Cyclone Spotter
Cyclone spotting was a once-popular profession which has been rendered obsolete in the land of Eden. During the Second Age, however—the age of the Ceaseless Cyclone—spotters were employed in vast numbers by governments across the world. Some spotters were even able to accumulate small fortunes by taking on lucrative contract work from the nascent storm chaser movement.
This possibility of wealth accumulation, together with the lure of adventure and a certain postapocalyptic disposition towards rugged individualism, lent the profession a mystique akin to that of the American cowboy here in The Real World.
And yet, as soon as the Ceaseless Cyclone finally, well, ceased, demand for the position dried up. With the supernatural disaster done and gone, and with meteorlogical magics and technologies capable of predicting more mundane weather patterns with ease, the time of the Cyclone Spotter came to an end.
Career
Qualifications
The only qualification for early spotters was the ability to keep a weather eye on the horizon for long stretches of time. As the years wore on, however, skill in differentiating the characteristics of the Ceaseless Cyclone from mundane storms was expected.
Career Progression
The sad truth of the matter is that progressing in the career required one personal quality above all others: a tolerance for witnessing death and destruction. Only if one could stomach viewing the horrors of the Cyclone time and time again—only then could one rise through the ranks.
Most spotters lasted no more than two years before transitioning into a new career.
Payment & Reimbursement
Spotters working for the governments of Eden could expect to be paid well enough to own their own homes and raise a couple of kids. Spotters employed by the wealthier members of the storm chaser movement could, in some cases, retire after a half-dozen spottings.
I feel like this is a profession that I'm glad there's no longer a need for. Must have been a harrowing job.
Indeed! I'm thinking I might be able to work a retired Cyclone Spotter into one of my upcoming stories as maybe a wise old hermit type.