The Worlds of Katherine Kurtz

FanFiction => General Information, Question, and/or Ideas => Topic started by: MerchantDeryni on October 05, 2018, 10:40:19 AM

Title: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: MerchantDeryni on October 05, 2018, 10:40:19 AM

So I was looking at a means of information transfer for my Fanfic. Transfer portals allow a person to carry a message through. This would allow a lot of information to be carried from place to place.

In another thread I was wondering about the telepathic link medallions that KK has used to send information from a mobile point to another mobile person. This idea could be used to send information from city to city as a news service, or telegraph service, if the range is reasonable. Even a range of 30 miles would save a day's ride along winter roads. Messages could be sent via telepathic telegram. (Slogan"Send a Happy thought!").

Long range communication is possible by transfer portal if a person goes through the portal. This requires energy and they may not have enough to safely transfer from point to point.

In the books it has been mentioned that some users can 'check' a destination portal to see if it is trapped before they actually transfer. So information can be passed along between the portals.

The next question is can a message pulse be sent between two portals? This hopefully would cost less energy than transferring a person. If so then a message system could be created.

Picture 2 people, 1 on each portal. The sender sends the message along the portal matrix and the receiver gets the message at the target portal. This could be either a complete message, mind speech, or even pulses (long and short for psychic morse code). The receiver writes the message down and it can be sent to the recipient.

If this were possible then cities could be tied together in an information matrix as well as a transfer portal matrix.  Governments and merchant houses would be interested in getting current news instead of relying on dispatch riders.

Any thoughts?
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: Bynw on October 05, 2018, 01:27:42 PM
I'm sure something like that could be possible. Because as we already do know that you can test the destination portal for traps without actually going there and becoming trapped. I haven't done anything on this myself yet and I find this to be a fascinating idea.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: MerchantDeryni on October 05, 2018, 02:28:35 PM
Glad you like it Bynw.

If it is possible, and was widely used it would change things. It would change the books as well. The thread about borrowing a portal to pass word to the king about the death would become moot.  The character could have sent a 'telegram' or a coded message and the king could have the news within a day.

News of troop movement could be sent from spies in one city to their allies (if within portal range, or send it along a network.)

For my Pepper and Lace fanfic the news network could be used to coordinate cargo movement from house to house. Rumour and important news could give the Merchant House with such a new network a big advantage over rivals.

And of course give more credence to the public outcry that the evil Deryni are hoarding information to their unsavoury advantage.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: whitelaughter on October 06, 2018, 07:20:16 AM
It's been done in canon. 'warning Deryni, here lies danger' or something to that effect - the ruined portal of the Gabrilites sends out a warning so that no one will attempt to port there. Granted that was part of a life ending spell, but I can't see why it would be particularly difficult - the incoming Deryni needs to create a connection to jump, so you just download information via that connection.

Given the importance of tourism, it's likely that as part of the 'grand tour' Portals would include information on their location; possibly evolving into an early internet as the number of Portals increases.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: Bynw on October 06, 2018, 09:27:14 AM
Quote from: whitelaughter on October 06, 2018, 07:20:16 AM
It's been done in canon. 'warning Deryni, here lies danger' or something to that effect - the ruined portal of the Gabrilites sends out a warning so that no one will attempt to port there. Granted that was part of a life ending spell, but I can't see why it would be particularly difficult - the incoming Deryni needs to create a connection to jump, so you just download information via that connection.

Given the importance of tourism, it's likely that as part of the 'grand tour' Portals would include information on their location; possibly evolving into an early internet as the number of Portals increases.

That wasnt a message/data being sent through a portal. That was an imbedded message at the portal.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: whitelaughter on October 08, 2018, 09:32:50 AM
Quote from: Bynw on October 06, 2018, 09:27:14 AM
That wasnt a message/data being sent through a portal. That was an imbedded message at the portal.
which could be heard from any other portal (unless I am greatly misremembering Camber the Heretic).

Assume a renaissance era Deryni, with access to a Portal and curiosity about some subject, say the best tea in Cathay. Open a connection to a portal in Cathay - learn the data. Follow the data from Portal to Portal, until you learn what you need at a Portal at say Qimen. You've access to an equivalent of the internet, some 5 centuries early. The term 'renaissance man' will have a slightly different meaning.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: Bynw on October 08, 2018, 09:40:49 AM
Quote from: whitelaughter on October 08, 2018, 09:32:50 AM
Quote from: Bynw on October 06, 2018, 09:27:14 AM
That wasnt a message/data being sent through a portal. That was an imbedded message at the portal.
which could be heard from any other portal (unless I am greatly misremembering Camber the Heretic).

