I've got a play who wishes to purchase something like this from a Verditius magus.
The item is either a bird cage, or perhaps some sort of collar to be placed on a bird. Enchanting a bird seemed a little iffy.
What she wants to do is speak a message to this device, and then either a) the birdcage creates an image of a bird, with range Arcane Connection, that appears before the person she has a connection to and delivers the message. OR b) the bird flies off to deliver the message, guided by Rego Animal/Intellego Corpus.
The message delivery either way is a Creo Imaginem.
My worry is that this will be unfeasible due to Parma Magica blocking the locating effect/range effect (depending on which version is made).
IF the illusion-deploying birdcage is used, the device would have an Arcane Connection placed within it to give it an 'anchor' for the Arcane Connection range. Can that Arcane Connection boost the penetration for Creo Imaginem effect?
Similarly for the real bird version - Rego Animal is used to direct the bird, but its destination will be located with Intellego Corpus. Again Parma will likely block the messenger bird's ability to locate a mage it might be delivering a message to.
I'll endeavor to work out the exact rules construction later, but I figured I should check the feasibility of the entire project before proceeding.
Any thoughts on how to make this work, or is it strictly a mundane target-only situation?
The order has a fantastic long distance postal service through House Mercere... IMS I would never find much use for this myself but...
Why not create a magical bird with Creo/Animal Vis and just cast said spells on it, or just get an ordinary one and be nice to it.
You could instruct it if you make it smart temporarily (raise its INT duration sun or moon if its really far). Provided the bird likes you enough because you care for it that should be much easier then messing with arcane connections and much more flexible.
I had thought about that first, but such a project is a massive piece of work and an advanced house mystery. Why go through that expense and effort when the desired outcome is created much easier.
Or ReIm, to "move" the message from one spot to another, or "hold" a copy of it.
That's an awkward topic, and one that, I think, few SG's would worry about.
In one reading, the "species" that a magical illusion puts out are also "magical", so any Imagonem spell/illusion must penetrate - but most would agree this castrates illusions, which are fun.
Many SG's just say "to cast the spell on a target would require penetration, but casting it near a target is fine, and the sight/sound/smells move out from there."
It's one of the few times that I advise SG's not to think about it too much - just make a good story.
You are right, Parma Magica does make magical communications more difficult. There are a couple of ways to get around this issue.
First, does it have to be a magus to whom you send the message? You could send the message to someone you trust, who doesn't have a Parma Magica. Say a grog or companion of the magus you want to reach. Or you could just send the message to a designated place to which you have an Arcane Connection. This could still be blocked by Aegis of the Hearth though.
Another approach is to build a whopping Penetration bonus into the item. You might want to take a look at the Horn of the Champions on page 13 of HoH: Societates, which takes this approach to an extreme.
What properties are essential to the functioning of the item as envisioned? Does it have to be able to send messages to anyone to whom the user has an Arcane Connection, or just one person? Does the player intend to use this to talk to magi at her home covenant (while she is away), or to magi at other covenants?
In general, two-way communication is more useful than one-way because the recipient can confirm that the message was received and understood. Sometimes you have to accept limitations though.
