Originally created by the University of Magic for the purpose of communicating between mägo over vast distances, allowing for precise and immediate coordination during times of conflict, the monintä [mon-EEN-tah] became a poweful tool in the fight against Mahan.
Initially the device was designed as a small box, crafted of Andle wood, containing a combination of crystals, enchanted to respond to other rare crystals of the same frequency.
When Mahan discovered the monintä was able to thwart his designs through response time, a campaign was waged to weed out and destroy the rare devices at every turn. This, coupled with the utter distruction of the Andle Forest by Vebränmiekkä (Brann) left the mägo in the dark, forcing them to use other, more crude forms of communication to organize against their enemy.

Techno-Mägo

This was not the end of the monintä. For when the Gentre fled Humär, those still engaging in magical practices, the Techno-Mägo, 'acquired' one of the broken devices and fled with it to Pävärios hoping one day to converse with their magical brothers from afar.
Generations were spent on the device, placed at the center of tinkering inquiries, magical guilds, and those seeking to prove their superiority in magical knowledge.
Using a combination of magic and the 'dark' arts of the gnomes, a new (yet far cruder) form of the monintä was crafted--which included small slivers of andle wood pieced together and glued into the folds of the red cedar casing. These new devices--nicknamed "poppers"--were able to convey sound over long distances, though vocal vibrations 'crackled and popped' to a minor degree.
Since distance was preferred over clarity, this popping sound during communications was considered an acceptable 'feature' by the guild.
Celebrating their triumph, the techno-mägo tested these devices, extending the distance between them. Ships were sent out to sea, until the Poppers proved equal in communicate power to the original monintä devices. Regardless of the distance between the boxes, conversations were clear (enough) and instantaneous.
The guilds intent was to send a convoy to the University of Magic, bearing the Poppers as a gift to the magical council in the hopes of reestablishing dialogue between gnomes and the larger races.
That,...and being invited back into the exclusive magical society.
The guild celebrated their brilliance deep into the night with food and drink.
And drink.
...and more drink.

Always Lock The Door

When the members of the guild awoke the following morning, the monintä devices were gone.
No traces of forced entry were found. Yet stranger still, none of the other priceless artifacts were missing from the laboratory.
The only trace of the theft was a simple note, hand written and placed upon the pedistal of the devices.
It read:
"Thanks so much. I need these more than you do."
To this day, the thief has not been found.
To cover their sheer embrassment, the techno-mägo reported the experiments as a failure to the Government Faction, the devices lost to an accidental fire.