Assume a renaissance era Deryni, with access to a Portal and curiosity about some subject, say the best tea in Cathay. Open a connection to a portal in Cathay - learn the data. Follow the data from Portal to Portal, until you learn what you need at a Portal at say Qimen. You've access to an equivalent of the internet, some 5 centuries early. The term 'renaissance man' will have a slightly different meaning.

It's a misremember there unfortunately. It would only be heard in the mind at the portal square where the message was left. Dom Emry's embedded the message at the portal, just as you could with a wax seal on a scroll. And then he ripped the portal from this universe. And died.

Theoretically I like the idea. But you would have to have people at both ends of the Portal. It would be like old fashioned dial up modem to a BBS in order to work though. It couldnt just get information through osmosis.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: whitelaughter on October 12, 2018, 09:10:02 AM
that makes the message completely pointless then...the only people who can detect it have no need to be warned.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: Evie on October 12, 2018, 10:44:40 AM
Quote from: Bynw on October 08, 2018, 09:40:49 AM
Quote from: whitelaughter on October 08, 2018, 09:32:50 AM
Quote from: Bynw on October 06, 2018, 09:27:14 AM
That wasnt a message/data being sent through a portal. That was an imbedded message at the portal.
which could be heard from any other portal (unless I am greatly misremembering Camber the Heretic).

Assume a renaissance era Deryni, with access to a Portal and curiosity about some subject, say the best tea in Cathay. Open a connection to a portal in Cathay - learn the data. Follow the data from Portal to Portal, until you learn what you need at a Portal at say Qimen. You've access to an equivalent of the internet, some 5 centuries early. The term 'renaissance man' will have a slightly different meaning.

It's a misremember there unfortunately. It would only be heard in the mind at the portal square where the message was left. Dom Emry's embedded the message at the portal, just as you could with a wax seal on a scroll. And then he ripped the portal from this universe. And died.

Theoretically I like the idea. But you would have to have people at both ends of the Portal. It would be like old fashioned dial up modem to a BBS in order to work though. It couldnt just get information through osmosis.
Quote from: whitelaughter on October 12, 2018, 09:10:02 AM
that makes the message completely pointless then...the only people who can detect it have no need to be warned.

I agree with whitelaughter. It would be senseless to embed a message into a destroyed portal that essentially says "Warning: Don't come through this portal!" if you have to be on the destroyed portal to hear the message!  I think anyone attempting to jump to that portal would be able to hear that message at the moment they are trying to balance the energies between its signature and the portal signature they are trying to jump from, and that the message serves as a warning not to attempt the portal jump because the portal on the other end has been destroyed and the circumstances that required it to be destroyed. If you are actually at St. Neot's, you wouldn't have any need for that warning except as a notice that it is not safe to use that destroyed portal to jump out either.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: Bynw on October 12, 2018, 11:56:55 AM
Quote from: Evie on October 12, 2018, 10:44:40 AM
Quote from: Bynw on October 08, 2018, 09:40:49 AM
Quote from: whitelaughter on October 08, 2018, 09:32:50 AM
Quote from: Bynw on October 06, 2018, 09:27:14 AM
That wasnt a message/data being sent through a portal. That was an imbedded message at the portal.
which could be heard from any other portal (unless I am greatly misremembering Camber the Heretic).

Assume a renaissance era Deryni, with access to a Portal and curiosity about some subject, say the best tea in Cathay. Open a connection to a portal in Cathay - learn the data. Follow the data from Portal to Portal, until you learn what you need at a Portal at say Qimen. You've access to an equivalent of the internet, some 5 centuries early. The term 'renaissance man' will have a slightly different meaning.

It's a misremember there unfortunately. It would only be heard in the mind at the portal square where the message was left. Dom Emry's embedded the message at the portal, just as you could with a wax seal on a scroll. And then he ripped the portal from this universe. And died.

