The Krastvin Reach

This map takes place in the Breistyn universe, and is immediately one of the major plot devices. This particular version is commissioned by the nation of Krastvin Shalts to display its geopolitical prowess. The nation is not the largest in area, but it dominates several major locations on the map. (i) The isthmus in the northern continent is controlled by its western capital. (ii) It has conquered most of the islands in the Straits between the two continents. (iii) And its eastern capital is situated on the only major island in the Fossbiddrian Gulf, which lends Krastvin Shalts a crushing grip on most trade routes in the area. Krastvin's undeniable power comes from its three fleets, ranging far and wide on the Fosbiddrian Gulf, the Krastvinian Sea and the Sartian Straits. 

Krastvin's major competitor for world domination is Farghast Brin, the largest country on the southern continent, and one vastly populated. Climate is ideal for agriculture in most of the Farghast Dominion, its immense river network allows for rapid transport and communication with all of the surrounding countries. Krastvin dominates the seas, but Farghast reigns supreme on land, with its massive army mostly consisting of heavily armored knights and mounted archers. It has gradually expanded its own geopolitical sphere of influence by applying terrible pressure on its neighbouring countries, which have by now become little more than satellite states. 

A conflict between the two super powers has been evaded up til now, but it's clear that a confrontation is ultimately unavoidable. Krastvin Shalts has secured its grip on the northern continent and will inevitably turn its attention south, to the shores of Finstarn and beyond. Farghast Brin is actively trying to work up the economy of its vazal states and will not accept Krastvin's iron grip on their economy for much longer.

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There is but one problem that both super powers will have to tackle before they can have any hope on winning this conflict: it is almost impossible to accurately map this world. Many attempts have been made, but all seem to strand on one strange but very real property in the Breistyn universe: a phenomenon scholars have started to call the Spatiodynamic Field. It is a field that expands and contracts space in such a way that travel times are almost impossible to estimate accurately. It's not like winds or something are slowing you down, the actual distance measured between any two points differs between two measurements. And sometimes by a lot.

The compass in the lower left corner indicates the strength of this weird field on its inner ring. For more information about the compass, be sure to check out the dedicated deviation. It's weird and crazy and fun in its own silly way! For this map, it suffices to say that the compass helps in determining the "neutral" distances based on the measured distance and the field strength. Using the map and your own compass, you should then be able to estimate your traveltime quite accurately as well. 

The bottom right graph is nothing more than the scale of the map as a function of the field strength. So no need to do any calculations: just read off the field strength, look it up in the scale and you know how long the trip will take you. If the field doesn't change. Which sometimes it does, and sometimes drastically. 

It's important to note that this map is by no means 100% accurate. It displays the most complete version of the world as measured by Krastvin's dynocartographers, based on extensive measurements by merchants and fleet captains during their travels. However, some measurement error is inevitable, so this map is logically only an approximation of the world as it would look with a uniform field value. Still, it is an invaluable tool, and is considered one of the most powerful items to be used during the oncoming war of the superpowers.

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Ooh yeah, almost forgot! The script used on this map is called "Shirn Brádulë". I actually developed it for my upcoming fantasy cycle (which has nothing to do with this map), but I thought I'd give it a test run here. I developed a font for it as well, so feel free to give me a yell if you're intested!