Dragons of Tirenia

Medieval mapmakers had peculiar ideas about the world. Ever since the ancient Greeks, they knew that the world was round. However, to them the point of a map was to visually depict God's creation. Mappa Mundi  were a type of medieval and renaissance map that divided the world into three continents (Asia, Europe and Africa) to reflect the threefold nature of God. They drew the east at the top of the map, where they presumed that the Garden of Eden was, even if no-one was quite sure exactly whereabouts. This visually showed how man had fallen by leaving the Garden, and also associated it with the dawn. Jerusalem, where Christ died on the cross, was shown at the centre of the map, at the point where the three continents met. They knew about the equator, but assumed that it was an impassible ring of fire that would burn up anyone near it. And they believed in the Antipodes, a continent to counter-balance the northern hemisphere - although there was much debate about whether anyone woul...

Tellaia is a big place, and much of it is still unknown to the people of Tirenia. Trade is commonplace with Crescentia to the east and Sahelio to the south. Beyond these are lands that are known more distantly, save to the most daring of traders: frozen Tataria to the north-east, the silk-lands of Serica and Cataia and the spice islands of Baratio to the east. But there are more lands beyond these. It is a well-known fact that Tellaia is a globe, and the calculations of wizards and philosophers indicate that the whole known world takes up only a portion of its surface. The city-states of Tirenia are keen to find more lands, for more lands equals more money. In addition, new sea-routes to distant trading partners would mean Tirenian merchants would achieve a greater share of the profits. There are three continents in particular that Tirenian scholars are particularly interested in exploring. Firstly, explorers know very little of Sahelio. There are rumours of great empires in th...

This world map is actually "The Cottoniana", an ancient Anglo-Saxon world map. But it's extremely close to how I've always imagined Tellaia looking! It's arranged so that east is at the top, like many other medieval maps - because the Garden of Eden was supposed to be somewhere in Asia. It also has Jerusalem as the centre of the world, while Tellaian mapmakers tend to make Auromia be the centre of their maps. However, the 'real-world but not' look is correct. The enlarged Mediterranean, with the rest of the map curling around it, is absolutely what I've been imagining. And in this map, Italy is a massive subcontinent, which is absolutely true for Tellaia!  Art: 'The Cottoniana Map'. Artist unknown, c. 995.