Theoretically I like the idea. But you would have to have people at both ends of the Portal. It would be like old fashioned dial up modem to a BBS in order to work though. It couldnt just get information through osmosis.
Quote from: whitelaughter on October 12, 2018, 09:10:02 AM
that makes the message completely pointless then...the only people who can detect it have no need to be warned.

I agree with whitelaughter. It would be senseless to embed a message into a destroyed portal that essentially says "Warning: Don't come through this portal!" if you have to be on the destroyed portal to hear the message!  I think anyone attempting to jump to that portal would be able to hear that message at the moment they are trying to balance the energies between its signature and the portal signature they are trying to jump from, and that the message serves as a warning not to attempt the portal jump because the portal on the other end has been destroyed and the circumstances that required it to be destroyed. If you are actually at St. Neot's, you wouldn't have any need for that warning except as a notice that it is not safe to use that destroyed portal to jump out either.


The warning that Dom Emrys left wasn't for the portal use. Since he was going to destroy it. No one would be able to sense the portal to jump into it and no one would be able to sense the portal to use it to get away after he destroyed it. The warning was just a warning to other Deryni that humans kill what they don't understand. And since they don't understand magic ... the humans killed Deryni.

If you cant sense the portal, you cant hear any message left on it because the portal was destroyed.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: Laurna on October 12, 2018, 12:18:37 PM
I agree with Whitelaughter and Evie as well.  The embedded message was for anyone at any other portal attempting to connect with the St. Noit's portal signature; from the warning, they would know not to attempt the jump. St. Noits was a school, every Deryni student who attended there for the last three to four generations would know the signature, along with many guests who had ever visited. At the time of the portal's destruction that would be a large percentage of Deyrni who could know the signature.

This leads me to wonder that if a Deryni did not test for a portal's viability before they made a jump to a destroyed one, like they just thought of the signature and jumped in a hurry,  would that person be lost to the void if the portal truly no longer existed? So the warning was to alert anyone trying to connect with that signature to tell them of the portal destruction before they made that jump.

After a generation or two, the signature would be forgotten and the warning would no longer be heard from another portal, simply because no one remembered the old signature to it. Therefore with warning could only be heard at the source.

So yes, someone can embedded information into a portal signature. But can you embed information that is only meant to be heard from one adjoining portal and not from every portal around the world? Perhaps if portals had special links to each other. Say sister portals that have keyed signatures in some way. Then information could be passed from just one site to just one other site, and not across the whole network.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: Evie on October 12, 2018, 12:21:23 PM
Quote from: Bynw on October 12, 2018, 11:56:55 AM
Quote from: Evie on October 12, 2018, 10:44:40 AM
Quote from: Bynw on October 08, 2018, 09:40:49 AM
Quote from: whitelaughter on October 08, 2018, 09:32:50 AM
Quote from: Bynw on October 06, 2018, 09:27:14 AM
That wasnt a message/data being sent through a portal. That was an imbedded message at the portal.
which could be heard from any other portal (unless I am greatly misremembering Camber the Heretic).

Assume a renaissance era Deryni, with access to a Portal and curiosity about some subject, say the best tea in Cathay. Open a connection to a portal in Cathay - learn the data. Follow the data from Portal to Portal, until you learn what you need at a Portal at say Qimen. You've access to an equivalent of the internet, some 5 centuries early. The term 'renaissance man' will have a slightly different meaning.

It's a misremember there unfortunately. It would only be heard in the mind at the portal square where the message was left. Dom Emry's embedded the message at the portal, just as you could with a wax seal on a scroll. And then he ripped the portal from this universe. And died.

Theoretically I like the idea. But you would have to have people at both ends of the Portal. It would be like old fashioned dial up modem to a BBS in order to work though. It couldnt just get information through osmosis.
Quote from: whitelaughter on October 12, 2018, 09:10:02 AM
that makes the message completely pointless then...the only people who can detect it have no need to be warned.

I agree with whitelaughter. It would be senseless to embed a message into a destroyed portal that essentially says "Warning: Don't come through this portal!" if you have to be on the destroyed portal to hear the message!  I think anyone attempting to jump to that portal would be able to hear that message at the moment they are trying to balance the energies between its signature and the portal signature they are trying to jump from, and that the message serves as a warning not to attempt the portal jump because the portal on the other end has been destroyed and the circumstances that required it to be destroyed. If you are actually at St. Neot's, you wouldn't have any need for that warning except as a notice that it is not safe to use that destroyed portal to jump out either.


