Thieves Chant

Lillian stood leaning against the bar pretending to be interested in the drunken sop next to her. It was somewhat of an art form to appear to be paying attention when your mind was on a completely different subject. Her contact was late, they usually where but still she worried this one was important after all.
Just as she was beginning to get worried a scruffy looking child wander in to the bar area, glanced about and seeing her wander over, he walked with a limp, which she knew he was faking. He glance up at her and then spoke in a squeaky voice, which was terrible.
"Pa said your late again" his hand flicked slightly infront of him showing the sign for "Cargo Arrived"
She laugh slightly at his voice "Pa is always complaining Im late whats got him upset tonight?", her hands flicked this time "Guards Present?"
"He wants the chicken fed you were due home an hour ago", his had signed in return "No, Dealt With", the last was slight missigned she would mention it to the hand, no good having clumsy messengers.
"Ah well tell the old goat ill be home when im ready", she flicked her fingers "Job Accepted".
"Ah well its your backside he will tan if you dont do your chores", he grinned implishly as he walked away.
So the place had been cleared of guards, well that made her task tonight far easier, the fop beside her had said something and she had missed it, he looked put out. She laugh slightly and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek,
"I have to go dearie, we shall meet again im sure!"
With that she strode from the tavern, ready to start her nights work.

Thieves Chant is form of sign language developed by the Iron Ring that allows them to hold basic conversations in areas that they might be overheard, this allows them to conduct business in the open while discussing other commonly debated topics just the same as any other commoner. However their slight hand gestures will be holding a completely different conversation.

Learning Thieves Chant

Thieves Chant can only be learnt from another thief and it is seldom shared out side of the thief's group of associates, the usually way you would be taught is if you were recruited in to guild. Once you have been initiated you will be taught the basic phrases, however you will not be taught any of the guild specific phrases until you have been with the guild long enough to prove youself and gain their trust.

Regional Dialects

Each branch of the Iron Ring has its own secret guestures some are just slang or common phrases that represent specific locations or individuals. Others are secret passwords that allow access to more closely guarded secrets.

Security Measures

Should an individual be discovered using Thieves Chant who is not a member of the Iron Ring they will be dealt swiftly usually by ending up with broken fingers at the very least, thus preventing from revealing secrets to anyone else. In some case more extreme action is taken if they know any of the secret pass-phrases.

Who are the Iron Ring?

The Iron Ring are an organized group of thieves most large towns and cities will have its own chapter, it is rumour that they have havens all over world. It is also know that the head of each group is known as "The Hand", there is rumoured to be a gather once a year known as "The Gathering of Hands" where all the different leaders meetup to discuss future endeavours.

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