Domarc runs the knots through his fingers. The strings could be read by sight, but it was easier if you went by feel as well.
Long ago in Mez, the story went, when Prince Jash was in exile, the jinn of the desert sent to his aid their servitors, a goblinoid race called the shiqq, who taught him, among other things, a secret language of knots that could be used to communicate with his rebel allies without drawing the attention of the Pharaoh Geset IV or his agents. In the current era the knots were more of a folk tradition than a serious method of cryptography, but Martjan had mentioned using them on occasion to pass discreet messages to Mezian suppliers and customers.
Domarc orients the string; usually a long unknotted tail indicated the end of a message, so he starts at the knot closest to its own end of the string, actually two simple knots almost but not quite touching. A numerical sequence. After that pair was a large double knot, which could indicate a building or a point of origin, which contextually generally meant one's own residence. Next was another pair of knots threaded together with a loop -- a tricky one, shiqq knots were easier read than made -- that meant that the thing previous was near or adjacent to the thing that followed -- and after that were three tied-off loops, right on top of each other: the knot for "water" in triplicate, meaning the largest proximate body of water.
Sequence of two, one's own residence, next to, the largest body of water around. Well, Bload was an island. What did the knots say, then?
Second home by the sea.
