This month for Luciano's challenge, I decided to use this opportunity to do some serious mapping work in Agarderia, an area that I seemed to have neglected for some while now. I decided to start afresh, making a new town named Lodken.
History of Lodken
Since history is so important in this month's challenge, it would be wise to give an overview of Lodken and its surroundings for historical context.
The area was historically the border between Karamsk and the Kingdom of Both Glasters, then the newly independent Agarderia after the former country was defeated by the Ingerish in 1803. I have not quite decided why the border was not immediately at the River Taka, but instead slightly to the west of it. However, to the south of Lodken, the border was defined as 'being in the middle of the River Taka'.
I have not exactly decided why Lodken exists, or why it exists that the place it does. But I assume that it was a border village that relied much on trade coming in and out of Agarderia into Karamsk. During the 20th Century, specifically the 1930s, relations between Agarderia and Karasmk soured, leading to both Karamsk and Agarderia building border fortifications on the border. The Agarderian fortifications have not been mapped yet, as they are somewhat weaker and so less preserved. It is also to the east of the river, which forms a natural defense itself. The defenses on Karamsk's side were heavily mined and booby trapped. At this point, Lodken was still a small village, which sat in the middle of no-man's land.
When war eventually did break out in 1936, the area was put under Agarderian control entirely, with the former border reduced to a provincial division. The border to the south of Lodken was frozen, leading to its current, misaligned state in relation to the river. The area was again heavily fortified in the 1940s from fear of an annexation by Karamsk. However, the fortifications were never used when Karamsk eventually attacked in 1946 during the Agardirian Civil War, owing to the fact that Agarderia capitulated before Lodken could be reached.
Lodken was under subsequent control by the Democratic Republic of Agarderia. After the area had been cleared of munitions and mines, the defenses were used as a training ground for soldiers. The area was reactivated as a war zone in 1998, at the outbreak of the Second Civil War. New mines were layed and defenses constructed to protect the region from Karamskan separatists. As of yet they have not been removed, and so the area surrounding Lodken has been cordoned off by the army.
My mapping
In terms of history, I tend not to focus on grand ruins or exquisite monuments, but rather on the mundane and everyday aspect of things. Things like war cemetries, gun bunkers and military checkpoints.
I am also aware that I have written tons of history for Lodken. This is only the surface, and some untold elements can be inferred from my mapping, while most of it is untold, as I will not bore you with excessive detail.
For Lodken, I have mapped in much lower quality than I have for anywhere else in Glaster. I am still beginning to develop my mapping style when mapping in non-British fashion. I am also relatively unfamiliar with creating languages. Most of the languages I know are inapplicable to Agarderia. As a result, most of the objects are unnamed. If anyone has any advice on what to do about this or how I can improve my mapping, please comment below. I really feel like mapping in a foreign style is an aspect worth developing for me.
On a slightly lighter note:
