One of the recent World Building prompts I came across is one about Cartographers, so I decided I would jump in and dust off the cobwebs of my short absence with this post, which is all about exploration and the art of mapping out worlds. Here's A Link If You Want To Get Involved And Write Something For This One.
Cartography Pre-War
Before the occupation, almost everything that could have been mapped on the inhabited worlds had been mapped. There may have been a few stones left unturned on certain planets, not through a lack of trying, however. Some worlds were dangerous and areas posed more risks than rewards, so in those cases areas remained as blank slates. Some actually romanticised the idea of having parts of their world unexplored; imagining what could be out there, hidden in the depths of an untouched jungle, or at the bottom of an unexplored cave.
These romanticised ideas did prompt more than a few explorers to go out and lay claim to these uncharted pieces of land or snatch any treasure or artifacts that may have been sitting ideal. However, some of those that went out in search of adventure never returned and the ones who did return gave up before exploring.
For the most part, cartography was little more than a hobby in the wider galaxy, only used by individuals who were creating their own worlds and creating stories set on imagined places.
Uncharted Worlds
Throughout the galaxy, there are many uncharted worlds that have never been claimed by intelligent life. The Confederation was the most aggressive when it came to taking over new worlds and they had it perfected to a fine art. Usually, it could take them as little as 5 years to build a base large enough to support over 1,000 people. 5 years after that, they would be completely self-sufficient. 10 years after that, their population would have tripled due to new arrivals to the planet, and what was once, 1 base, would now be 3 or maybe even 4 if everything was ahead of schedule.
But new planets were hard to come by after a few hundred years. The Confederation reached the borders of their galactic neighbors and soon realised that they had no choice now for expansion. They were stagnating and the cracks of their society started to show until they were given an excuse to start their occupation.
Jump Lanes
There are charted patches of space in both Free Space and The Confederation zone, these patches are known as Jump Lanes and they are essentially space highways, the reason for them is pretty simple.
A ship's navigation computer would have to constantly re-center itself and keep track of any objects and make instant adjustments to ensure the ship didn't crash into anything.
Jump Lanes change all of that though, now since certain lanes have been charted, ships could now travel freely and the navigation computer could take a backseat, to a certain extent. It still remains active, but, since it doesn't have to make so many calculations, ships were able to travel faster through space.
Charting these lanes was a mundane job. It would see large freighters slowly travel through space in order to find the best route which would take years and the crew manning these freighters would do 6 months - 1 year each, upon arriving at a designated checkpoint the crews would swap out. The end result was worth the work and the pay was good for anyone who was willing to sit on a ship for an extended period of time.
Post-War Cartography
After the occupation, Free Space was barely the same place as it had been prior to it and as well as a complete reconstruction effort being made on most of the planets throughout this patch of space, cartographers were asked to start mapping the planets out, considering the old maps and navigation computers simply would not match up. There was a joke in an advertisement released on Jex, which called for any and all cartographers.
The advert seen a couple leaving the city to go on holiday after seeing an advert for a top-tier resort and upon arriving at the resort they see that it has been taken over by bandits.
It was a funny way of asking for help and it was also based on reality, as many areas of the world were taken over by bandits, pirates, and junkies. These different groups made it hard to chart the planets in full detail, as they had been prior to the war. During the time of charting the worlds, many people were killed for wandering into the wrong place, at the wrong time.
Even some of the Jump Lanes of Free Space were lost, as more than a few planets were utterly destroyed turning them into little more than asteroid belts. With these new patches of debris out in space, some of the Jump Lanes were severed, creating two where once there was one.
Cartography
The job of making maps and charting worlds and space alike is still an ongoing and laborious task. However, slowly but surely the planets are all being charted for easy navigation and more and more people join the call each year to get out exploring.
If there is one thing these people who go about these tasks have learned. It's how easy it is to forget and how fast civilization can be plunged back into the great forgetting.