The warning that Dom Emrys left wasn't for the portal use. Since he was going to destroy it. No one would be able to sense the portal to jump into it and no one would be able to sense the portal to use it to get away after he destroyed it. The warning was just a warning to other Deryni that humans kill what they don't understand. And since they don't understand magic ... the humans killed Deryni.

If you cant sense the portal, you cant hear any message left on it because the portal was destroyed.

I think you can destroy a portal's functionality without destroying its unique signature, otherwise Duncan and Alaric wouldn't have been able to sense the faint tingle that told them there had ever been a portal there in the first place. Also, other people would have committed that signature to memory, and destroying the portal itself would not destroy those memories, so some Deryni might have attempted to jump there not knowing it was no longer a viable portal. But having that message linked to the portal would warn them off making the attempt the moment they tried locking onto that memorized portal signature.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: Bynw on October 12, 2018, 12:40:42 PM
I don't have my books handy. But I don't think Duncan or Morgan sensed the Portal. They knew that there could be a portal there because it was a Healer's school. I believe, if I am remembering correctly, all the sensed was the message. But the portal itself was completely gone.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: DesertRose on October 12, 2018, 12:57:33 PM
Quote from: Bynw on October 12, 2018, 12:40:42 PM
I don't have my books handy. But I don't think Duncan or Morgan sensed the Portal. They knew that there could be a portal there because it was a Healer's school. I believe, if I am remembering correctly, all the sensed was the message. But the portal itself was completely gone.

I agree with most of this, that Morgan and Duncan went to the ruins of St. Neot's because they knew there was a good chance that at least at one point in time there had been a Portal on that site because it had been a monastery/school dedicated to teaching Healers.

However, I think that while the Portal was in fact entirely destroyed by Dom Emrys, in addition to the message the abbot had embedded in the site where the Portal had been, there remained by Morgan's, Duncan's, Kelson's, et al. time an "echo" or some other psychically-perceptible indication that there had once been a Portal at that place.

I'm thinking of the same concept as being able to see where there were once castles in Europe or cities/settlements in the Americas created by people long dead, because the traces of the foundations are still visible, if you look at the right time with the right equipment.  There isn't a castle in that place any more, but you can tell that there once was.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: revanne on October 12, 2018, 01:54:22 PM
And maybe in circumstances where senses are peculiarly acute - at St Neot's Morgan and Duncan were both emotionally raw - the psychic echoes would be more easily sensed.

To pick up Desert Rose's analogy it was an interesting effect of this summer's drought in the UK that long forgotten outlines of buildings were revealed as markings on the sun- scorched earth. Extreme conditions revealing what us normally hidden.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: whitelaughter on October 24, 2018, 11:33:40 PM
Have checked the books: at the start of chapter 25 in Camber of Culdi[edit:sorry, The Heretic]
"when, after a few hours,  Camber at last dared to reach back to the St Neot's Portal, he could only sense the lingering message..."

So, definitely can be done as it is done.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: Bynw on October 25, 2018, 09:29:39 PM
I don't think that is Camber of Culdi as it only has 21 chapters. Is it Camber the Heretic?

And questions are raised. Did Camber know about the message in the first place? And could anyone else duplicate his ability? Or maybe Camber sensed it because he knew it was there and he is one of the great masters.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: MerchantDeryni on October 26, 2018, 05:08:25 AM
First paragraph of chapter 25 in Heretic. Camber reached back to the portal and sensed the message.

Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: DesertRose on October 26, 2018, 08:30:18 AM
Quote from: whitelaughter on October 24, 2018, 11:33:40 PM
Have checked the books: at the start of chapter 25 in Camber of Culdi:
"when, after a few hours,  Camber at last dared to reach back to the St Neot's Portal, he could only sense the lingering message..."

So, definitely can be done as it is done.
Quote from: Bynw on October 25, 2018, 09:29:39 PM
I don't think that is Camber of Culdi as it only has 21 chapters. Is it Camber the Heretic?

And questions are raised. Did Camber know about the message in the first place? And could anyone else duplicate his ability? Or maybe Camber sensed it because he knew it was there and he is one of the great masters.

