Hevler Paper
The following is an article from (redacted) regarding the magic item Hevler Paper. It was developed for the purposes of subterfuge, espionage, and discrete communication. The article was recorded and stored for the Sromin initiative, which focuses on historical preservation and documentation.
What is it?
Hevler Paper is the common name for a type of spirit magic-infused paper. This paper allows the contents to be read, only when certain conditions are met, such as when a certain individual is in contact with it, when the paper is in a certain location, or even within a specific time frame. More specific and complex conditions can also be used; however, often, that would require it to be custom-made or adjusted by a skilled spirit mage.
Why was it developed?
After the war known as the 'Great Divide, ' access to the human world was loosely restricted. Officially, no one was allowed to enter the human realm. Still, unofficially, many factions would send agents to the human world for purposes such as scouting, resource collecting, artifact retrieving, and, after the appearance of humans, experimentation.
While this rule was rarely enforced, it was one of the terms of the cease-fire. Suppose the breach was discovered by an opposing faction. In that case, there have been instances where the individuals involved had to be disciplined purely to keep up appearances.
The Hevler Paper was one such item that was developed to discretely communicate with agents as well as document operations in the human world. While more effective magic items were created, the Hevler Paper was cheap and easy to produce, making it a popular choice at the time.
How does it keep the contents discrete?
The most common versions use psionic magic to ensure that the contents are only perceptible once conditions are met. One brand used matter magic infused ink to make it so that the contents only appeared once the conditions had been met. These were the most popular and least harmful. However, more drastic options have also been created.
Some brands were known to cause the paper to disintegrate or even set itself on fire if anyone attempted to access the contents before the conditions had been met. Others have also been known to use psionic magic to send a painful psionic pulse to disable, or in some cases kill, those who attempt to access the contents. A particularly well-known brand used life magic to cause rapid deterioration of cells and mutations that cause the skin to burn and sometimes melt off.
Many other such deterrents were used. For a more comprehensive list, please refer to the appropriate documents.
How do you set the conditions?
Depending on the conditions, the process can vary. For allowing only a specific individual to access the contents, often some part of the individual is required. This can include blood, spit, core fragments, or other similar materials. Some brands also use psionic and divination magic, to use the memories of the individual as a basis for the conditions. However, such methods were prone to error and, as such, were shortly abandoned.
Setting time as a condition is a fairly simple process, as divination magic is used to allow the Hevler Paper to keep track of the passage of time. Some brands allow an individual to simply write down within which time frame the contents can be accessed. Some brands even used psionic magic to use the writer's intent to determine the time frame. It should be noted that transporting the paper to different realms can affect the reliability when conditions are set for a particular date.
Setting conditions to a particular location is likely the most difficult and finicky of the basic conditions. The most reliable would be to write and set the conditions at the location where it is to be read. However, this is not always convenient. Attempts have also been made to use psionic magic to access the memories of the location as a basis of the conditions. However, such methods were often not reliable. It should be noted that supplementing this with an object from the location has been observed to improve reliability.
For more complex conditions, a skilled spirit mage is required.
Conclusion
As spirit crafts developed, the Hevler Paper grew redundant and was abandoned for official military use, after which excess stock was sold on the open market. It has since become a popular gimmick for civilians. This included for use in personal journals, discrete messages between lovers, missives between low-level officials, and other such activities. As such, production of Hevler Paper is ongoing, though the use of more extreme deterrents has faded away.
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