Two Kingdoms 60 - Cartography

[DoctorM]

TWO KINGDOMS 60 - CARTOGRAPHY

This is the sixtieth part of an ongoing AU construction about a Gwynedd where the duel at Kelson Haldane's coronation went very differently indeed. We are now almost four years into the Gwynedd Wars-- Charissa's new kingdom at Valoret against the Haldanes in the south and the kingdom of Torenth in the east. This episode is set just after "Dukes" and "Maison-Fort". As always, comments and suggestions are very much appreciated.

****

"You have to imagine you're an eagle," Christian says. "Imagine you're a blue eagle like the ones on your father's banners. You're an eagle and you're looking down at the world."

Brendan Coris is sitting cross-legged in a great chair pulled up to a trestle table here in an upper hall in the palace at Tolan-by-Sea. He leans in to look at the map unrolled on the table. The boy holds a hand up over the heavy vellum. "If I'm an eagle, and I go this way, where am I going?"

Christian looks back at Aurelian and grins. "Now that, young Coris, is a good question. Better than half the lords in Gwynedd. Up here, now, that's where north is. That's new, and it came out of Bremagne, but it's what everyone's starting to use these days— north's at the top of the map. Now where's home for you? Think west."

Brendan stares at the map. He taps at a little castle inked onto the vellum.  "North at the top, and west is...over here. So this is Marbury! That's home!" He turns back to Christian and Aurelian and looks at them with bright expectation.

Christian spreads his hands and smiles. "Perfect. You're learning. Maps are important. That's why you're here today. Not everyone knows how to read a map, not by any means, but you'll need to. These days, a duke has to know about maps."

He gestures across to the pile of rolled maps on the far side of the table. "Your father's the Queen's captain-general, and he's very, very good at what he does. But he can't fight a battle until he knows where he is and what the country he's in looks like. That's what Falcon Horse are for, and it's what I'm for." He puts a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You need to know what the lay of the land is, you send for the sell-swords. And... sell-sword, in R'Kassan— quick!"

Brendan laughs. "Söldner! It's Söldner !"

Christian laughs back. "Good job...but what about in the steppe tongue?"

"Zsoldos!"

Aurelian is on Brendan's other side. "Let's see if we can outflank you, young Coris. Quick, in Bremagni!"

"That's easy! Mercenaire!"

"At Millefleurs or in Remigny, certainly. But what if you're in Finisterre? They're part of Bremagne, but they have their own tongue."

Brendan takes a quick breath. "That's...goprsoudard!"

Aurelian and Christian both grin. "You're quick today," Christian says. "And you've been talking to General Graff."

Brendan points east and south on the map. He thinks for a moment. "General Graff tells me all about Finisterre. He says it's always grey and foggy and you can see waves on the ocean tall as a castle. He says they make a wonderful fish stew there. But everyone says he has a R'Kassan accent."

Aurelian shakes his head. "You solve that mystery and you'll be famous, young Brendan. Get his life's story out of Graff and you can have my job as Inquisitor."

Aurelian leans past the boy and points at what's drawn on the bottom right corner. "Now here's another question. Not languages. See this little bar? That's a scale bar. It's a new thing. People who make maps in the Eleven Kingdoms have started putting one of these on every real map. That bar stands for twenty miles. Imagine bars like that laid end to end. That'll show you how far apart things are."

"The R'Kassans did it first," Christian says. "I think they may have learned it from the Moors, though. If something's all about mathematics, it almost always has the Moors behind it. You started seeing Rak sell-sword scouts using the scale bars maybe back sixty or so years ago, so you could get a sense of how far apart things were on the open steppe. You want something scouted right, you get some sell-swords. Speaking as one myself, of course." 

"So look over here," Aurelian says. That's Tolan-by-Sea, where we are right now. Tell me how far it is to Marbury if you're flying like an eagle."

Brendan stares at the map and traces a finger west across the blue-inked inset of the Nordmarche Gulf. He thinks for a moment. You can tell he's counting to himself. "A hundred twenty miles! Is it a hundred twenty miles?"

Aurelian and Christian exchange a glance. "Not bad at all," Aurelian says. "I think maybe it's a little more, but not much. That's not bad at all for a beginner."

Brendan looks up. "My lords— it's all so big. Are these all the places where we're fighting?"

