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 judgment of my colleagues; fancy and spectacles are well and good, but you must not be allowed to disseminate these grievous factual errors. First and foremost, the Bermuda 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 helicopter, 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 spiraling 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 tendencies, 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 colleagues, 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 undoubtedly 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 Chronicle, 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 allegiance. 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 domes, 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 ooo, Prime oo, Mind o)
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 foreseen. 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 oooo)
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 similar 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 ooo Entropy ooo)
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.