Sending

SENDING DISTANCES

While sending is a magical power that is universal to all elves, there are limits to it. Overall, sending has a limited range. The exact limits vary according to individuals: elves are broken up into four categories, Weak, Average, Strong, Very Strong; (more on this below; a fifth category, Exceptional, would apply to super-senders from canon such as Suntop, Savah, etc.; notably, all of these Exceptional senders are pureblooded elves. There is no possibility that anyone in the RTH tribe will be of this power level).

Each individual also has a "full strength" range and a "limited" range, with a hard cap on the latter. Sends within the full-strength range are assured to be successful, with no straining to "hear" the other person and no chance of losing information. Sends up to the limit of the range will still go through, but the elf will perceive the send to be "faint" ("a whisper", for example), and there may be a danger of some information being garbled or lost.

Sending cannot be impeded or reduced by anything but distance. It is not interfered with by physical barriers (such as a mountain range, or being inside a cave), or by atmospheric conditions (it isn't harder to make contact or "hear" within a storm).

However, elves can "ignore" a send, i.e. not answer. They have to make a conscious decision not to connect with the sender, though. The sender will still receive a "ping" that tells them that they did reach the other and that the receiver blocked (i.e. the sender will not mistake a refusal-to-connect for out-of-range, unconsciousness, or death). Unconsciousness also interferes with sending, but the sender who tries to connect to an unconscious elf will still receive a "ping" that tells them that the other elf was in range, and that they are alive. (This meshes with the expression in canon that the only thing that can silence a reply is death, though it seems to be understood that this is true only within range.)

Some past discussion of this topic can be found on the RTH messageboard (you must be a member to access this) here: http://rth.ellenmilliongraphics.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2189

If you have any questions about how this works, especially for plotting a story, please contact the Council, or post a question in a new thread in the Dentrees area of the messageboard.

THE "ALERT PULSE"

In order to account for the way sending seems to behave, we have come up with this explanation – that a component of sending is an automatic (reflexive, not conscious) sending out of an "alert pulse" from the sender to the receiver. Think of it this way:

Elf A initiates a send to Elf B. Accompanying/underlying that send is the alert-pulse ("you have a call"). The alert-pulse hits Elf B, which is what causes B's sending ability to "turn on" and "reach back" to Elf A, receiving the call.

The alert-pulse really consists of almost no information; it is just a trigger for the receiver to "pick up" and add their magic to the act of receiving. Plot-use-wise, though, if for some reason Elf A sent an alert-pulse, that Elf B receives, and yet Elf B "turns on" and doesn't effectively receive anything from Elf A (for whatever reason – they were in motion and moved out of range; they went unconscious; they "failed the d20 roll for contact at greatest distance"; etc.), Elf B would still know, "hey, Elf A just tried to send to me, and I didn't get anything!" Also, as described above, the "ping" itself can convey information -- that Elf B is in range; whether or not they are unconscious; if they are blocking a reply; or, if they are dead.

Part of the reason for incorporating this concept into the system is to smooth over variations in elf sending ranges. This is a "reach back" idea that allows for each elf's range to add up into a combined range, and "meet in the middle". It also allows for a stronger sender to contribute that strength to the receiving process.

So in the above example: say that Elf A, the sender, is average (and their send can only reach 15 miles at its greatest limit), but Elf B is Very Strong, so their greatest range is 30 miles. Elf A's alert-pulse can effectively travel FARTHER than Elf A can send – in this case, it can travel far enough to "ping" Elf B and get them to "reach back" to receive. Thus, sending contact between the two can be made so long as the weaker sender is within a distance of the combined ranges of both (in this case, 45 miles).

(Elf B's contribution would then "boost the signal", allowing him to receive Elf A's send; but because it is at the greatest range for both of them, it is more likely that both elves will experience the sending contact as "a whisper", or for Elf B to receive partial or garbled information from A's send.)

SENDING RANGES

[[Image:Thumb_thumb_hol_sending_map02.jpg
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Weak – 6 miles full-strength; 10 miles greatest limit

Average – 10 miles full-strength; 15 miles greatest limit

Strong – 12 miles full-strength; 20 miles greatest limit

Very Strong – 15 miles full-strength; 30 miles greatest limit

In kilometers:

Weak – 9.6 km full-strength; 16 km greatest limit

Average – 16 km full-strength; 24 km greatest limit

Strong – 19 km full-strength; 32 km greatest limit

Very Strong – 24 km full-strength; 48 km greatest limit

CURRENT TRIBE

Weak – Newt, Otter, Quick Fang, Windsong

Average – Beetle, Brightwood, Chicory, Cloudfern, Crackle, Dreamflight, Evervale, Fadestar, Fletcher, Foxtail, Goldspice, Greenweave, Honey, Kestrel, Moss, Nightstorm, Notch, Pathmark, Rainpace, Starskimmer, Thornbow, True Edge, Whispersilk, Willow,

Strong – Blacksnake, Longshot, One-Leg, Snowfall, Suddendusk,

Very Strong – Farscout, Windburn