Hemicynes – Healfhundingas – Langobards – Angamanains

I often think about who the people are in these maps. Or I don’t, or not often enough, or not seriously enough, because the one basic question I continually ask myself is—are they beast people? Like, with the heads of dogs or birds. Because wouldn’t that be interesting? So, maybe not a powerfully existential “Who are these people?” sort of question, I’ll give you that, but one I ruminate on nonetheless. (On the other hand, there’s always How would that be interesting? as well, and that can go a lot of places).

In any case, there is nothing in the process that generates the maps that determines facts like these. Topography and climate; botany and wildlife to a limited extent; belief systems, cultural and material development to an even lesser extent; but not, you know, whether the people have the heads of eagles, how that affects their diet, their relationship to mundane birds, &c.

I think it’s wise to keep things simple, keep the process short, leave something to the imagination; and I think there’s room for another project that does this, or overlays this. There are lots of places where I could try to add more determinative specificity—”put more wizards in it,” is the joke—and I’d like to. But the hope with more wizards is that it has more personality, and the danger is that it just becomes too arcane. I want to be sure it doesn’t push the whole thing in a specific direction, away from the heart of itself.