Tag
Going back to ancient times, the migratory tribes of the Bane'ile people would leave messages for one another at the Titi Tetu located at intervals along their regular migration routes. Since the Bane'ile have never had a written version of their language, these messages were in the form of pictographic symbols and were simply meant to convey that a particular tribe had passed through this way, when they were here and which way they were headed when they left. This practice was known as tagging. It was a way for the tribes to check in and keep in touch with one another during their wanderings between the coming together times of the festivals of Titi'abule .
Even after the advent of modern technology, the practice of tagging continued right up until the end when the Bane'ile home world was destroyed when their binary stars collided in a supernova. Most of the Bane'ile people escaped the destruction by traveling out into space where many continued their migratory ways while others settled down in places all over Kantostara.
The Bane'ile refugees adopted the use of the Titi Tech system which their engineers had helped to establish under the tutelage of the Singers of Songs early on during the Age of Song. Since the cost of interstellar holographic messaging is rather high, most of the long distance messaging carried through the Titi Tech system is in written form similar to texting, but with no familiarity with written language, this was anathema to the Bane'ile. What did look familiar to them were the visual symbols common to most virtual keyboards which they began to fashion into a language similar to the pictographic communication they used for tagging.
Tag is a messaging language made solely of visual symbols that has become popular all across Kantostara, particularly among those who do a lot of interstellar traveling and use it to record their comings and goings just like the tribes of the Bane'ile once did. It is simple to use and can be understood regardless of what your native language is because it relies on pictures.
There is also another version of Tag that is used by those involved in smuggling. It uses the same visual symbols, but they have an alternate meaning. What looks like an innocent message to the average individual can have a completely different meaning to a smuggler.
Writing System
Tag is a pictographic language that makes use of common visual symbols, instead of a typical alphabet, for written communication.
Geographical Distribution
The practice of tagging started with the Bane'ile refugees, but is now commonly used by most light freighter pilots and various others who do a great deal of traveling. It is also popular among young people who idealize pilots.
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