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The Guild of Cartographers and Navigators: rulesThe "old" rules under which several of us qualified were "draw me a map and I'll make you a Master". A second set of somewhat harder rules were proposed, but were not adopted before the current revised set were produced.Scope and divisionsThe Cartographers and Navigators might be better described as the Guild of Travel. We aim to cover all aspects of travel in the mundane, the historical, and the Far Isles medieval, whether that be by means of drawing maps, navigating from place to place, or telling tales of our travels. "The mundane, the historical, and the Far Isles medieval": yes, three different areas. Careful distinction should be made between these, though they may well overlap to some extent. Mundane:The Guild could, and should, provide a useful service to other members by helping them to find and reach revels and other places of interest (Cressing Temple, Blackbird Leys, etc.). Detailed and useful sets of maps and instructions on how to reach revel sites should be provided and held for future reference. Co-ordinating lifts to/from inaccessible places should be done, in consultation with the autocrat of the relevant event where appropriate. (This will not be a major part of the Guild, but does provide an incentive to produce good instructions, and some form of reward for Helpful People). History:the study of any aspect of Travel as it really occurred in History during our period. This may include drawing historically-based maps, commenting on existing maps, study of travel techniques, routes, navigational methods, vehicle construction, and any other travel-related topic the member may find to be of interest. Far Isles Medieval:the study of travel in the Far Isles, as opposed to History. Techniques should be similar: routes and obstacles will be different. For instance, an account of moving the Charing Cross Monument to Tintagel so as to act as a lighthouse there is definitely Far Isles, not History. Then we divide the subject into Branches. Cartography: the drawing and study of maps Navigation: the art of finding out where you are and where you're going. Trade: One of the more important reasons for travel Travel: a general topic to cover all other areas. May be divided into more areas when we find out what people are interested in.
And of course each of those could be divided into theory and practise. We don't expect you to put a tick in all boxes, but a good spread would be nice. Rules of advancementMost of these are concerned with carrying out a number of Tasks from the list below. This list is not exhaustive or exclusive: if you want to try something not on the list that's connected to Travel, please ask. Also, if your attempt at a Task is judged by the Guildmaster to be of exceptional quality or difficulty, it may count as more than one towards your grading. Whether or not tasks are of different "types" is up to the Guildmaster to judge, but common sense should prevail. MemberYou must have expressed an interest in the Guild and informed the Guildmaster of your wish to join the Guild. ApprenticeCarry out two tasks: may be of the same type. In addition, describe an in-period method of finding out which way is North. JourneymanCarry out five tasks, in addition to the two already done to become an Apprentice. At least one of these must be in the form of an article suitable for publication in Far Horizons. They should not all be of the same type. MasterCarry out five tasks, in addition to the seven already carried out for lower grades. All should be of different types. At least one of these must be of Masterwork quality: defined as being so good that we want to show it off to people outside the Society as an example of our work. Grand MasterThis rank may be awarded at the whim of the Guildmaster for a work of outstanding brilliance or obvious impossibility (such as a detailed map of the entire Far Isles on whose accuracy all members agree). Child membershipChildren work their way through the same grading system as adults, using the same rules. If they wish to be graded as children, not as adults, then their age will be taken into consideration when judging the quality of their work, and the rank awarded will be "Junior Apprentice" and so on. However, if they wish to undertake the full adult grades, with no allowances made for age, then they are welcome to do so, though adult supervision may be required for some practical tasks. List of suggested tasksThis list is NOT intended to be exclusive or exhaustive, merely a source of inspiration. If you can think of something else travel-related that you'd like to do, please ask.
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