I’ve had an idea for a megaproject in my head for a while now. The plan was to make a map of an entire city. Not an overview like the image above, but a detailed interior map of everything, every building, including upper floors and basements. And not only that, but the towers and gatehouses, multiple crypts, a full sewer system. Everything.
Well, I’m doing it. Starting now.
So let’s talk about Finbarr’s Marsh. Finbarr’s Marsh is strongly inspired by the Irish city of Cork, as it was in the Middle Ages. Cork was built on an island in the fork of the River Lee, near where it meets the sea. The inhabitants, who were apparently very security-conscious, felt that being surrounded by a river wasn’t enough and decided to construct towered walls around the edges of the island, along with two bridges, both with gatehouses on both sides of the river. In short, Cork City was a fortress.
Another interesting architectural feature of Cork solidified it as my choice of city to use as inspiration for this project: a watergate. When Cork was a walled city, it had a large canal running through the city center and a huge gate that allowed ships to enter to load and unload cargo inside the city walls. On either side of the watergate were two castles: Queen’s Castle and King’s Castle.
Are you sold on Finbarr’s Marsh yet? I’m sold. The above map is getting enlarged 16x. The ground level is coming first. Hold my beer.
