The Forgotten West
This personal project was created for a West Marches-style tabletop RPG campaign, a format centered on player-driven exploration and the gradual discovery of an unknown world. Rather than presenting a fully documented setting from the outset, the map was designed to reveal its secrets over time: players begin with only fragmentary and often illegible information, which slowly gains meaning as their journeys unfold and their knowledge of the region expands.
The illustration was heavily inspired by the iconic third edition Forgotten Realms map of Faerûn, seeking to evoke the sense of wonder and open-ended exploration associated with classic fantasy campaign settings. The typography follows the same inspiration, employing the Dethek alphabet—the script traditionally used by dwarves within the Forgotten Realms setting.
As a personal exploration of cartographic storytelling, the project focuses on how a map can function not merely as a geographic reference, but as a game mechanic in itself, transforming the act of reading and deciphering the map into part of the adventure.