In fact, we definitely read about three already, and there might be a fourth. I think that new forms of communication would be a big step up for the Light and improve their chances for winning TG.

I figured the story for the good guys would change when Aviendha discovered her Talent for reading ter'angreal. So many new options! The black dagger sounds crucial, and that Kindle from the AoL could provide them TONS of useful info.

As important as I thought those were, I was smiling broadly when Aviendha identified 6+ communication devices. I assumed they would go into immediate testing/use. I expect them to return because they would be incredibly useful. Those items could increase coordination of attacks and information gathering to great effect.

We've seen other AoL communication techniques already, tho. The call box Sammael used with the Shaido would be quite handy... But Moridin (back when he was the Watcher) notes only three remain, so I guess they might not appear again.

There's one technique that I've overlooked for a long time, and I'm surprised I haven't made more of it before now: the Traveling-Chime. If you can't remember, it's what Sammael uses when he visits Graendal in PoD. A gateway forms but doesn't open, and a chime sounds, requesting permission to enter.

It's perfectly interactive, even between saidin and saidar, and doesn't require an open gateway. I think it could be quite handy. In that scene, Graendal gives an "answering chime" in response. I'd like to think that there may be many different chimes that one can respond with. Yet even if no other sounds can be used, two tones can create a nice system of communication. With two sounds (just one may suffice), the system can be used to tell a would-be Traveler that a place is safe or dangerous. It can also be used to indicate *who* is about to appear at a location.

Hell, it can also be used to help find people. Instead of Elayne physically looking in several different locations for Aviendha, she could open gateways to her favorite haunts one after another. She would only go through a gate after Avhiendha replies. Even a simple method like this would add more long-range communication and reconnaissance abilities than our protagonists currently have.

The possible fourth is one I'm confused about: Sammael's truce messenger. If you recall, Sammael says he knows the answer because of what happened to the messenger. I never assumed that Sammael was waiting to hear news of the courier from other people. I always felt that whatever Sammael did made "a link" between them. I also assumed that this form of communication was extremely limited; it can only tell Sammael one of two things, either "A" or "B."

Still, whatever weave that is, I'd like to learn a lot more about it! It's possible that it's just a modified compulsion weave with a ward thrown in, or some kind of odd knotting technique. However, it may be something much more unsettling than that, and in any case, there might be some interesting ways of using that too...

I figure that improving their communication is one of the best things that the good guys can do. 'Cause at this point, they might want to see if they can make a 3-mile wide sheet of fancloth... Maybe they'll stand a chance against the Shadow if they sneak their way through the Blight.
What do you think?