Manual of Etiquette: VII - Messenger Etiquette
From FiranMUX
One need not always meet with an individual face to face if one has only a short message or small package to deliver to them, and in such cases it is usual to employ the services of a messenger. A messenger is employed specifically for their fleetness of foot, memory, their deductive and investigative skills to find the whereabouts of their addressee, and for their confidentiality; invaluable talents to see a message delivered quickly and effectively.
It is usual to hail a messenger with a small gesture of the hand, which should be acknowledged smartly by any messenger not currently otherwise engaged. The messenger will require the name or list of names of the individual or individuals to whom one's message is to be delivered, which should be stated clearly and discreetly, and then the message itself. A message should be concise, that the poor messenger need not fret to remember it all, and need not contain one's own name, as the messenger will inform the addressee who it was that sent them to deliver the message. A message is not a letter and does not require a full header and signature, after all. Neither should a message contain details of a private nature. Although messenger boys are selected for their discretion and confidentiality, it is simply foolhardy to send through a third party any information best kept between two, and should be frightfully embarrassing for the poor boy to deliver, for example, messages expressing particularly sentimental and romantic thoughts.
Should a messenger wish to deliver a message to you, they shall remain at a respectful distance and wait to be acknowledged before simply bursting forth and reciting their piece. It is considered particularly impolite to invite a messenger to deliver their message to you when you are engaged in conversation with another individual, when you are at dinner, during services at a temple, at a meeting or lecture, or under any circumstances where one's attention should be wholly on another. It is rare that a messenger will not have the patience to wait for you. Likewise, neither should one usually attract the attention of a messenger in order to send a message in these circumstances.
There are occasions when a message sent is urgent, such as to call a guard to his or her duty, or to inform another of an emergency, and for these the messenger should be informed of the urgency when one recites the message to them that may might interrupt their target as necessary. Should one be engaged in conversation, at a meeting, temple or similar circumstance at the time, it is only polite to apologise to those one is with for the need to disregard them for the time it takes to send or receive the urgent messenger. This privilege, however, should not be abused. Urgent must be urgent, not simply convenient.
To send a messenger to deliver a message is far less formal than to write a scroll and have it delivered, but this should never preclude one from using the same full and formal titles one would use were one to speak face to face. In general, if one receives a question by messenger, it is correct to reply by messenger. Should one receive a question by scroll, it is correct to reply by scroll. Should the messenger find themselves sent across the city more than three or four times, it is good manners to request a meeting rather than run the poor boy to death.
