Among the wealthy, personal seer stones are a popular and coveted item. They are, however, expensive, sometimes difficult to use, and not widely available to the masses. And yet the masses still need to communicate quickly and over long distances. Traders and merchants need weather reports, price fluctuation figures, stock prices, and futures reports as fast as is practicable. Governments need to send secure communications to embassies and consulates. Ordinary citizens wish to contact their distant relations and inform them of the sudden and tragic death of Great Aunt Perspicacia. Again.
Personal, decentralized seer-stone communication is simply not effective or consistent enough to handle such masses of communication.
Enter the scrying offices. Like post offices (to which they are so often attached), the scrying offices are locations where, for a fee, messages can be composed, encrypted, and transmitted via high-quality seer stones to other scrying offices the world over. The great cities of the world teem with such offices. In Vienda and Thul Ka, where business and coffee go together like jam and butter, many a scrying office is hard by a popular coffee house and ladies and gentlemen of commerce may conduct their financial affairs via short messages relayed through the scrying offices, all while they enjoy a cup of coffee and handle their more local business in person.
Usually, an office has between one and four dedicated scryers who transmit the messages to other scrying offices where the communication will be transcribed and then delivered to the recipient. This is particularly useful for large-scale highly detailed information that must be sent to multiple parties at the same time, or, conversely, for short, quick messages between parties who do not normally keep seer stones about their person.
Most scrying offices offer encryption and authentication services, securing the contents of a missive and providing surety of its veracity and point of origin. As a result of these services, most scrying offices also act as notary publics (not to be confused with the civil notaries who haunt the shadowy arcades around municipal courts), providing authentication and witness services for legal contracts of all sorts.
The modern scrying office, with its encryption and notary services, in addition to its messaging service, was pioneered by the Anaxi company Carrwine’s of Vienda in the 2550s. Originally a coffee shop off Crosstown Court, Carrwine’s savvy operator realized she could make a considerable profit providing authentication and communication services to the various ladies and gentlemen of business which haunted her establishment. Over time, Carrwine’s began to offer confidential financial services as well, and transmitting money across the world with the Carrwine’s guarantee has become standard practice, even more major enterprises.
Today, there are many operators of scrying offices, from Carrwine’s itself, to many smaller, local companies. Independent shops may contract with one of the larger companies to provide access to their services for a small additional fee, and such quasi-independent offices are common in smaller towns. For many, the scrying office is the most effective and affordable means of commercial banking, light legal advice, and communication. This is especially true among non-galdori as access to the more traditional institutions of commerce and the law are often out of their reach.
Personal, decentralized seer-stone communication is simply not effective or consistent enough to handle such masses of communication.
Enter the scrying offices. Like post offices (to which they are so often attached), the scrying offices are locations where, for a fee, messages can be composed, encrypted, and transmitted via high-quality seer stones to other scrying offices the world over. The great cities of the world teem with such offices. In Vienda and Thul Ka, where business and coffee go together like jam and butter, many a scrying office is hard by a popular coffee house and ladies and gentlemen of commerce may conduct their financial affairs via short messages relayed through the scrying offices, all while they enjoy a cup of coffee and handle their more local business in person.
Usually, an office has between one and four dedicated scryers who transmit the messages to other scrying offices where the communication will be transcribed and then delivered to the recipient. This is particularly useful for large-scale highly detailed information that must be sent to multiple parties at the same time, or, conversely, for short, quick messages between parties who do not normally keep seer stones about their person.
Most scrying offices offer encryption and authentication services, securing the contents of a missive and providing surety of its veracity and point of origin. As a result of these services, most scrying offices also act as notary publics (not to be confused with the civil notaries who haunt the shadowy arcades around municipal courts), providing authentication and witness services for legal contracts of all sorts.
The modern scrying office, with its encryption and notary services, in addition to its messaging service, was pioneered by the Anaxi company Carrwine’s of Vienda in the 2550s. Originally a coffee shop off Crosstown Court, Carrwine’s savvy operator realized she could make a considerable profit providing authentication and communication services to the various ladies and gentlemen of business which haunted her establishment. Over time, Carrwine’s began to offer confidential financial services as well, and transmitting money across the world with the Carrwine’s guarantee has become standard practice, even more major enterprises.
Today, there are many operators of scrying offices, from Carrwine’s itself, to many smaller, local companies. Independent shops may contract with one of the larger companies to provide access to their services for a small additional fee, and such quasi-independent offices are common in smaller towns. For many, the scrying office is the most effective and affordable means of commercial banking, light legal advice, and communication. This is especially true among non-galdori as access to the more traditional institutions of commerce and the law are often out of their reach.
