Peter:
> Esrolia (and the rest of the Holy Country) is considerably less
> literate than either of the above cultures. ...
>The Orlanthi of the area are as illiterate as
> other Orlanthi.
John:
>I believe Esrolia is where the Heortlings borrowed most of their literary
>and numerical expertise, such as it is. Id expect the Earth to remember her
>secrets, though in surprising and often mysterious ways. Whispering down
>votive shafts, accompanied by an offering perhaps?
I disagree with Peter and John. I don't think that Esrolia is where the Heortlings borrowed their literary expertise, however, I don't think that the Esrolians are particularly illiterate.
This is my current thinking. The Orlanthi of the First Age believe that they learned writing from Lhankhor Mhy, who is the god of writing. [As an aside, I think that Lhankhor Mhy encompasses two interesting approaches to knowledge, the first being inspirational and revelatory (the famed leather sheet over the head) and the second being through writing.] I see no reason to doubt this - I suspect that writing, at least sacred, ceremonial writing, was employed by the Vingkotlings (remember the Esrolvuli are the heirs to the Vingkotling Kodigvari).
However, I doubt that this script was particularly convenient for accounting or literary purposes or that this script was an alphabetic, or even syllabic, system of writing. Personally I think it was an ideographic system - - much like the later God Learner runes. This comports with most illustrations of Orlanthi carvings and runes - a system of ideographic runes. Many of these runes had multiple meanings, so the Orlanth Rune also meant storm, conflict, etc.
This system worked fine for the early First Age Orlanthi. Social organization was small and still principally clan based. The Orlanthi probably borrowed some concepts from their nonhuman allies. However, as population grew, trade increased and social organization became more stratified and complex, something more became needed. An accounting system (presumably from the Mostali) was introduced. The ideographic system gave way to a syllabic system of writing (probably based on the sounds of the early runes). An entire priesthood, the cult of Lhankhor Mhy, got to largely monopolize this writing system (this is probably the introduction of the Lhankhor Mhy sages we all know so well).
By the time of the God Project, the High Council of the Lands of Genertela had a well-developed written language. The center of writing and literature was, naturally enough, Dorastor. The Dorastans were literate, and possessed a remarkable degree of scholarship. This written script was presumably employed, at least to some extent, throughout the Council lands. When the Dara Happans joined the High Council, there was a flurishing of ideas and cross-cultural communication that probably never has been reproduced in Genertelan history. With the advent of Nysalor, this script may have become the lingua franca of the Bright Empire.
However, by 450, there was no Bright Empire. Arkat, and his army of trolls and wild Heortlings, burnt cities, destroyed trade, and massively depopulated central Genertela.
By the Third Age, the Heortlings have used a multiplicity of scripts. In Sartar, most Orlanthi still use the sacred runic script in its ideographic employment - I don't think that this runic iconography even rises to the level of literacy. This script may even by the fabled written version of Stormspeech from RQ days. However, I suspect that a syllabic or even alphabetic script is used in urban Sartar - one presumably based on whatever the Malkionized Heortlings of the Hendriki cities use. This script is presumably what the HW book calls "Write Heortling".
In South Peloria, I think that scripts based ultimately on the Dorastan script (although with EWF, Dara Happan, and Carmanian influences) is used in the cities and amongst traders. I'm sure that there are many local variants of this script. In addition, various cultures probably have their own indigenous sacred scripts.
Finally, I think New Pelorian, as we now know it, might be developed out of
a Syllilan script with heavy Dara Happan and Carmanian influences. Maybe it
is even a deliberate attempt to recreate the magic of the Dorastan script.
>From Nysalor to the Red Goddess, how very cyclical.... (Although it is also
entirely possible that New Pelorian is of Carmanian or Rinliddian origin).
As to the Esrolians, I think that they too would have a multiplicity of scripts. I think that their sacred script (can we call it "Earthspeech") is more complicated than the Orlanthi runic system, although it is ultimately derived from it. This sacred script may actually rise to the level of useful written language and may be a combination ideographic and syllabic script. Literacy may not be very widespread in rural Esrolia. However, in Nochet and the other coastal cities, a simpler alphabetic system derived from Second Age Jrusteli is probably widely used.
Just a few thoughts, eh?
Jeff
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