Bits and Pieces is a series of posts with the idea of filling in the world for Of Mice and Monsters
In the Leagues is commonly spoken what is referred to as the freespeech and the letters used is the freescript.
It is commonly believed that this language is the decendant of that used in Muridia. Evidence of this is drawn from the written language found in the ruins of Muridia. Those letters, called Eldermark, have many similarities to freescript, so the conclusion is that freespeech must have its roots in Elderspeech. None know for sure.
Freespeech and freescript are not the only language used in the Leagues. In Northhold they have an ancestral language called Northspeech. It is held that those that eventually settled Northhold were not Muridian mice. Where they came from is a matter of debate and speculation. But they had their own words and traditions. Northholders use the freespeech but amongst their own prefer their native tongue. As well Northholders have adopted the freescript for use with with Northspeech referring to it as Northscript.
Few mice speak it but the rats also have their language. Chosen slaves were taught their masters tongue, which is why the language is known today. Both tongue and letters are derogatorial known as ratscrawl.
It is understood that weasels, spiders, snakes, and owls have their own languages. Many know the freespeech. In the case of the latter three it seems they find it amusing to use it when dealing with would be prey. However very little is known of their languages. What little is known comes from the rangers, who are less concerned with study and more with safety. Snakes do have a form of written language at least for temporary messages they make with their bodied is soft dirt and sand. The rangers call it snakebelly, and while they have no idea of its meanings, they can recognize it upon sight. It is also theorized that spiders similarly encode messages into their webs but nothing can be proven about this.
Who invented fireflash is lost to history now but some ingenius mouse many, many years ago first thought of the idea of delivering messages over long distances by using fireflies. Fireflash at its core is a series of blinks that represent letters, by using a special lantern with a shutter and some patience a mouse can blink an encoded message over and over to the firefly until it repeats it. The firefly is then released and it uses its homing sense to return to its owner. The firefly will continue to blink the same message until it is taught a new one. Keeping the message secret requires placing a special shroud over the tail of the firefly. Fireflies have been used successfully among the general populace of the League’s as well as varying militaries for years.
Unfortunately messages by firefly is not the most dependable. Distance is a factor, something can happen to firefly in flight, and the firefly will only deliver the message to its place of origin.
The rangers began building signal towers in each watchpost. The towers work off the same principle as teaching a firefly. A very large directional and shuttered lantern is built in the tower. It can be aimed at the next watchpost and message relayed. This allowed the rangers to quickly pass news to all watchposts. A similar arrangement was constructed with nearby settlements so they could be warned if necessary. Eventually the signal service was created and signal towers were constructed in many settlements and important messages could be delivered quickly. The service was funded by charging for private messages, which runners would then deliver by hand to nearby parties. However in recent years, like with the rangers, the signal service is suffering, recent wars and distrust, is making mice wary of sending such easily deciphered messages.
