Let’s Map Mystara 1983
In which we move through the world’s first mega expansion: 1983. Stay with me, it’s going to be a long post!
Mystara Geographic Maps 1981-1983
I’m afraid I still haven’t tackled B3 yet, but it’ll have to wait for another post.
Let’s Map Mystara
Placing B3’s Gulluvia Map
The original version of B3 Palace of the Silver Princess (1981) included a map of Gulluvia, in the region that would later be the Adri Varma Plateau. The module itself was recalled and destroyed — you can read the full story at the Vaults of Pandius here, as well as download a PDF of the original module, which Wizards of the Coast made available more than twenty years after its abortive release.
The Gulluvia map was almost certainly unknown to Mystara’s designers due to its history, and as a result of this no other products reference Gulluvia, and the Adri Varma Plateau was developed in another direction, taking on a wastelands theme with extensive badlands and cacti.
Because of all this, as well as the nature of the map itself, integrating Gulluvia into Mystara is quite a challenge at this point.
Michele Carpita and the Italian Mystara community chose to adapt it to the new conception of the Adri Varma, placing various elements from B3’s map into the terrain from maps in Wrath of the Immortals. I have posted an archive of the original post for reference. Francesco Defferrari has created a larger scale version of Michele’s map, available at the Vaults. Omnibus has written a gazetteer for this version, bringing it and other fan ideas for the Adri Varma into a cohesive whole. Gary Davies produced the English version of this, together with an English version of the map.
But my Let’s Map Mystara project demands that I place it using only contemporary maps if at all possible. So I’d like to explore the map with reference only to the original X1 map.
Before we continue, it’s also worth noting that Entire Party Killed has already created an 8 mile hex replica of B3’s Haven map, but it requires an account to access. This is relevant because if possible I’d like to make my map fit with the placement of their hex grid.
A Problem of Scale
The first challenge is working out the scale. The map itself has a label claiming 1 inch to equal 15 miles. It was likely printed on a standard US Letter-sized page (8.5 inches across), and indeed the scan measures 8.227 inches across, which seems consistent. Taking this at face value, we can work out the exact scale as follows. First, I created a 15 mile ruler, scaled to my georegistered version of the X1 map. Next, I scaled this to 8.227 times its original width, which comes out at 123.4 miles.
With this measurement done, the exact scale of the map should match X1. Next, I noticed that the map was a little squint on the page, so I rotated it ever so slightly to make the borders look a bit straighter. It doesn’t seem possible to make them completely straight, however, as they were clearly drawn a little squint.
Let’s Map Mystara 1981-1982
In which we proceed through the rest of 1981’s maps and add 1982’s sole contribution.
Map 4: “Grand Duchy of Karameikos” from Expert Rulebook (1981)
From the Atlas of Mystara:
Although the 1981 Expert Set did not reprint the Known World map in any form, it did include a 6 mile per hex map of the Karameikos region. In addition to X1 (1981)’s cities of Specularum and Selenica, this larger scale map introduced a number of new settlements to Karameikos, including Luln (marked as a town); the Haunted Keep and Wereskalot in the neighbouring Five Shires (both ruins); and Fortdoom, Krakatos, and the Estate of Marilenev (all castles). The Black Eagle Barony is named, and labels appear for gnomes, elves, dwarves, kobolds, goblins, orcs, bugbears, and frost giants.
Interestingly, the Lost Valley is shown (though hard to make out) and labelled — and it’s across the border, in Darokin.
The text on page X60 provides some level of detail for some of these names, as well as a few more labels to add to the map: Gulf of Halag and Black Peaks/Cruth Mountains/The Steach.
The text also sets up the Black Eagle Barony and defines its relationship with Luln, and notes that the Haunted Keep is also known as Koriszegy Keep. Amusingly, half of the page is given over to the gnomes, although there is no mention yet of the name of their settlement.