Tag: worldsetting

New maps

~ mnransdellgreen ~ 6 Comments

I’ve been updating my maps and geography of Aeniith and decided to try new styles. These are made with Inkarnate.

 

Regional Map of Izoi: See Full Version here: here 

izoimap_new.png

I added rivers, a few lakes, and more features. The fortress of Ad Simel Tī is where Dark Designs takes place. Zūr Chi Lār Na means Tower of Death in Tosi and basically is the watch tower for the western seas, in case any force tried to invade from Keta (which no wants to, but the Tosi are nothing if not paranoid). You can see the eastern island that is shared by the Selupa and the Karkin. The Karkin just get the shit end of the island that are plagued by sandstorms and have fewer resources. 😛

Then, in the Rílin forest, you can see the respective regions where the Ríli went after the Flight (post Tosi invasion), with some fleeing north and building underground cities (the Lunauli) and living in the cold mountainous area, and some (the Sunuli) choosing to stay south and fight the Tosi. There is a steppe between the forest and the desert that is a kind of no man’s land but of course the Tosi claim it.

That chasm south of the mountains is filled with a poisonous gas and the Tosi send their really hated enemies there. It also might be kind of sort of haunted.

 

Unfinished full map 

Still needs fresh water bodies, more placenames, etc. And there’s too much ocean at the bottom of the map, hehe. But, it’s a start. Full view here.

 

Map-8.jpg

Mintaka

Orikrindian lore and legend

~ mnransdellgreen ~ 2 Comments

I want to do a new segment about Orikrindian lore and legend (which may expand to other cultures), small little blurbs about ideas that have been floating around my head for a while. They don’t really have a home yet so we’ll see what becomes of them.

~

Today’s is about the Song of Esala. The word is not originally Ori, but comes from a nearby language from the mainland of Ei to the west. The word was originally Ashal, but changed over time and to fit Ori phonology a bit more closely.

The Song of Esala is a song that is supposedly divine in nature, or at least somehow supernatural. It is said to be heard in the wilderness when one is completely alone and can neither see, hear, nor sense in any way another person. It is at this time that one may hear the Song of Esala. What Esala is or means is not clear. There are competing etymological theories, variously saying that it is the name of a person, a place, or a concept.

To hear the Song of Esala is a disturbing experience. The listener will think they are going mad and may run even deeper into the wilderness, always avoiding the proximity of any other person. It is thought that this leads them to wander permanently and live like a wild person until a certain, unspecified time before their death, during which they will be released from the hold of the Song and “wake up” from their fervor or delirium. This time is usually months to years after first hearing the Song.

The Song is thought by some in Orikrindia to be a curse of the goddess Moltirin put upon those who have displeased her in some way. Others, however, consider it a kind of intense blessing given by the spirits of animals in the wild that have found a soul that they deem kindred to their own and wish to draw it in amongst themselves. This view is the predominant idea in Behr Gehen (country of the Ei Lands, west of Orikrindia). Those who return from being held by the Song are considered holy and are given special treatment upon their return to society.

Whatever the nature of the Song of Esala, it is a part of folklore that is commonly understood as one of the many risks of venturing into the wilds alone for lengths of time, both across Orikrindia and the Ei Lands.

~

Mintaka

Story: Elucuna in Quarios

~ mnransdellgreen ~ 2 Comments

This is the beginning of story (of indeterminate length so far) told by an Orikrindian woman who leaves Orikrindia at age 15 and comes to Quarios to be able to pursue a life a greater liberty (Orikrindian society doesn’t offer a lot of independence or a very wide array of options for the future of a yong woman). Like I said, I still don’t know what’s in store for this story, how well I’ll end up liking it, how well anyone else will end up liking it, etc. If you DO want to see more, I’ll probably consider continuing it. Its main purpose now is to help me explore Orikrindian vs Quariosian (i.e. Gotevian and Lomi) cultures, as well as a peak into some other Aeniithian cultures/people/stuff. 😀

Continue reading “Story: Elucuna in Quarios” →

Upcoming works are brewing…

~ mnransdellgreen ~ 1 Comment

I’m writing some mini-stories about Orikrindians that I will probably post in the future. Topics may/will include:

– An Orikrindian girl who leaves her country at age 15 and moves to Quarios, some of her thoughts, motivations, and memories (telling her story in retrospect)

– Two Orikrindian brothers who are separated due to a war with a neighboring country

– A story of the devotees of the mountain goddess and fire god who go on a pilgrimage to a great mountain. Fewer will descend that those who went up

I’m also recording new poems in Rílin now, since I am finally back in touch with my h4n Zoom audio recorder, which is higher quality than my laptop mic, unsurprisingly.

