When I first started playing in Empai Tirkosu, I had no idea of what the land would look like. Image editing software wasn’t readily available to me at the time, and I’m really rubbish at physical sketches. So for the few one-and-a-half adventures I just winged it, having only the vaguest idea of the island’s shape and composition.

Eventually I got around to actually drawing one up, using a functional style that served more as a digital, pixel-by-pixel map than something that was actually nice to look at.

It’s probably impossible to see, but if you zoom in far enough you can actually see the names of the villages and other places, written out in minute text. This is what I used for about the first six months, before deciding it sorely needed an upgrade.

And then I came up with this eyesore.

I originally created this because I was intending to run a one-shot on Roll20.com, and I needed something presentable to show potential players. Needless to say the one-shot never happened, but that was actually due to factors other than the map.

It was near the one-year anniversary of the setting that I actually sat down and made a map that not only wasn’t painful to look at, but actually looked somewhat professional. The island’s “final form” was made possible by the fantastic u/mycatthenudist, who posted some very helpful guides on reddit, and my artist sister who wised me up about the proper use of colour.

While some minor details and areas have changed somewhat, it’s always stayed pretty much in the same condition. And this is within keeping of Tirkosu’s lore, as well; While the island’s shape stays the same, the individual regions are constantly changing as they get fed by the elemental planes.

Here’s hoping I get to make many more maps in the future.