Thieves' cant

Thieves' cant, or simply cant, was the secret language spoken and signed by rogues, the priests of duplicitous deities,   and criminals of the Realms.

"She's practiced the figging law, nipping purses with a cuttle-bung. She's been a charm and a cony-catcher, a foin, a padder, and a prigger of prancers, a warp and a stall. Later, she married that gentry cove there."

- Shamur Uskevren, using cant to describe her life as a criminal and marraige to her noble-born husband.

Description
While some scholars believed thieves' cant was not a true language, it utilized a unique set of grammar, combined with local dialects, idioms, coded language, and hand gestures.

While it allowed for secret communication between rogues and thieves of the Realms, thieves' cant did not exist independent of other languages. It was impossible for two thieves to communicate in cant, if they did not have at least one shared language.

Thieves' cant was said to be somewhat similar in form to the language of the Vistani people.

Syntax & Grammar
Some iterations of thieves' cant had unique sets of rules that governed its word usage, syntax, modifiers and tenses.

• A strict word order: words were placed in specific, except when the meaning of a sentence should be changed. The word order was: time — verb — subject — place — indirect object — direct object.

• No use of adjectives: modifying words were used to alter the state of a noun or verb, in context to their place in a sentence, and the adjacent to them. Thieves' cant used pronouns as suffixes to modify a verb's subject, or to shift focus from the subject to the verb.

• A unique form of pluralization and adjective magnitude: these were changed by repeating modifier words in rapid succession, in effect creating new words.

• Specific rules regarding verb tense: tenses were changed by placing specific time modifiers at the front of a sentence or question.

Spoken
Spoken thieves' cant utilized a narrower set of vowel sounds and elongated syllables. The first syllable of each word received primary stress, while odd syllables in longer words were given secondary stress. Some variants of thieves' cant employed a series of animal noises.

Written
There was no unique alphabet for thieves cant, as it was rarely if-ever transcribed onto parchment or scroll.

Uses
The main use of thieves' cant was to communicate illicit activities, such as banditry, burglary, finding marks, and the discussion of ill-gotten loot.

History
"Toe to Elkan's, hooks and hods, Blue Cobbles, west, two, one, two, Kibbe. Fog."

- ''An example of ancient thieves' cant.

Thieves' cant had been spoken in Faerûn for centuries leading up to the Era of Upheaval, dating as far back as the -8 century DR.

Although it had evolved over the years, it was still spoken by the people of Faerûn as of the mid-to-late 14 century.

Individuals

 * Albruin, the sentient broadsword long held by a noble house of Cormyr.
 * Astele Keene, head of the Guild in Baldur's Gate during the late 15 century DR.
 * Bag of Nails, the tabaxi warrior who journeyed through the jungles of Chult.
 * Sir Riordan Parnell, the half-elven bard who had enjoyed extravagant wealth just as often as he did financial impoverishment.
 * Viari, the roguish adventurer of Acquisitions Incorporated.

Groups
Some priests and specialty priests of certain deities understood and utilized thieves' cant, notably demarches and demarchesses of Mask, the aetharnor of Abbathor, the hurndor of Vergadain, mischiefmakers of Erevan Ilesere, fastpaws of Baervan Wildwanderer, and misadventurers of Brandobaris.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Treasure Hunt • Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
 * The Mines of Bloodstone • The Bloodstone Wars • The Throne of Bloodstone • Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle • Sleeping Dragon's Wake • Storm Lord's Wrath • Tomb of Annihilation • Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus • Infernal Machine Rebuild • Dragons of Stormwreck Isle • Keys from the Golden Vault: Prisoner 13
 * Novels
 * Mortal Consequences • Azure Bonds • Realms of Infamy: Gallows Day • The Shattered Mask • Star of Cursrah • Twilight Falling
 * Comics
 * Legends of Baldur's Gate 2
 * Video Games
 * Dungeon Hack
 * Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
 * Plague of Ancients (The Great Knucklehead Rally)
 * Mulmaster Undone • Durlag's Tower • Durlag's Tomb • Pools of Cerulean • Terror in Ten Towns • The Skull Square Murders • Poisoned Words • Last Orders at the Yawning Portal • The Breath of Life • The Vast Emptiness of Grace • In the Hand • Hellfire Requiem • Breaking Umberlee's Resolve • Blood in the Water • Saving Silverbeard • Foreign Affairs • Uncertain Scrutiny • Thimblerigging • Moment of Peace The Harrowing of Hell • Unsafe Harborage • Shadows in the Stacks • To Walk the Cold Dark • Wings of Death
 * Mulmaster Undone • Durlag's Tower • Durlag's Tomb • Pools of Cerulean • Terror in Ten Towns • The Skull Square Murders • Poisoned Words • Last Orders at the Yawning Portal • The Breath of Life • The Vast Emptiness of Grace • In the Hand • Hellfire Requiem • Breaking Umberlee's Resolve • Blood in the Water • Saving Silverbeard • Foreign Affairs • Uncertain Scrutiny • Thimblerigging • Moment of Peace The Harrowing of Hell • Unsafe Harborage • Shadows in the Stacks • To Walk the Cold Dark • Wings of Death
 * Mulmaster Undone • Durlag's Tower • Durlag's Tomb • Pools of Cerulean • Terror in Ten Towns • The Skull Square Murders • Poisoned Words • Last Orders at the Yawning Portal • The Breath of Life • The Vast Emptiness of Grace • In the Hand • Hellfire Requiem • Breaking Umberlee's Resolve • Blood in the Water • Saving Silverbeard • Foreign Affairs • Uncertain Scrutiny • Thimblerigging • Moment of Peace The Harrowing of Hell • Unsafe Harborage • Shadows in the Stacks • To Walk the Cold Dark • Wings of Death