Other topics in the works: more Ori grammar, the Orikrindian pantheon, and info on Orikrindian artisanal works.

This has been a semi-update with a bunch of teasers…but I’m really excited about what I’m working on so it’s ok. 😛

Mintaka

Orikrindian women abroad

~ mnransdellgreen ~ Leave a comment

I envisage Orikrindia as more patriarchal than most other Aeniithian cultures. I image this is demonstrated in everyday culture as well as by institutions such as the monarchy of kings. For this reason I think Orikrindian women would take to moving abroad if they could to pursue things that would be more difficult to do at home. Pursuits like business, art, finance, scholarship, etc. I think quite a few would go to nearby Ei to the west to Quariosian territory. Some would go directly to Quarios itself if they could afford it. I think perhaps some would marry abroad as well, as Gotevian and Lomi men would be more accepting of an independently minded woman.

I want to explore this concept more but for now it is a blurb!

Mintaka

Conlang/conculture: Ori(krindia): (temples, quick note on ‘s’, independent pronouns)…

~ mnransdellgreen ~ Leave a comment

Alrighty.

I am posting some photos of cliffs and mountains like this, since this is how I envisage some of the Orikrindian temples appearing, situated high in the mountains and built into the rock itself. My feeling at this point is one of their primary deities of their pantheon is a mountain goddess who is seen as a mother, supporting and giving life to many other smaller gods who represent entities that dwell on or around the mountain. I know there is a god that is represented by fire/volcanoes, since those are everywhere in Orikrindia. Somehow I want connect the fire god/mountain goddess in a kind of symbiotic relationship. I’m not sure how yet.

~

One more small note on noun cases: I failed to mention that any nouns ending in -s are a little different. I noted that nouns ending in stops (oral or nasal) got an epenthetic -i- inserted before the main case ending for their class. Other final consonants like -r and -l do not. -s however is a little different. In certain respects, it follows the pattern of -l and -r in that it doesn’t get an epenthetic -i-, but in other instances, it does. See below for examples. Note which cases use the epenthetic -i- and which do not.

Inanimate noun: holis ‘door’

Animate noun: selis ‘teacher’

Celestial noun: tus ‘beam of light’

Abstract noun: lyos ‘grief’

nom sg: holis-is OR holis-∅; selis-is/selis-is; tus-ya; lyos-yal

gen sg: holis-ni; selis-ire; tus-sye; lyos-sye

dat sg: holis-im; selis-te; tus-ilya; lyos-lu

acc sg: holis-t selis-t; tus-pya; lyos-pya

loc sg: holis-il; selis-le; tus-cya; lyos-cu

instr sg: holis-ir; selis-in; tus-cya; lyos-ce

voc sg: holis-ca; (all use -ca)

nom pl: holis-sa; selis-sa; tus-ta; lyos-ta

gen pl: holis-ni; selis-si; tus-na; lyos-nya

dat pl: holis-mi; selis-ti; tus-lo; lyos-bi

acc pl: holis-tyin; selis-tyan; tus-ig; lyos-gya

loc pl: holis-len; selis-ic; tus-id; lyos-tya

instr pl: holis-ip; selis-int; tus-id; lyos-tya

voc pl: (all use -ca)

~

So we have looked at the case system for full nouns of all classes. Now it is time to look at independent personal pronouns. Ori does mark the subject of the verb as a suffix, but it also includes personal pronouns that are not attached to the verb. See the chart below for how these pronouns exist in each case. Note that third person pronouns are irregular, and also that they exist differently for each class.

These pronouns can be made reflexive by the addition of the suffix -(i)cye:

canicye iyum cyan ‘I saw myself’

Example of pronoun use:

Cala ipalnda ‘I like them’ (lit: they are pleasing to me)

Tan yubru! ‘We see you!’

Elya abarita tresita ummultu ‘In them all blessings lie’

Maropye en eun! ‘Give it to them!’

