With the 162nd Map of the Week, we take a look at the triple principality of Karelenland. The country is unique, not so much as a land ruled by a troika but moreso as the last vestige of light elves in the Dimension of the Living upon the jörð. In olden times Karelenland was a part of the princedom of the Ganndar elves, who were ruled by the great spellcaster, Prince Ganndálf, and his sister-wife, the celestial queen Ilmatra. They ascended long ago to their home in the stars, and the Ganndar retreated from most of their lands. They remain only in the northwestern corner of the jörð. in Karelenland, across the waters from Northland, the domain of the dark elven Queen Luohi.
The principality is ruled by the three sons of Ganndálf and Ilmatra, the princes Lemminkäinen, an elven wizard-warrior; Väinämöinen, an elven skáld, and Ilmarinen, a dwarven master smith who is an artisan. The tale of how the elf Völundr became the dwarf Ilmarinen is told in the free Jörðgarð campaign setting books.
It is extremely difficult for outsiders to reach Karelenland, partly because of its remote location, but above all because of the protective measures its rulers have taken to keep outsiders out. However, humans who do succeed in entering Karelenland have a chance to gain the best training available for spellcasters, sword swingers and smiths in the schools of the three princes. Karelenland has a mixed population of light elves, half-elves and humans. It is the land where the first half-elves were born and also the land where the great majority of the jörð's half-elves still live.
The graphic above is reduced in size. You can get the full-sized map in two versions:
1. The Fractal Mapper (TM) 8 version in FMP format, fully editable (11 MB) from the Jörðgarð website.
2. As JPG flat map of 1360 Pixels x 1340 Pixels, (910 KB), available from the NBOS website at:
http://www.nbos.com/nox/download.php?id=597
Both versions are released for personal and commercial use under the Open Game License Version 1.0a, which you can read on the Jörðgarð website at:
http://www.vintyri.org/joerdhgardh/
Next Week: Karelenland - City of Ganndarford