I'm not sure as to whether Camber knew the message was there, but I have to think he knew the signature of the St. Neot's Portal.  Being able to sense the message might be a sign of his adept status, but I tend to think that anyone who knew enough to know the Portal's signature would sense the message when they reached (psychically) for that Portal.

It seems like Portal travel requires being physically present on the departure Portal and knowing both the signature of that Portal (which can apparently be sensed by physical contact with the Portal and then memorized for future use) and the signature of the intended destination Portal.  So, say, someone less adept than Camber tried to reach the St. Neot's Portal after it was destroyed; that person would realize before attempting the jump that the Portal no longer existed, and they would probably also "hear" the message Dom Emrys left at the site.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: Bynw on October 26, 2018, 09:47:03 AM
Not sure if Camber's sensing the message from afar is do to his adept status or not. It's questionable since we have no other examples of Deryni doing it from a distance.

But in either case, it's not a very good way to leave a message for someone else. Since anyone will be able to detect it from the Portal square if they are there physically.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: DesertRose on October 26, 2018, 09:56:31 AM
Quote from: Bynw on October 26, 2018, 09:47:03 AM
Not sure if Camber's sensing the message from afar is do to his adept status or not. It's questionable since we have no other examples of Deryni doing it from a distance.

But in either case, it's not a very good way to leave a message for someone else. Since anyone will be able to detect it from the Portal square if they are there physically.

Well, no, true.  There are much more effective means of conveying information than embedded messages in (former) Portals.  :D
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: whitelaughter on October 31, 2018, 07:48:04 AM
Camber definitely gets all of the message, as he reflects on the content. Generally when he does something that is supposed to be awesome, this is mentioned, as there'll be some reference as to how difficult it is; here no difficulty is implied, suggesting that any Deryni, or at least any trained Deryni, could do so.

Tavis talks about the problems a few chapters later - p418 of my volume, last few pages of chapter 27 - but seems to contradict himself. He can't tell whether a portal is active - except when he can. He can certainly sense some active Portals. So my assumption has always been that the warning was specifically to stop someone trying to teleport to an non-existent Portal and killing themselves.

[shrugs] you could always ask Katherine.

Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: Evie on October 31, 2018, 12:02:23 PM
Quote from: whitelaughter on October 31, 2018, 07:48:04 AM
So my assumption has always been that the warning was specifically to stop someone trying to teleport to an non-existent Portal and killing themselves.

[shrugs] you could always ask Katherine.

Exactly why I've always assumed the same thing. There would be little point in putting in a warning that only people already at St. Neot's could detect.  It would be pretty obvious from that side of things that the Portal has been destroyed. But people trying to jump there from other places would have no idea, hence a warning is needed so that anyone trying to home in on the old Portal signature would discover that they can no longer jump there, and why.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: Bynw on November 03, 2018, 09:13:56 PM
So it is certainly possible to leave a message on a Transfer Portal. But any (Deryni) will be able to sense it and "hear" it. Not a good way of doing any kind of private or sensitive message.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: whitelaughter on November 06, 2018, 05:52:56 AM
Quote from: Bynw on November 03, 2018, 09:13:56 PM
So it is certainly possible to leave a message on a Transfer Portal. But any (Deryni) will be able to sense it and "hear" it. Not a good way of doing any kind of private or sensitive message.
Granted, but the potential to create a publicly available encyclopedia? Wiki half a millennia early? Massive game changer.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: MerchantDeryni on November 06, 2018, 02:07:25 PM
Well that may work but the entire encyclopedia would recite as one long speech. I do not think the message would be searchable.

Now embedding the information into a crystal or item and setting up some sort of searchable database could be an interesting idea. No more scrolls for the Protocols of Orin. Update to the Shiral crystal version and search as you want to.

Going a step further and embedding a memory of a lecture might allow a person to attend lectures from the early masters. This would combine the scene of Saint Camber where the memory of Guaire is projected into a room, combined with the ability to embed that memory into a crystal.

This may or may not be possible. Interesting idea if it was. An entire library in your pocket. Something safe from fire hopefully.
It could be a neat plot point. The Deryni are trying to steal a necklace, not for the money, but because an entire course of study for Healing is psychically buried in it.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: Evie on November 06, 2018, 03:09:18 PM
Quote from: MerchantDeryni on November 06, 2018, 02:07:25 PM
Well that may work but the entire encyclopedia would recite as one long speech. I do not think the message would be searchable.

