Two categories of post, inter-Cities and those to/from outside the region. Mail to other parts of the Cities is delivered by postboys on foot (generally with handcarts). Deliveries are made around once a day, to individual addresses; outgoing post can also be given to the postboys at the same time. It can also be taken directly to a posting house - there are usually at least one of these for each neighbourhood. Delivery is notoriously slow (taking up to a week) though eventually reliable and very cheap. The one risk is that postboys, who carry sometimes quite large sums of money around, a rather prone to attack; though many carry coshes etc. in the rougher districts and the term "postboy" shouldn't imply some scampering urchin. The posthouses are on the whole dilapidated affairs, a small single room with a counter open to the public and a rather larger sorting office/collection point out the back. The poorly paid assistants have something of a reputation for surliness and unhelpfulness. The postal services are run by the Cities Heraldry, a private monopoly position now supervised directly by the Baron of Dorlaf after various Council rivalries had jammed things up in the past. The Heraldry also runs the administering and delivery of mail from other areas, though doesn't actually deliver the post away from the Cities itself. Mail and payment is given to the Heraldry, who then pass it onto a series of messengers (keeping a percentage of the payment). Again these messenger companies are privately owned but supervised at Baron level. There is general one messenger company for each area and each of the main routes (Cities to Port Crabal, Cities to Yariston and Dydesbury etc.). Obviously, horses and coaches are used for the longer journeys. Mail carts vary in construction, a rule of thumb being that the largest carry the heavy mailbags between the large towns, and they grow smaller as the destinations grows more remote or backwater - sometimes a single rider without a carriage. Delivery of a letter can be staggered over many stages, they can take months or even years to arrive sometimes and reliability rather depends on the messengers used. Having said that, official messenger firms have prerogative of passage on the roads, the authorities in a particular region must assist their journey in case of difficulties (e.g. their horse dies, a bridge has fallen down), and most insist their drivers cover x amount of miles in a day. Christoté's extensive and well-maintained road and inn network ensures a certain reliability in postal deliveries. There are also a few companies/individuals who specialise in foreign deliveries, and one which guarantees delivery to any part of Teraf, and most of Ellniss, though charges exorbitant rates for exotic locations. The public channels are generally used for neighbouring countries with no boundary problems (e.g. south Erenland, Kakranfé), though private messengers are more common for the remoter nations. Apart from matters of logistics, a Christotan mail cart is at risk of being stopped and its contents searched in some countries, and so incognito couriers are a better option.
A flat rate is paid for inter-Cities delivery, though extra is charged over a certain weight. Current charge = 2 copper per document. For longer distances, charges are made according to both weight and mileage. Glue-fastened envelopes are most commonly used to place letters in, though some documents (e.g. single scrolls) are just folded or curved into cylinders; in all instances a family (etc) seal is normally used as proof against tampering. The Heraldry stamps its own postmark on an envelope ( a natty little crest together with the date) when a payment is made - any letters not thus stamped don't get delivered, so it's wise to stand over the Herald after money is handed over is checked. Each of the messenger companies usually add their own stamp after it passes from their hands, mainly to protect their backs if it goes missing; it isn't uncommon for an envelope to become filled with them.
As well as regular postal delivers, more specialist, and expensive couriers are also used. These generally take the form of a single person on a very fast horse taking a document directly from