Taxlatl Message Boxes

In the days before the The Great Strife, the Second Taxlatl Empire was a dominant presence all across Cartyrion. Outposts extended from the Lizardfolk homelands to almost every corner of the world except for the extremely cold polar regions. Communication was important, of course, but it could take weeks or months for important messages to be delivered by sailing ship or land courier. The reptilian masters of the Arcane Arts developed a solution to this - the Taxlatl Message Box.

Valuable Messengers

By the time of the Second Empire, the practitioners of the Arcane Arts had discovered the ability to teleport themselves from one location to another that they could visualize. The importance of being able to get information across vast distances using this ability was not lost on the nations of the world, but any advantages gained by such fast communication needed to be offset by the potential loss of a highly valuable individual: a highly trained, experienced magic caster. Teleportation always brought with it the possiblity of accidents thaat could lead to grisly outcomes for the travelling mage. Except in extremely rare - and severe - circumstances, most did not think the risk was worth the reward.

A Safer Alternative

The Taxlatl arcane masters who were tasked by their emperor to seek a safer alternative realized that it was the message itself that needed to be transported, not the messenger. After much careful study and experimentation, they developed magics that they could imbue into devices: a pair of identically constructed boxes that could be magically linked to allow items to teleport from one to the other. One box would be given to an operative or delivered to a far off outpost; the other would remain in the capital. A message written on a small piece of parchment or paper could be placed into one and it would instantly appear in the other. The gemstone set into the box lid would glow to indicate the arrival of an item.

Taxlatl Message Box

Nature

Magical construct

Construction

Small wooden box with hinged lid, covered with ornate precious metal inlaid scrollwork and one large gemstone

Size

typically 10"x8"x6" (25cm x 20cm x 15xm)

Operation

Boxes must be constructed in matched pairs; each pair bearing identical scrollwork and gemstones. Pair boxes are linked to one another. Placing an item into one box and closing the lid causes the item to instantly teleport to the other box. The teleportation is triggered by the closing of the lid.

Message Boxes Today

Unfortunately, the knowledge of how to create the Taxlatl Message Boxes was lost with the fall of the Empire at the end of the Great Strife. Many of the boxes themselves continue to exist, and are supposedly functional, but only a few are actually known pairs of matched boxes. Two such pairs are believed to exist within the Kingdom of Tyrnabay. One more pair is alleged to be in the possession of the The True Church of the Humanar, though most do not believe that the Church would condescend to using non-human constructs.

Many Lizaradfolk villages possess a box that once belonged to an outpost. These are treated as if they were religious relics; some villages believe that one day, their gods, or a new emperor will reach out to them through the magic box. The sages believe that the mates to these boxes may indeed lie hidden somewhere in the marshlands where the Second Empire's capital once stood.

Credits

Banner map of Cartyrion by RPGDinosaurBob using Inkarnate
All sidepanel images of player races by RPGDinosaurBob using HeroForge