A common problem for new cliomancers.

Every so often a Cliomancer near the start of his career will try to catch a charge off the Empire State Building, the Sears Tower, or some other famous skyscraper. After all, they’re famous enough that even after they’ve been harvested for the day, there might be a minor charge still hanging around if the cobweb farmer’s lucky. Almost all of them are surprised to find out that approaching from street-level, these places don’t show any juice accumulated at all. The first suspicion is usually some kind of farfetched conspiracy theory, but the truth is much simpler.

For most Cliomancers, a historical site is no bigger than an acre. It never occurs to beginning cobweb farmers that an acre might not be entirely horizontal. Great skyscrapers usually have several acres of floor space inside, and how many people would recognize a photograph of the base of the Chrysler Building? It’s the spires on top that hold the charges. Go up there and you’ll find your significant charge… or, more likely, another Cliomancer watching for a clueless newbie like you to try to jump his claim.

For a short time, the World Trade Center was a notable exception: the tops held a significant charge, but the bombing attempt in the parking garage put a minor charge there, too. Both of these were destroyed when the Twin Towers were. The WTC ruins are, mystically speaking, a different “famous place” from the Towers that used to stand there, one that nobody had ever harvested before September 11, 2001. It’s an easier way for a Cliomancer to get a major charge than becoming an astronaut is, anyway.