Lye-trumat suhit ryesubru cyan na tyeli ipalir cyan ‘We sipped the red nectar and it pleased us’

Eu lye-tepet maroi cyan ‘I gave her the fruit’

 

~

Mintaka

Conlang: Ori (nouns and their cases)

~ mnransdellgreen ~ 1 Comment

Last time I told you about more Ori verbs and how to conjugate them. Now I will move on to nouns. As I’ve mentioned before, Ori nouns come in four classes (like grammatical genders): animate, inanimate, celestial, and abstract. Ori has noun cases that suffix to nouns to show their grammatical role in the sentence. There are singular and plural, and different cases depending on the class of the noun. Below are the case endings for singular animate and inanimate nouns. The column that says -C stop contains suffixes for nouns that end in an oral or nasal stop (-t, -p, -c, -b, -d, -g, -m, -n). These nouns get a little epenthetic -i- inserted before the case suffix, as you can see below.

  • Note that the blue shaded rows are where the cases for both animate and inanimate are the same.

Screen Shot 2018-06-18 at 6.12.11 PM

So what do these cases mean?

Nom = nominative: this marks the subject of a verb. Example: tu-porin-is merir ‘the shepherd is dancing’

Gen = genitive: nouns in the genitive case show possession or relation. Example: lye-bus tu-ema-re ‘the house of the woman; the woman’s house’

Dat = dative: nouns in the dative case are the indirect object of a verb. In English, this would be often marked with the preposition to or for. Example: maropye tu-porit tu-ema-te ‘give the sheep to the woman’

Acc = accusative: nouns in the accusative case are the direct object of a verb. Example: tepe-t cyepu cyan ‘I took the fruit’

Loc = locative: nouns in the locative case show that something is located in, at, or on a thing. Example: bu-le ummum ‘I am staying at home’

Instr = instrumental: the instrumental case is used to show that something was done by means of some noun–that this noun is the instrument. Example: restin-ir lye-holist ayalnda ‘they are opening the door with a key’

Voc = vocative: this case is used when you mean to call out to someone or something. Example: Oa, porin-ca! ‘Hey, shepherd!’

The cases for other classes (singulars and plurals) are below.

Screen Shot 2018-06-18 at 6.30.30 PM

Screen Shot 2018-06-18 at 6.31.15 PM

So let’s look at some examples of these cases in action–in actual phrases and sentences.

Hilucul-ya bellu ‘The sky is wide’

Caru-s roru-sye ‘A world of darkness’

Sesta-lu maro ‘Give [something] to life’

A hilacul-ca! ‘O, heaven!’

Yupye ti-yutar-pya! ‘Look at the cloud!’

Hustu-ce ‘by means of trust’

Hilacul-cya ‘in the sky’

Bu-s ti-hiluma-na ‘a house of the priestess’

I’ll have more examples of Ori sentences soon…

 

Mintaka

Conlang: Ori, continued (more verbs, tense/aspect particles)…

~ mnransdellgreen ~ 4 Comments

Last time we looked at some ways to conjugate verbs in Ori--specifically verbs ending in -i or in alveolar sounds (-t, -d, -n, -s, -l, -r). Some examples of these:

merir ‘he/she/it dances’ (animate, inanimate)

boltimbra ‘we keep’ (boltin- + -bra)

lalta ‘they laugh’ (celestial, abstract) (lar- + -lta)

As you can see from some of the above verbs, sometimes there is variation in stem or ending, as per phonotactic constraints.

Today I want to show the 2nd and 3rd conjugations, which will wrap up all of the regular verbal classes.

The first class, as we saw, includes verbs ending in -i and in alveolars. The second class includes verbs ending in -e, -a, and velar consonants (-c and -g).

cuhe- ‘cleave’

syeg- ‘steal’

ta- ‘speak’

plec- ‘fall’

Note differences in endings in bold. 

cuhe-ni ‘I cleave’

cuhe-ti ‘you cleave’

cuhe-ri ‘he/she/it cleaves’ (an, inan)

cuhe-li ‘he/she/it cleaves’ (cel, abs)

cuhe-ce ‘we cleave’

cuhe-cya ‘you all cleave’

cuhe-cyo ‘they cleave’ (an, inan)

cuhe-cyon ‘they cleave’ (cel, abs)

ta-ni ‘I speak’

ta-ti ‘you speak’

ta-ri ‘he/she/it speaks’ (an, inan)

ta-li ‘he/she/it peaks’ (cel, abs)

ta-ce ‘we speak’

ta-cya ‘you all speak

ta-cyo ‘they speak’ (an, inan)

ta-cyon ‘they speak’ (cel, abs)

syeg-i ‘I steal’

syeg-it ‘you steal’

syeg-ir ‘he/she/it steals’ (an, inan)

syeg-il ‘he/she/it steals’ (cel, abs)

syeg-e ‘we steal’

syeg-ya ‘you all steal’

syeg-yo ‘they steal’ (an, inan)

syeg-yon ‘they steal’ (cel, abs)

plec-i ‘I fall’

plec-it ‘you fall’

plec-ir ‘he/she/it falls’ (an, inan)

plec-il ‘he/she/it falls’ (cel, abs)

plec-e ‘we fall’

plec-ya ‘you all fall’

plec-yo ‘they fall’ (an, inan)

plec-yon ‘they fall’ (cel, abs)

