The Astral Cartographers

The Astral Cartographers were an intellectual fraternity that predated the establishment of the Dwarven Abbey, rooted primarily within the scholarly strata of the vanished Aerilon Ascendancy. Their existence, hinted at in fragments within the [[Chapter of the Seventh Sign]], was dedicated not merely to observation, but to the meticulous, physical charting of cosmic geometry and its influence on terrestrial Auric Resonance. Unlike later Sky-Seers, who sought prophecy, the Cartographers pursued scientific exactitude, viewing the celestial sphere as a massive, predictable clockwork mechanism whose movements dictated everything from geological stability within the Iron-Grip Mountains to the necessary routes of the Skystrider Paths. Their society was rigidly structured around mathematical principles, led by the scholarly cadre known as the Celestial Geometers. This sub-faction focused on building immense observation artifacts, such as the legendary [[Astral Compass]], an instrument capable of mapping planetary motion far beyond the mortal plane, into what they termed The Outer Sphere. They believed that by maintaining perfect celestial equilibrium, they could prevent cosmic disruptions. Ironically, their intense focus on the heavens blinded them to the terrestrial pressures that eventually culminated in the Great Sundering. Their final, tragic act was an attempt to calculate a perfect, mitigating [[Celestial Alignment Ritual]], a complex formula now lost but deemed necessary to halt the impending collapse they had foreseen, yet failed to avert.