Here Be Monsters

At Thoul's Paradise, perdustin posted a copy of a beautiful map of Iceland c. 1590, which includes a bestiary of sea monsters believed to infest the waters of the North Atlantic.

Two things jump out at me. First, the map includes features such as ice and trees, the latter described as windthrow from Norway. I like encounter tables which include features like this, both for local color which brings life to the setting and to provide the players with a potential resource to tap for their own schemes.

Second, it's a reminder of how superstitious the late Renaissance and Early Modern world remains. This map is dated just 36 years before the present year of my campaign. We haven't yet reached the cusp of the Enlightenment, and monsters and witchcraft are still accepted as real by many in the game-world. Stories of mythical beasts, rumors of dark arts - these, too, bring the setting to life, particularly when myths and mysteries have a basis in fact which can appear as well, as with the giant squid in Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes.

Off the Shelf: Atlases

Atlases are typically compiled from maps produced by many different cartographers and feature lavishly decorated woodcuts depicting cities, coastlines, and other features as well as the relevant geography. They often run to many volumes; roll 1D6+5 for the number of actual books which comprise an atlas.

Atlases may be found on the bookshelves of many nobles and learned men such as clerics, magistrates, or professors, as well as in colleges, palaces, and abbeys. Roll 1D6 for the number of atlases, then roll 1D20 for the individual titles. Duplicate rolls may be treated as additional copies of the same volume or re-rolled at the referee's discretion.

1. The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, John Speed

2. Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Abraham Ortelius

3. Speculum Orbis Terrae, Cornelis de Jode

4. Theatri Geographiae Veteris, Petrus Bertius

5. A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World, John Speed

6. Geographia, Ptolemy, edition by Giacomo Gastaldi)

7. L'Isole piu Famose del Mondo, Tomaso Porcacchi Castilione

8. Cosmographie Universelle, Guillaume Le Testu

9. Atlas Novus, Willem and Joan Blaeu

10. Atlas Novus, Jan Janssonius

11. Caertboeck Vande Middel-landsche Zee, Willem Barentsz and Petrus Plancius

12. Enchuyser zeecaertboeck, Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer

13. Typi chorographici provinciarum Austriae, Wolfgang Lazius

14. Rudimenta Cosmographica, Johannes Honter

15. Brittania, William Camden

16. Nuzhat al-mushtāq fi'khtirāq al-āfāq, Muhammad al-Idrisi

17. Cosmographia, Sebastian Münster

18. Roteiro de todos os sinais, conhecimentos, fundos, baixos, alturas, e derrotas que há na costa do Brasil desde o Cabo de Santo Agostinho até ao estreito de Fernão de Magalhães, Luís Teixeira

19. Livro vniversal das navegasões feito em Lisboa por Ioão Teixeira Cosmographo de Sva Magestade, Anno 1643, João Teixeira Albernaz

20. Topographia Helvetiae, Matthäus Merian