The message stick is a carved or inscribed piece of wood traditionally used by Aboriginals to convey important information across long distances. Each stick carries distinctive marks, symbols, and notches that encode agreements, ceremonial invitations, trade arrangements, or warnings, as well as a unique "seal" from the originating party. These markings were comprehensible only to those familiar with the pictographic message stick language itself, often requiring oral explanation by the bearer or receiver, although the secret language was fairly standardised across the continent. The Ferozen adopted this system after the Ferozen Invasion and use the very same language, though their family seals are very different, and they prefer using carved animal horns. However, these messages could also be encrypted, only decipherable by a specific person who knew its esoteric patterns and etchings by memory.
During the Transitional Middle Ages, as literacy grew amongst Oceanyka's upper and middle classes, the message stick underwent a notable evolution. Craftsmen began incorporating a hollow compartment within the wood, sealed with resin or bound with fibre, to protect folded paper letters. These letters allowed the message stick to convey far more complex messages, which would typically not fit in the stick itself, and allowing them to be reused.
Message sticks, whether traditional or hollow, were entrusted to designated stick messengers called "lalaraii", figures chosen for their reliability, stamina, and reputation for neutrality, typically from an established and reputable messengers' guild. In times of conflict, they often enjoyed de facto diplomatic immunity, with harm to a messenger considered a severe breach of custom and an act of dishonour, or under certain circumstances, an act of war. When possible, local military or militia units escorted them through contested territories, recognising their role as the living link between distant peoples. The Ferozen were also receptive of this custom upon their arrival to the mainland and deeply respected the status of the lalaraii.
With the advent of long distance communication through the telegraph, and later by radio, the message stick has become more of a ceremonial thing, used across the Aboriginal world to reaffirm alliances, as an invitation to festivals and to form new treaties in a more traditional manner. However, encrypted message sticks are also a practical means of conveying extremely sensitive information, since they are extremely hard to decipher even by computer-assisted cryptology which is typically designed for alphanumerical language systems.