Use for Traveling Gateway

[DarkClaw82]

This may have been discussed already, but I’m on my 4th trip through the books (audiobooks to be accurate). I had an idea for a possible use for gateways and wanted to see if my idea could work and thought this might be the best place to present it. 
 

So we have seen that gateways were used to observe a battle field in real time. My thought was could they be used to communicate. If a channeler had a device, maybe similar in size and shape to a makeup compact, could a gateway be opened in that device and a conversation be had across a multitude of miles. The item may have to be made of cuendillar to survive the gateway edges. Each person’s device would have to be unique. Would that work? Or does the gateway weave require knowledge of the larger area, not just the immediate surroundings of the gateway’s placement. It would almost be like a One Power cell phone. 

[Elgee]

Interesting question!

To make a Gateway, you need to know the place where you ARE, not the place where you are GOING. So putting aside having an appropriate containing vessel for it, I suppose it's possible as long as you the "caller" know the place where you are?

Not sure if your device could be considered a place ... *ponders*

[Samt]

I have assumed that the world maps onto parallel worlds (Tel and others).  Although distance and time may be different in other worlds, they still scale consistently and thus map onto each other point to point. This seems to be a prerequisite for things like portal stones to work.  As such, travelling requires that you know the area where you are as it relates to this metaphysical grid.  Moving around a locket (or even an enclosed wagon) would thus not be helpful since that item moves around the grid and is not a useful landmark.  Knowing I am inside my car doesn't really tell me something useful as to where I am.  Knowing I am on top of the pyramid of Giza does.

 

I don't think the books really give details about how this works, but I don't think a small mobile device helps you travel or make gateways.  That said, I think gateways can be used to communicate over long distances.  There are ways to use the one power to track others (like the bond or Moirraine's coins).  If you can make a gateway from where you are and use such a device to know where someone else is, you can probably create a gateway to them and talk to them through it.  

[HeroAndros]

I think Samt has a good point.  There is a limitation in the coins, or even a bond, that only gives a general direction but perhaps there is some way to better track those locations.

 

The gateways are stationary things, and I believe it was even mentioned in the books that trying to make one on like a boat is just bad news.

 

Further you have the fact that only one known channeler is able to adjust the size of the gateways, and while perhaps this is a Talent that develops further in the 4th age so that others could at the last we knew creating something that small is very restricted.

 

However I could see something like a public Gateway phone booth. You could have a few Kin, retired Aes Sedai, or even Asha'man, take up residence in an area and offer the ability not only to contact people in other towns but even provide the ability to Travel there. Since they are only loosely affialiated with the Towers there shouldn't be too much issue charging a small fee to do so.

 

It folds nicely in with the eyes and ears networks, and keeps all of the Channelers far more aware of what is actually going on in the world outside of the major cities.

[Elgee]

11 hours ago, Samt said:

Knowing I am inside my car doesn't really tell me something useful as to where I am.  Knowing I am on top of the pyramid of Giza does.

 

Excellent explanation! Thank you, Samt 🙂

 

9 hours ago, HeroAndros said:

However I could see something like a public Gateway phone booth. You could have a few Kin, retired Aes Sedai, or even Asha'man, take up residence in an area and offer the ability not only to contact people in other towns but even provide the ability to Travel there. Since they are only loosely affialiated with the Towers there shouldn't be too much issue charging a small fee to do so.

 

It folds nicely in with the eyes and ears networks, and keeps all of the Channelers far more aware of what is actually going on in the world outside of the major cities.

 

That would work really well, methinks!

I've often thought that having groups of various kinds of Channelers stationed around Randland would be a good idea. They need to be organised and set up with some form of communication system so that if a person needs help, ie medical or legal, etc, then they could use that to contact their nearest group of Channelers and the required one/s could Travel to where they're needed.

 

[HeroAndros]

15 hours ago, Elgee said:

 

That would work really well, methinks!

I've often thought that having groups of various kinds of Channelers stationed around Randland would be a good idea. They need to be organised and set up with some form of communication system so that if a person needs help, ie medical or legal, etc, then they could use that to contact their nearest group of Channelers and the required one/s could Travel to where they're needed.

 

 

I think this goes a long way towards actually fulfilling the self proclaimed goal of the Tower, and even the individual Ajah's. It's very difficult to be of any real help - medical, legal, or even military - when everyone has to come to you first.

[Elgee]

8 hours ago, HeroAndros said:

 

I think this goes a long way towards actually fulfilling the self proclaimed goal of the Tower, and even the individual Ajah's. It's very difficult to be of any real help - medical, legal, or even military - when everyone has to come to you first.

 

Exactly! My hands itch to get in there and organise the lot of them ... LoL

[EirikDaude]

On 10/24/2024 at 7:22 AM, Elgee said:

 

Exactly! My hands itch to get in there and organise the lot of them ... LoL

If you did that, the Black Ajah would pop up to snuff you out. Wasn't that the whole reason Cadsuane had gone into retirement, more or less?

 

Anyway, with regards to portable gateways, didn't the Shaido have some boxes given by one of the Forsaken, which could create gateways? Or was the entire premise there that said Forsaken was actually creating those gateways, and the boxes no longer worked when he (?) wasn't around? I am struggling with remembering the details, but they did for sure stop working once the Shaido were spread to the different corners of Randland...

[Elgee]

2 hours ago, EirikDaude said:

If you did that, the Black Ajah would pop up to snuff you out. Wasn't that the whole reason Cadsuane had gone into retirement, more or less?

 

They can try *bares teeth*

 

Hmmm no she was just old and decided to try and grow roses or something so they couldn't make her Amyrlin.

 

[Elgee]

2 hours ago, EirikDaude said:

Anyway, with regards to portable gateways, didn't the Shaido have some boxes given by one of the Forsaken, which could create gateways? Or was the entire premise there that said Forsaken was actually creating those gateways, and the boxes no longer worked when he (?) wasn't around? I am struggling with remembering the details, but they did for sure stop working once the Shaido were spread to the different corners of Randland...

 

The "fool boxes" ... you're correct that it was just a premise and Sammael was making the gateways.

[HeroAndros]

Absolutely fake, just another tool to make them depedant on the Forsaken. Given the limitation of needing to know where you are a ter'angreal for gateways is exceptionally difficult. Even if you made it stationary - like the portal stones - you still have things in that area changing over time.

[Elgee]

20 hours ago, HeroAndros said:

Absolutely fake, just another tool to make them depedant on the Forsaken. Given the limitation of needing to know where you are a ter'angreal for gateways is exceptionally difficult. Even if you made it stationary - like the portal stones - you still have things in that area changing over time.

 

You could have it in booths, each with their own numbers or codes. Something like that would stay relatively the same for enough years to make it practicable.