The Mapmakers

Where the sun sets, where the clouds come to be, where the wind is born.

The search for the last secret of the world, to answer every question and make sense of the infinite struggle. The Dream watches with a smile.

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The Mapmakers are a private organization dedicated to uncovering all the mysteries of Aedrelon. With thousands of members all across Krogiath, it is without a doubt the most important and well known guild of the continent. Chapters of the Mapmakers can be found in every City-States of the Neighboring States as well as every major cities of Meilthaor. Local outposts and subsidiaries exist in many smaller towns as well as in the wilderness to serve as refuges for travelers.
These chapters of the guild are open to everyone and often house vast quantities of books, maps, essays, archeological findings and pieces of art. Effectively, they are public librairies and museums. Anyone can consult the public documents for free, but a part of the collection is reserved to members of the organization. The biggest chapters, found in Atria and Sentinelle, both have a collection of over a hundred of thousand pieces, well above even the Imperial Archive and most of the librairies of the continent combined.

Needless to say, the sum knowledge amassed by the Mapmakers over the years is phenomenal. However, all Mapmakers know one thing for certain : this is all but a small fraction of all the secrets still waiting to be uncovered.

The Longing

While the overall goal of the guild can be summarized as "uncovering the mysteries of Aedrelon", the truth is actually much more complex. The first objective that kickstarted the creation of the Mapmakers was to draw a complete and accurate map of Aedrelon, to uncover every landmass and every ocean. To this day, this goal is still a distant dream.
The other, arguably even more important goal of the Mapmakers is to sate their Longing and understand what it really is.
The Longing is an indescribable feeling, a gut-wrenching desire for something that compels everyone it hits to do everything they can to satisfy it. It first manifests as a quiet sadness, a taste of loss in one's mouth, an innate certainty that something isn't right, that something is missing. Then, it evolves and turns into an all devouring desire, a force that can't be ignored pushing one to abandon everything in search of that missing something.
In turn, the Longing has become the source of many discoveries, pushing the people of Aedrelon to explore, to discover, to try and to fail in order to satisfy their thirst for the unknown.

Almost everyone, at one point or another in their life, will fall victim to the Longing. Sometimes it simply vanishes, sometimes it feels satisfied for no apparent reason and sometimes it consumes its victims all their lives. While many common folks see it as a terrible disease, responsible for the death or disappearance of countless people and making many members of the community go mad, Mapmakers agree that it is the most precious and beautiful part of their lives.

To be a Mapmaker

Mapmakers have no direct obligations to the organization. They can be tasked to join expeditions with fellow members, but these constitute only a fraction of a Mapmaker's job. The principal task of a member is to compile and share new knowledge about their field. Mapmakers are encouraged to explore and research on their own or in small groups and to write detailed reports of their findings. Reports are examined by a comittee of experts in their respective fields and the researchers are often invited to present their process as well as proof of their work before they are accepted and added to the collection of the organization. Mapmakers are then paid a sum of money depending on the quality of their paper. An average report allows one to live comfortably for about three to four months.
For most members, their Mapmaker activities are more of a hobby than a full time job. The amount of people absolutely dedicated to the guild and living only off of their reports is pretty small, but they are responsible for most of the organization's findings. These most dedicated members are awarded a Resonator and can then start to climb the ranks of the organization.

The Brigades

After receiving their Resonator as proof of their dedication do the guild, members are assigned to a Brigade depending on their personnal expertise and experiences. The Seven Brigades of the Mapmakers act independently from one another but follow a smimilar structure and hierarchy.

Brigade of Arts and Arcanas

Dedicated to the research of anomalies of Aer, the history of Art and its application over time as well as attempts at restoring old forms of Art.

Brigade of Archeology

Dedicated to the study of ancient civilizations, their history, customs and cultures.

Brigade of Overseas exploration

Dedicated to finding new uncharted lands, documenting them and establishing outposts where possible.

Brigade of Fine arts

Dedicated to art history, the discovery, conservation and restoration of pieces of arts, from painting to architecture and music.

Brigade of Legends and myths

Dedicated to archiving all the folk beliefs of Krogiath, studying them and finding their origins.

Brigade of Fauna and Flora

Dedicated to the protection and study of the animal and vegetal species of Krogiath.

Brigade of Internal affairs

Secret Brigade dedicated to ensuring the proper functionning of the organization.

Bells, Resonators and Haven Trees

While every full fledged member of the Mapmakers gets a Resonator, only Captains and higher ranked members get a Bell. Both these items are crucial to the Mapmakers and often serve to recognize members of the guild and their rank.

Resonators are instruments akin to a tuning fork, made of a handle splitting into two bladed prongs. They can be used as a knife if push comes to shove, but their principal usage comes in the sound they produce. One can strike them against a surface like they would a normal tuning fork to make them vibrate and produce a constant pitch for a couple seconds. Nearby Heaven Trees can recognize this pitch and emit a sounf in return to indicate their position and guide lost Mapmakers to them.

Haven Trees are natural wooden structures found scattered across Aedrelon that Mapmakers use as shelters. Many outposts and refuges are built around these Haven Trees as to be easily found by anyone carrying a Resonator. As their name suggest, Haven Trees are large hollow trees formed around small ponds of fresh water.

"Hemimae, jiroro"

Alternative Names

The Explorers, The Bell Bearers

Demonym

Mapmakers