I love maps! One of my favorite TV shows was/is “Mit offenen Karten” (Le dessous des cartes) of the German/French TV broadcaster ARTE that explains the world with maps. Also the map of online communities made by XKCD simply fascinated me. Especially when you compare the Updated version of 2010 with the 2007 version and realize that Myspace.com almost disappeared. But in terms of roleplaying and especially Earthdawn the Atlas of Barsaive made by Telarus is one of the best you can find.

But today my attention was caught immediately when I read at Inkwell Ideas about an Hex map of the RPG community. The interactive map of the RPG community was made by Morro from ENWorld, he used the Hexographer of Inkwell to display the RPG communities based on member figures (One Hex = 1000 members). I say GREAT STUFF!!

Have a look at the INTERACTIVE HEX MAP OF THE RPG COMMUNTIES

Unfortunately the RedBrick forum has not enough members (542 atm) to fill one Hex. Not one Hex!!! Conclusion: Play more Earthdawn!!

Dammi posted on his Red Brick LLC blog some artwork previews of the upcoming Cathay: The Five Kingdoms books (Players Guide coming in December Gamemasters Guide in January). The preview artworks feature several artists so far, like Peter Tikos & Richard Vass, David M. Wright and Jeff Laubenstein. The Cathay sourcebooks open up a new chapter for Earthdawn, offering players and gamemasters a completely new world, set up in the far East and introducing new races, disciplines, talents and and and.
I’ve already made an interview with Hank Woon and Dammi back in 2008. The interview offers some insights about the work and the content of the originally planned classic version of Cathay, so it’s not up to date but still informative.

UPDATE: The series of Cathay artwork previews ends with the works of Kathy Schad. But additionally Kathy uploaded further artwork previews at the Earthdawn DeviantArt gallery. Go there!

The following video of Jeb Corliss shows his skills with his Wing-Suit. Although the music is not my favorite, his skills remind me of a K’stulaami T’skrang flying or gliding down the Throal mountains. The most impressive part starts at minute 2:46 but check out the whole video. (via Nerdcore)

Jeb Corliss wing-suit demo from Jeb Corliss on Vimeo.