By Theslin Wanders-through-Bramble (theslin@mail.utexas.edu)
HTML by Arthur Muzzarelli (theshadw@industrynet.net)
Prelude
To Mr. Copperfield, David
My acquaintances in the media have furnished me with a programme of your
upcoming Bermuda Triangle conjure-show. They have determined its content
to be objectionable and in all probability will prevent its airing. While
I personally applaud your efforts as a performer, I support the judgement
of my collegues; fancy and and spectacles are well and good, but you must
not be allowed to disseminate these grevious factual errors.
First and foremost, the Burmuda Occult Array is not an equilateral triangle.
In using an equilateral structure for your "pyramid magic," you
will not achieve any sort of geometric-harmonic relationship. A scalene
pyramid base will yield better results. Secondly, "pyramid magic"
would require a three-dimensional array, congruent to the scaled pyramid
featured in your programme. The Bermuda Occult Array is two-dimensional.
An object such as a helicoptor, weather balloon, or in a pinch a celestial
body could serve as the crucial fourth point. Be certain to scale your model
pyramid appropriately.
Lastly, your plan to stage teleportation in this pyramid structure mystifies
me. I have seen pyramids used to sharpen razors, heal the wounded and alter
the flow of time. As the pyramid structure acts as a focus for energy, using
such a device in your performance would be self-defeating. I suggest a more
aggressive structure; stellated polyhedrons contain the projective elements
you require.
May this letter find you in good health,
Norton Kunj, M.S.
The League of Cartographers
Since its founding, the Convention of the Void Engineers has thoroughly explored every crevasse of both land and ocean. Only recently have they left this tiny realm to map the infinitely wider horizons of space and the Umbra. From their first voyages the League of Cartographers aided the Void Engineers in mapping and closing the possibilities of the earth. Early Cartographers served as acolytes to the Engineers, unawakened mapmakers who made concrete what the Engineers "discovered." Over a period of centuries the League of Cartographers carefully erased every "Here There Be Dragons" on their globes.
When the Void Engineers turned their focus from the physical world to the shifting realms of Deep Space and Deep Umbra, they left their tools in the hands of the Cartographers. Still charged with their mission of exploration, the Cartographers sought out those few sites which were not easily defined. Continued rumors of disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle, an obsession with the legendary sunken continent of Atlantis, and patterns of unexplained occurrences at hundreds of scattered sites eluded their best efforts at explanation.
In 1914 Julianne Thetford journeyed to Arabia, commissioned to bring
information on a ring of nine equally spaced points in the Rub al Khali
desert. Over the past three decades reports of angelic beings had filtered
from these points, possibly a result of a previously unknown mirage phenomenon.
Thetford returned a changed woman, vibrant and wide-eyed. She spoke of meeting
with an Arab, a proud man who danced and sung and explained all the mysteries
to her. He spoke of a "web of faith," of ley lines, of patterns
of something called "quintessence," of metaphysical geometry,
and above all of a site called Qaf. She
brought parchments of complicated spiralling designs, polyhedrons created
from numeric ratios not usually applied to geography. Overlaying these parchments
with transparent maps, modern and ancient ones still bearing the legend
"Here There Be Dragons," the mysterious world suddenly made sense.
The core of the League of Cartographers Awakened.
Despite their mystical tendancies, the bulk of the League of Cartographers swears devotion to the Technocratic Union. Their aid in locating nodes and Garou Caerns has been invaluable in the Ascension War. Yet every year, one or two of the Awakened mapmakers defects to the side of the Mystics, invariably joining forces with the Dreamspeakers, Hermetics or the Al-i-Batin. They are only rarely recovered.
The new generation of Cartographers has learned to manipulate flows of
Quintessence by means of complicated geometric theories. They take notes
on the positions of the moons and planets, observing the effects of planetary
alignments on the paths of Ley Lines and magickal phenomena. A few of the
younger members of the League have lobbied to rename the convention "The
Conjunctionists," shifting the view of the League from the earth to
the sky. This proposition is continually voted down at each Symposium, but
is gaining popularity.
Philosophy
Look here, and here, and here. Don't you see? The angles and curves of the
Quintessence Tectonic flow-chart indicate buildups which we could use to
our advantage. Simply stand between the two trees on the boulder between
the two and try the Alpha Invocation Posture. Our colleagues say there is
no magick in the world. They simply do not know how to look. It's everywhere,
a mesh of currents like underground streams. That boulder is as an artesian
spring -- no, stay there! We can divert
these flows with our methodology. There's something to what the Traditionals
say. Magick is wild and free. Our maps and calculations can control it.
Now, if we mark out the edges of a Buckminster Dome, we should be able to
harness the local flow with only a minimal danger of your exploding. Ready?
