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Thursday, December 24, 2009

[Milieu] The Vrun Alphabetic System 1-

Flynn said...

If I might ask a quick question, have you constructed a language that you are using for naming purposes? Or are you creating the words as you need them?

Curious,
Flynn


Copyright (c) 1992, 1999, 2009 Kyrinn S. Eis, All Rights Reserved

Flynn: Yes, I have. It is the Vrun alphabetic language system and it forms the basis of virtually all of the languages upon Urutsk, as it was formed from the Empyrean Keys of the First Parents who fell to the planet in the 'War in the Heavens'.
--Only the Kaukara (now largely extinct) and the Durn have languages of significant variance from Vrun (and while the Western Isles Vrun language known as Majestic Vrun is understandable to a large degree by continental Vrun speakers, its written form is more pictographic, like ogham, and its grammar more like Durnish).

I have realised, in varying degrees of completeness: Vrun, Yirinn, Tuliri, Majestic Vrun, Durnish, and Yaesh, as well as the non-human, Dryvv (strongly related to Yirinn). Others are either one-offs or variants.

Most of the differences have to do with the character set limiting or expanding their thought-base, and the manner in which one inscribes and reads the characters.
--Durnish, for instance, is composed of arcs, spirals, circles, and lines layered in such a way as their mentality understands reality, and this is so significantly different from all other languages on Urutsk, save Majestic Vrun's 'ogham', as to appear more like artwork than even calligraphy.

In due time I will publish the core Vrun data, including its intrinsic numeric and 3D spatial aspects, but, as you can imagine, it is its own sort of undertaking, and requires me to draft the characters for use in a computer font creation programme.

As far as the difference between having created the language and creating words as needed, that is the nature of Vrun. Each character is an alphabetic particle, and each has a broad interpretive value, --a phoneme--, which allows for 'on-the-fly' construction of words/names to describe particulars.
--The ubiquity of the Vrun peoples has created easily as many 'dialects', and it necessitates actually thinking about what one is hearing or reading to gain accurate understanding of what is being said. While, to Westerners, that may seem a very subjective methodology, a parallel to the Chinese characters / Kanji being readable by many dialects/languages, but the spoken word being equally opaque to non-fluent individuals is perhaps the best analogy.

A friend of mine is an expert in Coptic, and a particular form, the name of which escapes me, and he, in discussing Vrun with me, stated that a language which is capable of constructing meaningful words via mono- or even duo-symbolic units is exceedingly rare on Earth, and that he has difficulty making heads or tails of Vrun's system. On the other hand, I have noted that coders and programmers seem to take to Vrun much more readily, which I find delightful, given the nature of the Empyrean Keys from which Vrun is derived were AI-Human interface characters.

I hope that helps a bit. :)

[RPG] Weapons of the Ancients: 01.01-

Weapons of the Ancients-

* Additional ammunition types for the KMH (Carbine/Rifle, and Sidearm) weapons:

Skey' ('Anti-personnel')
* Type: KMH Ammunition
* Effect: Piercing 2d6x5 DP in a (Range * 0.2 sq. Feet) Area of Effect
* Range: roughly 750 Yards
* Frequency: N

:: This ammunition type is composed of a 'hive' containing roughly 20 individual flechettes, each of which produces the above listed damage. Everyone within the Area of Effect is susceptible to a strike, up to and including 30 potential targets, due to over-penetration of the flechettes: Attempt an Experience (Petrification) Critical Test for 1/2-damage.
:: Considering the above deals only with a single round fired, burst and full-auto fire earns the ammunition type its literal translation ('Subtle Artifice for Breath Termination').


Ehlx ('Electrified')
* Type: KMH Ammunition
* Effect: Blunt 1d6x5 DP + Electrical 3d6x5 Stun; Health CT for half-Stun
* Range: roughly 250 Yards
* Frequency: Q

:: Essentially a pre-charged micro-capacitor, this type of ammunition has less than half standard range due to its shape and mass, yet its powered state delivers a significant electrical jolt proven effective in less-than-lethal operations where the target is to be captured intact.


SokAqmlk ('Dosed')
* Type: KMH Ammunition
* Effect: 1d6x5 + Health CT v. Condition One
* Range: roughly 350 Yards
* Frequency: S

:: Depending upon the content, this sort of ammunition can be used to deliver a chemical/biological agent into its target's system, provided armour penetration.
:: The Referee is encouraged to concoct all manner of dose-loads, ranging from Tranquillisers to Toxins to BioWeapons. Antidotes or cures would be helpful, but by no means necessary.