Q: Hi Lawrence. I was talking with Jeff Grubb, and we were wondering if you remember where the name "Ylaruam" came from, on the original Kent State map of the Known World. Jeff asked (in his blog, and in an email convo with me):
Jeff: "Ylaruam (does anyone know where this name comes from?)" "More to the point, why Ylaruam? It is one of those words that doesn't seem to have much meaning - Karameikos and Daroken sound like nations or cities, but Ylaruam feels like an anagram of something else." "Lawrence left TSR right before I got there, so I've only had the chance to chat with him in later years, and to the best of my knowledge his original material was not passed on to the people writing the Gazetters."
BTW, here are my (Travis') long shot wild guesses: Did you base it on the Spanish personal name "Mauraly"? Or on the word "morally" ? Or anagram of "My Laura"??? Any recollections? I'd pass it on to Jeff and the Mystara community.
Answer:
It’s a name I made up out of nowhere, just wanting something that sounded exotic and non-Western. On names like “Ylaruam” I was consciously emulating person and place names from Lord Dunsany and Clark Ashton Smith.