According to popularly accepted history, the Silent Speech was invented by the Naga and taught to the feral cheetah-oids now known as "Savanites", for it is widely believed they are very simple-minded and incapable of coming up with something so complex as a language on their own. Generally, it is held that evidence pointing to the use of the Silent Speech only goes so far back as approximately 3100 RTR (Rephidim Temple Reckoning), though, depending upon one's demands for corroboration and proof of authenticity, the language may go back much further than that, even very close to the Expedition (approaching 0 RTR). The Silent Speech is fairly well-known among the Naga, though they have their own spoken language which is used for daily discourse.

Savanite Sign breaks into many "dialects", but it particularly can be broken into four main groups, which overlap each other somewhat:

Formal Sign -- This is the most basic and immutable form of the Sign, consisting solely of hand signs which each represent words or ideas, and which can be combined to form more complex words and phrases. It is possible, by restricting oneself to "Formal" Sign, to communicate in Savanite using just one free hand, but it is a relatively slow process, and many Savanites do not even bother learning all the many word combinations required for this manner of communication.

Free Sign -- This is the form found among any extant tribes in the wild, and adds movement of the hands as well as other gestures to more quickly spell out common words and phrases, as well as to add more expression and "inflection" through body posture. It provides a much quicker way of conversing in Savanite, but suffers in that particular gestures vary greatly from tribe to tribe, as new gestures are added to suit the needs for daily usage. Especially, names for particular beasts or plant types vary greatly from area to area, often consisting of a gesture which is meant to mimic some appearance or action of the creature in question.

Standard Sign -- This is the Sign used by Savanite slaves in Rephidim-dominated circles. It is based upon "Formal" Sign, but adds many gestures in the fashion of "Free" Sign. Furthermore, it also adds signs that allow for the representation of phonetic names -- especially important since slaves are generally given names that simply have no "meaning" in words, and their masters' names are no different in this respect. This language is fairly standard. (PC Savanites will most likely know "Standard Sign". This encompasses "Formal" as well.)

Short Sign -- This is an offshoot of "Standard", reintroducing specialized and non-standard "phrases" which vary greatly depending upon one's circles of communication. Basically, it makes use of very subtle gestures that can be disguised as normal movements, in order to convey information to slip past the notice of masters. These signs tend to be very specialized based on situations, and a single gesture can involve a very specific and even complex message. However, there IS some carry-over. These generally focus on statements of warning, or of imperatives. Perhaps needless to say, this is generally not a variant of the language known by those other than Savanite slaves.

As a matter of established example, wiggling of the ears is a sign that suggests Savanite laughter, and is found across almost all variations of the sign. (In fact, it's almost reflexive for Savanites.) Of course, this is not an aspect used by Nagas, since they have no ears.

As another note, the sign in the icon at the top of this entry is the Formal sign for "Star". Many of the Formal signs have multiple possible meanings, though, depending upon context.