Courier?

[Balamast]

I forgot to add this to my PEL but after doing some investigation on my side looking for some people on hame. I was told my best best is to contact the OOO since most stuff is kept on file.

Do I need a bgs skills to do this or is there going to be a courier like system that lets us interact with Rhiven?

[Steph]

What I heard in game is that sending mail will take mail vouchers, which will be rare and pricey. Some will be distributed in a sort of lottery, others may be obtained through coin or service from the few who have them.

It should work similar to Keystone's system for any who are familiar with that.

[ambisinister]

As far as BGS go, Query is the ideal one for what you are describing.

[Balamast]

So I shouls go speak with someone with the skill to get there help?

[ambisinister]

If you want to use a BGS to track down this information, then yes. Talking to people IG is always an option as well.

[Maggie]

What about purely RP letters home? For example, if I wanted to style a portion of my PEL as Kit writing to her family or to an academic pen pal? Do those also require the in-game letter tokens? I have a concept for slightly less purely-RP driven letters as well, as Kit writes to her academic advisor about her thesis which could be the format for Halls of Antiquity or Observation BGS.

This is the first I heard about couriers being something that is difficult to send IG, hence my curiosity. Regardless, I imagine it's not as difficult to send a letter from the Bulward as it is to send one from the Outpost.

[Erica]

Here is what will be released with the next rulebook update:

Setting
In the world of Rhiven, the cost of delivering the mail can be quite expensive, especially at remote outposts. Each gate that has to be opened to move goods costs money, and once through the gate, individual couriers must still run the "final mile" to ensure a package gets to the person it needs to. Because of these challenges a Courier's Guild was formed, and they offers contracts to provide the service of mail delivery. These contracts are typically negotiated with individual municipalities, or large and powerful organizations, such as academies.

For an ordered world, the mail and paperwork must flow, so most of the volume of mail is reserved for official mail (Queries), however a portion of municipality contracts are always reserved for the population. In order to fairly distribute the ability to send correspondence, many municipalities started the tradition of a mail raffle. Official citizens and employees of the municipality are entered into a drawing to win a mail ticket for personal correspondence. Winning a mail ticket is often met with a sense of joy: either to be able to send a note to a distant friend or family, or to enjoy a financial windfall when trading it away. Counterfeiting of a mail ticket is considered a serious offense in many municipalities, as it can severely impact their contract renewal terms.

Difference between Query Skill & Mail Tickets
Query is a skill that can be purchased, that provides an official answer through Correspondence to official Lorists back in the nation, where the target of the skill will provide a well researched answered based off their perspective and knowledge. On the other hand, a mail ticket does not guarantee a response back from the target and answers to questions are likely to be more experience, rumor, and colloquial than scholarly. Here is an example of the difference based on a question that is closer to real world equivalence to help highlight the difference:

Question: What stance is the government taking on inflation?

Query: The government is trying to keep inflation below 5% per year. Based on my reporting, Investors generally expect the government to approve a quarter-point rate cut to short term loans later this month. Chances are rising, though, of no move, with a third of investors interviewed saying they thought the government won't change rates.

Mail: All my friends are saying I should wait a bit longer to get that loan. I can't see the price of the things I need for my kitchen increasing too much but they think I'd get a better rate if I can hold out for next week . I am worried because since last month the oven I wanted was 35, and now it's closer to 40. Also, I was trying to buy a new dress, and the cost of cloth went up again. They were claiming supply issues, but I know that's just a tactic. Guess I'll have to buy hemp cloth instead of a nice patterned cotton.

Moreover sending a correspondence is a great way to flesh out your character. It is likely the only way to "interact" with folks back home in Rhiven proper, such as those from your history.

At the Outpost
Volunteering for the Outpost comes with certain small perks. One of those is a small dedicated pool of mail tickets that will be raffled off every moon with a random draw occurring at game (likely Fri night). Additional tickets may also be occassionally given out by Rhiven npcs in game for various reasons, such as aid, as a reward for completing a task, or so that a player may correspond with them.

Why did we make this change?
Even with Mike M's amazing work to organize and get out letters for the old campaign, we still struggled to stay on top of responses along with all the other writing duties that come with running a BGS heavy game. Kristin S has kindly offered to step in to handle organizing our mail system and this was the system that was decided upon that still made sense with the game world. It will hopefully keep the inflow manageable so we are more likely to be able to get responses back for each game.

I hope that helps explain things!
Erica

[Balamast]

This explains everything I need. Since I am searching for information on someone who worked for the cities I might be better seeking someone who can use Query skill

[Steph]

Thanks so much Erica!!! And Kristin!