More Origami Correspondence

Here are a few more thoughts on "locked" correspondence.

- The shape of the folded locking - and the chosen style of folding - can be a message itself. No Gift of Tongues spell will help here - you might be able to understand the words, but the meaning might be obscured because you don't recognize the meaning in the shape.* If the lock is thus-and-so instead of so-and-thus, you know to ignore certain words in the letter, or fill in missing ones, I understand that the "uncle" means the "king" rather than "uncle" meaning "the pretender to the throne" in some correspondence between co-conspirators.

- In a fantasy world, the shape itself may form a magical seal that prevents non-destructive opening of a letter, unless you know the counter-shape. Dispel Magic may work here, but destroy other magic in the letter and/or erase critical bits of the contents. Lockmaster might work, or Undo, but perhaps not - it's a "lock" only in a sense of the word.

- A letter may be folded in a way that opening it properly keeps, say, a magical or poisonous powder sealed off in a compartment, allowing access to the contents. Opening it improperly can result in spilling the poisonous or magical dust on the opener.

- Finally, such things need not be paper . . . vellum, magical paper woven of moonbeams and only openable on a full moon, demon-skin that cannot be cut, and other, weirder materials can be available. A good puzzle letter - and opening it - could be a mini-quest of its own.

* I recognize here that most players really want the spell Tell Me The Answer, or to roll against the Solve Puzzle (IQ/H) skill, but neither are available.