I believe I have mapped out the Imperial Circle in Dragaera City. The direct link is http://bryann.net/content/brust/dragaera.gif, or you can go to http://bryann.net/brust.html and click on the "view map" link next to "The Imperial Circle." It's about 1000x1000, but compressed well as a GIF, so you shouldn't have any problems downloading it. The green is courtyards, the brown circles are major doorways/gates. This should be a good start for anyone attempting to map Dragaera City. My interest is more in the overall geography, so I have no plans to develop this any further at the moment, although I may put up a map of the Imperial Circle in Adrilankha, if necessary. There is a new document on my page which describes how I came up with this map, which you can find below. As usual, the footnotes only work when the document is viewed from my web page. Bryan Newell (http://bryann.net) I paint my world from within my mind and often do I complain of the lack of talent the artist possesses. --begin document-- The Imperial Circle The Imperial Circle is the ring of Great Houses built around the Imperial Palace. It appears that both Dragaera City and Adrilankha include an Imperial Circle. I believe that knowing how this circle is laid out will help us in both mapping the world of Dragaera and creating a visual cycle. The Imperial Circle in Dragaera City Based on the following two passages, one from The Phoenix Guards, the other >from Five Hundred Years After, I believe I can draw a map of the Imperial Circle in Dragaera City. view map The first passage describes the relationship between the Streets of the Houses, and the Great Houses, which form a circle around the Imperial Palace. 136 The second passage describes the three Streets and two Wings to the immediate north of the palace. 301 These two passages taken together suggest that, as you exit the Palace by each House's door, you pass by their Wing on the left, then go through their Gate, and finally pass their Great House on the left. The text supports the House being on the left. It is possible that the Courtyards are laid out differently, but after passing through the Gate, there is a separate guard at the entrance to each wing, from the first quote above. The important deduction I made from the second passage is that there are three Streets radiating out from the north, but only two Wings have to close their windows when the wind blows from the north. It appears that the House of Vallista to the northwest, and the House of Jhereg to the northeast. This puts the Street of the Jhereg to the northeast, the Street of the Vallista to the north, and the Street of the Tsalmoth to the northwest, which matches the text. I would be remiss if I failed to point out that there is a passage later on that seems to contradict the above. While standing in front of the Gate of the Dragon, Khaavren and crew can feel the wind blowing from the east. 306 I think it is entirely possible that this wind either blew from the southeast, or possibly even over the wall to the east. The Cycle This suggests that the Cycle rotates counterclockwise. That is, when the Phoenix is on top, the Dragon is to its right. The Imperial Circle in Adrilankha The Great House of the Dragon is just a bit west of north in Adrilankha. 305 Assuming the Streets follow the same scheme as they did in Dragaera City, this means the Street of the Dragon runs due north, and the Street of the Phoenix runs a bit west of north, just to the left of the House of Dragon. If you overlay such a street schematic on the Map of Dragaera, you will find that the Street of the Phoenix runs almost directly into the former site of Dragaera City. I had not made this connection when I drew version .1 of the Map of Dragaera, and thus this feels like vindication that I put Dragaera City in the right place, but I concede it could be coincidence.
