Mail in Ravenloft

[DustBunny]

Re-reading through the VRGs, an idle thought crossed my mind.

Through all the VRG’s, Van Richten and the Weathermay twins regularly exchange letters with various personages – exchanging information, summoning help, or even sending packages. It just seemed a bit off how simple and easy it was to correspond across Ravenloft. A fair amount of time the correspondence appeared almost to work like a Victorian era mail service, and in some cases almost as fast as a telegram.

Out of curiosity I started ready on how messages were sent in the medieval/renaissance era, and it could be summed up as practically non-existent. While in the real world you had early postal services in the 1600s (Eg: UK royal mail) it was still pricey and fairly limited. For most of the time, it came down to either hiring personal messengers (ie: be very rich) or handing it off to someone who is hopefully going in the right direction (very slow and no guarantee of arrival).

Would there be a way to have a Ravenloft mail service, or does the very nature of the Domains and their Lords make it unlikely? Trans-domain mail seems partially possible with the Four Towers, but beyond that it seems you would have to go with the old medieval way (pay for it or pray it eventually arrives).

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

There is an idea in the Vault for a mail service in the Dread Realms: the Guild of the White Pigeon. It also ties in with what some of the evil outsiders are up to.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Guild of the White Pigeon. It also ties in with what some of the evil outsiders are up to.

Although it is an interesting idea I always had a problem with fiends of different ethos working together. Why whould a Chaotic Evil fiend want to work in a balance?

VIEW CONTENT:

"Each of them symbolizes both the whole and a part since they all share the same morality (Evil) but each of them has a different ethic (Drigor/Chaos – Inajira/Neutrality – Black Duke/Law). Thus, together, they achieve Balance (albeit a nefarious one)."

I would keep only Van Richten's adversary as the only member, as a society is has a triangle/pyramid structure after all with D at the top.
Also the Blood War is too important to have the fiends making a truce in my opinion. A Tana'ri working alongside a Baatezu seems really off. Also the chaotic nature of some fiends would make it impossible to keep the truce.
I like the idea of the Paeliryon “Lou’gal the Smiling One”... maybe this fiend could be a great adversary to the guild.
I like the idea/legend of the special rider but if it has to be the BD himself I would suggest him being the "man" behind the Guild scheme, as it suits his authoritarian mentality and not D. Maybe he has aligned with "Tisiphanes" and they are looking for Melano/Hizzoner who is trapped in the FoS Cellar Door.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Sorry I made a mistake of quoting instead of rewriting my post and for some reason I can't delete it.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Although I like the Guild of the White Pigeon, it does not explain the way post was distributed before, as it was created in the last decade of Van Richten's life. What if it pre-existed and was taken over by D?

Also I have to say that The Rule of Three is a good explanation for this triad (except that D is a gehreleth) but in such a small place as Ravenloft such an alliance seems too much, there are some people out there (not me) that don't even like the idea of demons and devils in Ravenloft as they are too powerful villains and disrupt the Demiplane.

I like demons and devils as they suit perfectly into the setting but I have to say that they should be very few trapped there. Just combining the reality wrinkles of some would make parts of Ravenloft out of the influence of Darklords creating more unballance in an already frail construnction, probably that was The Gentlemans Caller plan all along. And if such if fiends would cooperate in the Demiplane that would make it a really fragile place. Imagining 6 powerful fiends working together would make Mordent's darklord useless (which it is mentioned) but still it seems too much...

[DustBunny]

The guild is an interesting setup, but I am also somewhat leery of this group of fiends. This little band could easily stomp half the darklords if they put their mind to it, with only the most powerful ones (Az, Strahd, etc) being able to do much to stop them. Though I will freely admit I dont mind fiends in Ravenloft, but they should be _extremely_ rare.

But another good thing it raises is the problems I was thinking and reading about a Raven-mail service would encounter - how to be large enough, how to pay for it, how to deal with inter-domain politics and how not to have your mail (and accompanying postman) eaten.

Not to mention that any 'offical' domain mail service would be very interested in reading the correspondance from 'persons of interest' - eg VR, L&G, etc.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Pigeon post with the use of homing pigeons to carry messages exists since ancient times.
The pigeons are transported to a destination in cages, where they are attached with messages, then the pigeon naturally flies back to its home where the recipient could read the message.

[The Lesser Evil]

I could see the Church of Ezra's rapid spread encouraging the growth of correspondence networks, as with the Knights Templar.

Vllad Drakov's rapid sequence of wars over the past century and a half could also provide for some motivation for the development of quicker/easier communication across the Core.

If The Briar At the Window from Tales of Ravenloft is taken to hold any weight, a mail delivery service might exist at the behest of the Dark Powers, if the correspondence between Godefroy and various other peoples is any indication.

[alhoon]

To be honest, I am against a mail service in Ravenloft... as long as it doesn't conflict with the plot. It may not be historical for the weathermays to send dozens of letters, but it doesn't break believability.

On the other hand, a mail man running around in Tepest to deliver letters is
And there's something those 1st lvl adventurers should do, after all.

[Mistmaster]

In my Mistworld Domains have Mail delivery services, and Vistany often serves as inter-domains delivery service.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

To be honest, I am against a mail service in Ravenloft... as long as it doesn't conflict with the plot. It may not be historical for the weathermays to send dozens of letters, but it doesn't break believability.

On the other hand, a mail man running around in Tepest to deliver letters is
And there's something those 1st lvl adventurers should do, after all.

