Aliases are alternative forms of a reference. They can include actual aliases for characters, nicknames, gendered variations of the some [Classes], plural variations, and even typos.
Not that he didn’t spend the next two days checking every magical channel and re-fortifying his new cave. He didn’t get a wink of sleep. Worse, she picked up his contingency [Message] and sent him a dozen questions by spell, asking if he were alright and what had happened.
The moment of inspection turned relaxed, despite the appraisal of Ryoka herself. She was one of their own and not a threat. Not that you were supposed to be attacked here, but gossip was the only thing faster than Runners. And for exciting things to break up the humdrum lives of the small towns or cities in this area, you should sit in either the Adventurer’s Guild to see someone taking on a request to slay a monster or enter a dungeon, the Mage’s Guild to hear gossip or events from further around the world relayed by [Message] spells, or the Runner’s Guild, where valuable items or sometimes letters with profound impacts on events were entrusted to the people inside.
“Oh that? It’s one of the old-style requests. You get them now and then. Someone sends a [Message] that they want a delivery and they promise payment. But we have no idea how much they’re willing to pay and who they want the package delivered to. At least it’s confirmed.”
“If you will observe, this is a magical book. One of two, in fact. Whenever one writes on one page, the other book immediately copies over the same writing. It’s quite the ingenious way of talking without needing to cast a [Message] or [Communication] spell each time.”
Erin frowned. She sort of got it. It was like snail mail by boat versus sending stuff by plane. And [Message] spells? That sounded like emails! But part of the process still confused her.
“I don’t see why not. I mean, I won’t get in touch with the Titan, just his company. And it costs a bit, but it’s only a few silver for a [Message] spell…I bet he’ll check for answers soon, but not within an hour of sending the puzzle!”
“I’m definitely not paying for [Messaging] an image. But I could probably send a letter via one of the bulk deliveries! What a fun puzzle! Wait…ah. I actually know this one.”
“Oh, of course. Certainly. Um, you can give me a few silver coins and it will get there, but more money means a faster delivery. Sorry, but it is overseas. Maybe I could get someone to pay for an image-[Message]? But that’s gold. How about two silver and I’ll copy this to Baleros for a slow Runner letter—and to Pallass? Maybe someone will send it back to the Titan. They’re all rich in the Walled City. Tons of famous [Strategists]. Heck, the Cyclops of Pallass lives there. Uh, the Grand Strategist of the Drakes.”
“All over the world. Not that they send their [Mages] to run every single one, but yes. They help run the [Message] spells, and they’re one of the real teachers of magic. Don’t let the class fool you. A [Mage] can be an adept with lots of training or someone who’s making it up as they go along. Those accredited by Wistram Academy or similar institutions of magic are pretty rare and usually better than the self-taught ones.”
“Yes. It’s quite obvious to me. I suppose Springwalker was distracted, but I can…sense something. Was some sort of [Message] spell cast here, by chance?”
“It’s the nature of this spell. I—have no idea how it was done, to be honest. I can only speculate that a high level mage, or several of them used a [Far Speaking] spell combined with some kind of location spell and this…thing. I imagine a [Message] spell accounts for this, but it would require an insane amount of mana.”
“If one person were to ah, write in this discussion, everyone who received it would necessitate a [Message] spell. It’s a complex bit of magic and the cost would be multiplied by the number of participants. So many messages…only those fools at Wistram would have the magic to cast such a spell.”