"Not a chance," Christian says. "This is just a map of the northeast of the new kingdom. Down south, down past the bottom of the map, there's Rheljan, where your grandfather is Count now,  and then there's Cardosa city down here. Your great-uncle Murdo and General Graff fought King Wencit the Red Fox there. If you keep going south and west and you have another map, you'll get to the Molling River. We'll be fighting Alaric Morgan there soon enough."

He's tapping on the vellum with two long fingers. "The Queen just may have your father come east to fight him. Your father wants that a lot, by the way. And over here, if you're at Marbury and keep going north and just a bit west, you get into Kheldour. That's where the Queen gave me my princedom. I have some fighting to do there soon, just about where these mountains come down to the sea."

Brendan looks up at Christian and takes a slow breath. "My lord Kheldour? May I ask you something?"

Christian raises an eyebrow. "This is going to be dangerous, isn't it? But Aurelian and I, we've always told you we'd answer anything for you. Ask us and we'll never lie to you."

Brendan fidgets in the chair. "My lord... Is Duke Alaric a bad man?"

Christian looks hard at the boy. He takes a breath of his own. "Brendan, I was a sell-sword. I fought for whoever had my contract. I was loyal to whoever hired me. Everyone thinks his own side is good and his enemies are bad, and most of the time they're both right. Alaric Morgan is the Queen's enemy, and I'm always and ever loyal to Charissa. But, no, I don't think he's a bad man. Alaric Morgan and I fought a duel once— my first, last, and only sword-duel. The whole world knows how that ended up. So he's not my favourite person. I'll kill him if I can. But he's not a bad man. He's a brave knight, he's a fine general, he's loyal to the Haldanes. All the ladies are in love with him. Bishop Brechlin and Aurelian, they'll both say Morgan is probably a good duke to his people. So he's not a bad man. He's the Queen's enemy, though, and that's what matters to me."

"Oh." Very quietly, Brendan says, "My lord, is my father a bad man?"

Christian shakes his head. "Brendan, no. Wherever that question came from, the answer is just...no. Your father and I get along. We're not friends, Bran Coris and I, but we get along. Marley ships grain round the Gulf to my family lands, and we mine tin and ship it to Marley. Your father... Well, your father's a brave man. A fierce fighter; good man on a horse. He's one of the very best swordsmen in the Eleven Kingdoms.  Maybe the best. He's a good general, too. Look what he's been doing up in north Meara and Cassan. And he's nobody's fool. Look, now— he's ambitious, everyone knows that, and he could get himself in trouble one day if he's not careful. But he's not a bad man, your father."

He looks over at Aurelian. "And...I'm sure my friend the Grey Death here can help me with this, can't he?"

Aurelian is halfway to laughing. "Where's the question coming from, Brendan? Who says your father's done anything bad?"

Other than his mother, you mean? That's Christian, finger-speaking over Brendan's head.

Brendan runs a finger down the map southwards. "My mother's ladies say that my father is a bad man, and that God won't let him fight Duke Alaric and win."

"Oh, bloody hell." Christian makes a face. "Just the kind of gossip we need." He shifts into fast Darija for Aurelian. "Prayer books, embroidery, and bitchiness. Ladies-in-waiting with far too much time on their hands. At least the Queen's lot just get into scandals themselves instead of gossiping about everybody else. Are you sure we can't just hang them?"

"My lords?" Brendan is looking up. You can hear it in his voice— people are talking over him and past him and he hates that. "My lords, people say that my father betrayed his king, and that's why he's a bad man. That's why he won't defeat Duke Alaric."

Aurelian starts to say something and then motions to Christian. Christian shrugs and nods.

"Brendan," he says, "that's not the way things work. The Haldanes believe that about your father; maybe your mother's idiot ladies-in-waiting believe that, too. But I don't see it that way. Your father gave his oath to Brion Haldane, who was King Brion then. But then Brion Haldane died. The oath died with him. Your father never gave his word to Kelson Haldane; Kelson Haldane's not a real king, anyway. So when your father gave his word to the Queen, he was free to do that. That's how I'd argue it, at least."

"You'd need Bishop Brechlin to decide," Aurelian says. "Bishop Brechlin knows all the Gwynedd law there is; he has years and years of being justiciar behind him. You'd need to ask Brechlin, but what Christian says is a colorable argument. There was no one alive for your father to betray."

