Region Mapping
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Firstly, I'll start with some basic definitions and concepts that I use when setting up a region. A 'region' is one of the 16x16 grids that makes up the surface of Gaia. Each region, as dictated by Chaos and the cosmology of the MUD, has an x axis of 40, y axis of 40, and z axis of 5. Regions are also known as 'main maps', 'continents', or 'overland maps'. Each region can have its own identity, or it may be merged with an adjacent region to form a super region. As time goes on and more regions are released, this will make more sense.
When I am creating a new region, I use a standardized system of develop, which help speed things along and makes sure that the same fundamentals are used in each region.
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Concept of the Region
The first thing that you need to have when starting a new region is the concept of the region. With Avalon, there were a few aspects that I knew I wanted to have. LostSouls already had the Avalonian culture, which consisted of Camelot and Devonshire, but the culture really didn't have a home region. Since Camelot is a major legend from England, I started with that as a basic concept. I did a little research, and found that England has a port city called Devon. Okay, so as a general concept, I wanted a Dark Ages England. More specific research placed the main components of pre-vulgate cycle Arthurian Legend in 5th century England, but post-vulgate cycle in 15th century. That's a lot of history to dig through, but it does give a solid foundation to work with.
References
The next step is to gather your reference materials. These are useful for more accurately mapping out the geography, detailing creatures, and describing the map definitions. For Avalon, I had plenty of resource material to choose from. Robin Hood (Kevin Costner version and Errol Flynn version), Arthur, First Knight, Excalibur, the Mists of Avalon, Primevel Season 1, Canterbury Tales, a Knight's Tale, as well as google and wiki for particular aspect of England, such as local legends, cryptozoology, and weird tales.
Theme
Having the greatest concept for a region is meaningless is it doesn't match in with the rest of the world. In reviewing the resource material, it is important to keep in mind where LS is at theme-wise, and match it as closely as possible. The theme that I chose to use for Avalon dealt with Great Britain from the 5th century to the 15th century. Just prior to this time period, Rome had withdrawn its forces and plunged England into its Dark Ages. This matches with the LS timeline of when the Altrian Empire collapsed and withdrew all of its troops. After a long period of darkness, invasion, and struggling, one king rose above the rest and unites all of England. This matches Arthurian legend, and matches the in-game history of Arthur. During this time period, there were also the Crusades, which have some ties to the Almerian Inquisition, and can be a huge source of new material in the future. Towards the end of the time period selected was when the Renaissance came about. Basic theme that has come out of this- Great Britain during the highlight of the knighted cavalry.
