petraea. Plus, as one of the few passes up through the cliffs of the Great Escarpment, it's got to be a defensive strongpoint too.

The other is somewhere on the southeast coast, between the river delta/swamps and the southern end of the Rakath Mountains. Not sure where exactly to place it, so you can help position it, but we've got a lot of empty room down there and it seems like a good place for another city. There's a nice bay close to the mountains, but then the river delta offers a natural trading route from the sea up to Qarkyr. Maybe there's room for two cities there, one at each end of that coast.

Anyone want to name these? Once we get them named, I'll post the map again.

[Waterbrick Down]

Great job on the builds thus far all NiceMarmont your maps grow ever more inspiring. Now that I have finally attained a further selection of building materials the watch tower in the eastern mountain ranges is nearing completion.

Minifigs not included in this photo but they have been build and I will be using a different photo setup, if any of you have any more suggestions I'd appreciate them. Thanks.

[SkaForHire]

Southlanders!

I'm working on a (pretty much) final version of the guild map. It's done, except I was thinking of adding two more cities, if anyone wants to stake a claim and name them.

One would be where the Cedrica-Petraea road crosses the Arkbri River and begins to climb through a pass in the Great Escarpment up to desert and on the way to Petraea. This is a great location, and probably a huge trading center, as it is on the river and the road, controlling trade on the river between Barqa and the north and trade on the river and road between the north and Petraea. Plus, as one of the few passes up through the cliffs of the Great Escarpment, it's got to be a defensive strongpoint too.

The other is somewhere on the southeast coast, between the river delta/swamps and the southern end of the Rakath Mountains. Not sure where exactly to place it, so you can help position it, but we've got a lot of empty room down there and it seems like a good place for another city. There's a nice bay close to the mountains, but then the river delta offers a natural trading route from the sea up to Qarkyr. Maybe there's room for two cities there, one at each end of that coast.

Anyone want to name these? Once we get them named, I'll post the map again.

You should throw Eastgate on the map, then again I may be prejudice ;) Although it is big enough to be two sides of the Red River and controls that inlet... so might be worth noting...

But to your question, for the one that crosses Arkbri, we could name it after the bridge (which we can assume is something magnificent, and the major feature of such a city) Maybe Goldbridge, Whitebridge, Longbridge, Stormsbridge, Bridgehaven... Or if it technically is a river port... Stormsport, Riverport, Southpor,t Arkbriport, Blackwall, Desert Rose, Rivertown.

[Si-MOCs]

Hardiel Fantastic progress! I'm really liking that transition to from brown to bley.

Great little fort-tower.

Overall it looks very nice and clean - thought the path ... seems lacking.

Those curved dark tan pieces look really good, but the regular tan ... I feel that you could do something interesting there.

maybe lower a path?

maybe snotted tan and have the dark tan sit on top of it? maybe a few dark tan tiles that make up a quasi path?

--

Dugal - some fin suggestions you have provided. Bridgehaven sounds pretty good.

or maybe something less obviously a bridge - like something crossing - Queen's Cross or narrow cross...

or maybe we should leave it unnamed until someone builds us an interesting crossing worthy to be named!

Who's up for the challenge of building some sort of river over water ... in a desert?

Master Cartographer Gex - I look forward to your next edition of our maps. And I congratulate you on your new coat of arms, as well as the Cartography paints that keep you in business.

[SkaForHire]

Dugal - some fin suggestions you have provided. Bridgehaven sounds pretty good.

or maybe something less obviously a bridge - like something crossing - Queen's Cross or narrow cross...

or maybe we should leave it unnamed until someone builds us an interesting crossing worthy to be named!

Who's up for the challenge of building some sort of river over water ... in a desert?

Master Cartographer Gex - I look forward to your next edition of our maps. And I congratulate you on your new coat of arms, as well as the Cartography paints that keep you in business.

I like it. Queens Cross is pretty cool, we could probably throw a bunch of lore behind that. I do like your idea about someone building the crossing, and then we name it. If I had the bricks I might take a stab at it. Alas, I am going to three PAB Walls tomorrow, we will see how much tan and browns I can get so I can finally get moving on my tower. I have a kind of different thing in mind, I hope I can find enough bricks to represent it.

Edited November 30, 2011 by SkaForHire

[TheBoyWonder]

I am afraid I have to resign from Kaliphin. I just don't have the pieces or the ideas that I thought I would. However I am joining another guild that I have the parts for.

