Where in the Zoasfier am I?
Most of the maps on this page are elliptical projections that show the entire surface of the Zoasfier. Click any map to see a larger version. If you know an easy way (i.e. a matrix transform formula) to easily convert these to azimuthal polar projections, please contact the author.
Continents and Significant Places
The above map shows the major oceans, continents, and significant named regions.
The Northern Lands is a roughly triangular shaped continent that encircles the north pole, then extends south to about 30° north latitude. From east to west it covers from approximately 40° west longitude to 60° east longitdue. The Southern Lands is a continent shaped somewhat like a dog bone. It extends from about 35° west to 50° east and from 20° south to 50° south. Between these two continents lies the Central Archipelago, a group of about 200 islands of volcanic origin, ranging in size from less than a square mile to several thousand square miles. The various islands lie between 30° west to 55° east, and 10° south to 10° north. Most of these islands are inhabited.
Additional landmasses exist that simply have yet to be discovered by my characters. These are suggested by the gray outlines above. This part of the world is the most subject to change as I continue to develop these stories.
Political Boundaries
This map shows the most significant nation-states of my stories. The setting for most stories is Nivalla, located on the Northern Lands between the mountains and the southern coast. Wyndelm neighbors Nivalla to the west, occupying the southwest corner of the Northern Lands. The mountains of the Northern Lands form a region known as Kellingswiggen. This is broccan territory and their system of governance is rather loosely organized. Sindraland sits on the northeast corner of the Southern Lands. All islands of the Central Archipelago form a single confederated nation save a single break-way, Thanus. Other nations, primarily in the Southern Lands, are to be determined.
Observe that the boundary between two of these nations, Nivalla and Wyndelm, forms the central meridian for measurement of longitude on the Zoasfier.
For extended information on theses nations, please refer to the Government and Politics section.
Biomes
This map shows the distribution of biomes on the Zoasfier. Notice that most regions of the "unknown" landmasses are still works in progress. It is worth comparing to the political map above and observing that Nivalla encompasses a large fertile prarie, while Wyndelm is largely forest (although it also includes a desert.) Note also the extent of the alpine regions of the two major continents.
Major Cities
The ten largest known cities in the Zoasfier as of the year 1100 U.N. are:
- Wolfe's Pointe, Sindraland - Population 865,000 (capital city of Sindraland)
- Plytha Falls, Nivalla - Population 830,000
- Nivalla City, Nivalla - Population 795,000 (capital city of Nivalla)
- Tenes, Thanus - Population 725,000 (capital city of Thanus)
- Delok Harbor, Island of Delok, The Archipelago - Population 660,000 (capital city of The Archipelago)
- Settlement surrounding "Chamber of the High Council of Elders" - Population 510,000 (de facto capital city of Wyndelm)
- Pleasant Haven, Nivalla - Population 480,000
- Grant Bay, Island of Ketensia, The Archipelago - Population 420,000
- To Be Named Later, Sindraland - Population 370,000
- To Be Named Later, TBD - Population 330,000 (probably capital city)
The Zoasfier side-by-side with Earth
Here I've placed one of my maps alongside an identical projection of earth, allowing comparison of sizes. Note that the Northern Lands are roughly the same size as Asia, and the Southern Lands about one-and-a-half times the size of Australia. Some of the larger islands of the Archipelago are similar to, for example, Madagascar, Sumatra, and Japan. The nations of Nivalla and Wyndelem are together about the size of the United States.
Note: The Mollweide projection displayed here is adapted from the file at Wikimedia Commons and utilzed under the terms of the Creative Commons license therein described. The file has been modified by removing the layer that contains the Tissot indicatrix.
Detail of Nivalla
Here I have scaled up the other maps to show details Nivalla and Wyndelm. This map highlights the major cities and other significant towns and settlemets, along with larger rivers and roads.
The great Plytha River flows north to south through Nivalla. All of Nivalla'a large cities are located along this river. A large thoroughfare parallels the Plytha River, another major road links the two capitals, and a third runs along the southern coastline.
On the west coast, the Karrad Desert is uninhabited, but is territory of Wyndelm. They maintain it as a protected and sacred space. To the east, The Great Swamp is the home range of the boar trolls, so other races tend to avoid it. Elmond's Fortress is the headquarters for the border defenses that keep the boar trolls from raiding towns and farms- other patrol stations line the eastern frontier.
The Kellingswiggen Mountains rise to the north, home to the brocc. The small triangles indicate entrances to the larger broccan setts. These are only the entrances- the actual dwellings of the brocc lie miles underneath the mountains.
Latitude comparison with Earth
This table shows a list of major cities along or near my fictional Plytha River, with a few major cities along or near the real Earth's Mississippi River, and the approximate northern latitude. This serves to give a general idea of where these fictional places are in terms of climate and distance from one another.
| Fictional City | Latitude | Real City |
|---|---|---|
| Elk Lake | 51°N | |
| 50°N | Winnipeg, Manitoba | |
| 49°N | Lake of the Woods, Minnesota | |
| 48°N | ||
| Nivalla City | 47°N | Fargo, North Dakota |
| High Council | 46°N | |
| 45°N | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| 44°N | ||
| 43°N | ||
| Plytha Falls | 42°N | Davenport, Iowa |
| 41°N | ||
| 40°N | ||
| 39°N | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| 38°N | ||
| 37°N | Cairo, Illinois (Ohio meets Mississipi) | |
| 36°N | ||
| Pleasant Haven | 35°N | Memphis, Tennessee |
| 34°N | ||
| 33°N | ||
| 32°N | Vicksburg, Mississipi | |
| Wyndelm's Port | 31°N | |
| 30°N | New Orleans, Louisiana |