# Community Participation > Mapping Challenge Archive >  ***November/December 2015 Challenge: Hidroth Lea***

## arsheesh

Jax and I have teamed up together and he has asked me to create for him a city map.  He's given me quite a bit of latitude as to the details.  Well for some time now I've been meaning to create a map of Hidroth Lea, the home town of my PCs in a campaign I ran several years back.  It was one of those projects just sitting on the back burner for years, so now Jax has given me a reason to get off my rear and actually create it.  Here's a brief description of the town:

_
Hidroth Lea is a large town located along the King’s Highway within the mist-laden Downs of Edigroth. The town is both the political center of Hidroth County, and the center of one of only two archdiocese in the Northern Reaches. The town was founded three hundred years ago by King Thaladon, who appointed Count Aldon Hidroth as Lord of the realm. Aldon in turn appointed Trebeth Etheborne as the realm’s Baron Knight Protector. The Hidroths and the Ethebornes have shared leadership over the County ever since.

There is a tangible air of excitement, hope and expectation within Hidroth Lea. Located as it is in the center of the most important trade route in the north, the town has begun to become a destination point for many. New businesses spring up each year as more and more merchants and artisans from the southlands migrate north. This newly enriched cultural scene has helped to give the once rural town a “cosmopolitan” feel. Likewise, many adventurers pass through town on their way to the latest expedition. Quite a few moreover choose to settle within Hidroth Lea, given its close proximity to the treasure-filled Ruins of Ondur. In fact, due in part to recent historical events and in part to the able administration of the town’s last two Counts, Hidroth Lea has become the fastest growing town in the north._
I debated as to whether or not to do this map in a photo-realistic or a hand drawn style and decided to go with the former.  One of these days I hope to write a town map tutorial for GIMP users and so I could use a bit more practice.  Anyway here's what I've got done so far; not much more than an outline at this point (the image is at 1/2 res).

###Latest WIP###

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## Chashio

Huh. That's a really nice beginning. Beautiful job with the shaded green hills.

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## J.Edward

Really nice start Arsheesh.
Really nice color and landforms. This should be interesting.  :Smile:

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## arsheesh

Thanks guys.  OK here's a little update.  I've added trees and castle walls and begun working on the layout of the castle.  

### Latest WIP ###

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## J.Edward

That's a nice update.
The walls look great. The trees look good and the disbursement is great. 
This is going to be a tough one to compete with.  :Smile:

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## arsheesh

> This is going to be a tough one to compete with.


Funny I was just thinking the same of your entry  :Wink:

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## Ilanthar

Very nice! If you do the town as you did the lands, it's gonna be hard to compete with, indeed.

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## ChickPea

This is looking gorgeous!! Fantastic start. I love the walls.

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## Chashio

This is really stunning work, arsheesh.

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## arsheesh

Thanks for the kind words everyone!  We had my family up this weekend so I wasn't able to get much accomplished, but I did manage to finish Hidroth Keep.  Now it is off to populate the map with dozens of little houses.

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## Diamond

Okay, you know what I love most about this so far?  The way you did the dirt tracks/roads inside the keep, making them look scuffed and well-used.  That's awesome.

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## Bogie

The walls are great, but I love how you did all the little paths through the grass.

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## arsheesh

Diamond & Bogie, thanks, I intend to do more of these dirt paths in the refining process as well.  

Well progress is slow going.  I did manage to complete the Cathedral of Illandriol and the Guild Halls and major businesses along Commonwealth Plaza.  Will post more later this week.

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## ChickPea

Looking fantastic. I'm really liking this one!

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## J.Edward

This is going to be good Arsheesh.  :Very Happy:

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## Warlin

The years of experience can be read in the smallest details provided. The texture on the fortifications, ok... but traces of passage left in the grass, I am amazed. Hats off maestro!  :Smile:

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## arsheesh

Thank you all for the kind, encouraging words.  Welcome to the lifestyles of the rich and famous... of Hidroth Lea.  Along Avrelend lane dwell the estates of the Town's minor nobility and nouveau riche merchant class.  

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## tainotim

This looks splendid Arsheesh! Can't wait to see this finished and then explore all the paths and gardens  :Smile: 

Would love to see a WIP version with the whole map and the progress parts  :Smile: 

Cheers,
Tainotim

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## arsheesh

Thanks Tainotim.  Sure thing, here's the latest WIP.  The houses are taking me quite a bit longer than I had anticipated.  I'm afraid I may not be able to finish this piece before the contest ends.  If not, I'll just continue to plug away at it until I finish it.

