[Purulent Carcass]

Using the quill to write seems to be a stumbling block for people and while the directions are on the quill pen, I thought it might be nice for people to know a couple useful tips for sending a letter by raven.

- Start with a writing quill, an inkpot and a sheet of paper.
- #T#Letter to <nameofrecipient> Note that there is no space between the # and Letter. Write it just so on the command line, then use the quill on the letter.
- #W#This is where you write the body of your message, to get the best results check the quill pen by examining it so you can see various commands to manipulate your text. To keep it simple though, one short paragraph is good for sending a quick letter. Write it out on the command line and then use the quill on the paper.
- #F# Use this to finish your letter. Then use the quill on the paper.
- Finally, take it to a caravan master and speak to him about sending a letter. If you have done all of the steps correctly, you will have an option to send your letter which is in your inventory. Make sure you only have one letter in your inventory at a time to keep things simple.

At this point the letter should be sent and your recipient will recieve it shortly. I hope this helps some of you since its a neat feature in the game.

<example>
#T#Letter to Djed Setesh
#W#Deathdealer, why did you kill my grandma? What did she ever do to you? Who is going to pay my rent? -Ragnar the Flatulent
#F#
Using the writing quill on the paper after each line, on a regular sheet of paper and you will have a working letter you can send off to your friend/enemy.

-Cheers

[Animayhem]

I do not think it is necessary to use the #F# as the raven accepts it. However I will do that as a test to see if people get my letters.

[Dyskordia]

"<example>
#T#Letter to Djed Setesh
#W#Deathdealer, why did you kill my grandma? What did she ever do to you? Who is going to pay my rent? -Ragnar the Flatulent
#F# "


*snickersnort*

[Miscr3ant]

As one who has yet to successfully send a letter, thank you! But what is the deal with those cylinders that have sealed letters in them? How are those different from a sheet of paper? What is the signet ring and wax for? How do I use those?

INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW! :P

Seriously, I wold love to be able to make a lot more use of this, and actually have an IG representation, rather than send a tell *a raven poops on your shoulder, and it is in the shape of Eltabbar; make your way there* ;)

[Pluto]

The signet ring you can set to display a seal of some sort to represent your character. For example, Gust has his as a two-handed sword in the foreground with a millhouse at the end of a winding road in the background. The wax is for the color you want the seal to be.

So, type up your letter and then equip your signet ring (with wax in your inventory)and use it on your letter. You now have a letter stamped with your seal.

I've only done this with sealed letters. I guess it works with other pieces of parchment? Not sure....

[Bertram Anders]

You can use #s# to seal. And it only works on the sealed letters

[LooseWilly]

A note for those who like to use actual paragraphs...

The #T#Letter to <letter recipients name> ... line is the title of a document. If you are sending a letter via the caravan folks, that is the format you want to use. Type it like you were talking, then use your quill and target the sealed letter or document you want to use.

You can also use the #T#<stuff> to title any document or sealed letter with whatever you want. The format listed above is necessary to send via the caravan masters... but there may be other uses for a document/letter. Likewise, using #T# allows you to set a title on a message board document ...

#W#<content stuff> ... will give you content. What you will be able to see as you type is limited by the length of your chat bar. You can type what you can see, then press <return>, use the quill on whatever you're writing on, then follow up with another #W# (followed by a space, to you aren't right on top of the previous writings) ... and type in more... or you can type blindly, hope for the best, and edit between the <return> and the use of the quill upon the paper.

You can also, however, type #P# <return> and use the quill... and in so doing get a <return> in your document. Better yet, you can use a #P#2<return> and use the quill, so you get a double <return> and a blank line between paragraphs.

The #F#<return> is not necessary... but it will "finish" a document. What does that mean? It means it can not be further edited. If you are just sending an innocuous note, it doesn't matter much... if you're sending a sealed letter that you don't want anyone to "add to", potentially opening you up to accusations or feuds... then the #F# is a good idea.

The signet rings can be used generically with a #S#<description of one's sigil> followed by a targeting of a document (sealed letters, primarily)... or one can target the ring itself, which will carve the <description> into the ring... so that you can use it to #S# and target documents without any further need of adding the <description of one's sigil> on further uses.

The seal description will actually read, in the case of sealed letters, in the color of the ink that one uses when sealing a letter.

(I have not found a method for choosing between sealing waxes on my person with a given letter... if one has only one vial of wax, that's the color that will be used... if one has multiple colors, I am not sure what the algorithm is for deciding which wax gets used on any given letter... or if there might be a command flag to control that. I suggest dropping colors one doesn't want to use... then picking them back up after the fact.)

---

Ohh ... and some more details about different kinds of letters.

There are documents. They are essentially just sheets of paper able to hold a (relatively) limited amount of text.

There are letters... they have a seal, and you can use a signet ring to seal one with your own personal seal (#S#<description of personal seal> target letter). The interesting detail about these is that... they are sealed. You can't read them while they are sealed- because they are sealed. If you want to read one, then you have to open it... at which point the seal is broken... and it will become immediately obvious to anyone who looks at it that the letter has been intercepted and read (unlike a document, which anyone can read... and no one's the wiser).

This brings up an additional complication. Were there any typos in the writing of the sealed letter?... if you open it to find out... you've broken the seal. Did you overrun the text limit on the sealed letter? (OK, I might be the only one apt to do that...) ... no way to know, short of breaking that seal.

Well, that's not entirely true.

There are a couple more options of the quill that can come in handy here... if you're not worried about the costs of ink and stray paper. There's a #C# option that you can use... #C#<return> target something to copy... then target something else to copy to... as I recall #C# will just copy the body (which will allow you to add a different title).

Then there's also the #C#all option, which will copy title and body of a letter, then re-write it onto a targeted "pastee" document. Presto... you can address a document, and write it out... edit it... then use a #C#all to copy it to a sealed letter... and then mail it and know that the recipient will know if the message arrived secure, or not.

And, of course, there are the message board documents. These I have the least experience with, but there's a title, there's the #W#<body> #P#2 #W#<more body>... not sure about the need for a #F# (note... the #P#2 does not use up any ink... so I'm presuming that the #F# also doesn't use any ink). Once it's written... talk to the board and post it.