Professions

Patria Mail Runner

The duty of a mail runner is to deliver messages for the Warden of Patria, his government and the Lesser and Greater Councils.  Mostly these duties are contained within the city state but they may take the runner anywhere.  The runners are trusted with secrets, diplomatic messages and urgent parcels. The name “runner” is a bit of a misnomer as the mail is not limited to delivery by foot. Runners outside the city of Patria Deo are frequently found on horseback.

Waystations are set up along the main roads.  The larger of them stable extra horses and house up to 20 runners at a time.  The smallest are small huts to provide shelter.

Pre-requisites: Mail Runners are completely loyal to the Warden and Patria.  The runners are either orphans who were taken in at about age 5 and trained up or who have otherwise proved their loyalty beyond doubt.  There is no restriction on race but humans are by far the majority.

Magic Cantrips: Beginner runners are taught the Compass spell which, with the aid of a cup or pool of water and blade of grass, is used to point out north.

More experienced runners operate outside the city and are given the Signature cantrip which imprints an unforgeable signature on a surface which is used to allow Innkeepers to get compensation for the food, stabling, etc a runner uses from the Warden’s government.

Training: From age 5, runners are given a basic education in literacy, geography, and the countries of Ancora.  They are used to send messages between the different government offices within the palace grounds.  The young runners are mentored by a youth from the next stage of training.

After 4 years, their training is expanded to including riding and animal care, fighting techniques and how to survive outside the city, depending on the individual aptitudes of the runner.  At this stage, the runners are used to send non-confidential messages anywhere in Patria Deo.

When the trainers feel the student is ready, they will be mentored by one of the experienced runners.  For the space of a year, they will follow the older runner on their duties so that they can learn the routes across the rest of Patria.

Not every message is written down so experienced runners are expected to have perfect recall of a verbal message.  Special memory training techniques are used so that runners can recite messages exactly, even down to the precise intonnation and body language of the speaker.  It takes full concentration to commit a message or scene to memory but the runner can thereafter remember everything perfectly – even years later.  The more experienced the runner, the more they can hold in their head at once.