The power of creation is at your fingertips! Orcs prepare for battle against high Elves, Dwarves retreat to the mountains and men march to the sea to reclaim crumbling fortresses. Fortunes are decided. Kingdoms are lost. Entire worlds are created. This book will teach you to bring your fictional realm to life with simple step-by-step instructions on how to draw authentic fantasy maps. Set the stage for adventure by illustrating domains, castles and battle lines, mountains, forests and sea monsters! Learn to create completely unique and fully functional RPG maps time and time again on which your world can unfold. All the skills necessary to create awe-inspiring maps are covered! Landscapes. Add depth, balance and plausibility with rocky coastlines, towering mountains, dark forests and rolling plains. Iconography. Mark important places--towns and cities, fortresses and bridges--with symbolic iconography for easy-to-understand maps. Typography. Learn how to place readable text and the basics of decorative script. Bonus instruction teaches you to create fonts for Orcs, Elves, Vikings and dragons. Heraldry and shield design. Depict cultural and political boundaries with shields and colors. Advanced cartography. Includes how to draw landmarks, country boundaries and political lines. Build roads to connect merchants and troops, troll cairns and dragon lairs. And complete your maps with creative backgrounds, elaborate compasses and thematic legends. 30+ step-by-step demonstrations illustrate how to construct an entire fantasy world map from start to finish--both digitally and by hand!

Create authentic-looking maps of fantasy cities, hamlets, fortifications and more in a popular tabletop, RPG style. 30+ step-by-step demonstrations show you how to create your own unique RPG maps Learn how to draw fantasy cities, medieval settlements and more from a professional gaming illustrator Tips and techniques for drawing fences, stone walls, forests, fields, bridges, footpaths, mountains, harbors, shields, coats of arms and other cartography elements Put your design and drawing skills on the map!

In old KalDathia, a frightened king makes a fateful mistake that spells his country's doom and unleashes an ancient and terrible scourge upon the land. Beset by barbarian invaders, he Awakens a legendary hero known as Rakkoth, the Sleeping Savior, not knowing that the Savior is, in truth, a Dark sorcerer who nearly destroyed the world with his black arts before being cast into ensorcelled slumber eight centuries ago. Once revived, this sadistic sorcerer seizes power, conquers an entire continent, and forges an empire built on blood and death. Meanwhile, across the Luminous Sea in the Kingdom of Calderia, Crown Prince Killian grows to manhood, unaware that he carries within him a seed of divine power instilled by the gods. This power has been gifted to a mortal once in each generation against the time of Rakkoth's return-and must now be Awakened, if Calderia has any hope of prevailing against the evil emperor who has turned his malevolent gaze upon Killian's homeland as his next conquest. But to do so, the human prince must help to forge an alliance with other warring nations and races of Balleterria, including his blood enemies, the Elves, and their warrior princess, Ellianthia, who would sooner slit his throat and watch him die than join with him in common cause. Somehow, these sworn foes must refrain from killing each other long enough to learn how to work together, gathering other companions along the way as they undertake a long and perilous journey to solve an age-old mystery, find a magic talisman, seek out a lost mage, and save their world from descent into oblivion.