Fwd: [Mkguild] Messages and Letters delivery on MK setting

[Pontos]

I don't see overseas locations as a priority, or even within the 
possibilities of a normal bird.
To limit the system only for official matters or for wealthy people 
seems like a good idea; an open-to-the-public service is not exactly 
going to happen in such time.
For longer travels I think domesticated birds bigger than homing pigeons 
will be better (Hawks and the like).

So as you say, this could be implemented in a smaller scale basically 
only to improve the communication between different rulers around the 
continent. Whales (or the southlands for that matter) still have their 
dragons for such task.
Certainly that seems more likely to happen before a full fledged open 
service. After all, normal letters are being sent in the best (or only) 
way available to people at the time, and none of them being anywhere as 
organized as a mail service.

Pontos

JL Badgley wrote:
> Sorry... sent this just to Hallan!
>
>   
> This is a good idea with some limitations as I see them.  First off,
> there has to be a location that is willing to keep the birds--either a
> private group of entrepreneurs, wealthy individuals, or governments.
> Second, the stability of the system would be based largely on the
> centers through which they travel.  Also, while magic may be used,
> distance may be an issue.  So, for instance, someone in Yamato may not
> be able to send a bird direct to MK; likewise for someone in the
> Southlands.
>
> I would tend to want to make the overall system for Important notices
> only.  Importance generally being determined by the user.  I could see
> the Duke's wedding being coordinated this way.  I don't foresee Johnny
> sending a note through the system to his Aunt Em.  If you are an
> important noble or wealthy merchant, maybe you have your own birds.
> Also, if there are centers for it, governments will want to have some
> control over who sends and receives messages, and will probably want
> to be able to read all of the traffic.  This means that most
> embassies, if they want to send home word about the host city or
> government, would want to use their own courier birds or somehow
> encrypt their messages (a common enough practice in the middle ages
> amongst those who understood how).
>
> Remember:  Faster communication = smaller world.  A lot more
> interaction can occur, and historically did in our world, as
> communication improved.  This is definitely a leap.
>
> As to how to implement it...
>
> My assumption is that currently there are several types of message delivery:
>
> 1) Traders and caravans--if you know someone is going in a certain
> direction, you give them letters to take with them, possibly with a
> small handling charge.  This can mean your letter doesn't reach
> someone for months, depending on where that caravan goes, and it can
> be particularly tricky to find someone who keeps moving, as your
> letter will likely 'follow' them as they move around.
>
> 2) Homing pigeons--There are some homing pigeons (or similar avian
> substitutes) at work.  The Aelves have used them, for example.  It
> isn't unreasonable to think that certain nobles regularly trade homing
> pigeons for this purpose--I don't know how far a homing pigeon can be
> before it tends to get lost.  Magic may help, but see below...
>
> 3) Dragons--Whales uses dragons as immediate message couriers.  They
> are intelligent enough to carry a message and strong enough to defend
> it.  However, the problems are likely obvious (e.g. is any dragon
> going to become a 'regular' mail courier?)
>
> 4) Magic--We have several examples of magically projecting oneself (or
> an image of oneself) over long distances using specific foci.
> Os-Var-Khai and Misha's sister have both used such technologies.
>
> So some kind of leap in courier service isn't entirely out of the
> question.  I'd start with Official State Communications between
> administrative officials.  Then, someone could pick up on that idea
> and grow it further.  Think, though, about all the debates the
> Internet have caused among various governments and you have some idea
> of the pushback you're going to receive.
>
> Hope those ideas help.  I haven't really thought it through, just some
> random musings of a very interesting topic.
>
> -Tatsushu