The etiquette of coming and going is rendered more complex in Theah by the ability of Montaigne's high nobility to travel through sorcerous rips in reality.
Arrivals
Crowned heads get nervous at the thought of parties unknown suddenly appearing in their dining rooms and halls. Even though Portal sickness renders most people incapable of action immediately after Walking, the fear of some iron-willed assassin striding through remains.
When
someone is carrying a travel token (a blooded object to which a Portier
could Walk), it is good manners to introduce the travel token to your
host, along with yourself and the rest of your party. The Portier who
blooded the token, along with any guests he or she is expected to
bring, should be named. Most hosts will thoughtfully provide a secure
room in which to store it, where the Portier can arrive (and recover
from Portal sickness) out of sight of the hoi polloi. If you don't trust your host with the travel token, you'd better not introduce it, and you had better hope the Portier doesn't show up at an inconvenient time.
Portiers Walking to such a token should, in general, not bring unexpected guests with them. They should arrive, have themselves announced as if they had just shown up at the front door, and then ask about uninvited guests. If their token was not introduced, they should possibly see about discretely exiting the palace or castle and re-entering via the main doors.
Departures
Unless the sensibilities of one's host are well-known, it is never good etiquette to tear open a Portal and Walk away. The sight and sound of a Portal disturbs many people, even in Montaigne. The polite thing to do is to take one's leave of one's host and then, rather than exiting to one's carriage, retreating to the token room where one arrived. Once there, one can Walk home in private.
Master Portiers
Master
Portiers can take others with them through a Portal. This is a
considerable favor to ask. If nothing else, it places the Portier in
the role of a ferryman - not something a high noble cares to be! It is
far better to hint broadly that one needs to get somewhere quickly, and
then let the Portier make the offer to Walk one there. (The Portier, of
course, must have a travel token or other blooded object at the desired
endpoint.)
And
there is a physical danger. If the tagalong does something stupid like
open his eyes, the Portier will also pay the price. If a Master Portier
offers one a Walk, he or she is entirely entitled to insist on safety
precautions like blindfolds or hoods. A few go as far as to insist on
tying hands together at the wrist, to ensure that someone unaccustomed
to the Walkway and the whispers of the succubi doesn't let go of the
Portier's hand and become lost.
Outside Montaigne
Montaigne is the only nation to openly defy the Church's ban on sorcery. While token rooms and the like have become common accouterments there, they're not so common elsewhere.
Anyone who has regular contact with a Portier will surely make suitable arrangements. But Portiers going on travel, making visits of state, or otherwise arriving at the homes of people they don't know well should not expect a warm welcome if they arrive via Portal. In Castille, it's an outrage. In Vodacce, it could be blackmail material. The Vendel will generally look the other way, but Vesten will probably react badly - and violently. So will most Ussurans. The Eisen don't think much of people who can't be bothered to walk using their actual feet on the actual ground. The Sidhe don't like it, so Elaine doesn't like it, so Avalonians don't like it.
If a Portier simply will not subject herself to the rigors of travel, her best bet is to send servants ahead, with a travel token and her carriage, and have them rent suitably opulent rooms. She may then Walk to her private room but allow the impression that she arrived in the carriage remain.
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