Metheradan Map Reveal

I’ve always loved fantasy maps. There’s something about seeing a world sketched in lines and rivers that makes it feel real, like you could trace a road with your finger and imagine who walks it. Back when I was a kid playing tabletop games, half the fun was drawing the maps. I’d spend hours sketching coastlines and mountain ranges, then make up stories about the people who lived there. Funny enough, that’s how the first parts of my main series started—not with a story outline or character sheet, but with a map.

Maps still fuel my imagination today. They’re how I keep my worlds straight and my pacing coherent. When my characters travel, the map keeps their journey grounded. It also helps me track their days, measure distance, and organize plot points between separate character arcs.

But maps do more than keep things organized. They spark ideas. I’ve dreamed up whole cultures and races just by staring at a region and wondering what kind of people might survive there. It’s a way of worldbuilding that starts from the ground up, literally.

The Reveal

With all that said, here is the map of Metheradan, the setting of The Templars of Alderath. I’ve been staring at versions of this map for months while writing, so it’s nice to finally share it outside my own head. Seeing it finished on the page helps the world feel solid, like a real place instead of just notes and sketches.

A Guided Tour

The story opens in Winthrop, a small town nestled along the Roshaan River near the center of the region. It’s ruled by Lord Roderick, a fair and steady hand, and surrounded by farmland, woodlands, and quiet people who mostly keep to themselves. Winthrop is the calm before the storm, a look at what everyday life was like before the Empire’s shadow crept across Metheradan.

Travel east along the Roshaan and you’ll find Nivea, a modest river town that marks a turning point in the journey. It’s the first place where the tone of the world begins to change. Imperial banners fly here, and the warmth of the countryside starts to give way to something colder.

The road then bends through the edge of the Sherbrooke Forest, where old oaks rise over rolling hills. This stretch of the map was especially useful when planning the book’s pacing and tracking multiple arcs became necessary. I wanted the world to feel large and connected, but not bogged down by endless travel scenes, so setting realistic distances between towns helped keep the story moving while preserving that sense of scale.

Farther east lies Lakewood, the capital and seat of Imperial power in the province. It rests on the north shore of Lake Metheradan, its towers and sprawling walls projecting history, wealth, and stability. Beneath that grandeur, though, lies a darker reality—tight control, heavy taxation, and a city that serves as both jewel and chain for the region.

From Lakewood, wide Imperial roads lead east through Roshaan Gorge toward the heart of the Empire, while smaller towns and fortifications ring the city like watchful eyes, showing just how far its reach extends.

If you follow the map outward, you’ll notice other names that come up in conversation throughout the story. Port Charles, to the west, is a vital trade hub, often mentioned as a link to the wider world, as well as a possible escape route. Up in the western highlands lies Pinedale, a quiet town of stonecutters and foresters. To the south, Brush Prairie and Westfall connect Metheradan to the province of Esmer, with trade routes that bring both goods and gossip. And beyond those lie other small settlements that remind us ordinary people still live and struggle under Imperial rule.

Even if these places don’t appear directly in the first novel, they’re woven into the story’s background. The characters speak of them, have distant relatives in them, and measure their choices against them. That’s the power of a map. They can turn a setting into a living world.

Future books and side stories will explore these other places and even step beyond Metheradan’s borders, but for now, this map offers the full picture of where the journey begins.

The Making of the Map

The map of Metheradan started as a quick mock-up in Wonderdraft, just enough to block out the main terrain, rivers, and towns. I wanted to see how the Roshaan River threaded through the region and where the roads would naturally fall between settlements. Once the major elements were in place, I exported the map to Krita for the finishing work. Krita gives me more control over fine details and layout, which matters when you’re planning for both digital and print versions. So that is where I added things like the title banner, compass rose, and sharpened all the lines and edges.

One of my main goals was readability across different formats. I stripped away Wonderdraft’s parchment texture using the color selection tool, leaving only the clean linework and map features. That helps it print cleanly on paperback cream paper and display sharply on E Ink devices without the background muddling the details. The design might look simple at first glance, but everything is deliberate—from the positions of trees and other icons, to the placement of labels. A fantasy map has to walk the line between art and utility. It should look good, but it also needs to be easy to read and guide the viewer’s eye along the journey with the characters.

Closing

I’d love to hear what kind of fantasy maps you enjoy most. Do you like old parchment styles with weathered edges, clean modern ones, or painterly maps that feel like they belong in a gallery? Feel free to drop your thoughts about Metheradan’s design in the comments. I always enjoy hearing what details readers notice first or which places spark their imagination.

Looking ahead, once I roll out subscription-based content, I’ll be sharing bonus art, zoomed-in regional maps, and maybe even some in-progress painting time-lapses if I’m brave enough to show the messy middle of the process. It’s all part of building out the world piece by piece and bringing you along for the ride.

And as for what’s next—keep an eye out. A book cover reveal for The Templars of Alderath isn’t far off.