Shun Code

Shun Code is less of a language and more of a system to convey information over long distances. The @hupeople have set up a system of towers along their islands to rapidly transmit information along the island chain. At the top of each tower is a device that uses a lens and a concave mirror to reflect the sunlight or at night the eye light to the next tower. The message is then passed to the next tower. The message is send in a series of short medium and long flashes. The basic process of sending a message works in the following way
  Sending tower: Three short flashes and then opens shade and sends steady light Receiving tower: Opens shade in acknowledgment, then closes shade signaling ready to start receiving Sending tower: Sending tower then sends a routing message, A twelve digit code telling where the message comes from, where it is going and who should receive it. The sending tower then sends a 15 digit code to the receiving tower. Receiving tower: Then repeats the two codes back to the sending tower. Sending tower: Sends a three digit code back to the receiving tower, saying what the sending tower is going to do next. It could be an instruction lets the receiving tower know it made a mistake and it is resending the message, or it is sending the next part, or a new message, or it is done sending.
  These towers are open to people to send messages. They need to know the destination location and the receiving organization. Messages can only be delivered to a person or organization that is registered with the destination tower. Since their is limited number of code designations, it is rather expensive to register to be a destination organization. Sending messages is also very expensive, therefore only the very wealthy or the governments send messages.
  Common Shun Code assigns each letter and number a five digit code. Therefore in each 15 block segment three letters can be sent. This becomes very inefficient and expensive since only three letters can be sent in each segment.
  Governments, trade organizations, and wealthy families develop their own code books where each 15 block segment references specific codes in the book. Therefore they can transmit information more efficiently and secretly.


Cover image: by Cory Brooke-deBock

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