Now embedding the information into a crystal or item and setting up some sort of searchable database could be an interesting idea. No more scrolls for the Protocols of Orin. Update to the Shiral crystal version and search as you want to.

Going a step further and embedding a memory of a lecture might allow a person to attend lectures from the early masters. This would combine the scene of Saint Camber where the memory of Guaire is projected into a room, combined with the ability to embed that memory into a crystal.

This may or may not be possible. Interesting idea if it was. An entire library in your pocket. Something safe from fire hopefully.
It could be a neat plot point. The Deryni are trying to steal a necklace, not for the money, but because an entire course of study for Healing is psychically buried in it.

I don't think whitelaughter meant that a particular Portal's message would contain an entire encyclopedia's worth of information so much as that each portal in a network could have information about that particular location, so that when considered as a whole, that entire network of portals could contain nearly that level of information if one were to visit each location. Or at least something along those lines was brought up earlier on in this discussion, which is what I think the reference was in response to.

Stored memories in a shiral crystal would be a cool use for them. Laurna did something similar in her first fanfic here, only in that case, the memories were stored in coins, but shiral would probably serve even better as a focus for storing those memories.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: Laurna on November 06, 2018, 03:54:26 PM
I chose silver coins because silver and gold seemed to be able to retain psychic emotions, not just flashes of images. Crystals hold power, but do they hold emotions? Do crystals play memories like a movie? I imagine they are clearer visually, but does metal hold a fuller psychic image allowing you to feel the memory as well as see it. This is where a necklace would come in handy, surround the crystal with a backing of gold or silver and then imbue the whole piece with the memory. Similarly use a chalice with gems on it's sides or rings such as the Bishop's ring.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: whitelaughter on November 09, 2018, 07:01:58 AM
Quote from: Evie on November 06, 2018, 03:09:18 PM
I don't think whitelaughter meant that a particular Portal's message would contain an entire encyclopedia's worth of information so much as that each portal in a network could have information about that particular location, so that when considered as a whole, that entire network of portals could contain nearly that level of information if one were to visit each location.
That's right.
Frex, if you were curious about the Canary Islands, you could ping a Portal in the capital, which would give you a brief description of each island and the major Portal of that island; then ping the desired island to get locations within it, then the most regional Portals would tell you about the areas surrounding them. Different Portal networks would provide different sorts of information; a church network would allow a virtual pilgrimage, the merchant networks describe the resources available, the noble networks the history and heraldry of the islands, plus famous heroes.

Over time, this could grow more and more detailed until literally everything was coded somewhere, and all accessible by a Portal-surf.

Quote from: Evie on November 06, 2018, 03:09:18 PM
Quote from: MerchantDeryni on November 06, 2018, 02:07:25 PM
Now embedding the information into a crystal or item and setting up some sort of searchable database could be an interesting idea. No more scrolls for the Protocols of Orin. Update to the Shiral crystal version and search as you want to.

Going a step further and embedding a memory of a lecture might allow a person to attend lectures from the early masters. This would combine the scene of Saint Camber where the memory of Guaire is projected into a room, combined with the ability to embed that memory into a crystal.

This may or may not be possible. Interesting idea if it was. An entire library in your pocket. Something safe from fire hopefully.
It could be a neat plot point. The Deryni are trying to steal a necklace, not for the money, but because an entire course of study for Healing is psychically buried in it.
Quote from: Evie on November 06, 2018, 03:09:18 PM
Stored memories in a shiral crystal would be a cool use for them. Laurna did something similar in her first fanfic here, only in that case, the memories were stored in coins, but shiral would probably serve even better as a focus for storing those memories.
That would be fascinating. That said, in some ways it would be worse that written texts, because linguistic drift would make comprehension harder!

If an entire set of combat spells can be racked and provided to each Haldane, then something like this must be possible. 
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: Evie on November 09, 2018, 12:33:04 PM
Quote from: whitelaughter on November 09, 2018, 07:01:58 AM
Quote from: Evie on November 06, 2018, 03:09:18 PM
I don't think whitelaughter meant that a particular Portal's message would contain an entire encyclopedia's worth of information so much as that each portal in a network could have information about that particular location, so that when considered as a whole, that entire network of portals could contain nearly that level of information if one were to visit each location.
That's right.
Frex, if you were curious about the Canary Islands, you could ping a Portal in the capital, which would give you a brief description of each island and the major Portal of that island; then ping the desired island to get locations within it, then the most regional Portals would tell you about the areas surrounding them. Different Portal networks would provide different sorts of information; a church network would allow a virtual pilgrimage, the merchant networks describe the resources available, the noble networks the history and heraldry of the islands, plus famous heroes.

