Ordonnanz

Ordonnanz is a magic technique involving a yellow feystone by which a noble can send a message to a desired recipient in a short time, within the same duchy.

The Ordonnanz spell is one of the most basic techniques available to nobles. It is taught at the Royal Academy to all first-years and is the very first spell the students are taught after learning how to summon their schtappe.

While the spell is able to pass even solid materials like windows and walls, it is blocked by the border barriers between duchies. Thus any correspondence going beyond the border needs to happen either in physical form or via messenger.

A noble merely needs to tap a yellow stone with their schtappe and uttering the word "ordonnanz" while doing so. Once mana has filled the stone, it will change shape into that of a small white bird that sits in the spot it was conjured. Once conjured, the desired message is spoken to the bird, and the user pictures the recipient and sends it out with mana. The amount of mana used depends on the distance the bird has to travel, and it will pass through walls as needed to reach the intended recipient.

The stone looks like a raw feystone from the outside, but is in fact a magic tool.

All nobles of Yurgenschmidt are taught how to create ordonnanz feystones in the second year of their Royal Academy education as part of the basic brewing and crafting class.

Once it has taken shape, its conjurer can then tell it the message. It is noteworthy that the ordonnanz will also pick up any spoken words happening in the background during the recording process, not just the people intended to be recorded. It is currently unclear whether the recording also picks up background noise in addition to the words. If one is unhappy with the message they recorded, they can erase it and start over as long as it hasn't been sent on its way yet by tapping the bird with their schtappe, withdrawing and then reapplying their mana.

When the user has finished their recording, they visualize the recipient in their mind and wave their schtappe, which makes the bird depart to it's destination.

Upon arriving, it will land nearby the recipient, or on their hand should they put it out. Once the recipient touches it or the bird finished landing, it will relay the verbal message it was sent with three times before reverting to a yellow feystone. If needed, it is then sent back to the sender with either a response to their message, or a simple one word acknowledgement, so that the stone may get back to its owner.

There is a special variant of Ordonnanz - sometimes called just "Magic Letter" - where the magic tool is shaped like a sheet of parchment, rather than a yellow feystone. Instead of speaking the message out loud, it is written on the paper. Once the message is complete, you feed it some mana, and it transforms into the bird-shape and returns to its paper-like shape upon being tapped by the recipient.

This kind of Ordonnanz has the advantage of being silent and thus eliminate the chance of being overheard.

Nobles are able to return the initial letter itself to the sender by pouring mana into it. When communicating with commoners or priests, nobles will add a second sheet for a reply that is already filled with mana and only needs a tiny amount of mana to activate and return to the sender.