Hidden History Map of Oz, circa 1852

Map of Oz, during the time of The Witch Queens

The mapped Land of Oz holds many mysteries. There are many places to explore. This map is just the beginning of your journeys.

See, this is the official map for The Hidden History of Oz: Book One, The Witch Queens, included in both the paperback and Kindle versions. Note that this is not all of Oz. This is the map of the places traveled to in this story.

Let’s look at the structure of the map first, then look at the deserts.

Legend

Rising sun on the right, moon on the left. Compass rose. But east is on the wrong side, isn’t it? Directions are backwards, but the sun and the moon know where they belong.

Compass Rose

Note that the Legend in the lower left corner shows the cardinal direction of East on the left. This is intentional. See Wrong Directions: Secrets of the Compass Rose for an explanation.

Deadly Deserts

Oz is surrounded by deserts. That seems a little bit odd. How do you get a large land in the middle of deserts? If it was an island continent, that is more believable. But where did the seas go?

Deserted History

Now we’re getting somewhere. Oz was once surrounded by seas. During the First Witch Wars, the original Wicked Witches battled against King Oz, the Sixth. In their arrogance, they called on the power of the Queen of Dreams, from across the sea. They greedily agreed to her terms and naively wielded her bequeathed power to destroy the seas.

The sickened seas died and disappeared, leaving deadly desert in their place. The Land of Oz was separated from the other lands with which it once enjoyed trade. King Oz employed the most powerful weapon at his disposal, making his army invincible. The Witches could not defeat the Ozzian army, no matter how much power they used.

When the Wicked Witches realized the cost of the power they had rashly used, they went into hiding. The war was won by default. The witches could not be found.

Brick Roads

Also note that there are numerous brick roads traversing the land. Remember that in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the road made of yellow brick was only one of the roads. These roads are conduits for power, according to Smith & Tinker.

[Glinda asked,] “How did you find us? I mean, how did the Wheeler know we would be on the brick road?”

Mr. Smith closed the conversation. “These brick roads have power. We just monitored the power, and measured the changes. We saw that it was two girls heading west. Well, not saw, exactly, we figured it from the movements.”

“Then we sent the ornithopotamus. That, at least, could see.”

“That’s right. So it saw.”

“Red hair.”

“Red hair.” Mr. Smith repeated. “Only one that has red hair. Two, well, one. So we sent IgNob. Fine lad he is. And here you are.”

Mr. Tinker concluded the answer to Glinda’s question. “The brick roads have power. If you stay on them, you will have a connection to that power, and where that power comes from. You,” he pointed at Glinda, “Have much to learn about yourself.”

– The Witch Queens, chapter 10, “The Confederation of Witches”

And you, have much to learn about Oz. So many exotic locations to explore. So little reference material … until now.

Your Journey in Oz

Explore this land on your own journey through Oz. Read The Hidden History of Oz, Book One: The Witch Queens. Available now for Kindle, on Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008JISCNC