# Gallery > Cartographers Choice >  The City-kingdoms of the Haréshk by vorropohaiah

## arsheesh

*Map*



*Created in: Photoshop*

*Review*
This is now the second of vorropohaiah's maps to receive a Cartographers Choice Award here at the Guild, and it is easy to understand why.   A lot of time and care went into crafting the rich detailed heraldry and all of the lovely hand drawn elements.  




> Hey guys,
> The Haréshk is a dichotomous place, its idyllic terrain and beautiful hills and grasslands forming a stark contrast to the politicking of its regions and their rulers; kings and queens and their countless lords and advisors. The place is somewhat antiquated, still holding onto traditions that the world's major powers (amongst them the two Korachani empires and the Secular Parthian Republic chief amongst them) consider to be antiquated, such as knightly traditions and a feudal state. The region is renowned for its myriad flags and heraldic devices and the angelic and draconic motifs (both attributed to its religion) that fill its art and culture.


*Original threads*
Click here to view the Finished Map thread.
Click here to view the WIP thread.

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## vorropohaiah

Yay! with the varied selection of maps available I'm surprised this got chosen. Thanks for the honour. Must try and outdo myself now...

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## - Max -

Well deserved Vorropohaiah! Very nice job  on the heraldic and labelling!

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## Blaidd Drwg

Congrats, Vorropohaiah! This is definitely my favourite map in the new 'batch' of CC awards. It sounds almost like a backhanded compliment to say I especially love the heraldry, but it really isn't. Well done!  :Wink: 

btw: how _did_ you do the heraldry?

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## vorropohaiah

> It sounds almost like a backhanded compliment to say I especially love the heraldry, but it really isn't. Well done!


thanks, well that was the point of the map - to try out something with heraldry, so i guess it worked. though looking at some other recent maps around the guild the shields do look simple. 




> btw: how _did_ you do the heraldry?


couldnt be simpler - i just found a batch of free custom-shapes that fitted the heraldry theme and used them on a shield background i made. add some colours and finish off with a subtle bevel/emboss and some noise.

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## Map-man

Wow, Love the map... very nice...  Is it bad to say that my favorite part is the torn section, bottom center... LOVE IT!

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## Jrandom

Off the hook amazing.....

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## Adolon

> couldnt be simpler - i just found a batch of free custom-shapes that fitted the heraldry theme and used them on a shield background i made. add some colours and finish off with a subtle bevel/emboss and some noise.


Have you thought about writing blazons for the various shields?

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## Battlecat

This map is absolutely spectacular.  I wish you the best of luck in outdoing it, that's going to be a heck of a challenge.

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## vorropohaiah

> Have you thought about writing blazons for the various shields?


what exactly do you mean by blazons, i was under the impression a blazon is the iconography itself?




> This map is absolutely spectacular.  I wish you the best of luck in outdoing it, that's going to be a heck of a challenge.


hehe, thanks. I'll certainly try!

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## Adolon

> what exactly do you mean by blazons, i was under the impression a blazon is the iconography itself?


A blazon is a formal description of a shield and any attachments (crown, supporters, etc.). It's used so that an artist can read it and know exactly what the contents of the shield look like without ever seeing the shield.

For example...

*Alamut: Argent, standing atop a tower tripled-towered Or, a lion passant Gules.*
I couldn't tell if the lion was facing the viewer (guardant) or had two tails (queue-fourché).*Arraton: Argent, a chevron Gules between two escallops of the first and a bull's skull Sable.*
This shield actually breaks the color/tincture rule. The rules of heraldry state that you never put a metal on a metal or a color on a color (unless they're labeled "proper"). I also didn't really know what the thing at the bottom was.*Fala: Per pale, Argent, three scythes Sable; Gules, a cockatrice of the first.**Faulala: Orange, two scythes Sable in saltire charged with a laurel Vert, atop an escroll Tawny.*
Breaks the color rule.*Luraiel: Argent, a tree Sable; on a chief Vert, three plates.*
A roundel Argent = a plate. There's no need for a color in the blazon.*Orul: Vert, three roses Gules above a double-headed eagle displayed Argent.*
Breaks the color rule.

