Through the delicate process of wood-burning, a skilled artist crafted an incredibly detailed map of the Province of Skyrim, as seen in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. Reddit user LadyHenwin posted their highly-detailed work on the r/gaming subreddit to high praise, gaining over 1,900 upvotes in a single day.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim features a massive playable area spanning 14.3 miles squared, split into several smaller areas such as The Pale, Eastmarch and Falkreath Hold. All of the major areas are represented in this highly detailed map, commissioned by a friend of the craftsperson who created it and carefully burned into a 13:23 inch plank.
The map of the Province of Skyrim is beautifully rendered in burnt-wood form, with impeccable detail in the individual islands east of the Xarth River and the Sea of Ghosts represented with a darkened tone to differentiate it from the land. The piece is reported to have taken approximately thirty hours to complete, and the detail is indicative of the time and effort spent on it.
LadyHenwin's replies to enthusiastic comments offer more insight into how this work of art was created, with a carbon-transferred version of the in-game map being used as the baseline to work from. The artist has also indicated an openness to further commissioned work, with other commenters coming to a consensus that future works like this would be valued at approximately $600-$1000 USD.
The incredible detail and effort put into unusual forms of fan art shows how deeply passionate players can be about their favorite games, and the ways in which they give back to the community with creative works shows that the team behind The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim managed to create a game that resonated with its audience deeply, even with the game approaching its ten-year anniversary. Fan works are important for gaming communities, and this high-effort piece shows that a passionate fanbase still surrounds Bethesda's open-world adventure despite its age. The constant re-releases of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim likely contributed to the large fanbase, as more players were able to play the game on various systems long after the original version's launch.
Undoubtedly, with such a devoted fanbase for The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, much of the talent in the community will be following The Elder Scrolls 6 very closely. While details are still relatively sparse on The Elder Scrolls 6, fans of the previous games are hoping for news at Microsoft and Bethesda's upcoming showcase.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Source: Reddit