Dragaera

while cursing amazon re the non-release of _TLoCB_

Thu Aug 7 16:57:57 PDT 2003

>
> >Or you have the Orb send you a wavefront, you bounce it back, and then you
> >adjust the frequency until you get a standing wave; the Orb does the math
> >for you and tells you the distance.  Or you do the beacon thing above -
> >say two fixed sorcery mirrors somewhere which you can bounce a wave off.
> >If the Orb's timing is fine enough (and I guess it would have to be) then
> >instead of the frequency-adjustment thing you can just do a ping and have
> >it measure the time.  All assuming the speed of sorcery isn't infinite.
>
> The mirrors would have to be in orbit because land features would get in the
> way, or the curve of the planet would cut off line of sight. Maybe they can
> innately locate the stars. Or they have a sorcerous device that doesn't need
> satellites or mirrors at all. We are dealing with a civilization that can
> teleport, GPS shouldn't be too far out of their league. Then again, maybe it's one of
> the great mysteries of Dragaera.
>
> John D. Barbato OD


The Orb is not a line-of-sight device; plus I believe sorcerous waves
can be transmitted through objects - consider the Quick Road.