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## Schwarzkreuz

I would add to your Rep if I could, somehow the button is missing..? 

Anyway, where can I read something about those Rules and descriptions? And would you mind helping me with my Heraldics?

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## Adolon

> I would add to your Rep if I could, somehow the button is missing..? 
> 
> Anyway, where can I read something about those Rules and descriptions? And would you mind helping me with my Heraldics?


It might be because I've only just joined the website that you cannot give me rep.

There are a few sources I use for making and describing heraldry. One is a book I own but you can read it online called Boutell's Heraldry. It's a book from 1890. Another is A Complete Guide to Heraldry from 1909 available on Wikipedia. The last is a website that has many, many examples including blazons of many shields throughout the world from a book called A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry from 1894. I don't use the glossary as much but only if I need to see how other people wrote their blazons with different shapes.

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## - Max -

> I would add to your Rep if I could, somehow the button is missing..?


The rep button never appears in the CG choice section  :Wink:

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## Schwarzkreuz

This is a realy broad field....

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## Adolon

> This is a realy broad field....


It's had hundreds of years of new material added on to it. It certainly is huge and a science all its own. I don't mind helping you if you need help describing/creating a shield.

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## Schwarzkreuz

Let's open a thread in the General discussions, so we can leave this thread.

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## vorropohaiah

@adolon - thats great. I was awar that i was breaking the metal/colour rules on some of the shields, though im not that botheed about it as i figured its a different world, so might have different rules.

The blazons are really cool, and would make a great addition to my encyclopaedia, though as the heraldry is visible on the map i dont think theyre needed on this particular map. Thanks for the feedback though, you just gave me a few thousand words to add my notes, which is always good

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## Adolon

I made a thread under General and Miscellaneous Mapping for heraldry.

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## Orkogo

Wonderful heraldic, nice map, congratulation!

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## Hiram

that's a hell of a map!

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## Realmwright

Fantastic work ol buddy! I can totally imagine this in the hands of some old scholar. I like the thought of him using it so much that his paper copy wore out. So he spent the extra coin to have a noteworthy cartographer (you) spent hours of painstaking work to reproduce it on goatskin....and still it sees so much use that the edges have become tattered  :Smile:  

PS It reminds me of the scene in Game of Thrones where Maester Lewin is reviewing heraldry with Bran Stark.

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## vorropohaiah

thanks guys  :Smile:  nice being compared with something from GoT, too  :Smile:  time to start something new methinks...

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## VonShreddy

I'm really impressed by how clear and concise you've made this map despite it having so much going on!

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## vorropohaiah

thanks, nice to see uyo usay that as i was often worried it might be a bit confusing, with all the labels and textures in there

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## VonShreddy

If anything I'd say it's just a lot to digest. Which is EXACTLY what fans want during those long waits between books!

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## Maezar

A fantastic map or a wonderful world, rich with character and creation, and devoid of commonness and cliché. I am humbled by your genius and happy to have you as a fellow forumite.

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## Aventhar

Wow. Something to aspire to. Just wow.

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## mapposer

Very detailed, I love the folds and rips along the edges!

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## vorropohaiah

Thanks for the kind words guys. Must try make something new  :Smile:

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## Pendragon

Congrats! Well deserved, this map is amazing!  :Smile:

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## Karan

Absolutely amazing! one of the best maps i have ever seen. damn

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## Applejack

Great Map!
I'm curious as to what your new map's gonna be like.
Hehehhe, sneak peak maybe? lol.

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## vorropohaiah

thanks  :Smile:  which one are you referring to, as i have quite a few on the go at one time  :Smile:

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## Troy Grice

Uh, wow. The "feel" is like medieval parchment. Nioce work.

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## vorropohaiah

> Uh, wow. The "feel" is like medieval parchment. Nioce work.


Thanks! It's been a while since I've done a map like this one

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