~

The 3rd, and final regular verb conjugation includes verbs ending in -o, -u, and labial consonants (-b, -p, and -m).

pellum- ‘count’

cyep- ‘take, grab’

lyab- ‘lick’

brelo- ‘nuzzle against’

ryesu- ‘sip’

Once again, note changes in stem or ending marked in bold.

ryesu-m ‘I sip

ryesu-tu ‘you sip

ryesu-ru ‘he/she/it sips’ (an, inan)

ryesu-lu ‘he/she/it sips’ (cel, abs)

ryesu-bru ‘we sip’

ryesu-ru ‘you all sip

ryesu-bu ‘they sip’ (an, inan)

ryesu-ltu ‘they sip’ (cel, abs)

(Verbs ending in -o, such as brelo- ‘nuzzle against’ conjugate exactly the same way as those verbs in -u.)

pellum-u ‘I count’

pellun-tu ‘you count’

pellur-ru ‘he/she/it counts’ (an, inan)

pellul-lu ‘he/she/it counts’ (cel, abs)

pellum-bru ‘we count’

pellum-ru ‘you all count’

pellum-bu ‘they count’ (an, inan)

pellul–tu ‘they count’ (cel, abs)

cyep-u ‘I take’

cyep-pu ‘you take’

cyep-ru ‘he/she/it takes’ (an, inan)

cyep-lu ‘he/she/it takes’ (cel, abs)

cyep-pru ‘we take’

cyep-ru ‘you all take’

cyeb-bu ‘they take’ (an, inan)

cyel-tu ‘they take’ (cel, abs)

lyab-u ‘I lick’

lyab-du ‘you lick’

lyab-ru ‘he/she/it licks’ (an, inan)

lyab-lu ‘he/she/it licks’ (cel, abs)

lyab-bru ‘we lick’

lyab-ru ‘you all lick’

lyab-bu ‘they lick’ (an, inan)

lyal-tu ‘they lick’ (cel, abs)

~*~*~*~*~*~

Ok, so that is it for present conjugation of regular verbs. You may wonder about other tenses. Ori is pretty light on the morphological tense. It uses some different particles that follow the verb to indicate various tenses and aspects, though.

cyan — past perfect 

Ex.: Es lyab-u cyan 

3sg.inan.acc lick-1sg pst.prf

‘I licked it’

Tun-pori-tyan cyep-pru cyan

      def.art.an.pl sheep-acc.an.pl-1pl pst.prf

‘We took the sheep (pl)’

lyes — past imperfective/habitual

This particle also indicates past tense, but the aspect is different. Instead of perfect, like cyan, lyes indicates an incompleted action in the past or a habitual action in the past (that happened many times).

Ex.:  Gotebinur-ipya ta-ri lyes 

Gotevian-acc.abs.sg speak-3sg.an pst.hab

‘She used to speak Gotevian’

bil — modal

This modal particle indicates a speaker;s uncertainty that the statement is true.

Ex.:  En cyep-ru bil.

3pl.inan.acc take-3sg.an mod

‘He might be taking them’ / ‘Maybe he is taking them’

The modal bil particle can also be combined with the other particles:

Ex.: En cyep-ru cyan bil.

3pl.inan.acc take-3sg.an pst.prf mod

‘He might have taken them’

Ok, that is a lot of info for one post, so I will continue later! Question if anyone cares–do you want to see more linguistic info on Ori, or should I break it up with some cultural info? Shall I stick to Ori for a while or visit some other places/people/languages?

Mintaka

Conlang: Ori, continued

~ mnransdellgreen ~ 2 Comments

Image here is the kind of flower I always envisaged as the national symbol of Orikrindia.

Last time I showed you some Ori verbs and how they are conjugated. I mentioned that there are essentially three ways to conjugate verbs (1st, 2nd, 3rd conjugations), and showed you some verbs from the 1st class of those verbs. I kind of lied, as it is not quite as simple as that sounds. Despite all verbs ending in -i and in all alveolars being grouped as one class, there is a little variation inside the conjugation, depending what the individual sound in the verb stem ends in. I go into a little more detail for the 1st conjugation below. Note some of the differences marked in bold where there are some variations in the stems and endings.

