It's about time for a coded Guild language! Come on, you know you want it! Templars get they're own language, and we're a lot smarter than them!
-yc
They are educated, can read, and are all powerful fingers of their lord and master.
The guilders have their own language.
It just isn't coded.
For example:
A young man walks into the room wearing nice nikes and polo shirt.
The hiding rinther says, "Now yea, you see them steps? That fuckers got a hide to match. You thinkin' what I'mt hinkin'? We oughta get this one wet in the well, grab his shoes, and leave him for the templar's dead."
Gutter slang is a beautiful thing. If you're slick enough, you can carry on a completely foreign conversation with nothing but your given language and a little creativity. The ability of unique characters to pull random slang terms out of their ass and have it fit so well has always been one of my favorite aspects of the labyrinth.
Rinthi dialect is extremely flexible. You don't need a coded language to talk over someone's head completely.
-WP
For instance, go see that movie "timeline," though not a very good movie. One part near the middle with a guy named Murdoc was guiding a little shell boat down stream with a girl from the 14th century. He was trying to ask these questions to date her:
Are you with anyone?
Her reply: I'm with you.
No, no, Are you seeing anyone?
Her reply: No.. Is someone hiding in the trees?
Mmm, I was thinking more of:
Feigning a couple sharp, stabbing motions, the filthy little rinth-rat says, in sirihish:
"This fuck elf'd on the deal so I took me poke to his gusher! Jut! Jut! Right in the fuckin' throat! Was like a wet-wiggler conjured a crimson fountain! Har har har! Shank'd him!"
Thieves already have their own language, it's called Allundean.
In D&D, Thieves Cant wasn't a language. It was, well, a cant. Jargon. Slang.
It was still common, but it was full of so much innuendo, subtley complex hand gestures, and specialized slang that your average Joe couldn't understand it, or more preferably, would get the completely wrong idea from listening to the conversation.
A coded Thieves Cant would be next to useless.
The figure in the hooded cloak arrives from the west.
The figure in the hooded cloak arrives from the west.
The figure in the hooded cloak says, in a strange language:
Lng't jgruwo guhwer gjggj.
You think:
Oh, crap! Thieves!
Only problem with using 'ghetto' slang from reality.. Is that even the most uppity noble will be able to understand you because.. OOCly.. the player knows what it means most of the time.
ya ghetto talk
"yo man lets get this spice deal up da heezy. i be smokin dat shit allllll day son. oh hey check the buns on that elf, i'd tap it. ya dats wassup foo."
damn it, people playing in the rinth need to have a doc teaching them how to talk. this aint Inglewood man this aint Crips and Bloods foo. this is armageddon!
The day RL ghetto slang appears in the 'Rinth is the day I make a real 'Rinthi thug character and start kicking some throats.
A "thieves cant" is, in my opinion, unnecassary. Make up your own slang (but for the LOVE OF KRATH keep it IC).
I've had a great time making up my own sayings, racial slurs and what-not in game. Just spur of the moment stuff. Every once in a while I'll get a moment of inspiration and call that gith a sandskin or something, and the next thing I know my character's saying it all the time. It's great when you see it catch on, too.
Eh. Just some random ramblings from the monkeys. It's 4 am on my part of the globe right now, so please excuse me if it made even less sense than usual.
Personally, I vote for a modified version of Planar Cant (http://www.mimir.net/cant/cant2.html) to be used as Thieves' Cant. Obviously, some of the terms are endimic to Planescape, but with a bit of ingenuity they could be modified to work in Armageddon.
Because frankly, there's something amusing about saying, "Let me lann you to the dark of it, berk. If you don't pike it about that blood bobbing your jink, you'll end up in boxes and pieces."