>[I]t occurs to me that the same argument could apply to Kralori;
>ie the written script needs to consist of a huge number of complex
>parts that make learning it the sign of scholarly wisdom, or
>unnatural insight, or someon with too much time on their hands. It
>should not be a language that can be deciphered easily from a few
>building blocks (ie letters), or that unknown 'words' can be pronounced
>without even knowing what they mean.
I was attempting something along this lines when I wrote up the description of how Mikaday created the first Mandarins.
"He wrote [his laws] down in elegant draconic writing,
composed of complex emblems of a higher reality that
can be seen as markings on the scales that cover every
dragon.
A deliberate rip-off of the Chinese mythical account or the discovery of writing or I Ching hexagrams (I forget which).
By writing them down thus, Mikaday hoped the Kralori
would understand the laws, obey them and draw closer
to the Cosmic Dragon. They did none of these things
for few could read the dragon writings and fewer
could understand their higher meaning." [Mikaday
doesn't despair but goes on to ordain the Mandarins to
interpret the writings for others]
Glorantha Intro p184.
Now if only I knew about their speech...
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