Over time, this could grow more and more detailed until literally everything was coded somewhere, and all accessible by a Portal-surf.

Quote from: Evie on November 06, 2018, 03:09:18 PM
Quote from: MerchantDeryni on November 06, 2018, 02:07:25 PM
Now embedding the information into a crystal or item and setting up some sort of searchable database could be an interesting idea. No more scrolls for the Protocols of Orin. Update to the Shiral crystal version and search as you want to.

Going a step further and embedding a memory of a lecture might allow a person to attend lectures from the early masters. This would combine the scene of Saint Camber where the memory of Guaire is projected into a room, combined with the ability to embed that memory into a crystal.

This may or may not be possible. Interesting idea if it was. An entire library in your pocket. Something safe from fire hopefully.
It could be a neat plot point. The Deryni are trying to steal a necklace, not for the money, but because an entire course of study for Healing is psychically buried in it.
Quote from: Evie on November 06, 2018, 03:09:18 PM
Stored memories in a shiral crystal would be a cool use for them. Laurna did something similar in her first fanfic here, only in that case, the memories were stored in coins, but shiral would probably serve even better as a focus for storing those memories.
That would be fascinating. That said, in some ways it would be worse that written texts, because linguistic drift would make comprehension harder!

If an entire set of combat spells can be racked and provided to each Haldane, then something like this must be possible.

While I do think each Portal could at least theoretically host informational messages for those attuning themselves to that Portal's individual signature, I think in practice the information would not be as easily gained as info gained during an Internet surf, because in order to access a Portal to begin with, one first needs to know the Portal signature, which doesn't usually happen unless one has actually been there before. It seems to be possible to derive that signature from someone else's memories of going through that Portal, otherwise Teymuraz would not have been able to use the Portal in Rhemuth (unless he had just happened to discover it on a previous visit there, but that seems wildly unlikely), but in any case, one would need to know the precise signature of the destination Portal before psychically linking with it.  So you couldn't really location-info-hop, as it were, unless you already had all of those Portal signatures somehow committed to memory, unless there is also some way that signatures of other Portals can be added to that transmitted information, which there might be, but we've seen no evidence of that in canon.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: whitelaughter on November 23, 2018, 07:27:20 AM
Quote from: Evie on November 09, 2018, 12:33:04 PM
unless there is also some way that signatures of other Portals can be added to that transmitted information, which there might be, but we've seen no evidence of that in canon.
yes, this would need to be the fundamental information provided first; everything else is gravy. The thing is, this is 'home turf' information; the Portal is talking about Portal relevant information. That doesn't prove that it is possible, of course.

If certain information can only be gained mind to mind, it would be interesting to know how much can be placed in a homing pigeon's mind, as that would be the fastest way to send such information when Portals are not available.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: DoctorM on June 27, 2023, 10:04:15 AM
This does open up some interesting ideas. Sending a courier by Portal is an obvious thing, though it's likely to be expensive and it'll be awkward unless you have a permanent connection with the destination. Horsemen or carrier birds might do just as well. But can't the shiral crystals function as information conduits-- FaceTime, if you will? And...could a Deryni sender use a crystal and a Deryni link to mind-talk to a non-Deryni recipient?
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: tmcd on June 27, 2023, 07:41:24 PM
Joram: Uh, Camber, you're on mute.

Evaine: Rhys won't be at the meeting today. His shiral crystal broke a couple of days ago. He just got a new one delivered but he's still setting it up.

Alister: This meeting could have been a wax tablet.
Title: Re: Sending information through Transfer Portals
Post by: DoctorM on June 27, 2023, 07:43:03 PM
Quote from: tmcd on June 27, 2023, 07:41:24 PMJoram: Uh, Camber, you're on mute.

Evaine: Rhys won't be at the meeting today. His shiral crystal broke a couple of days ago. He just got a new one delivered but he's still setting it up.

Alister: This meeting could have been a wax tablet.


Almost every meeting could/should be a wax tablet.