Organization
As a Technocratic Convention, the League of Cartographers are subordinate
first to the Void Engineers, and secondly to the Technocracy as a whole.
Both within and without the Technocracy the relatively few members of the
League exist in a non-hierarchical society of equals, working alone or in
tandem as necessary. Members of the League are not hostile to those members
who have defected; Conjunctionists on the side of the Mystics are friendly
toward their former collegues, though they see them as deluded. Both factions
have a strong need for leading bodies, either the Conventions or the Council
of Nine, as appropriate.
Meetings
The League of Cartographers meet in the Technocracy's monthly symposiums
to discuss their agendas. Mystical Cartographers do not meet regularly,
though they communicate between cabals via a rote known as "point-node
focusing."
Initiation
Particularly talented Sleeper geographers and geometrists are brought into
the outer circle of the League. They are gradually exposed to the more unusual
aspects of exploration that confounded the League in its formative phase;
if the prospective member becomes properly obsessed by the problems presented
they are given the lessons taught to Julianne Thetford decades ago. The
solitary Mystic Conjunctionists will occasionally mentor promising candidates
on their own, but do not have an established ceremony.
Stronghold
The fortress of the Technocratic Convention and the Chantry of the orphaned
Mystic Cartographers both is located in Moracco, near the Strait of Gibralter.
Acolytes
Mapmakers, geographers, explorers, geometrists
Sphere
Prime
Foci
Arrangement, geodesic dome, map and compass, theodolite, pyramid,
graphing calculator, geiger counter, almost any surveyor's instrument
Concepts
Surveyor, explorer, fringe astronomer, architect
Quote
"The Global Ascension will undoubtably occur on the fourteenth of November,
1998, when a particularly auspicious alignment of Mars, Venus and the moon
will channel an unusual concentration of Quintessense into the Tellurian.
We can achieve this Ascension if we can somehow move Stonehenge to the southernmost
point of Florida. If not, we'll just have to take the slower route."
Stereotypes
Akashic Brotherhood: They can tend to their internal status if they wish
to. We take the larger picture.
Cult of Ecstasy: Completely off-base. That they have any power to affect
reality is indicative of a terrible miscalculation on our part. We shall
bring this up at the Symposium.
Dreamspeakers: They are, in general, correct in their assumption that the
Earth is the source of all power. But what is this "Gaia" entity?
Euthanatos: Excellent analysis of patterns. Depressing fixation on death.
Hollow Ones: I'm sorry, but I fail to understand how these individuals are
relevant at this time.
Order of Hermes: Structure, order, pattern. They understand much of our
work, but can only go through the motions. If they could fathom why their
magick operates, instead of only how . . .
Sons of Ether: Our old allies are something of a joke to us now. Still,
they may be on to something with their ether-fixation. Somebody should take
notes.
Verbena: They know everything the Order of Hermes does not. More structure
and less blood could only benefit them.
Virtual Adepts: There is quite enough of the real world to work with. I
see no reason to invent more. They're far too chaotic to survive.
Iteration X: They use far too much of the Technocracy's resources in what
will prove to be a dead-end path. Their computers are incredibly useful
in our pursuits, but their cyborgs are frightening.
New World Order: Friends and enemies both. Big Brother is useful in our
efforts, but they'd kill us if they knew about our friends in the Traditions.
The Progenitors: They leave us alone, we leave them alone. It's a peaceful
relationship.
The Syndicate: As the Euthanatos say, they have run out of possibilities.
If they would only open to new ideas instead of
whittling at our funding . . .
Void Engineers: Our Parents and our greatest supporters. Ever since 1969
they've been so kind in funding our projects. Still, it would be nice if
they'd turn inward instead of outward. We'd get more done.
Notes on Foci
Technomantic and Mystic Cartomancers differ in their perceptions of "foci."
The Technomancers follow the "Arete 5" rule for dropping Foci,
as they operate primarily on faith in their Methodology. The Mystics --
those who acknowledge that there is magick in the world -- may drop foci
beginning at Arete 2, as Verbena, Dreamspeakers and so forth may
do. The player should make this decision at character creation. If the Cartographer
changes "paths" over the course of a Chronical, he may begin "dropping"
Foci at 2/Arete increase, as per the Tradition's Technomancers, until he
has caught up with the Mystics if the Storyteller so desires.
Technomantic and Mystic is a state of mind, not a state of allegience. A
Cartographer who believes in the power of Technology and Order may -still-
work with the Traditions, if they'll have him...
