Postal Aviaries

As special post offices, postal aviaries specialize in long distance communications through the use of carrier birds.

Purpose / Function

The aviaries serve as hubs for sending and receiving long distance messages sent via carrier pigeon. 
In addition to housing the birds, each aviary is responsible for delivering the message to its intended recipient, caring for the birds, keeping track of homing medallions, and securing the lightning crystals that the medallions rely on.

Architecture

Basic Layout of Postal Aviary by James West (jawest13)

A typical aviary is constructed with five rooms in mind:

Main Aviary

This is where the birds are housed. The spaces are built to be as hospitable for the birds as possible with perches, bird feeders, and water dispensers arrayed around the chamber along with potted plants.

Homing Chamber

Where the resident lightning crystal is housed and often the rest of the building is built around. Barring perhaps Sorting and Distribution, this is likely to be the most secure room in the building as the lightning crystal is essential to the aviary's operation and, unlike the birds, not easily replacible should something happen to it.

Reception and Dispatch

Where messenger birds arrive and are sent from with their messages. Upon a bird's arrival, postal workers assigned here are instructed to remove the carrying harness from the bird and sort through its contents. Homing medallions are collected and sorted according to which aviary they are attuned to while the unread message is catalogued with its sender's name, aviary of origin, arrival date and time, and intended receiver all being recorded noted for official record.
Similarly, the reverse is the process for when a bird is sent out. The clerk responsible will catalogue a message's sender, destination, and time of departure before preparing a harness with the required homing medallions and message. The clerk will then secure the harness to the bird and send them off to fly to the next aviary.

Welcome Center

The front desk for an aviary. This is where customers come to have their messages sent as well as pay for using the service. As most aviaries are attached to the local regular post offices, the space is often used to also sell products such as envelopes, stamps, stationary, pens, ink, and even avian-themed trinkets for travelers.

Sorting and Distribution

Where messages are sorted based on their destination and distributed to messengers for final delivery. This is often one of the more secure rooms in an aviary if only to help ensure the security and integrity of messages sent through the service.

Defenses

Depending on where the aviary is located, secure areas such as Sorting and Distribution and the Homing Chamber may be defended by something as passive as lock on the door to or as active as a guarding standing outside of it. 
Location plays a major factor here as an aviary like the main branch located in Meriden tends to more frequently handle sensitive messages as well as general business and therefore would have more resources to spare than the more remote offices.

Type

Post office

Parent Location

Meriden

Owning Organization

Kingdom of Eloir