The Cartography Guild

The Cartography Guild, from here on referred to as CG, is a marvelous enterprise. It was started way back in the day, on a certain beach of the Western Continent. On that fortutitous day there were three young men, full of dreams (and maybe a little whiskey), who set their minds on mapping the entire world (and on hot girls. We're talking about young men after all). And from there, CG was born. Run from a tiny, run-down shed on that beach, they couldn't map the world quite yet, but the dream had been started. So they made maps of the nearby area. They were dedicated to making quality maps, drinking great beer, and making love to hot ladies. Their desires may have been a little lopsided to the latter, but making good, quality maps still fit into their schedule. Somewhere.

But somehow, and the three young men who started the whole thing have professed in their journals (when reading them, you learn to skip the drinking bouts) that they had no clue, but the whole guild grew. It moved from that tiny shed to a shed, and then to a bigger shed, and so on, and so forth, until they had the biggest shed in town. Of course, people refer to it as an office now, but the cartographer's still call it a shed, out of respect for the good old days, when the three major concerns were alcohol, women, and wo- I mean, maps. And then there came a point when local maps would simply not suffice anymore, and maps of the other cities were needed. And so they built a branch office in that other city. And the whole Guild grew. It added branch offices in new cities, new countries, new lands. It gained respect, power, authority.

And soon, CG grew big. It gained such power and influence around the world because of its size, that a few unwritten rules were created. Cartographers that were exploring the world for the purpose of mapping it were generally allowed to go where they wanted in the country. And some were given a discount on meals if they added a blurb about the quality of the meal at the inn. As such, a roving cartographer was given an ID, which consisted of a circle of copper about 2 inches in diameter, an 1/8 inch in height, and had the cartography crest stamped on both sides. And soon, the position of cartographer became more respected. Cartographers could attend balls and gatherings of nobles, and so forth. CG gained the ability to decide where the borders lay between two countries, if there was a dispute about that (this was generally done by handing each ruler a map of the two countries). CG became as complex a system as any government, but without any of that nonsense with checks and balances to keep someone from abusing power.

And then came a request for something new. The noble wanted information about some other noble. And so CG sent a cartographer to find out that piece of information. And, seemingly overnight, the cartographer became a spy, too. The ultimate spy, because no one would dare kill or harm the cartographer, who could go wherever he or she wanted. And the CG gained a serious responsibility. What information would they be willing to give? The dream had started out just maps, so should they even consider doing something other than maps)? And what about the average roving cartographer? Their innocence in the grand scheme of things was their protection. But if even some of them became spies, no one would be able to get into other countries, or they may even be killed. And so, CG took a highly responsible measure for a guild that started with just  maps. They announced that they would stop spying all together. No more selling of information of any sort. That is, selling of information to anybody that couldn't be trusted to keep their talkative mouths shut. Some information was still sold to those who swore never to tell another entity about the CG. And thus, everyone was happy.

The Main Office:

Sub-basement and basement: Map storage

1st Floor: Map Selling

2nd Floor: Hiring

3rd Floor: Map Collection

4th Floor: Information

5th Floor: Management

Sub-basement: This is where all the old, out of date maps are stored and filed. It is very dark and lonely.

Basement: Where the current versions of maps are stored, it also has rooms for the archivists. Though still dark and still lonely, not quite as dark and lonely as the sub-basement.

1st Floor: The main doors of the guild lead into the main lobby, a luxurious and beautiful area. Doors lead into bathrooms, a room where customer's and choose maps to buy, and the stairs.

2nd Floor: The major hiring offices are located on the second floor. It has, like all the floors above it, a conference room, along with rooms for job interviews and offices. Advertisement Offices are also on this floor.

3rd Floor: Perhaps the most important floor of all, the third floor is where cartographers give the maps they made to the office workers, who perfect them. After the original is magically copied by a group of wizards, it is sent down to the basement, while the copies are sent to the first floor. 

4th Floor: This is where the cartographer's reveal information other than maps. The offices here are covered in anti-spying spells.

5th Floor: The manager's offices are on this floor. It, like the first floor, looks luxurious.