Be'share Cypher

Used exclusively by the Be'sharan clans, the Be'share cypher is a complex written language of swooping, interlocking characters intended to convey complicated concepts quickly within a limited space. While not strictly a form of thiefmarks or shadowmarks, it is often misconstrued as such due to the Be'sharan's association with smuggling and organized crime. As an alternative to the actual Be'sharan alphabet or that of Kitsune and Riyukuran, this language is utilized for confidential documents, clandestine communications, and marking locations or items that belong to or have been crafted by one clan over another. All Be'sharan craftsmen typically adopt a character or combination of characters that serves as their maker's mark, stamping or inscribing it on items they create as a signature of sorts. Each mark is thus registered with the appropriate guild to ensure quality and honesty. Though they are quite happy to smuggle, forge, and counterfeit goods created by other races, the Be'share take their own very seriously.
Some foreigners may mistakenly believe that the Be'share cypher is the language of the Be'share themselves -- but in truth they speak Riyukuran, which is a blended language of the Kitsune and Shojo languages as well as the various Be'sharan dialects. The Be'sharan language itself is endangered in the sense that it is rarely spoken except in the home.

Writing System

The Be'share cypher is incredibly difficult to learn for an individual not raised in its usage, given that it is a language of specialized characters, rather than an alphabet associated with sounds. Since it does not have a spoken element, each logogram represents an object or concept. Some shapes may lend themselves well to being understood independently, but the context in which each is written may change its form -- to say nothing of the 'handwriting' of the individual writing the symbol. Cyphers may also be complicated further by the inclusion of "keys", which are alterations or additional markings added to a given text so that it can only be "decoded" by others who are aware which markings are important and which are not.