The Shadow Elves' base

Whilst I'm clearing my D&D desk, here's another corner of the known-worlds that's always intrigued: the Shadow Elves.

I bought this Gazetteer too, back in the day... and then a few years later, its co-author Carl Sargent abruptly abandoned everything. Wizards of the Coast, in acquiring TSR's assets, inherited a product that was (1) good (2) not selling and (3) involved with some dude who didn't give a damn anymore. As a result, almost as soon as the Internet became a thing in the late 1990s, WotC released this product for FREE. As in, available for any yokel with the bandwidth to download a massive scanned PDF. And for those of us who'd already bought it er... you're welcome?

As to what made this Gazetteer a tough sell, probably that's because Sargent didn't design its subject like drow. This immediately led to questions like - what are characters from above supposed to do down here, if not mayhem. These shadow elves are exactly as paranoid and insular as the drow were, so won't be letting aliens have the run of the place. Sargent figured, ah okay, we'll just let the players run shadow-elf characters. But now there's a limit to what shadow elves can do, in the map provided.

I spent much of the late 1990s overhauling a later Sargent product, Night Below. As with Taladas, that involved changing up the map. Before we consider that, let's make the most of the map we got. Let's parcel it out.

Mystara is a work in time. The deepest past is Blackmoor. Two centuries in the future is Red Arrow Black Shield. The present-day of the Gazetteer series is 1000 common-year. In the past, less of this map was inhabited - or even known about: many tunnels have names like "Joran's Path", presumably after those brave souls who found them or carved them, and/or cleared them of beasties.

Let's look first at the year 450 BC. That (DM p. 7) is just before the Shadow Elves dealt with their greatest humanoid raid. Here, then, is the heart of the Shadow Elves' map:

This core is carved from Thorfinn Tait's latest run at mapping, a mere two years hence.

It includes all four major cities. Alfmyr was trading with the City as of the earliest 700s BC, which spurred the building of the Dragon Lake canal, which canal also postdates (p. 20) the City / Losetrel commerce. And there's that additional Sojourner canal which assumes New Grunland was important, as well. It is certain, therefore, those four cities and both canals were all in place by 450 BC.

Also assumed is Joran's Path, and the Jorlin Road. This age was focused on grand public works, to reunite a now-scattered people; and on exploring the new lore of soul-crystals. Not so much on new opportunities for further scattering - that comment about them "spread out" after 792 BC should be taken as metaphor.

From Grunland, I included the Fairbrow vault northwest but carved out the larger network northeast. I assume Desrii is built on account that it's on that Losetrel-Stars route preceding the canals; but I carved out everything north of that - I'm giving the elves opportunity to forget it, by 1000 AC. I did include Shesunden despite I have no idea if the elves knew about it - probably not. Similarly Alfmyr assuredly had dug out much less than the massive labyrinth it's got on the map today... but this map isn't really a map of 450 BC, so much as the 450 BC core as it exists today.

The largest carve-out is the whole of the south. The furthest limit elves then ventured was the Desert of Lost Souls, wherein is interred the Lyche's Crown. I don't think they even had the Vyarii / Mylandiel complex.

UPDATE 5/19: Given the military nature of the annexed northeast - I'm going with 450 BC for this map's date. Based on this known-world core, I had the old military set up some towers and castles in areas of concern as they'd have seen it then. Again, those might not have been there yet in 450 BC, helping to explain the 448 BC suckerpunch. These will, however, exist in 1000 AC. I added the lavapipe to Gaz3's Skullhorn volcano, north of Sojourner's route through New Grunland.

UPDATE 5/21-6: I want to change the southwest, expanding the Lake and the Warrens about twenty miles from their current south. Not doing that on this map though. Contrariwise, the riverbend west of Desrii might flow past more tunnels - here, Desrii's point was to pass them by.