The Hesperides

Most magi have heard of Claudius Ptolemaeus. He codified the movement of the planets, the names of the stars, and the shapes of the constellations. He invented the gnomon and the globe. But magi interested in astronomy or geography know that Ptolemy accomplished much more than this.

Ptolemy devised a system that precisely measures the location of any place on the surface of the Earth. Every location is expressed by two values that measure how far north and east the place is compared to an origin point far to the southwest of Europe. A magus skilled in Ptolemy's techniques can use these coordinates as Arcane Connections to the places that they designate. This allows the magus to travel to these sites.

Ptolemy published his techniques and around 8,000 coordinates in a work of seven volumes, called The Geography. The last complete version of this book was lost with the Great Library of Alexandria. Small sections circulate in Mythic Europe, tantalizing magi with coordinates that they cannot use. House Mercere has offered 100 pawns of vis for a complete copy of The Geography, and many magi, knowing that it contains the exact locations of hundreds of ancient magical sites, would refuse to sell at that price.

The history of House Bonisagus records that Trianoma found Bonisagus by following the advice of the dragon of the Garden of the Hesperides. That dragon, Ladon, was visited in 1160 by an Arabic cartographer, and arranged for many flawed copies of Ptolemy's work to be made in Europe, to encourage magi to reconstruct it, and to visit him. The Order that he helped to nurture is now ready for the next stage in his plan.

A Change of Pace

This chapter offers a more conventional story for players than the others in this book. The ancient magic the players can seek with this material is useful, but will not revolutionize the Order, and does not require integration. The system of coordinates is used as a lure, to draw characters to the Canary Islands, and into the service of the dragon. The Canary Islands are called the "Purple Islands" in this chapter, a Roman name with which magi might be familiar. They have been described in detail because they make an excellent Spring covenant setting: they are far from other covenants, rich in vis and trade goods, and are inhabited by people who assume that those who are magical make good rulers.

Consequences

Coordinates have a few advantages over standard Arcane Connections. They do not fade with time. They can be carried in the mind of a magus, stored as writing, or designed into magic items. They are information rather than objects, so they can be given away, and yet retained by the giver. They do not need to be collected from a place, because they rely on the Law of Names, not the Law of Contagion.

Once the coordinates for a place are known, magical travel to it is comparatively swift and safe. This might permit the Order to withdraw further from mundane contact, and would certainly allow covenants to work together on projects more efficiently than they are currently able. It also offers the opportunity to send brave volunteers to speculative coordinates:

places that no person in Europe has ever seen, because they are so far west, or south.

In war, Arcane Connections can be used to target Rituals, creating a form of magical artillery. This is far easier with Ptolemaic coordinates, because these cannot be changed. The coordinates also offer peacetime advantages, such as the rapid movement of people and material, up to the size of armies.