faderifting | Sending Crystals

SENDING CRYSTALS

Thedas has long had sending stones capable of communicating instantly over great distances, but these rare objects were generally used only in exceptional circumstances. Upon reaching Skyhold, however, the Inquisition discovered a sizable stash of small sending crystals enchanted to permit easy communication without the assistance of mages. The Inquisition's researchers continue to work to understand and unlock the full potential of the cache of "sending crystals." The current version has some limitations, and there is a lot they still don't understand about them, but here are the basics of what they've discovered so far:

Sending crystals are chunks of dull blue crystal, roughly rod-shaped and about two inches long. The crystals can broadcast to all Inquisition crystals, to a single named individual, to a group of named individuals, or to a group within a certain distance from the sender. The sender tells the crystal who they want to reach before beginning the message, by touching it and saying their name or names. To reach every Inquisition crystal they would just say "all" or say nothing; in the absence of other instructions the crystal will default to contacting everyone. To connect with everyone in Skyhold, while "everyone in Skyhold" would not work, the user could say "all within half a mile" and that would probably cover it.
The crystals can be turned on and off. There is a two-handed twisting motion required while saying the word "on" and the user's own name or "off." While off, the crystal will not relay any messages, but will store received messages for later listening. When there are messages, the crystal will emit a very faint glow. While on, the crystal delivers messages live, in the order in which they are transmitted. When speaking directly to an individual this will effectively resemble a phone call with a direct line. When multiple people are involved, messages will be transmitted in chronological order.
When a person first uses a crystal there's a sort of 'binding' process that links a person's name with their actual physical person, so that the crystal can recognize that the person turning it on matches the name they're saying. Don't ask the mages how this works; they can't really explain it yet. It just worked one day and here we are. This does not limit a person to using a single crystal, but it does limit them to being contacted by a single name. Once you turn a crystal on as Joe Smithson you can receive messages for Joe Smithson on any crystal, but you cannot receive messages under any other name. This only affects turning crystals on and receiving messages by name; talking over someone else's shoulder or through a crystal already activated by another person is always possible.
At present there is no 'caller ID' equivalent. The only way to tell who is talking is if they introduce themselves or are recognized. The researchers have not yet discovered a way to "skip" messages that are stored while a crystal is off or to return to specific parts of a conversation. It's very annoying. Research into crystals and expansion of their capabilities is permitted and encouraged.

Information about how crystals work is spread haphazardly, via word of mouth or initial instructions when your character receives one, so it's perfectly fine for characters to not know how to send private messages, turn off a crystal, etc., until they're told.

IC, the crystals are a finite commodity and specialized technology that's still in its beta stages at best. Not all NPC scout and mission groups are issued crystals, based partly on need and partly on the anticipated danger that a crystal might fall into enemy hands.

OOC, if your character is working with the Inquisition, you can assume they have access to a crystal. And please remember that the purpose of the crystals is, essentially, to let people do network style RP, not to accurately depict how this kind of technology would realistically be handled by a secretive military organization. It's fine for your character to be annoyed by people talking about inane topics and so on, but if they would be so annoyed they would try to implement strict rules and regulations governing crystal use or demand crystals be more closely monitored or used only for emergencies or whatever else, please just work with us, dudes.

—NAVIGATION↠