Christian leans over the map table and runs a finger along the inked borders of Eastmarch. "Coronation Day, Brendan. Everything was all fire and blood and no one knew what was happening. Charissa was there at the big cathedral in Rhemuth, in the middle of the fighting. She sent my cousin Michael Gordon to your father. He and his men were barricaded in one of his townhouses. My cousin gave him the Queen's offer. If he joined her, he could come out and be a duke. He could have Eastmarch, too. If he didn't declare for her, my cousin would've set fire to the house. That's why Burchard de Varlan hates your father— Lord Burchard has a fairly decent claim to Eastmarch, but your father acted first. He sent men to fight for the Queen, and he helped Aurelian chase down a lot of Haldane lords who were trying to get out of Rhemuth city. So your father got to be a duke, and he got Eastmarch. He'll probably get a lot of land out in Kierney and Claibourne country, too. When King Wencit the Red Fox falls, your father and your grandfather will get a lot of Truvorsk between them."

"Your father's the greatest magnate in the new kingdom," Aurelian says. "He's a duke and he's captain-general. He's the richest lord in the kingdom. You're his son and heir. You're going to be a magnate, young Coris. Your father made a decision on Coronation Day— something he did for his house, which means you."

"Your father's been loyal to the Queen," Christian says. "He's been fighting for her for four years now. Look at the map. There's the Duchy of Marley, and there's Eastmarch, and he's duke there, too. Plus some bits and pieces in Old Kheldour. Plus anything he wins out west. He earned all that fighting for the Shadow Queen. He's been loyal to the Queen, and it's made House Coris' fortune. Charissa's won her kingdom by the sword, and your father's been loyal to her every day since Coronation Day. It doesn't look like God's against him."

Brendan looks hard at Christian. "When my father fights Duke Alaric, that'll be—"

"South off this map. Along the Molling River. Alaric Morgan will try to get over it and get north to Valoret. I'll show you on another map."

"When they fight, will Duke Alaric win?"

Christian shakes his head, "It's an even match. It'll be a huge and bloody campaign. You can count on that. Your father and Alaric Morgan are an even match. They're brave, both of them, and clever and cunning and fierce. I always told you I'd never lie to you, and that I'd never talk to you like you were just a child. They'll fight, and they won't either of them give up. At the end, it'll be about luck, and it'll be about who's better at supplying his army and who's better at using scouts like me and intelligencers like Aurelian. But I don't see archangels coming down to fight on the Haldane side."

Brendan draws his knees up under his chin. "I wish you could be there to help my father. You and my lord Aurelian, you know everything."

Christian's finger moves to the coastline of the Kheldish Riding. "I'll be fighting up here, Brendan. The people who came for you and your mother, the people who attacked your rooms— they're hiding up here. I know where they are. It'll be a Deryni kind of fight as much as it will be about steel. They tried to kill the Queen and Lady Kyri, and they tried to seize you and your mother. They'd have killed you both if they had to. So I'll be in the far north dealing with them. When I'm done, I'm going down south to the desert and hunt down more of them. Your father knows how to be a general, and I'd be useless at that. So I'll be all around the edges of the maps, young Coris. You can start memorizing names of places so you can know what I'm doing and where."

Brendan points at the stack of map rolls on the far side of the table. "Will the clerks let me look at those?"

"Of course they will." Aurelian grins down at the boy. "You can come here with Christian's cousin Michael or young Ratcliffe from the Queen's intelligencers. Just because Christian and I will be off at the edge of the world doesn't mean you don't have to keep learning." He tilts his head. "By the way— sell-sword, in Darija, quick now!"

The boy breaks into a smile. "Amerkanti!" he says.

Christian reaches out and ruffles Brendan's hair. "And that's not ordinary Darija, that's Tamazight from the western coast. That's what amerkanti is. You got that from the Queen's Moors. Good work, young Coris. Your family knows about Moors in places like Nur Hallaj. I want you knowing all about the far Moorish west and the mountains and the cities on the western sea there. Ten years and you'll be a formidable duke. And by then all the maps will need to be different. Keep looking at these maps and start asking yourself how you'd like to see the borders and names change for the Queen and her new kingdom, and for House Coris too."

[Jerusha]

Cartography, insightful questions and honest answers.  Best holiday present ever!

(Yes, I did take cartography in university.  Even learned how to put north on a map in the right place.)

[DoctorM]

Cartography, insightful questions and honest answers.  Best holiday present ever!

(Yes, I did take cartography in university.  Even learned how to put north on a map in the right place.)

I've always been a great fan of maps and cartography. I'm sitting here typing this beneath a large, framed map of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1914.

