Knickering
A cipher used by the Black Mare Syndicate that has become widespread among the criminal organizations that do business with the Syndicate. Using what looks like random scratches and dots to most the Syndicate can carve their messages into walls or simply write it on a piece of paper that then can be burned. The cipher doesn't have a spoken version so only messages passed via writing use the cipher known as Knickering keeping to the theme of horses that are ever-present in Rhyderia and of course the Black Mare Syndicate.
The Knickering cipher was created shortly after the formation of the Syndicate by the Envoys, otherwise known as the assassins of the Syndicate so that they could pass information about their targets to their operatives without worrying about their orders being intercepted and understood. Their orders would be found in dead drops, which eventually led to the rest of the Syndicate using the system to help organize the Syndicate leading to their continued growth, one downside to the cipher is that poor penmanship can often skew the messages leading to confusion but the Syndicate also sends three sets of orders with each dispatch, one is accurate the other two are purposefully marked wrong to throw off anyone who might be able to translate the cipher. The actual orders are hidden within the words a fairly common method being the first or third letters of each word being the important ones, which can lead to a letter looking like complete gibberish or the scrawling of a drunk person.
The cipher assigns a symbol to each letter of the alphabet with the alphabet being split up into four parts with the first 9 letters being arranged on a diagonal grid (like for tic-tac-toe on a 45-degree angle)
E
D F
A B C
G I
H
The second set of 9 letters is assigned to a set of four circles that overlap into each other. J K L
M N O
P Q R
The next four letters are arranged into a simple cross pattern. S U
T V
With the last four letters in a smaller cross with a single large dot in the center. X X
Z Y
D F
A B C
G I
H
The second set of 9 letters is assigned to a set of four circles that overlap into each other. J K L
M N O
P Q R
The next four letters are arranged into a simple cross pattern. S U
T V
With the last four letters in a smaller cross with a single large dot in the center. X X
Z Y
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