A few days ago I was searching around for the best example of a handsome, expansive map of Nirn. My favorite map in terms of artistic style is http://www.imperial-library.info/content/empire-tamriel-zeph, which from what I understand is a compilation of official maps from the Elder Scrolls website. http://www.imperial-library.info/sites/default/files/gallery_files/cyrodiillargelowrescr7.jpg includes some of the surrounding landmasses, but I'm curious about the accuracy. My plan is to add the landmasses of the second map to the first map, while maintaining the style of the first map. An example what I'm aiming for can be found http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/1290/tamrielmapexpanded.jpg, where I've added Pyandonea and Thras. Before I continue this, I'd like to see if this lore forum can answer some of my questions.

First, The representation of Yokuda seems to come from http://tamrielchronicles.com/assets/westmap.gif, but the description of the map implies that the map was fan made based on the intro to Redgaurd. Can someone clear this up for me?

Second, what is the source of the Pyandonea landmass in the second image? Can anyone attest to the accuracy of it?

Third, are there any other images of landmasses that could be added? I couldn't find images of Atmora, Akavir, or Aldmeris, though I didn't expect to (especially in the case of Aldmeris).

And lastly, feel free to give any suggestions for this map, I'd love to hear any other opinions!

Thanks in advance for any help that can be offered.

The image of Yokuda is accurate; calling that "fan-made" seems strange to me, I'm pretty sure it was essentially extracted from the game somehow. Pyandonea, on the other hand, was rather comically derived from a tiny image of a globe from Daggerfall and is largely made-up by a fan. The shapes of the maps shift and change all the time, though, there is basically no "official" map of anything.

Unless that map is made for that game by Beth. But as you said, it shifts a bit.

Those maps are maps of the game, which are certainly not 'accurate.'

meh, not much of a geography enthusiast anyway.

What do you mean not accurate, my map of Morrowind could perfectly guide me to any cave I wanted.

The map is easily extrapolated from the opening of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYltef5VTyQ, excuse the poor quality. Except maybe not really... it doesn't really show much of Yokuda. (Ah, I see now, according to TIL the full map was a wallpaper released by Beth, parts of it were used in the intro.)

That comes off of the globe from Daggerfall. Head into any Mage's Guild and you should see one (or take our word for it).

Akavir is roughly described in some book (probably Mysterious Akavir), though you wouldn't be able to sketch a continent from it. There's also the Shivering Isles, though I don't think you meant that.

Pyandonea was, as has already been said, taken from an incredibly blurry image on http://i52.tinypic.com/4gnngm.png. As I've been contemplating making a map myself, I've tried to interpret that globe for longer than any man should, and what I can say is that it's useless. The mainland of Tamriel on there appears to be the Arena map, however Summerset Isle is very, very distorted, as if it was rotated more than the actual mainland was, and the coast of the mainland is pretty strange as well. That little strip of land you see below Summerset is what the creator of the map you linked to assumed was Pyandonea... but even it is, he appears to have gone far past the point of taking creative liberties with interpreting the shape, deciding instead to just draw a random shape and called it Pyandonea. And the map from Redguard presents a very different latitude/ longitude set-up than the globe does, making it even more useless.

So essentially, we have no idea what other landmasses look like other than Yokuda. Pyandonea is a mystery, as are Atmora and Akavir, though one can come up with a crude layout of Akavir in terms of where factions are located. You can safely add in everything you can decipher from the Redguard map, though I strongly suggest against further spreading that silly interpretation of Pyandonea, and instead just leaving it off your map because for all intents and purposes we still haven't actually seen it.

That globe also has a landmass about the size of Europe dominating the surface. Not very accurate.

Well you can tell quite plainly from that globe that there is no Atmora up there, if nothing else.

:turtle:

All those tiny islands and Yokuda are pulled from a map that appeared in Redguard (I think.)

Pyandonea is baed off a globe in daggerfall, but many people disagree with the shape it is given in the fannon maps.

Building with lifted bricks, I'm gonna add the maps change, because the surface of Nirn does. It's rather amorphous, actually. There is no Terra Firma, from which to judge, only the assumptions of a cartographer, stories, and his own bleak experiences. Then, a bureaucrat further down the chain, who hasn't seen the sun for 100 years, makes it so, with the official stamp of approval.

I'm not familiar with Glorantha, as I am Tekumel - talk about amazing cartography, which we weren't :vaultboy: - but I believe that world is shifting and formless. It's got a black hole for a navel.

Still, I love maps. I think Prof. Tolkien lit that fire.

I insist Pyandonea should be shaped like a sea horse. Because that's just friggin' sweet.