Sorry Alhoon I am confused
Which plot?
It is historical for the Weathermays and Van Richten to send mail, there is also I believe correspondence between Van Richten and Tristen Hiregaard, they play chess through mail.

Why should it break believability?
Why does a mailman running though Tepest to deliver messages sound weird?

Communication by written documents carried by an intermediary from one person or place to another almost certainly dates back nearly to the invention of writing. The first documented use of an organised courier service for the dissemination of written documents is in Egypt, where Pharaohs used couriers to send out decrees throughout the territory of the state (2400 BCE).

[alhoon]

Mephisto, the Pharaos may have been doing that, but the Pharaoh was a very powerful person. The helper of the Assistant priest of temple_13 in Ancient Egypt would not be sending and receiving social letters.

That said:
"Which plot?"
What I mean here is that if my plot requires the PCs to find the love letters of "supposed-to-be-chaste" Richemulotease priest to his lover before the guys that want to use them to block said priest for gaining a specific church office, I wouldn't let things like "that priest couldn't afford a steady correspondence with the other side of the domain" stand in the way.

"Why does a mailman running though Tepest to deliver messages sound weird?"
Because there were no mailmen in that era. You were hiring messengers and that meant you had cash and a reason to do it. Furthermore, in the villages of Tepest, there are probably 5 people in each village that can read and write.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Indeed the Pharaohs were pretty rich but it was also the Bronze Age so it is far too long ago. What I meant was that the idea preexisted. The Persians had a network of royal mounted couriers, the angarium who were remarkably efficient in transmitting messages important to the functioning of the kingdom, called the Royal Road. The riders would be stationed at a day's ride along the road, and the letters would be handed from one courier to another as they made a journey of a day’s length, which allowed messages to travel fast. The Romans adapted their state post from this ancient Persian network called cursus publicus.

Costs for the cursus publicus were always high, and its maintenance could not always be guaranteed. The cursus publicus provided the infrastructure of change stations and overnight accommodation that allowed for the fairly rapid delivery of messages and especially in regard to military matters. The private citizen, however, sent letters and messages to friends across the sea with slaves and travelling associates. Most news reached its destination eventually.

This is in Ancient Times later few people could read and write so it was more infrequent. In Medieval Times most of these were diplomatic messages carried by ambassadors and envoys, and they would often simply read what was on the scroll to the addressee. In Europe, there really wasn't a need for a postal system before around 1500. Most cultures didn't depend on written communication and preferred oral transmission of messages s the Tepestani. Unless you were wealthy and educated, it was likely you could neither afford to have a message written and sent nor did you have the literacy level to write it. Well there are some Tepestani who do know how to read and write so it applies to them. Also Renaissance domains as Mordent, Dementlieu etc would have a relay system, where mail go from relay point to relay point with horses being changed at each relay point. Around the mid-17th century, private enterprises appeared that would specialise in delivering personal letters within a city.

When Charles I first introduced public mail service in 1635, letters were carried from one 'post' to the next 'post' by carriers on foot or on horseback. Up until that time, the post system was reserved for the use of the King and his Court. In early colonial times, letter writers sent their correspondence by friends, merchants and Native Americans via foot or horseback. Most of this correspondence, however, was between the colonists and family members back home in England. In 1633, the first official notice of a postal service in the colonies appeared.

My debate was never how expensive that would be only if it is possible, the Weathermays have money, Van Richten too as also has Hiregaard as well as others. Wyan of Viktal is one of the few people able to read and write so he could sent a mail to some other authority figure in Tepest, maybe he doesn't have the money to do it but he has followers, if he said to a trustworthy henchman to deliver a message I believe that person would do it.

"Why does a mailman running though Tepest to deliver messages sound weird?"
Because there were no mailmen in that era. You were hiring messengers and that meant you had cash and a reason to do it. Furthermore, in the villages of Tepest, there are probably 5 people in each village that can read and write.

Indeed but the mailman could be from Nova Vaasa traveling through Tepest to deliver a letter or adoption papers to Keening

[Mephisto of the FoS]

To answer DustBunny's question the Weathermay's either use private mailing services (like the Guild of the White Pidgeon) or give their letters to travelling merchants hoping to reach their destination. Alternately they could use "1st lvl PCs" as Alhoon suggested, I really like Alhoun's suggestion for a starting scenario, or even an intermediate low level adventure between adventures.

For a mail to reach Har'Akir from the Village of Barovia would be very dangerous or perilous and expensive, a quest on it's own.

Someone has to travel to Arbora from Barovia then buy a ship and travel to East-Central Nocturnal Sea and using the Jackal's Ruse mistway end up in a ship graveyard in Western Har'Akir. Then has to travel through the desert until reaching Muhar and delivering the "love letter", unfortunately this is a one way to Har'Akir so going back to deliver an answer would mean traveling through the desert until reaching the Pharaoh's Rest. After having a sightseeing tour of the monumental crypt the messenger has to travel through the Valley of Death in Sebua and after surviving the coyotes (or the wild children) and if the person's heart or bodily fluids are still intact has to travel to Southeastern Pharazia probably with some Pharazian nomads and follow the Road of a Thousand Secrets to Southern Hazlan. After surviving the weird fauna of Hazlan (Dune worms if you are playing 5e) and reaching the Borders of Barovia, someone would have to make a run for reaching the Village of Barovia before nightfall.