Transcontinental Portal
A Transcontinental Portal, also known as a Cross-Continental Portal or CC Portal, is a magical teleporting station with enough Literomantic Power to teleport large numbers of people to other such teleporters, over vast distances. The first Transcontinental Portals were created to connect the Great Houses in event of another Word War in the spring of 2021. The first CC Portal went online at Aldergrove in the Lapin Protectorate on the 4th of May, 2021, with a second Transcontinental Portal going online in the Okefenokee Swamp in the Sauropoda Protectorate two days later.
Currently, Transcontinental Portals are located in a secure area beneath The Warren (Lapin Protectorate,) the Okefenokee Swamp (Sauropoda Protectorate,) deep in the bowels of The Cavern (Chiroptera Protectorate,) a secure bunker near Windy Willows "The Den" (Meles Protectorate,) and Penwall (Ailurus Protectorate.) House Mollusca has their own teleportation technology, known as "Whirlpools," and does not make use of these Portals.
There are at least two other experimental CC Portals in the literomantic test site in the Woodland Corridor, and likely several more than that, but their locations are classified as state secrets.
The original Transcontinental Portal was destroyed in The Battle of Aldergrove in The Third Word War (November 2022).
Economic and Social Factors
The existence of safe teleportation technology has led to overwhelming demand for publicly-available teleportation access, especially for possible evacuation purposes during a Word War or other disaster. As a result, several smaller teleportation stations, requiring less Literomantic Power to activate, and with a lesser range, are now being publicly tested in the Ailurus and Lapin Protectorates, with one also located at Meles Castle, the Meles Embassy in the Lapin Protectorate. The general public can now personally teleport themselves through these stations at a few key locations in Okanagan City and Penwall, and a large-scale, public-access Transcontinental Portal is under construction in Penwall for the use of the general population. This will not likely see fruition, however, until the other Great Houses also build a public Transcontinental Portal in their Protectorates. Construction has begun in Sydney in the Chiroptera Protectorate, and site clearance and landscaping is underway in Okanagan City. Currently, a dramatic social and economic shift is in process as these teleporters come online. With the possibility of instantaneous, sustainable transportation on the public doorstep, world oil prices are already beginning to fall. The movement towards broader use of public transport, already growing in light of climate change concerns, has gathered steam, with more and more people in the Woodlander Protectorates giving up their cars to make use of public transit methods (such as the HYLEX high-speed train known as "the Cottontail" in Okanagan City) to access public teleporters instead. Since such teleportation access points will, by necessity, be provided by the state, and cost relatively little in actual monetary value once they have come online (the greatest expense being the cost of defense,) they are anticipated to spark a shift in social divisions based on access to transportation; cost will no longer limit access. Population shifts are also underway, as people who struggle to afford the cost of motor vehicles are moving into Penwall and Okanagan City to more freely access this method of transport — which naturally has the counter-effect of driving up the price of housing in those cities. Stock values of shipping companies are also beginning to take a hit, as the public mail services in the Ailurus and Lapin Protectorates are beginning to make use of public teleporters as well. This is driving down the overall cost of shipping, and this is happening faster than anticipated, as investors see the writing on the wall and have already begun selling their stock. Transcontinental Portals are already a vital component in the military logistics of the Great Houses, which is reducing access to available military contracts for transportation technology manufacturers.Power Generation
Power is generated by Literomantic Batteries, which store Literomantic Power as previously generated by Literomancers, or wizards of words. Each activation of the Portals requires a NaNo or a Toam of Werds (roughly 50,000).
Initial design required a continuous power supply, with residual power lingering in the Portal structure once the Batteries were disconnected. This was intended to conserve the use of Literomantic Energy, which is always a limited commodity. Later designs, driven by the lessons of the Battle of Aldergrove, allow the CC Portals to activate in a single power burst, and remain activated until shut down. However, this completely expends 50k Werds of Literomantic Power upon each activation, regardless of the length of time the Portal remains open for.
Armor and defense
To preserve the stability and resistance of the Portals, they are usually built of stone, reinforced concrete, or sometimes hardwood, and the Literomantic Batteries that power them are sunk beneath the ground, also under reinforced concrete. The Aldergrove Portal did not bury their Batteries, and in The Battle of Aldergrove, this was determined to be a key vulnerability point that was corrected in later models.
Most CC Portals are built at a distance from major military bases, or in an otherwise secure area with little habitation. This is to protect military targets from the threat of a hostile Portal activation, but to have troops on hand within a reasonable distance to defend them if needed.
Further, in order to be teleported, a person must be standing completely within the three-dimensional frame of the portal, regardless of its shape and size. Therefore, simply touching the portal is insufficient to initiate transport. Most of the Great Houses have also incorporated some version of Queen Sable's "Heartbeat Ward" as an additional defense; in other words, the Portals will not activate for anyone who does not have a pulse. This also means that dead bodies cannot be transported through these Portals.
Where the hell did all these dead bees on the platform come from?
It's normal. Get the pushbroom.
Guess some idiot plugged up their airholes again...
This article is a work in progress, and may be subject to changes.
This article is part of a series related to streaming the Game of Tomes. For more information, see Streaming Game of Tomes.
A Transcontinental Portal activating by Sable Aradia in Minecraft
Nickname
CC Portal (Cross-Continental Portal)
Creation Date
May 2021
Owning Organization
Price
Surprisingly inexpensive at roughly $25,000 equivalent value (₰16,000 Woodlander Talons,) including materials and labour; it's the magic needed that makes it rare
Rarity
Very rare
Related Technologies
Width
6 metres
Length
1 metre
Height
5 metres
Weight
The key components are the Literomantic Batteries (7k kg per Battery, 1 Battery required) and the literomantic symbols that invoke the magic, which technically could be written on paper, but are usually carved into stone or wood for better durability
Speed
Instantaneous
Complement / Crew
Two; one on each end of transport to flip the switches to activate the Literomantic Batteries, connecting points in space
Cargo & Passenger Capacity
Once activated, the Portals will stay activated until shut down, so in theory, cargo capacity is whatever will fit through the archway, and passenger capacity is infinite. Eight people can fit through the arch at one time for maximum safety
View of the entry to the Lapin Transcontinental Portal by Sable Aradia in Minecraft
The controls of the Lapin Transcontinental Portal by Sable Aradia in Minecraft
Woodland Family Alliance by Tempest Kwake
Several other Transcontinental Portals also exist in secure locations within the main strongholds of the Great Houses. Known among the Houses as the "Royal Portals," these are intended for the exclusive use of House Leaders, Bodyguards, and House Heirs for emergencies, speed of access, and the exchange of sensitive information. Additional wards prevent them from being used by anyone else. These are much smaller (only able to transport one person at a time) and require half the amount of Werds, 25k, to activate. Their Batteries are also considerably smaller (less than half the size of the better-known Transcontinental Portals.) Their existence is a carefully-guarded state secret in most of the Protectorates.
Nice to read more about how these work! Dead bodies of bees - oh dear... Nice writing!
Shroom People