Gene's Guide to Thieves' Cant

Gene's Guide to Thieves' Cant

My name's Gene, but if you've come to me, you already knew that much. They said I could sell you a book on Thieves Cant? Well that makes them a liar and you a fool! Fortunately for you, I can't abide either of those things, so lets see what can be done.

Most books you turn up claiming to guide's to Thieves' Cant are tripe written by puffed up scholars. They take some old street slang they've picked up from Oerth and slap a leather binding on it. You can't learn Thieves' Cant from a book – You've got to learn it the way I did, the proper way, from the lips of a thief.

I'll talk you through it, but I've penned some scraps down for quick reference. Nothing fancy, I didn't alphabetize it like some wizard' spell book. Its in sections, you see, so you can use it on the quick. I don't expect you to memorize a blasted tome -- just fold this here paper up and keep it handy.

I've stolen the gold of a sleeping dragon, won the beard off a dwarf on a game of dice, and sold a Vistani his own elixirs back. Most canters, they aren't like us. You've got to remember, they don't have the knack. They're just common cut-purses and brigands – low lifes – but they're the folks who make it all work, so listen close...