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DerynifanK

March 17, 2024, 03:48:44 PM
Happy St Patrick's Day. Enjoy the one day of the year when the whole world is Irish.

Practice safe portalling

Started by tmcd, May 28, 2022, 03:41:43 AM

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tmcd

Unfortunately, a search for "portal" gives a boatload of hits, especially as KK and others make a point of leaving each chat via Portal.  I did some searching but got tired, and then lost the results.

I'm wondering about the physical constraints of a portal, and specifically whether physical objects could be used to block or trap portals.

KK had occasional chat discussions, though one included her writing "rolls eyes heavenward". It was mentioned that a carpet on top of a portal is no hindrance, and shoes and boots aren't either. Your clothes get teleported too, though that would have been an interesting limitation on portal travel.

KK thought that a pile of bricks on the recipient portal wouldn't be a problem either: you'd just appear on top of the pile.

What if you arrive at a portal that has a 5-foot spear mounted on a base sitting in the middle of it?  Like a rug, do you appear standing on it ... in which case the sharp point means that you slip off the tip and (1/2 a t2) half a second later, you've just received a Torenthi enema.

Or do you appear standing on the portal, so it's instant Torenthikabob?

Or do you get a Star Trek movie 1 / Galaxy Quest transporter accident?

Or, when trying, do you hear a ghostly voice saying "doo doo DOO ... the portal you have reached, 948 1120, is not in service. Please check the signature and try again."

What if your arms are spread somewhat when portaling, but the destination is narrow (e.g., Duncan's portal in the basilica). Do you get the nickname "Mostly Armless"?

What if the portal happens to be a room filled with water?

My own inclination is that the portal spell has to have safety provisions if needed, as Deryni would not like to be told "go ahead and portal, you probably won't get horribly mutilated or killed". I would want a spell to make sure the volume I'm going into has nothing but air where everything portaling in is going to end up.

I don't want to annoy KK in chat on Sunday, as recent chats look to me like socializing and con-suite type chatter. Also, restrictions on portals are probably caused by plot, and since I don't think these situations have appeared so far, she might be unwilling to commit herself.

(We know the spell can't be brilliant, because it's explicitly stated that it's possible to port into a trap that you can't escape.)

(As a side note, I like someone's idea of a portal on the ceiling -- I presume it would have to be a cave or a tube that's that solid. You probably wouldn't need to stand on your head to put your feet on it to use it. I expect you could stand on a platform and press your palms on it. To trap the portal, take away the platform, and 1/2 a t2 again has its way with anyone arriving.)

DoctorM

I've always thought of Portals as being very like open doors. Nothing as dramatic as Star Trek transporters. I think I've always seen them in my mind's eye as a colored area (or dark space) that you just step through. You step through in, say, Rhemuth and then you're in Valoret. I've never been quite clear on how far a single portal can take you, though I assume that there are limits.

I do wonder if (and how) a Portal could have its destination re-programmed. Could one be turned into a trap? Could you quickly re-program one just before using it?

Laurna

There is a book named Deryni Adventure Games, published by Grey Ghosts Games, and written by several of our forum members and approved by KK. On page 30 there is an entire page dedicated to Portals. Portals are Trans locators and not Transporters like in Star Trek. You portal as a whole person, therefore you can not meld into objects or walls. You can not loose an arm in a wall. You can portal with the object that you are holding or is on your person, including other people who have allowed you the control over their minds so that they do not fight you to stop or reverse the portal attempt.

The article talks about must of the stuff we know. About knowing the signature of the Portal you start from and the Portal of where you are going.

"A Deryni can extend his senses into the Portal and learn its "Signature," the particular combination of energy and location that distinguishes it from other Portals. If a second Portal's coordinates are known, the Deryni steps into the first Portal and uses his mind to superimpose the second one's signature over the first. he then mentally releases the signature of the first Portal, and throws his energy and concentration into thee second and is transported to the second location. This ability, however, only works when two Portals are available. If a Deryni attempts to move to a Portral that has been walled up or destroyed, he meets physical resistance at the other end and cannot complete the move, experiencing what is in essence a "bounce back" effect."

