Smearing Scroll Cases
Magic scrolls with saved spells are extremely common in Scarterra.
Magic scroll cases are far less common, but they are known and used for counter-espionage.
Essentially if an an unauthorized person tries to pull a scroll out of such an enchanted scroll case, the document, map, or diagram will be unusable meaning this can thwart pickpockets hoping to read written secrets or fence magical scrolls.
Also, an agent about to be captured can use a Smearing Scroll Case to destroy her scrolls at any time by quickly yanking them out of the case.
Smearing Scroll Cases are equally good at destroying secret messages as they are at nullifying magic scrolls.
Mechanics & Inner Workings
Any magical or mundane can be put into a Smearing Ink Scroll Case with no problem, but removing scrolls from such a case is more difficult.
A code phrase can nullify the magic of a Smearing Scroll Case for about a minute allowing papers to be removed. If someone removes the papers without uttering the code phrase, the writing will be illegibly smudged meaning the enemy spy cannot read the document.
Magic scrolls have their magic destroyed by this process as well making them unreadable. Smearing Scroll Cases have a 1% or 5% of catching on fire when they destroy a magical scroll.
A divinely enchanted scroll case has a 1% chance of catching on fire when destroying a divine scroll. An arcanely enchanted scroll case has a 1% chance of catching on fire when destroying an arcane scroll.
Either has a 5% chance of catching on fire when destroying magical scrolls of the "opposite" type.
Unfortunately, Smearing Scroll Cases are relatively easy to circumvent with magic. Arcane mages with Abjuration can temporarily nullify a Smearing Scroll Case smearing effect with a Dispel Magic spell. Theurgists and favored souls can temporalily nullify a Smearing Scroll Case smearing effect with Purification magic. Both are relative commonly available magic.
The key to a Smearing Scroll Case is that the spy or thief stealing the documents is not expecting the scroll case to be magically boobytrapped in that matter or the carrier of the documents willingly triggers the case before the documents are lost.
History
Ancient Scarterrans may or may not have employed a similar counter espionage tool in distant past, but if they did, this secret was lost.
The first documented use in the current era was in the Second Swynfaredian Civil War when a small number of spies for the winning side used them successfully to protect clandestine messages. By the time of the Third Swynfaredian Civil War, pretty much every political faction in Swynfaredia had access to Smearing Scroll Cases. This also meant that most every sorcerer and sorceress knew how to spot and thwart Smearing Scroll Cases which drastically reduced their use.
Suddenly no one really wanted these magic items and there were now hundreds of them sitting in storehouses collecting dust.
The Swynfaredian black marketers came to the conclusion that since Smearing Scroll Cases are very effective when not expected, but nearly completely useless when they are expected, that they could thus sell these items to distant lands that had never heard of them before.
Now that Fumaya is in a cold war with Swynfaredia, the Fumayans have quietly created a few Smearing Scroll case gambling that that the Swynfaredians would never expect this ploy from them.
Item type
Magical
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