### Latest WIP ###

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## J.Edward

This is already so good Arsheesh. It's going to be so spectacular once completed.  :Smile: 
Will there be homes of lesser income, within or outside the walls?
Cities are time consuming - stay strong in the fight.  :Wink:   :Razz:

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## arsheesh

> This is already so good Arsheesh. It's going to be so spectacular once completed. 
> Will there be homes of lesser income, within or outside the walls?
> Cities are time consuming - stay strong in the fight.


Thanks J, I definitely plan on finishing this map, though I doubt I'll have time to do so before the contest ends.

Yes, this was intended to be a town of mixed income.  There are estates of the nobles / nouveau riche to the east, the business / artisan district in the center and along the main road (market street), and the income homes to the south-west, with sundry other things filling in the rest.  

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

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## AzurePlanet

Hey arsheesh, wonderful work!
I'm utterly impressed by the image resolution: your photo-real style is more realistic than a real orthophoto!  :Surprised:

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## Larb

This realistic style is something I've never been able to do myself. It looks really nice and I'm glad to hear you'll still finish it even if you don't meet the deadline.

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## Ilanthar

Ah, those time consuming cities  :Very Happy: ! It's gonna look truly awesome when finished.

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## Tom

Gz arsheesh, you are a truly master of realistic map, no doubt so far.. the colors feels so natural! keep it up!

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## arsheesh

Thanks everyone for the kind words.  Still plodding along here, making slow but gradual progress on the houses.

### Latest WIP ###

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## J.Edward

I like that theatre, like the Globe theatre. The whole thing looks great so far.
Will you be doing any borders between manors? Like stone walls or shrub walls?
That would look nice [albeit time consuming].

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## arsheesh

Thanks J.  Good eye, the theater was inspired by the Globe.  I'd been toying around with the idea of including some stone walls around the manors, though there isn't a whole lot of space.  Right now however I'm focusing on the broad brush strokes - laying in houses and major details.  Right now I'm racing against the clock (and I think the clock is going to win) just to fill in the big picture.  Once I'm done with that I'll come back and add the finer details, stones, shrubs, hedgerows, dirt paths and possibly stone fences.  

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

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## arsheesh

Hi all, here's an update.  Been on holiday with the family and haven't had much time to work on this.  Also, we've got family staying with us this week so this will probably be the final update for the challenge.  I'll just have to finish it afterwards.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

### Latest WIP ###

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## J.Edward

This is going to be one of my new favorites once complete Arsheesh.  :Very Happy: 
There's a lot of interesting stuff you can do with this once you're done - layout and text and other assorted bits.  :Wink:

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## Abu Lafia

Hi arsheesh, i followed your progress on this entry, but somehow i missed commenting till now... what a shame!  :Smile:  This looks so magnificent! The smooth landscape is lovely and the detailed buildings are outstanding. Really looking forward to see it completed!

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## Bogie

Gotta agree with them, this is really excellent.

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## ChickPea

This is phenomenal work and I love what you've done. I find myself wishing you managed time to do even a little bit of work on the river, but I guess I'll just need to wait till after the challenge! the whole thing looks absolutely fantastic, though. Great job.  :Smile:

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## Ilanthar

A masterpiece to come! I like all the details (nice mill!) and I'm very glad to know you'll finish it anyway.

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## arsheesh

Thank you all so much for the words of encouragement on this project.  It means a lot to me.  I still have a long way to go on this, but I did manage to get a bit more work done so here is, what I am pretty sure will be, my final WIP for this challenge.

P.S.  ChickPea, I do intend to get around to doing something more with the river.  Stay tuned.

EDIT:  I just realized that the challenge was not ending tonight but in a few days time!  Well, perhaps then this will not be the last WIP.  We'll see if I have time for another.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

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## Jaxilon

Bro, I'm so sorry for not being here more..somehow I didn't even realize you got rolling. I figured like me you got sucked up into the grind so sorry for not giving feedback during this.

Having said that, I TOTALLY LOVE IT! This is looking so incredible and that makes me feel like a heel for not getting to mine.  :Frown:  

Keep going, go go go.

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## Katto

Looks awesome. I really hope you will finish it. City maps are so time consuming...

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## arsheesh

Alright.  Well, it's still a long way from being done, but at least I manged to fill in most of the buildings (small out houses and barns excepted).  Thanks everyone for the encouragement along the way.  I'll continue to work on this after the challenge ends.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

### Latest WIP ###

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## J.Edward

Wonderful work Arsheesh.  :Smile: 
Even at this stage it's a beauty.

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