>Can this ultrasound be used for communication?
Probably not, I agree. But it's worth considering whether or not uz
hearing may hear farther up and/or down the register from that of
humans, and what their vocal abilities are. IMG, it's almost
*impossible* for humans to learn spoken Darktongue past a certain point
because they can't use the right "tones" for some words -- the
supersonic or subsonic rumbles uz use.
Leading to, of course, that most silly of Gloranthan items, the troll whistle! Pitched only for enlo, uz and possibly dogs. Just imagine the ranks of Pelorian hoplites, tooting mercilessly on their whistles hoping to weaken their uz foes... Gah.
>How much information does a troll get from hearing another troll's ultrasound?
I think this might only be a rare learned skill, however. Basically, the
uz is picking up emitted (or more likely, reflected) ultrasonic "pings";
wouldn't the uz brain probably filter these out, though, or her
darksense would become useless! But you might be able to learn how to
recognize them. The same with picking up another uz's darksense to
"sense what she's sensing."
>If several troll's are using their darksense simultaneously, do they
disturb one another?
Trotsky and John already pointed out RW reasons why this probably isn't
true for uzko. For enlo, however, with less control over darksense
blinding each other could be a problem -- one more way to sort out the litter.
> Can a troll deliberately "jam" another troll's darksense?
This probably isn't a "normal" uz skill -- any more than learning how to
control breathing, sense heat movement with your palms or most automatic
body functions are known by the average hooman. No doubt, there could be
a group that's learned how to do it -- no doubt some nasty band (Blue
Moony Assassins, uz mystics, Suberite demon hunters, or else something
really wild).
I like the idea (which was on the digest before) that *some* uz have amazing powers of Darksense -- able to look "bounce" off corners to see what people are hiding behind their backs, able to create "false" signals to other uz that show them things that aren't there, able to determine item composition with a casual glance (the signal "indicates" whether it's lead, bronze, stone, etc.) able to figure out cunning hollow spaces within huge blocks of stone, etc. But I think these are rare powers confined to small groups and are the product of rigorous trainding -- the equivalent of yogis and martial artists who can show amazing control over their bodies and unconscious bodily functions. Or possibly derived from spirits.
The uzuz, of course, can do all this stuff and more, better, from birth.
> > Is darksense a 360° sense?
Defintely not according to Gloranthan sources -- since the Zong cult
has the "secret" that allows them do so (which is actually just moving
their head around in a traditional pattern). If uz could do it, no need
for a secret!
>Will headgear "blindfold" darksense?
Not the specially designed uz helmets, of course! Or big floppy hats.
Just need the ears free, natch.
>How do you hide from a troll's darksense?
>Try to make your silhouette contrast as little as possible from the
environment. In a tunnel, lie on the floor, >in the ceiling or stand
against a wall. Very complex terrain with a great many complex surfaces
like a forest >>is the best hiding place. Movement makes you easy to
detect against an unmoving background. However, movement >
>in the background will conceal your movement very well. So a forest
with on a windy day is the right place and >time to sneak up on trolls.
Camouflage by choosing the right colours is not an issue, since trolls
are colour-
>blind with normal sight and darksense does not reveal colours. Just
avoid wearing white or very light colours
>in the darkness since the trolls can see you with normal sight. As has
been stated a troll can "see" what is
>behind him and smoke or fog will not conceal you.
True for casual scanning. However, uz _can_ see texture! Nice, smooth
metal armor against a rough surface is going to be as blindingly obvious
as wearing an orange hunting vest in the forest. And if density matters
(which it might -- I think uz can play around with density a bit, so
they can "sense" through water, fog, etc.) than a light canopy of leaves
or brush may not help at all. (While a stretch, the scene in Predator 2
when yon monster, not finding the tricky hoomans on IR, simply adjusts
to a different visual range (UV, I think?), gives a sense of this. MGF,
at least. "Hah! The filthy troll can't see us! Wonder why it's casting
Crush 4 on that boulder") Uz who are carefully looking around in a
brushy environment can, to a limited degree, "adjust" the signal and
ignore leaves.
There's other problems, too. At least IMG, a wet object has a different "return" from a dry one, so a veteran uz can tell wet from dry. A nice dry patch in a wet forest might look suspicious.
And better, _humans don't know this_. Humans trying to camoflaugue themselves against uz in most cases won't have a clue how to do a good job -- groups that fight uz a *lot* will, from experience.
The same is true in reverse, of course. Uz will have little ability to camoflague in terms of color (except for light-dark variation, and the color red), unless they're (again) very experienced or possess magical powers (e.g., IMG the Indigo Mountain Tribe can see shades of blue because of the tribe's founder).
This adds a bit of comedy to rookie uz-on-human and human-on-uz ambush, of course.
James Frusetta
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