People who have been trained in the Discipline, which these days is largely used the give people enhanced control of their bodies, have the possibility of using a Receptor, which is a device that uses a person's inherent Power to accomplish extraordinary things. One obtains a Receptor by using a Channel, which binds a person's Power with the Receptor. The potential Receptor is connected to the Channel, then is inserted into a person's body. In the case of the Sword Channel, the sword's hilt is placed inside the Channel, then the sword is thrust into the back of a person's thigh. When the sword is withdrawn, it has become a Sword. However, it does not gain its ability until it is attempted to be used for its purpose. Thus, for a Sword to gain its ability to slice through organic matter like it's slicing through air, it must be used in combat. A Receptor can only be used by the person who was bound to it by the Channel. A Sword seems like only a dull blade to someone else trying to use it.

These factors limit the ability to use the Power and constrains the story.

At the time of the opening of the first book, Keepers of the Sword Channel, the ability to fabricate a Channel has been lost for hundreds of years. The people we are introduced to at the beginning are only vaguely aware of the history of the Discipline, the Channels, and the Receptors, but this is set forth in the Appendix at the back of Book 3.

Sometimes, when a person gains a Receptor, that person also gains an Extraordinary Power (or an occasional Minor Power) that is separate from the basic ability of the Receptor. It is the Extraordinary Powers gained by Jalinda, the main protagonist, that gives her and her warparty the chance to accomplish otherwise impossible tasks.