Leaf Letters
"The blade of willow, curves of oak,
may carry oft a jest or joke
Or secret hope of one to wed
Concealed in Birch's spear head"
- Customs of the Western Woods, 899
Although first recorded as a custom in Master Torren's study of the folklore and beliefs of Kaevil completed in the year 899, it is very likely that the game of "leaf letters" had been common in Tyaldi for much longer.
It was most common among young women whose dresses and shawls often carried leaf designs as ornamentation. While the outline of the leaves remained constant the veins of the leaf would be unpicked and restitched in ways that indicated to others in the know some information that the wearer desired to convey discreetly. While the "language" varied by region and over time, common features included varying the angles of the leaf's veins, their number, their symmetry and so on. The game was to pass on gossip, share secrets and jokes, without the knowledge of the uninitiated or out-group members.
Originally a harmless (mostly) game for conveying news of romantic crushes, secret dalliances, or scandals that should not even be whispered, the Leaf Letters evolved into a complex secret alphabet.
During the Malmor occupation of the heartland of Tyaldi beginning in the early 1050s it has been reported that Tyaldi women in the occupied lands adopted the use of Leaf Letters for more serious ends, sewing into their patterns messages that could convey the presence of soldiers, news of information learned, and the presence of informers or the untrustworthy in a group. Simply by being seen going about their innocent business word could spread quickly of Malmor activity permitting a rapid and covert response.
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