 
|
|
|
The citizens of Britannia are a diverse people who have survived many challenges to the rule of Order. Their ancestry can be traced to a time before the Sosarian city-states were formed, a time when a loose confederation of druids and mages flourished alongside a meek but industrious agricultural populace. Relics of ancient times can be found throughout the land and traces of the ancient language of the land can be found throughout modern Britannia. In your travels you will no doubt come upon the occasional sign or placard written in a curious runic script. Passed down from one generation to the next, this written runic language is directly descended from the language of the druids of old. Though strange and seemingly indecipherable, the process of interpreting runic script is really quite simple. The following key will enable the traveler to translate runic characters into his native tongue.
The Gargish language has long and short vowels. They are not normally distinguished in spelling, except where this would cause confusion. For example, uus means "up," but us means "diligence." In this document, long vowels are marked with an accent: us vs. úus, súm vs. summ.
It is believed that the Ophidians are a magically created race. They are thought to be part snake and part human. This merging has created a race filled with loathing and inner turmoil. It is believed that they were aware of how they were created and by whom. This secret is guarded very closely by the Ophidians and is the cause of their war with the Terrathans. The Terrathans believe the secret of Ophidian origin will help them determine their own. The Ophidians hold that there is no relation. This table comparing snake like runics and Britannia language was found at midst of their temple, due to their war like nature it is unknown do they themselves use the language or is/was the language used by someone else...
|
Gargoyles have an alphabet of 30 characters, arranged in a 5x6 pattern. Similar sounds are grouped together by
rows and columns. For instance, the first row, transcribed as p b m f v u, represents sounds that are
produced with the lips, and the sounds in the first column, p t ch kl k, are all voiceless stops.
(The remaining rows are: t d n s z e, ch j ny sh zh i, kl gl nl hl l o, and k g ng h r a.)
The letter u also serves to represent w at the beginning of a syllable when followed by a vowel.
The sequence k-u is sometimes pronounced ku, as in kuante, but more frequently kw
(traditionally transcribed as qu), as in quas. Three of the letters (ny, nl, and hl)
serve only to complete the chart, and are not found in contemporary spoken Gargish.