SANJIESAN LORE / Map legends
A rumoured road should not look like a surveyed road
A map used inside a story may contain uncertain routes. If every road has the same line, a character’s incomplete knowledge can look like an author’s confirmed geography. Decide what the map claims to know and give that distinction a place in its legend.
Name the map’s point of view
For an invented traveller’s map, list a road walked personally, a path copied from a local account and a proposed shortcut. These are examples for your own setting, not claims about official Sanjiesan geography. QGIS’s legend reference describes a legend as explaining symbol meanings. Apply that simple principle with a small set of distinguishable marks and plain labels. Do not let an attractive dashed line acquire several incompatible meanings without explanation.
Check a route against its legend
Ask a reader what one marked route promises without first giving an oral explanation. Inspect whether the line, label and legend support the same interpretation at the map’s intended size. If colour carries the entire distinction, add another visible cue such as a line style or clear note. Keep uncertainties near their relevant places, especially where two route types meet. The purpose is to communicate the map’s claim, not to make the fictional traveller omniscient.
Keep the author’s map separate
Maintain a working reference that records what the author has decided, separate from the incomplete map shown in the story. When a rumoured path becomes confirmed within the plot, decide whether a later edition changes its symbol or retains the old knowledge state. Keep the edition or story moment visible. A mistake by the mapmaker can be intentional, but it should have a clear place in the author’s notes rather than becoming an accidental contradiction between illustrations.