I took a History of Maps class at university along with an Intro to Cartography class. In a better world, I'd go take a Geography degree someplace.

I have several irons in the fire here-- Christian going to the abbey where Coram is hosting a meeting; Alaric Morgan massing troops for a push to Valoret; Bran Coris setting Meara against the Haldanes. But I want to take a couple of entries and look at how some of the side characters (like Conall or Lionel or Murdo) are dealing with the widening wars. So I'll be doing a couple of those, probably fairly soon. Let me know what you think!

[JudithR]

In theory I can set and read maps (and cope with contour lines) by virtue of the Girl Guides and Alfred Wainwright, though my only "formal" training was when  I did a course in coastal navigation mumble years ago.

Admission to community schools here uses "distance" when they have too many applications (not that much of a problem at present) and have to stop myself correcting "Ordinance" to "Ordnance" when map references are contested.  I often find myself the only person in the room who can read an OS (Ordnance Survey) map albeit with effort these days. 

[DoctorM]

In theory I can set and read maps (and cope with contour lines) by virtue of the Girl Guides and Alfred Wainwright, though my only "formal" training was when  I did a course in coastal navigation mumble years ago.

Admission to community schools here uses "distance" when they have too many applications (not that much of a problem at present) and have to stop myself correcting "Ordinance" to "Ordnance" when map references are contested.  I often find myself the only person in the room who can read an OS (Ordnance Survey) map albeit with effort these days. 

I used to love US Geological Survey maps-- learning about contour lines, reading topography, etc. --but alas, the USGS now has all its maps online, with no more paper maps. I'm just not good at reading maps on my phone.

I do love the idea of the Ordnance Survey. And the idea of Admiralty charts!

[Evie]

I used to love US Geological Survey maps-- learning about contour lines, reading topography, etc. --but alas, the USGS now has all its maps online, with no more paper maps. I'm just not good at reading maps on my phone.

Um... do you perchance have access to some form of computer, printer, and printer paper? Or is that too early 2000s tech? 😂

[Evie]

There is a really cool forum called Cartographer's Guild that specializes more in fantasy world/kingdom/city/village/dungeons map making for use in RPGs or by novelists, but a lot of the members are also very knowledgeable about real world maps and mapping. The last time I checked, it's easiest to access the forum on a regular computer rather than a mobile device, since it was created before smartphones were really a thing, but I used to hang out there a bit when I was trying to design maps for the world my original novel manuscript is set in. They also have map making tutorials, though some of the older ones are outdated because software and tech have changed over the years. And they have artists there who take commissions, if you need a fantasy map designed but don't want to make it yourself.

[DoctorM]

There is a really cool forum called Cartographer's Guild that specializes more in fantasy world/kingdom/city/village/dungeons map making for use in RPGs or by novelists, but a lot of the members are also very knowledgeable about real world maps and mapping. The last time I checked, it's easiest to access the forum on a regular computer rather than a mobile device, since it was created before smartphones were really a thing, but I used to hang out there a bit when I was trying to design maps for the world my original novel manuscript is set in. They also have map making tutorials, though some of the older ones are outdated because software and tech have changed over the years. And they have artists there who take commissions, if you need a fantasy map designed but don't want to make it yourself.

I'm going to take a look at the Cartographers Guild. That does sound interesting!

I'm like most people today in that I don't have a printer....although I might use the one in my office at work...

[Evie]

There is a really cool forum called Cartographer's Guild that specializes more in fantasy world/kingdom/city/village/dungeons map making for use in RPGs or by novelists, but a lot of the members are also very knowledgeable about real world maps and mapping. The last time I checked, it's easiest to access the forum on a regular computer rather than a mobile device, since it was created before smartphones were really a thing, but I used to hang out there a bit when I was trying to design maps for the world my original novel manuscript is set in. They also have map making tutorials, though some of the older ones are outdated because software and tech have changed over the years. And they have artists there who take commissions, if you need a fantasy map designed but don't want to make it yourself.

I'm going to take a look at the Cartographers Guild. That does sound interesting!

I'm like most people today in that I don't have a printer....although I might use the one in my office at work...

Maybe I'm the one stuck in the early 2000s. I can't function without a printer. Then again, I'm a crafter, so a printer comes in handy for all sorts of things, from pattern printing to making image transfers for my doll T-shirts. But even for work-related stuff, I find doing a final proofread much easier to do on a hard copy than on screen, because I am less likely to miss stuff in printed text.