From the page of the Keepers to the Faerthale Project to the many streams, we have seen and heard a good deal of Faerthale and so much more is still shrouded in mystery.  Using the topographical info provided by THE MAP, can we match information with geographical locations?  Let's see.

Faerthale is the name of the AREA where the Elves live.  There society does not include walled cities or closed border, merely protected lands.  As such, there is no "city" of the Elves.  There will be, however, a hub of commerce and dwellings where Elves congregate around.  The central element of their culture is their Lucent Tree, a plant that has been carried with them from their previous civilization on their home planet.  It was almost destroyed there, it was almost destroyed in the great Deicide War, but it has persisted through its many close calls thanks to the magical green thumbs of the Elves.  The Lucent Tree as it has been shown on the old map and through older concept art shows the Lucent Tree surrounded by water.  You can imagine it being in the heart of Elven cultural centers yet in a place of great prominenct.  People for millenia have set their worship on high places, so looking for a location that is high up and naturally protected would be a great clue.  See below.

This location satisfies many criteria and is naturally protected.  There is very flat topography around the sides with a steep climb to get to the spiritual center of the Elves. While there are other areas of the map that have similar islands in the middle of their streams, this one is the most central to the map and to the other areas that would be most suitable for the actual town of Faerthale Proper.  See below.

From the concept art we have of Faerthale, we know that bridges play an important part of Elven architecture.  The other important part of Elven architecture, and any other architecture, is a solid flat foundation on which to build.  We have see the buildings for the Elves and, uh, they ain't living in trees.  The marked areas above represent tiered, flat areas that would be conducive to building upon.  Connecting each adjacent flat area, there appears to be gradual inclines that lead from one to another, what we in layman's terms call "paths."  It's possible that it is either one of these or the other, but based on how Thronefast was constructed and its size, one or the other seems a little too small.  However, the elves are pretty spread out...  See below.

To date, I have not found a previous mention of Avalin although I am looking and inferring like a beast.  We know of two main camps of Elves: Ashen and Ember.  These will be available to join at character creation or soon after you arrive on Terminus.  There are two other camps that are less mentioned.  The Lucent are Elves that do no follow Ashen or Ember convictions.  Their purpose is only to serve the Lucent Tree, a more spiritual path than that of Ashen or Ember.  Then there are the quasi-outcasts of Elven society, the Splinterfolk.  Splinterfolk are Elves whose chosen professions or overall moral compass do not jive with the society of the day.  We hear tell of them in the story of Thaeolyn Greyborn, ancestor to Kaolyen Greyborne, the co-researcher to Narian Castigue prior to and during the Deicide War.  Her family has apparently always been in the political game, Kaolyen and her father, Faedryn, both being tagged to sit as Ashen councilment, the latter walking away from that life.  Thaeolyn embarked to live as Splinterfolk after finding her calling as a rogue, which is uncooth for an Elf.  There may be a society that exists specifically for these classes of Elves that don't fit squarely in the norms of Elven lifestyle.  They'd need a starting city somewhere...  More on Thaeolyn real quick, she's in current game time, having returned to the fold later in life as a warrior and commander of Elves in Dythiir's Hand, a special forces unit, where she guards the White Gate in a pass leading to the Roan Mountains.  Hmmm, see below.

Traveling along the backside of where Faerthale is there is a mountain pass climbing high into the mountains, noticeable by the colored terrain as reference.  This pass goes clear up into the Roan Mountains.  We know from a concept art piece of Thaeolyn and the White Gate, it is in a snowy area.  The Zone line for the Roans would be the place for that, separating the lands of the Elves from the wilds in the Roans.  Expect to catch up to Thaeolyn up there.  Oh, and look for quests there for sure.  If you are fighting her, she is half warrior and half rogue.  Don't turn your back...

Speaking of concept art, what about all the streams of Project Faerthale?  So gorgeous.  I know there are a few who have had the chance to roam the wilds of Faerthale (Minus, Therek, Nate, Baz; we all hate you and love you for that), but for the rest of us, there's not too much to go off of in pinpointing that location.  Here's what we know:  streams on both sides, mountains behind the streams, one area appeared as if it went back further, to the left there was more open forest with mountains behind, to the other more forest that appeard, I don't know, "murkier?"  Oh and the sheer dropoff of the streams into a large pool and a point on the edge of the cliff.  That's what we have to go by.  See below.

Faerthale Stream has a digital connotation, not a wet connotation.  This point here seems to fit all the known information.  If you look closely, you will see that the purple color darkens along the edge of the point and the two streams as the spill into the larger area.  This is the best location that seems to fit the stream with CohhCarnage. If any of you content creators that know better wanna step to me and my highly educated guess, I personally release you from your NDAs.

Speaking of content creators, I have release my 80% positive ID of the location of Silent Sanctum, but I would be foolish to not show you my 20% hesitation location.  See below.

There is a passage in the lore speaking of the Silent Sanctum that mentions the entrance being in a natural  choke point, which is perfect for defending off hordes.  This area just across the border into the Roans appears to have at least three perfectly straight sides there at the bottom.  It is in a very visible chokepoint and would be defensible.  I have a few problems with it, though.  It is not close to Men at all.  It would not be close to Havensong where they watched as their city was dismantled.  The size is the final thing.  This is supposed to house the entirety of two races.  Even as a tower, this does not appear to be sufficien in size.  But it is possible that Roenick is not as wise and amazing as me and would put it here...

Last topic, and if you made it this far, don't you have anything better to do?  I have teetered back and forth on the colored areas demarking exact zone boundaries.  One one hand, they appear to be very specific in their locations with literal black lines obvious in some places on THE MAP.  The one thing that gives me pause is the contoured area that appears to be kind of randomly spattered around the zone boundaries.  There are two possibilities.  One, this is areas contoured for aesthetics only.  this would be done for areas that can be see, but not explored.  Just for our viewing pleasure.  As I study the map more, there appear to be contoured areas that would not be visible from the colored spaces.  See below.

the yellow area highlights spots on the map that have contour, are connected to the colored area and many extend into areas that are not visible from the colored areas.  What I hope is that the colored areas are marked on the in-game map that has been mentioned by Joppa, having fog of war overlayed but has boundaries.  Outside the boundaries you can find areas that are not listed on the map as explorable and you drift off of the map into darkness not knowing the extent of the terrain.  This would add so much mystery if the map given is only partial, leaving the entire map a big question mark as to what else lies beyond its borders.  I would take back every, almost every, complaint I have about the release of this map if that were true. If this map leaves anything out that may need to be marked, drop a comment so I can amend.  Once VR fixes their Pantheon website, I'll post some of these pics in the forums for posterity. Until next time, feel free to plan coups against the Thronefast Crown.  Their hands are dirtier than the Murk in a rainstorm.

Benonai

Viva RACHA