I’ve been thinking about world build so I’m going to babble about inane stuff I’ll otherwise never have a reason to talk about under the cut.
Let’s talk about how mail get’s delivered!!
There are two mail systems throughout the world that exist side by side. Mail birds and runners. (I’ll come up w a cool name for mail birds later. Runners will probably stay runners cause i’m lazy)
Mail birds are traditionally a special line of magpies that were bred specifically for mail delivery. While some people prefer written messages, literacy is uncommon outside of major cities and professions that require it. So, instead of paying someone to transcribe a message the magpies deliver a verbal message, no writing required. For all bird based mail, shorter telegraph like messages are cheaper and, therefor, much more common.
Runners are people who literally run from town to town (or designated midway points) to pass along written messages, and were the original method of long distance communication. Some folks will also have runners pass along short verbal messages but it’s become a pretty rare practice as mail birds have become more common place. There are a few areas farther north that have begun to employ harpies as ‘flyers’.
There’s a lot of debate as to which of the two is more secure and more reliable, but opinions seem to depend on where you are when you ask.
Towns are added to maps when they have their own equivalent of a post office, regardless of if that town offers one or both mail options.