[J4ke]

TRAITOR!

HANG the traitor! Or at least banish/exile him, ne'er to return on pain of pain!

(In other news, my seige workshop is starting to take shape. It's an L-shape thus far. But I may add an upper storey, since otherwise it's a grey, L-shaped box.)

-YtR

[TheBoyWonder]

Titus is dead. He captured me, tried to enslave me for Dextrus Flagg, the dwarf. I killed his whole unit. The draken Sword burned them to death. To tell the truth, I enjoyed it.

[NiceMarmot]

I am afraid I have to resign from Kaliphin. I just don't have the pieces or the ideas that I thought I would. However I am joining another guild that I have the parts for.

Not sure what you mean by not having the parts, but I assume you don't have enough tan bricks or PoP-style stuff? Let me remind you that Kaliphlin is the most geographically diverse of the guildlands! We've got it all, and there's plenty of room for everyone to build in all sorts of different styles. In fact, that's almost our trademark -- we're a mixed bag of styles, races, geographies, climates, etc.

Sure there are lots of deserts in the middle, but we've also got huge forests in the far west. Plus the steep eastern slopes of the Rakath Mountains are heavily forested, with deep fjords and islands, sort of like British Columbia. North of Barqa and around the Arkbri River are grassy plains and rolling hills. In the Rakath we've got steep, rocky mountains, gorges, chasms, etc, some of which are so high they're snowbound all year. Plus we've got a huge coastline. There are plenty of islands, from the cold, foggy islands of the Goolag Archipelago near the Nocturnus border, to the tropical volcanic isles of the Spice Islands, to the pleasant temperate islands surrounding the Inland Sea.

In fact, I can't think of a geography that we don't have. And if there's something we're missing that someone would like, let the Master Cartographer (me) know, and I'll see if we can 'discover' it!

If you want to leave the guild, that's ok, but don't do it because you don't think your MOCs will fit in. You can pick your style and then find a location that fits it. Kaliphlin's style is whatever a Kaliphlin builder builds!

[Waterbrick Down]

Titus is dead. He captured me, tried to enslave me for Dextrus Flagg, the dwarf. I killed his whole unit. The draken Sword burned them to death. To tell the truth, I enjoyed it.

If this gentlemen is dead than I expect his lies died with him, Dextrus Flagg himself was is a freed slave and has on a few occasions expressed his disapproval of the whole trade altogether. We are sorry to see you leave and hope that your pusuits with our western neighbors proves fruitful. Kaliphlin will always have enough open space should you ever wish to return.

[Hersbrucker]

Hello Neighbors,

I`m Darecold, the leader of the Werewolves

Our Werewolves like Wikinger, they are mostly at the sea. So they do trading very well.

We are situated in the South of Nocturnus, so we have the best requirements for trading with you.

Maybe we take this opportunity for a neutral trading between our two Guilds?

Our storerooms are full with riches, but we don`t need these gliz and shiny things.

Is there an harbor where we can trade? We need Weapons, Meat, Wine and Beer

[CMP]

Our storerooms are full with riches, but we don`t need these gliz and shiny things.

Is there an harbor where we can trade? We need Weapons, Meat, Wine and Beer

You have come to the right place. My island-based vineyards and breweries whip up the finest beverages in all of Kaliphlin. And my boys Milo and Otis can fry a mean Griffin leg.

[SkaForHire]

Hello Neighbors,

I`m Darecold, the leader of the Werewolves

Our Werewolves like Wikinger, they are mostly at the sea. So they do trading very well.

We are situated in the South of Nocturnus, so we have the best requirements for trading with you.

Maybe we take this opportunity for a neutral trading between our two Guilds?

Our storerooms are full with riches, but we don`t need these gliz and shiny things.

Is there an harbor where we can trade? We need Weapons, Meat, Wine and Beer

Greetings Darecold, I have been watching your fleet, as it seems to be one of the few that rival my own. We would be glad to trade with you at Eastgate in the Inland Sea, or at our merchant posts in Barqa and the Spice Islands (or any other minor coastal post belong to the GEAR CO) We mainly trade in oil, timber, and exotic goods obtained from far, far off lands, but we also carry all the basic necessities to fit out settlers and adventurers. Beware, GEAR CO will not do business with slavers, so if that is your game, your money is not wanted here.

