The Cartographer's Summons
Category: medium
Prerequisites: complete lightheart_road_north
Beyond the Northern Gate
Lightheart's maps end at the city wall. A weathered notice nailed to the gate reads: 'CARTOGRAPHERS' LODGE SEEKS A BOLD HAND. APPLY WITHIN — BRING TIMBER.' You'll need stout poles to mark a trail north.
Objectives:
- CHOP: Maple Logs ×125
Rewards:
- ✨ 27,500
Woodcutting XP - 2,000 gp
Rations for the Trail
Master Cartographer Vael looks you over. "The frontier doesn't feed you. Smoke a few tuna and we'll talk."
Objectives:
- CATCH: raw_tuna ×100
Rewards:
- ✨ 52,000
Fishing XP
Read the Land
Vael presses a blank vellum into your hands. "Charting isn't walking — it's seeing. Cut survey stakes from the yews and I'll teach you to take the land's measure." She shows you how to survey. You can EXPLORE now.
Objectives:
- CHOP: Yew Logs ×75
Rewards:
- ✨ 30,000 Woodcutting XP
- Unlock skill:
Exploring - 2,500 gp
First Survey
"Pick an area, run the survey, let it cycle. The land gives up its secrets to the patient." Survey the Gloomwood's edge until you've found your feet.
Objectives:
- LEVEL:
Rewards:
- 4,000 gp
Deep-Water Catch
"The frontier rivers run deep and cold — and the swordfish in them are worth charting too." Land a haul.
Objectives:
- CATCH: raw_swordfish ×75
Rewards:
- ✨ 60,000 Fishing XP
- 3,000 gp
The Patient Eye
Vael nods at your filling parchment. "Better. Keep surveying — a cartographer's eye is earned, not given."
Objectives:
- LEVEL:
Rewards:
- 3,000 gp
Ore for the Lodge
The Lodge's instruments need mithril fittings. "Sextants don't forge themselves," Vael mutters. Chip some from the frontier seams.
Objectives:
- MINE: Mithril Ore ×100
Rewards:
- ✨ 7,000
Mining XP
Charting the Treeline
The Gloomwood's border shifts with the seasons. Survey it again and mark the new growth.
Objectives:
- LEVEL:
Rewards:
- 4,000 gp
Wolves at the Edge
"Survey parties don't all come back," Vael says quietly. "Dire wolves den along the ridge. Thin them before you map deeper."
Objectives:
- KILL: kill dire_wolf ×40
Rewards:
- 4,000 gp
The Ridge Line
With the den cleared, the high ridge opens up. Survey it and add it to the Lodge's charts.
Objectives:
- LEVEL:
Rewards:
- 💎 25 gems
Stakes for the North Trail
A proper trail needs yew markers every hundred paces. Fell a good stack.
Objectives:
- CHOP: Yew Logs ×150
Rewards:
- ✨ 60,000 Woodcutting XP
Smoke for the Stores
"Cook those swordfish before they spoil — the Lodge eats what the frontier provides."
Objectives:
- COOK: raw_swordfish ×75
Rewards:
- ✨ 76,500
Cooking XP - 4,000 gp
A Cartographer's Diligence
Vael sets you to the long work now — survey until the western quarter is fully charted.
Objectives:
- LEVEL:
Rewards:
- 4,000 gp
The Lodge Quartermaster
A shifty fellow named Golo runs the Lodge's supply — and skims from it. "Lighten his pockets," Vael says with a thin smile, "and call it back-pay."
Objectives:
- THIEVE: golo ×125
Rewards:
- ✨ 8,750
Thieving XP - 4,500 gp
The Charted Quarter
Almost there. One more sweep and the western frontier is yours on parchment.
Objectives:
- LEVEL:
Rewards:
- 5,000 gp
Coal for the Beacon Forge
The Lodge keeps a signal-forge burning. Feed it a load of coal so the night surveys have light.
Objectives:
- MINE: Coal Ore ×150
Rewards:
- ✨ 6,300 Mining XP
Surveyor, Confirmed
Vael reviews your charts and signs them. "You see the land now. One last survey — make it count."
Objectives:
- LEVEL:
Rewards:
- 💎 30 gems
The First Clue
As you finish, your survey turns up something odd — a scrap of an older map, half a route inked across it. "A clue scroll," Vael breathes. "Take it to the Expeditions table and follow where it leads. Welcome to the Lodge, Cartographer."
Objectives:
- CATCH: raw_shark ×75
Rewards:
- ✨ 112,500 Fishing XP
- 6,000 gp
- 💎 40 gems
Clue Scroll (Common) ×1