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A player needed a missive to go from one place to another and didn't feel
like taking a break from dragon slaying to deliver it himself. He asked
about having a courier deliver the message for him. This is what I told
him...
The least desireable option is to find someone that is heading that way
and pay them a few coins to deliver a message for you. Of course, once
they are out of sight, there is no telling if they will follow through
with their end of the bargain. Some people use caravans or barge masters
for the delivery of their messages, but if you have the coins to spare, I
would go with a legitimate messenger service.
There are normal couriers that you can hire to deliver packages and
messages. Most of them are individual operators, but some belong to a
transport guild of some kind. These couriers are generally trustworthy and
get the message through so long as you're not delivering to a war-zone or
extremely long-distance location. Most couriers will only travel a certain
distance from their home-base. Where they will go entire depends on where
their home is at and how much gold you are willing to throw at them.
You can hire a magician to deliver a mental message to one target. It's
extremely expensive (compared to mundane methods), but gets the message
there as quickly as the magician can cast the spell. Getting a return
answer from the casting will also cost extra.
One of the most reliable options is to contact a holy messenger and have
them deliver the message. You can contact a priest of Morgar (dwarf),
Angriella (elf) or Torgey (human) to deliver the message for you. All three
of those deities are gods/godesses of messengers (among other things) so
one of their main purposes in life is to make sure that a message gets from
one place to another. Halfling priests of Warwyck (god of travel) will
sometimes take contracts to deliver messages to far away places, but it is
fairly rare for them to do so.
If you go the route of getting a priest of messengers to deliver your
message, then there are a few options to consider. One is just having the
priest deliver a hand-written message. Another is have the priest deliver a
verbal message that he has memorized. The most extreme option is to speak
your message to the priest while he is in a trance. The priest will then
deliver the message without knowing who it is going to or what the message
is (thus reducing the chances of the message being intercepted.) However,
the trance-like messages must be very short (under five minutes).
Messenger priests are rarely accosted during travel (even if they cross a
battlefield in the middle of bloody warfare) because those that interfere
with the delivery of a holy messenger risks the wrath of a god. Messenger
priests are no faster or slower than normal couriers, but most of them use
horses and/or ponies for their travel.
Delivery of vast amounts of goods that would fill a wagon, barge or ship's
hold will have to be determined for each delivery. These price are only
for the delivery of a small message and, perhaps, a few small parcels.
Here are the prices for the various delivery services that are available:
- Random Person
- Rates vary depending on the message or size of package and how far
away the target is. The usual price range from a few silver to a platinum
piece.
- Courier on horseback
- Rates: 10 GP plus 2 GP per day of travel. If the package being
delivered is especially large or cumbersome, then the base rate may be
increased.
- Courier on foot
- Rates: 5 GP plus 1 GP per day of travel. Large packages are rarely
delivered by foot because a person has to carry the item the entire
distance.
- Courier on barge/wagon/ship
- Rates: 10 GP plus 1 GP per day of travel. Large packages (or even
groups of packages) can be delivered in this manner at the cost of 10 GP
per package being delivered.
- Magical message
- Rates: 1000 GP (or more!) per message delivered. The message is
usually short (less than 10 minutes in length).
- Messenger priest with written message
- Rates: 30 GP plus 5 GP per day of travel. If a package is delivered
as well, the fee is 5 GP per package so long as the package is not
extremely large.
- Messenger priest with verbal message
- Rates: 50 GP plus 5 GP per day of travel. If a package is delivered
as well, the fee is 5 GP per package so long as the package is not
extremely large.
- Messenger priest with trance message
- Rates: 500 GP plus 10 GP per day of travel. Packages are rarely
delivered in this manner unless they are small packets of paper or other
easily portable item.
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