-Dugal MacLean

[i really like your ships! I can't imagine how hard it was to get enough werewolves though!]

[Basiliscus]

(snip)

Is there an harbor where we can trade? We need Weapons, Meat, Wine and Beer

Welcome to the South Darecold!

The Emir of Gorr is always willing to make a deal with any traders...we deal in many things such as bananas, cloves, honey, hides, beef and fish.

Be careful navigating the treacherous waters of the Spice Islands to reach us on Gorr, there are many uncharted rocks which could destroy your well laid plans. Fortunately we are constructing a lighthouse to guide you through the channel - it's best to stay shielded in the channel from the strong winds and sea-creatures which roam on the west side of Gorr.

Feel free to come and visit us in Stone Town someday - the Emir's dancing girls are famed throughout the land.

Safe travels until then,

Wahil Musca (ambassador to the Emir)

Edited November 30, 2011 by Basiliscus

[robuko]

Hello Neighbors,

I`m Darecold, the leader of the Werewolves

Is there an harbor where we can trade? We need Weapons, Meat, Wine and Beer

Darecold, welcome to our lands. The Petrea General Trading Company will be pleased to send our special Nocturnus representative, Duke Strange, to the Eastern port of Peligrinus on Cape Dahaka. There we can supply your needs in friendship.

We are currently buyers of Quicksilver, Lime, SaltPetre, Dragons' Eggs, and Brimstone. We also offer our usual extensive suite of discrete or gaudy items for the connoisseur, as well as more mundane commodities of coffee, ambergris, oil, masonry, live eels and Sandworms. You will find our credit good as always,

Yours Aye,

Rasputin Jones

[NiceMarmot]

Hello Neighbors,

I`m Darecold, the leader of the Werewolves

Is there an harbor where we can trade? We need Weapons, Meat, Wine and Beer

Darecold, welcome! You'll want to stop by Messahmuk, the trading center of the South Central coast, just across the straits from the Spice Islands!

We've got good weapons here, with steel forged from ore mined off the slopes of Mt Erezhi. And our warm, dry Mediterranean climate produces red wines that are considered the best in all Historica, including the famous Siccus Opus Select vintages from Castle La-Feet. For white wine, I suggest sailing to Barqa or Eastgate. As far as meat goes, we've got excellent desert hare and camel, but for beef you should head up to Barqa; cattle from the plains north of the city are renowned for their taste. And as for ales, we have some good local ones, but I prefer the burnt dark ales of western Gorr wastelands (Wahil Musca can probably help you there), or the fine stouts of the eastern coastal mountains (stop in Peligrinus on Cape Dahaka and load up). If you go to Peligrinus first, would you mind picking up a few tons of Siccus Serpent Stout for me? I'll pay 1500 guilders per ton.

I suggest that you retain one of my merchants, Growlfargh, as your agent in these parts. He's one of your kind who's settled down here for the better weather and the beautiful moonlight nights. A very reliable fellow. I'll post a portrait of him as soon as I find my artist...

[J4ke]

Breaking off the news of impending trades for a second, if I may. I'm pleased to report that our seige workshop has begun producing a new seige engine, the ballista:

Although the workshop itself is still in the final stages of construction, we expect it to be finished in the coming days.

EB Topic / Photoset

-YtR

[Hersbrucker]

Wow, so that are really much possibilities for trading

That is good to know

Thank you for your comments about my Werewolves, the army is growing right now

@J4ke

Your Ballista looks really great, can we also trade for those machines

[NiceMarmot]

OK, here it is! This should be the last major revision of the Kaliphlin / Siccus Badlands overall map.

Siccus Badlands (Kaliphlin Guildlands)

Now with several more cities (Eastgate, Berigora, Na Ghitan, Queenscross, and Ras-el-Akhen), Wither-Woods and Parched Lands names, and all major rivers named. Also added The Dune Sea in the desert south of Salt Lake. Filled in more detail on the other guildlands from various maps. Extended the Great Escarpment west to the Arkbri River, so the Cedrica-Petraea road goes through a pass in the cliffs above Queenscross. We could probably fit in a few more major cities and features if we needed to, but it's at a pretty good place right now.

