Hello readers! I have a new map to share. This one covers all the places visited in Sylvre, the second book in the Highmoor series. The most frequent feedback I get from my readers is that they want maps, so I’ve been trying to put together something decent enough to share with the world. My eventual aim is to have a dedicated page on this site where maps can be viewed at higher quality, but this is still a work in progress. For now, I’ll present this first draft, and provide a quick description of the places shown.
For those of you that haven’t read Sylvre yet, I’ll throw out a minor spoiler warning. I don’t think you can infer much more from this map than you could from the blurb, but the accompanying descriptions of places are nothing short of a geopolitical exposition dump – so if you want to discover the world along with the characters, avoid the latter half of this post. The map of Highmoor can be found here, if you want to see that instead.
Finally, there will be a free book weekend from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th November. All my books will be free for those three days. That’s the entire Starlit Ship series, as well as Highmoor and Sylvre.
The map:
A note regarding fantasy infrastructure
I have added some new symbols since the last map. Towns, cities, fortresses and named peaks are all the same as before, but now there are major ports and mines, too. The symbol showing a bird on a perch is a mail tower, and these mark the routes taken by letters sent across the world. Letters are carried by birds (ravens, pigeons, parrots, etc.), which are trained to fly between the towers. The other new symbol marks dragon havens, which are well-known spots where travelling dragons will congregate to rest and share news.
Some fictional history and geopolitics…
The map above contains all the places visited in Sylvre, and some of the surrounding countries too. The first book took place between Highmoor and Nettlewick, in the northwest, but book two takes our characters on a journey to the Sylvre Kingdom on the opposite side of the world. To get there, they must cross the Sandmarch Empire, the largest nation to have ever existed. It spans hundreds of miles, across mountains, deserts, tundra, grasslands and moorland fells.
Our story starts in Highmoor, a sparsely populated country to the northwest of the Troll Mountains. It is ruled by seven lords from seven families of wizards, whose magical abilities are believed to be a gift from the goddess Trekja. The country was founded centuries ago, in a time when witches were pillaging the north. The wizards were the only ones with the power to deter their airborne attacks, and so Highmoor was created as a safe haven for refugees fleeing south. Ever since, the wizards have fought hard to defend their borders from witch incursions.
To the south of Highmoor is Nettlewick, a low-lying nation of lakes and forests. It is densely populated, and has some large, affluent cities such as Glenarben and Caladh. After the events of the first book, Nettlewick’s ties with the Sandmarch Empire are stronger than ever. It has two large ports on its southern coast, which are vital for trade into this otherwise inaccessible part of the world.
Bordering Highmoor and Nettlewick is the western arm of the Sandmarch Empire. This narrow corridor through the mountains, only tens of miles wide, was acquired just over a century ago. The kingdom that existed here previously had barely an army to defend itself, and neither Highmoor nor Nettlewick stepped in to help – knowing better than to anger the largest nation in the world. The empire now holds the mountain pass, and controls the flow of goods into the west.
The Troll Mountains stretch hundreds of miles across the centre of the world, and are inhospitable to most life. Their peaks are so tall that they are never free from snow and cloud, and even dragons tend to avoid flying over the highest summits. Goblins and dwarves have settled here in the past, but never for more than a few generations at a time. The lower hills are riddled with abandoned mines and crumbling infrastructure, but in winter these are buried by snow. The only true residents of the mountains are the trolls, but they are very rarely seen. Nobody is quite sure how many there are, or whether any still survive.
Wrapping around the Troll Mountains is the Sandmarch Empire. This mighty nation has grown by engulfing its neighbours. It was born through the merging of two ancient kingdoms: the desert nation of Arrakdin to the west, and the grassland nation of Odsin to the east. The verdant Trough of Gundakk lies between the two, and it is here that most of the Sandmarch population is concentrated, harvesting the resources that fuel this mighty nation. The empire contains several major cities, the largest of which is Kaldarr, the capital. This sprawling city is built on the flanks of Mount Gloed, an active volcano. This the home of the Emperor, and is believed to be the resting place of Gloed – the god who created humans.
Over the centuries, the Sandmarch Empire absorbed the nations that lay within the foothills of the Troll Mountains. Two hundred years ago, they took a huge swath of land in the north, and just decades later, they captured the Northern Frontier. This land used to belong to Friovur, a country of rivers and deltas that stretches to the northern coast. To the northeast of the empire is Jarnvon, a nation of goblins, and to the east is the long border with Votlendi, home of the elves.
To the south of the empire, and bordering Votlendi, is the Sylvre Kingdom. Its borders encompass a huge forest, as well as the jagged spine of the Synnaidd Peaks, home of the maredyg dragon riders. The Sylvre Kingdom is one of the oldest human nations in the world, but two decades ago, elves invaded the forest. They pushed through to Ghandern, the capital city, and wiped out the entire royal line. The kingdom crumbled, and its displaced residents fled to the narrow, desert coastline beyond the Synnaidd Peaks. Since then, the region has been in the hands of the elves – although the empire has spent years planning to take it back.
Other countries on this map include Assatur, the largest dwarvish nation, and their neighbour Pekra, home to a tribe of goblins. Another goblin nation lies to the north across the sea. This is Pitkarn, a stretch of windswept hills so cold and wild that none of the other hallowed species could carve a foothold there. In between Pitkarn and the Sandmarch Empire lies Kolefni, a tiny nation of warrior elves. They worship Trekja, which sets them apart from their distant brethren in the east, with whom they have little contact. They are a wealthy nation, earning their keep through mercenary work. Finally, we have Blythmoor – not recognised as a nation by anyone except the witch clan who lives there – and then Batarhelm, home of the ship-building goblins.
Exposition dump over!
For those of you that requested a map, I hope this meets your expectations. A new, better map should be available soon on this website, once I figure out the best way to present it. In terms of upcoming books in the Highmoor series, book three is in the editing stage, probably with several months to go, and book four has a preliminary plan, ready to be written up at some point next year. Maybe by then I will be organised enough to release the book and the map simultaneously… Thanks for reading, and have a great week!
C. W. Clayton 