Vandal's Vanes

In the criminal underworlds of the city-states, especially those of Druvenia and Pluthem, careless speech is a surefire way to get your lips removed from your face or worse. Due to this, those who make a living out of smuggling, thievery and skullduggery have devised a clandestine form of communication between two or more individuals that can see eachother, which has been coined Vandal's Vanes.

The Method

In simple terms, Vandal's Vanes is a sort of sign language that is embedded within inconspicuous actions, such as the scratching of one's nose or arm, or yawning.

For example, assume that there is an ambush being set up and the front man stops an approaching carriage while his compatriots hide in the surroundings. The front man plays his part of a weary traveler asking for water, while his true task is to scout the potential defenders of the precious cargo.

Let us presume that there are six guards in the carriage, three on either side. The front man relays this information to his companions via a common vane by using three fingers to rub his eye as if he is taking care of an errant lash, once up and once down to indicate the presence of six men. The gang is outmanned in this imaginary scenario and the front man bids the carriage driver a good night before they are off.

The Vanes

There are hundreds of different vanes and quite possibly insider variations of each, such as the complex signs used by the members of the Midnight Exchange, but the basic gist is that each part of the face and body corresponds to a certain topic of information that is being conveyed. Here are but a few of the generally observed vanes.

• Rubbing or touching the eyes;
  Denotes the quantity of something, indicated by the amount of fingers used. Rubbing motions act as multipliers.


• Rubbing or touching the nose;
  Warning sign that the jig might be up, position of fingers denotes how close to discovery the undercover party is. The closer to the very tip of the nose, the closer to discovery.


• Scratching the nose, especially the tip;
  Discovery and consequences imminent, usually used as a call to action.


• Yawning;
  Depending on position of fingers held in front of the mouth and fingers used, conveys success of a task such as the unseen procurement of an item of value or planting of incriminating evidence upon someone's person. Usually followed by a swift exit from the scene.


• Touching, scratching or rubbing the ear;
  A request for a bail-out or distraction
  
  
• Rubbing, scratching or touching the arm;
  Depending on arm being touched, acts as a simple yes or no.


• Crossing the fingers of both hands;
  A sign to spring an ambush or trap.


• Rubbing, scratching or groping the groin;
  A vulgar threat aimed towards unwanted competition that makes itself known in the midst of a con.

Evolution and Decryption

As more common vanes become recognizable within the communities they are used in, new ones are devised at a rapid pace. These do not, however, completely phase out the old ones as there is an element of deceit that can be introduced atop the already clandestine method of communication. When a vane is widely known, it becomes hard to tell if someone is using one precisely because it is well known. No one would dare to so brashly use such signs in the presence of people who know what they mean, right? But what if they had the guts to do just that? How would one go about deciphering an "obsolete" vane from the simple scratching of a genuine itch? Therein lies one of the greatests strengths of the vanes.

Keep your eyes on him...

There! Did you catch it? He keeps drumming the same rhythm with his fingers against his wrist and, like clockwork, that guy over there repeats it.

I bet they are assassins or something!

–Pluthemian children staring at people at a tavern

by Midjourney

_{Propping one's chin with fingers denotes that that amount of people are about to enter the scene. In this case, as the fingers are folded, it denotes the opposite, the amount of people about to leave the scene.}