[Glorantha] Re: Written form of Darktongue?

It says somewhere that Cragspider's history is written with 10 foot (?) pictograms carved into a mountainside. That would fit well with Darktongue and a troll should be able to read it from a fair way away.

I doubt if Braille would fit, too abstract. Pictograms that evoke the darksense shape of a creature or object would be better. So, it might not look like a human but it would echosound like one.

Malk Williams:
> I seem to recall reading a Lhankor Mhy myth where trolls are taught to
> write, and get very stroppy because they cannot perceive the marks made by
> ink on paper... trying to remember what the outcome was... it certainly
> involved some sort of "relief" system, but whether it involved chiselled
> "rune" type characters (ignoring the usual Gloranthan connotations of the
> word for a second), or something more exotic, I cannot recall offhand.

The fact that trolls spend most of their time in the dark and that most of their temples, Zorak Zoran and Argan Argar possibly apart, in darkness, they would have to use a non-visible written form, otherwise you would get the Subere Priestess lighting a candle to read the Subere Holy Texts, which doesn't really sound right.

Santo:
> I would argue that if any written form of Darktongue that exists was
> invented by the cult of Arkat Kingtroll. Before that point it seems
> like the Uz are much more animistic/theistic with their religion and
> their ways, and so I more envision them using more "archaic" ways of
> language.

I can see a form of Darktoungue that humans could read being developed, similarly a form of darktongue that doesn't involve the deep or high notes that humans can't hear would have been developed as well.

However, I think the trolls would have had a form of writing of their own that predates the Dark Empire.

Jane Williams:
> I'd been thinking in terms of carving in stone, but
> variations in density are a good idea, too. Embedding
> things?

Don't they chew kygerliths from stone? Chewing pictograms might be possible. Carving is more likely, though.

> Hmm, Earthspeech in its written form is done in clay
> tablets. Trolls could see that. Different types of
> clay would harden with different densities. Embed
> different types and shapes of small stone in there as
> well, you're heading towards a compact writing system.
> But hardening the clay? Trolls don't like fire, or
> sun. ZZ the troll scribe....?

Argan Argari would be better, using Lodril Helpfire/Slavefire and their wife Esrola to make and fire tablets.

See Ya

Simon Received on Sat 17 Mar 2007 - 22:37:44 EET