SANJIESAN LORE / Map editions
Date the map before deciding whether the gate is still there
Two maps can disagree about a gate without either being an accidental mistake, if they represent different moments. Make that difference explicit. Choose one physical change in your original setting and decide which map states the reader or collaborator should be looking at before and after it.
Give the change one identifiable event
For an invented town, record the gate’s closure or destruction as a dated story event, with an undecided date left visibly undecided. Identify the map that predates the event and the one intended to follow it. World Anvil describes map layers and timeline tools, but the event-to-edition link is still an authoring choice. Do not quietly amend every historic image to the latest geography if the older state is meaningful to the story.
Change the connected routes as well
Inspect the road through the gate, adjacent labels and any route note that depends on entry there. A destroyed gate symbol alone may leave an unchanged arrow suggesting normal access. Decide whether the later map shows a blocked route, a detour or an uncertainty, according to the draft. Keep this as fictional geography rather than claiming a realistic engineering or military outcome from a single event. Mark an unresolved consequence for the author instead of filling it automatically.
Keep the edition visible in the delivery
Put a clear story-time or edition label on the map and in its working-file note. When sharing a crop, preserve the relevant label or attach it in the caption so the fragment does not lose its time context. Keep an index showing which scenes and illustrations use each state. In an established universe, consult approved material before representing a location as changed; a workshop diagram must not become a new official event merely by being included in a shop article.