Then article then it goes on to talk about traps. and controls over portals.

So to your question about spears, I do not see anyone having a "Torenthi enema"(that wording made me laugh, though it is not a laughing matter) You either meet resistance and bounce back, or you portal to the side of such a slim object.

Bricks and tiles are solid earthen objects that don't stop the energy of portaling so you would simply land on the top surface of these. Though I might add if the footing is precarious after you portal you could slip and fall off of the pile of bricks and then break and arm or leg, so some care must be taken about knowing where you are going.

As to water, you make and interesting inquiry. I might think a portal at the bottom of a lake would be "unavailable" because of the weight of the total amount of water would make it seem like it is Walled up, and you would "bounce back" immediately. However a foot of water as in a puddle should not be enough weight to cause "resistance".

There is another book called Deryni Magic written by KK that has all of chapter nine dedicated to Transfer Portals it is 16 pages long.

I know we have had other discussions about portaling on the forum. best to just look for titles under the same section that this topic is posted in. General - Deryni. 

Have a safe portal jump!
May your horses have wings and fly!

Evie

I'll just add to this that KK welcomes newcomers and questions, so please don't feel you'd be bothering her by asking about anything you're curious about. While often our chats do tend to be more about being social and playing catch-up with each other's lives, as friends do, that's mostly because most people attending the chats lately have been forum regulars who have either already asked the questions they were most curious about when they first joined. But sometimes even for us old timers new questions come up, especially if we are in the middle of writing a fanfic, or sometimes someone has a question or observation that hasn't occurred to others yet, and it's always interesting to get KK's perspective on those.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

whitelaughter

I also find the Portals fascinating.
Their possibility for healing, important after the loss of Healers, comes to mind. If you decide what goes through, then leave cysts, tumours, arrowheads and cataracts behind.

revanne

Fascinating thought, though how could you stop associated bleeding?
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
(Psalm 46 v1)

Kareina

Quote from: whitelaughter on August 03, 2022, 09:54:55 PMI also find the Portals fascinating.
Their possibility for healing, important after the loss of Healers, comes to mind. If you decide what goes through, then leave cysts, tumours, arrowheads and cataracts behind.

I imagine it would take a very highly skilled/trained person to do selective portaling like that, and probably a pretty desperate situation to even try. If I understand it correctly, when using a portal one focuses on the differences between the energy signature of the destination as compared to that of the one you are about to leave, and just kinda twists from one to the other.

I am not at home this month, so can't double-check my books, but the default seems to be that a whole person and everything on their person, gets transported as a lump package, without having to think about the individual component parts.

I think that to choose to leave behind a part that is as intimately attached as a tumor or cataract or even an unwelcome arrow would require being able to do a fairly deep physical scan of both the person to be transported and the thing to be left behind in order to be very, very aware of the differences. Perhaps two very tallented/skilled deryni working in a deep rapport, one to sort out the details of what needs to stay behind, and what must come with, and the other to read the energy signals of the portals and enact the transfer?

But if anyone ever does this, I hope they leave someone at the starting portal to clean up the ick of a tumor suddenly falling to the floor...
--Kareina

whitelaughter

#7
Quote from: revanne on August 05, 2022, 03:06:58 PMFascinating thought, though how could you stop associated bleeding?
We have instances of Deryni looking inside other people, so they can see where the bleeding needs to stop, and can use TK to apply pressure. (Or for serious problems, apply heat and cauterize. Agony, but you get to survive, and mind magic can be used to deal with the pain).

DoctorM

If you're going to be a Healer, you'd need to know a fair bit about anatomy. Stopping bleeding is one thing, but if you're going to re-set a bone, you really need to know what it looks like in its unbroken or un-fractured state. Even just closing a wound might not do you any good if you don't know about any internal bleeding. 

DerynifanK

The healer scroll that Feyd has addressed many of the concerns you bring up. It would be  a definite improvement in care if Wash could get a copy to use in educating healers. We just have to figure out how to make that happen. I have a tentative plan that I hope will work out.
"Thanks be to God there are still, as there always have been and always will be, more good men than evil in this world, and their cause will prevail." Brother Cadfael's Penance