History & Use
The Evening Bos'n, the premier investigative newspaper of
The Litoric Islands, often employees members of the
Litoric Fleet as war-corespondents. As this is contrary to the official desires of the navy, these sailors need to engage in secretive means of writing.
The beginnings of this system came about during the
First Frozen War, when military incompetence and cover-ups were at their peak. Sailors under the employ of
The Evening Bos'n, prior to the war, were officially forbidden from sending reports to the paper, however enforcement of this was situational. Following the advent of the First Frozen War, active enforcement was begun, necessitating code-words forming an otherwise mundane letter home.
"...fourteen red shirts were hung to dry, so I hope." - A mundane reference perhaps indicating fourteen dead sailors.
These letters, perfectly permissible on the surface, would use the same general themes with certain tweaks depending upon the situation. If writing home to inquire about a sibling, reporters could, for example, ask if they had done a certain chore, with different meanings attached to different tasks. Hanging up the wash could reference deaths depending on the amount of clothing mentioned, or mending fabrics could indicate a recent defeat. These reports could be checked against navy releases to see if they had been announced, or if no official mention was made, the paper could begin looking for cover-ups.
However, while the true extent of messaging is not known, nor the specific means employed, there were some rules observed.
The Evening Bos'n, of course, refrained from publishing ship movements, nor endangering lives, or releasing information which they believed could be purely demoralizing to the Islands. Rather, the reporters focused on printing information which was covered up for no other purpose than to save officers from embarrassment, or to prop up the increasingly unpopular government of
Argono Vivaldi.
Comments