BTW, based on discussions with the Avalonian cartographers, this map has a 2 pixels to the mile scale. From the Avalonian capital to Barqa in the western Siccus it would be about 265 miles by road, or 7.5 days by horse. And from Cedrica to Petraea, the capital of the Badlands, it's 271 miles by roads, which is nearly 8 days. From Barqa to Petraea would be about 215 miles by road, or just over six days on a horse. From Petraea to Qarkyr is about 144 miles, or just over four days on a horse. So maybe ten and a half days from Barqa to Qarkyr. At about 360 miles, that's slightly less than the driving distance from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Hope you all like it. I'm on a business trip next week, so no LEGO. But will have the computer, so was thinking about creating four or five maps zoomed in on sections of the overall map. Probably one for the east, one for Gorr and the south central coast, one Petraea and the north central Siccus, and one for the east coast. Each one maybe about a 3x zoom in.

[Niku]

I do not like this map... I totally love it.

Tremendous work.

[J4ke]

Dune Sea... I lol'd. Nice.

So Eastgate is right on the border then? That's the one thing I'd really like to see on a map, where the guild borders are.

Anyway, nice job.

Moving on to military matters, may I present my Seige Workshop.

Capable of churning out small-scale ballistae, battering rams and sundry other weapons of war, it's located just north of Barga (and now south of Eastgate).

EB topic /Photoset

[Basiliscus]

Fantastic work NiceMarmot! You definitely earned your title of Master Cartographer! Love the new additions to the map - cities and descriptions. It's probably got enough detail at this scale without making it too cluttered, so I would say your idea of several scaled in areas is a good one.

I will try and finish my tower on Sunday and maybe flesh out the Emir of Gorr's character (I have him sitting here, just need some photos) and I have quite a few ideas for MOCs. With a more detailed map of each area we can start to add in all the MOCs we create on the map - that way we know where everything is!

[SkaForHire]

Yay, Eastgate made it onto the map! Now I guess I should really start buying bricks to build it. I LOVE that the escarpment now extends naturally to where the river bends, and that Queens Cross is not only a guardian of the road across the river, but the guardian to the interior, and the most passable point in the escarpment.

OK OK, I am a bit obsessed with the escarpment actually, my tower that I am desperately trying to get enough pieces for actually hangs over the escarpment to watch below, and extends upward to watch the desert behind it. It really has nothing to do with my sig fig, but I guess I will throw some GEAR traders in there to replenish the tower. My big problem is getting enough rocks and tans to accurately portray the escarpment... and then enough to build a desert floor about 30 studs above it! (Oh yeah add a tower in there). I have a backup tower in mind if this doesn't come to fruition, so for sure I should have something done by the deadline. The deadline is the 15th right?

As for the rest of the map. Such a great job. I would like to see a scale put in there, that would make it perfect. I was about to dust off Campaign Cartographer and make a detailed map of the inland sea, but I think I rather see what you do. I might build some of the layouts for a few of the cities though. What are you using to draw this? I think I remember you saying photoshop - are you using a CS package or elements?

OK, here it is! This should be the last major revision of the Kaliphlin / Siccus Badlands overall map.

Siccus Badlands (Kaliphlin Guildlands)

Now with several more cities (Eastgate, Berigora, Na Ghitan, Queenscross, and Ras-el-Akhen), Wither-Woods and Parched Lands names, and all major rivers named. Also added The Dune Sea in the desert south of Salt Lake. Filled in more detail on the other guildlands from various maps. Extended the Great Escarpment west to the Arkbri River, so the Cedrica-Petraea road goes through a pass in the cliffs above Queenscross. We could probably fit in a few more major cities and features if we needed to, but it's at a pretty good place right now.

BTW, based on discussions with the Avalonian cartographers, this map has a 2 pixels to the mile scale. From the Avalonian capital to Barqa in the western Siccus it would be about 265 miles by road, or 7.5 days by horse. And from Cedrica to Petraea, the capital of the Badlands, it's 271 miles by roads, which is nearly 8 days. From Barqa to Petraea would be about 215 miles by road, or just over six days on a horse. From Petraea to Qarkyr is about 144 miles, or just over four days on a horse. So maybe ten and a half days from Barqa to Qarkyr. At about 360 miles, that's slightly less than the driving distance from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Hope you all like it. I'm on a business trip next week, so no LEGO. But will have the computer, so was thinking about creating four or five maps zoomed in on sections of the overall map. Probably one for the east, one for Gorr and the south central coast, one Petraea and the north central Siccus, and one for the east coast. Each one maybe about a 3x zoom in.