Book of Thirty Words
by hughpierre
Purpose
Despite the name, the Book is made up of more than just thirty words. It is apart of, a still ongoing, multi-scholarly endeavor to decipher the Kean's language from the sculptures of Eeat.
Document Structure
Clauses
There are three sections which record one of the three inscriptions craved into the entrance to Eeat detailing the expectations of those entering. The first is in Eeatian, the second is an ancient human dialect, and the third (supposedly) are the words of giants.
References
Credit is attributed to various linguistic experts on the languages (past and present) of the Floodlands.
Publication Status
The original work is kept in the university at Gaioor under lock, but reprints are available to be loaned.
Historical Details
Background
In certain sects the Kean are seen as gods. Peculiar cults settle near to Eeat to worship at its magnificence. They believe that it is their place to do so at the foot of man's creators.
It is believed by most that the Keanian were Kin: humans warped and twisted by the machies of Gods via earthy calamities. The problem left unsolved, the cultists say, is that of what are undoubtedly people in miniature, toiling in the background of the many bas-reliefs.
An impossibility. There would have been no normal persons left after a machy.Where such notations came from is hard to say. Since it is not unheard of in our histories for new men to interact with the old before they inevitably expire. Also, the artistic renderings shown on the reliefs have led many who have studied them to suggest that they are observing a history of the Kean. From their time as men to hornkin.
History
Despite efforts, the controversy of the Kean as present man's creators ebbed and flowed though minds abound. This is why many were initially awe-struck by the rediscovered carvings on the Base Shells that greeted visitors to Eeat, and seemed to instruct visitors on the laws they were expected to follow.
Within a year of the discovery, the human writing was translated into modern and the centuries long comparisons to Eeatian began.
Public Reaction
Its was thought that the Keanian debate would soon come to an end. But as the years past, people grew ever more apathetic to the, admittedly scant, findings. At the 130th anniversary of the Shell Findings, only 30 Eeatian words were found to have a direct translation to mans', out of 700.
Legacy
Today, no one much cares for learning the language of a long dead Kin species. A couple decades prior, a hunch was put forward towards the type of 'voice' needed in decoding it. Eventually, using this hunch, and the effort transformed into an academic exercise in creating approximation of what the expect think block writing would have sounded like.
Although it is not certain that the Keans ever spoke this way and more words had since been 'deciphered' past the thirty; librarians still like to label it "Book of Thirty Words" as those are the only words that are known for sure to not be an educated guess.
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