Verbs in –i

meri-m ‘I dance’

meri-t ‘you dance’

meri-r ‘he/she/it dances’ (animate, inanimate)

meri-l ‘he/she/it dances’ (celestial, abstract)

 

meri-bra ‘we dance’

meri-dra ‘you all dance’

meri-nda ‘they (an, inan) dance’

meri-lta ‘they (cel, abs) dance’

–

Verbs in -n

Note difference in some endings/stems.

boltin-im ‘I keep’

boltin-it ‘you keep’

boltin-ir ‘he/she/it keeps’ (an, inan)

boltinil ‘he/she/it keeps’ (celestial, abstract)

 

boltim-bra ‘we keep’

boltin-dra ‘you all keep’

boltin-da ‘they keep’  (an, inan)

bolti-lta ‘they keep’ (cel, abs)

 

Verbs in -l

Note changed suffix:

potil-im ‘I think’

potil-it ‘you think’

potil-ir ‘he/she/it thinks’ (an, inan)

potil-il ‘he/she/it thinks’ (cel, abs)

 

potil-bra ‘we think’

potil-dra ‘you all think’

potil-nda ‘they think’ (an, inan)

potil-ta ‘they think’ (cel, abs)

 

Verbs in -s

Note devoicing on plural endings with verbs ending with unvoiced consonants

cetis-im ‘I cut’

cetis-it ‘you cut’

cetis-ir ‘he/she/it cuts’ (an, inan)

cetis-il ‘he/she/it cuts’ (cel, abs)

 

cetis-pra ‘we cut’

cetis-tra ‘you all cut’

cetis-ta ‘they cut’ (an, inan)

cetis-ta ‘they cut’ (cel, abs)

 

Verbs in -d

Note some stem changes.

trellid-im ‘I walk’

trellid-it ‘you walk’

trellid-ir ‘he/she/it walks’ (an, inan)

trellid-il ‘he/she/it walks’ (cel, abs)

 

trellim-bra ‘we walk’

trellid-ra ‘you all walk’

trelli-nda ‘they walk’ (an, inan)

trelli-lta ‘they walk’ (cel, abs)

 

Verbs in -t

Note differences in stems and endings.

grasit-im ‘I scrape’

grasit-it ‘you scrape’

grasit-ir ‘he/she/it scrapes’ (an, inan)

grasit-il ‘he/she/it scrapes’ (cel, abs)

 

grasi-pra ‘we scrape’

grasi-tra ‘you all scrape’

grasi-nda ‘they scrape’ (an, inan)

grasi-lta ‘they scrape’ (cel, abs)

 

Verbs in -r

Note difference in some stem forms.

lar-im ‘I laugh’

lar-it ‘you laugh’

lar-ir ‘he/she/it laughs’ (an, inan)

lar-il ‘he/she/it laughs’ (cel, abs)

 

lar-bra ‘we laugh’

lar-dra ‘you all laugh’

lar-nda ‘they laugh’ (an, inan)

la-lta ‘they laugh’ (cel, abs)

~

Alright, that’s it for the regular 1st conjugation verbs. Many of the variations in these verbs are mirrored elsewhere and are probably results of semi-regular morphophonotactic rules…but I’ll need to figure out exactly what those appear to be later on.

Another Ori topic I wanted to talk about are definite articles. Ori has them. It doesn’t have any other articles (like indefinite artcles, e.g. English ‘a/an’, French ‘un(e), des’). These definite articles are roughly equivalent to English ‘the’, but the usage varies in Ori and may not always align with English usage (i.e. you might see an Ori article where you wouldn’t in English (or whatever other language), and vice versa). In Ori, the definite articles are proclitics. They are written with a hypen before the noun, and like other things in Ori, they have to agree with the noun class of the noun. See some examples below.

 

tu-syalanyas ‘the queen’ (animate, singular)

tun-hilunyan ‘the merchats’ (animate, plural)

ti-yutar ‘the cloud’ (celestial, singular)

tin-celunyas ‘the priests’ (celestial, plural)

lye-buni ‘[of] the house’ (inanimate, singular)

lyen-kapyan ‘the desks’ (inanimate, plural)

co-sestas ‘the life’ (abstract, singular)

con-gerumin ‘the deaths’ (abstract, plural)

As you can see, the plural forms of these articles are made by adding -n to the end. You can get a little preview of some of the case system for nouns too in the above examples….soon we’ll see the rest!

 

Mintaka