Completed Ytarria Hex map with terrain added

[darebear]

Nevertheless, the populations indicated in the Banestorm book, compared to the size of Ytarria, demonstrate a sparseness of civilization. If anything, Ytarria is more a "Points of Light' setting than anything else (which contradicts some of the premises of the book itself). Indeed, some of the information in the book conflicts heavily with the demographic and geographic realities of Ytarria. For example, Cardiel is considerably larger than France, but has a small population. It is in no way civilized or filled with farms with nothing to explore. With only 22 souls per square mile, it is quite empty overall. This makes Cardiel is a great place to adventure IMO: sea voyages, travel to the Muslim lands, wilderness exploration, bandits and monster hunting, urban intrigue. Cardiel actually has everything you need, despite the book alluding to it being a "boring" place. Add in some dark forests and rugged hills and you are set.

As for imperialism, humans never needed a reason to war with each other. A world without conflict would be a dull place. In any case, I consider the various regions of Megalos to be mostly self-governing, with their nobility doing pretty much as they see fit. The Similar to the Imperium of Traveller, as long as the provinces send their taxes to the Emperor, the imperial government lets well enough alone. This creates an environment ripe for border wars and skirmishes.

Moving on. Perhaps most of the land in Megalos is filled with monsters, or is not suitable for agriculture. Look at the vast areas of Russia and compare that to where folks actually live. Northern and central Megalos are described as wild and filled with dark and foreboding forests. Only eastern and western Megalos are described as being mostly civilized.

Rivers and waterways form the highways of Ytarria, and it made sense to me to populate those areas with the majority of urban settlements. I did sprinkle areas of habitation in out-of-the-way areas to add some variety. No doubt there is some special reason for their existence in those regions (for the GM to decide of course).

In the end, everyone is free to do with Ytarria as they see fit. Make the populations larger to reflect a more civilized continent. Treat the smaller settlements that I added as small towns vs large villages.