Arrangement: Careful geometric arrangement of rocks,
wires, traffic patterns and so forth aid the Cartographer in focusing Quintessential
energy. It takes only seconds to throw magnets in six different directions,
perhaps weeks to arrange a spiral of sheet plastic across a mile-wide region,
and no time at all to use the geometric structure of The Pentagon. Makeshift
arrangements without proper measurement increase the difficulty of an effect
by 1. Large undertakings or magickal effects attempted in well-established
geometric arrangements like the aforementioned Pentagon may result in more
dramatic successes. Arrangement is a common focus in Prime and Correspondence
magick.
Geodesic dome, pyramids: These mathematical structures
trap and channel energy. They can be small, portable containers, large buildings
or historical monuments. These structures are common foci in Forces, Life,
Mind, Matter and Spirit effects.
Theodolites, scientific and surveyor's instruments:
Useful in analyzing patterns of energetic flow and alignments of geographic
features. The Technomancer may need to use this information in several spheres,
commonly Correspondence, Prime, Forces and Spirit effects.
Graphing Calculator: Useful in calculating vectors
and other relationships. Use of a graphing calculator increases the initiative
difficulty of an effect by +2 to +3. Calculators are often used in Time,
Mind, Entropy and Forces effects.
Map and Compass: Often used in large-scale magickal
effects, these tools are helpful in viewing the grand scheme of Quintessense
patterns. These items are often used in Prime, Correspondence and Forces
magick.
Favorite Procedures
In addition to the following, the League of Cartographers is also fond of
such rotes as Prime Location, Hymn of Beatific Harmony and effects dealing
with nodes and ley lines.
Point-Node Focusing (Correspondence •••,
Prime ••, Mind •)
The Cartographer's Technocratic masters frown upon this rote; its coincidental
nature relies on truly cutting-edge geometry and physics, studies which
are beyond the ken of even the most insightful members of Iteration X. Careful
reversal of the quantum formulae which demonstrate the formation of a black
hole show that in a logical universe point-node focusing is theoretically
possible, yet many doubt the existence of black holes themselves.
Use of this rote creates minute bubbles of geometric area, tiny pin-prick
expansions of the time-space continuum. At present the Cartographers have
succeeded in creating space-pockets on the subatomic scale, though expansion
to the molecular level is forseen. These expansions of time-space collapse
almost instantaneously, with no effect on reality as a whole; the ripples
created by the mage's manipulations carry over an incredible distance, and
can be used as a sort of telegraph by those with Correspondence Sense.
Prime and Correspondence allow the creation of tiny pockets of mathematical
space. Mind 1 grants the mage the ability to send and receive messages via
a three-dimensional analog of morse code -- receiving the messages requires
only Correspondence 2. The range at which the mage's fluctuations may be
detected equals the cube of the caster's successes, expressed in miles.
Sophisticated computer Talismans can detect such fluctuations over an effectively
unlimited range.. The receiving mage must be aware of the sending mage's
"transmissions" to successfully understand them -- the Mind-based
encoding used in point-node focusing is quite alien to normal thought-processes.
Conjunction (Correspondence ••••)
Careful alignment of widely separate objects is an essential element in
Cartographer magick. In a pinch, this Rote can be used to force such arrangements.
Using an effect similer to Hermes' Portal, the Cartographer can create windows
in space to create the illusion of arrangement in a straight line. Through
the use of this rote the mage may wound five different targets with the
same bullet or play a game of tug-of-war in three cities at once.
This effect relies on Conjoin Localities to align diverse objects. Successes
determine the range of the effects -- refer to the Correspondence Range
Chart -- or the number of gates created. Thus, three successes can align
two objects which are "very familiar" to the mage by creating
a single gate and augmenting the effect's range, or align three objects
which are within the mage's field of view by creating two gates. At least
two successes must be scored to successfully cast this rote.
Dam the Flow (Prime ••• Entropy
•••)
Thetford herself first used this rote to disable the Silver Moon Chantry
in Yellowstone Park. She placed stakes in the ground at regular intervals,
creating a decagram around the Chantry, tying them together with copper
wire at the precise moment of high noon. The flow of raw Quintessence into
their only node was chaotically scattered into the surrounding area, and
the Chantry lost their source of energy. After that, it was only a matter
of time before the cabal of Dreamspeakers was overpowered.
The Mage uses Channel Quintessence and Diffuse Energy to disrupt the
flow of raw Quintessence into a Node or through a Ley Line. One success
will maintain the rote for a single day. Three successes will maintain for
a full month, and five successes render the effect permanent. A good portion
of the Quintessence diverted is used to empower the rote, and the effect
is very vulnerable to antimagick. Attempts to disrupt this spell gain a
-2 bonus to their difficulties.
Emblem
A Geometric compass ("V"-shaped, pointed device for figuring distances)
whose points hold a navigational compass. instead of "N" and "S"
for North and South, the compass shows the glyphs of Correspondence and
Spirit. "E" and "W" are unchanged.