Triskelen Navigation Charts
The overall geography of the Grand Triskele Lake is well-known, but this doesn't mean that those who ply its waters can simply aim their ships directly towards their destination and hope for the best. The plethora of small islands, floating installations, and shallow stretches make the most economical nautical trade routes a matter of ongoing study and speculation. To this end, every crew looking to make money on the waters of the Grand Triskele keep their own private sets of navigation charts of varying degrees of utility. A skilled cartographer or navigator is worth his weight in gold, and Triskelen sailors are among the best in the industry by dint of long cultural tradition. Thus, Triskelen charts are one of the most important and valuable tools of the trade.
Purpose
Up-to-date navigational charts allow a vessel's navigator to prepare route recommendations based on a variety of factors, including speed, safety, cost, and availability of important supplies. The captain may then choose between the options presented by the navigator to best suit the needs of the vessel's mission, whether it be economic, military, or exploratory in nature.
Document Structure
Publication Status
The Kingdom of Rosethorne keeps a cadre of civil navigation experts, known as the Crown Cartography Service on the rolls so that the military and other limbs of the Crown will have the most up-to-date charts possible. Nevertheless, because a combination of geological and biological forces cause the underwater geography to shift over time, even these charts cannot always be trusted unless they are of relatively recent vintage. Geopolitical conflicts occasionally also cause the boundaries of the Kingdom to shift and installations to be lost, similarly forcing maps to be updated. Because current maps are of great strategic and economic importance, the Service only distributes their premium maps to the most trusted of subjects, leaving the merchant companies vastly more common to find on the watery main to make their own mapping attempts.
Historical Details
Term
Shifts in the lay of the water (see Publication Status) mean that charts showing more than just landmasses must typically be updated every 3-5 years for maximum utility.
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