Untitled NK Project

[North King]

Greetings, all.

This is a thread for creating persistent posts related to my new, as yet untitled, project. It has been quite a while since I've used CFC, and for the most part, the this NES will functionally be off-forum (mostly in the NESer Discord and Google Docs). But the forum is useful for organizing notes chronologically in a way the other systems are not.

What is this?
In NESer parlance, it is a "fresh start" -- i.e. it is a game that takes place on a non-Earth planet that attempts to retell the story of human history. In this case, it begins in this world's equivalent of the late Pleistocene, the equivalent of 20,000 years BP, at the Last Glacial Maximum.

Hi! This is interesting, can I participate?
Yes! Mostly, things are being held on the NESer Discord. PM me or someone else (Iggy, Jehoshua, or Thlayli are good bets) for an invite (invitations to Discord are not persistent). This is not intended to exclude anyone who is more of a forum user -- I just want to keep orders, etc., in one place so I can see.

You already have players and a pretty full map! Can I still join? Should I wait?
The philosophy in Phase One (see the rules below) is generally closer to an NESlife than a conventional NES -- that is to say, most cultures will evolve or vanish every turn, and "ownership" of cultures is defined a little more loosely. So you are free to "evolve" from another player's culture, even if they are already doing it.

Here follow the rules, indices, and the update log.

Rules:
In this Google Doc. More specific rules are going to be added over time.

Indices:
You can find stats here. Extant culture descriptions can be found there.
You can find many maps in the public game folder.
To minimize redundancy, I will not be reposting versions of (most of) these in the thread.

Update Log:
Phase One (Origins) - Turns are c. 2-5,000 years in length. Cultures are Upper Paleolithic in technology/culture.
Update One ("The Song")
Update Two (scheduled for c. March 14th)

Current (update 1) map

 

[Jehoshua]

Amatyaric Languages

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The Amatyaric languages are generally SOV languages in structure, however, because Amatyar is a pro-drop language, the subject of a sentence is often not apparent until the end of the verb, at the end of a sentence. There are five noun cases (4 with a preposition or postposition).

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Nom: Quyob yap tik (The book is good - literally "the book good is")

Acc: Qob quyob sa naq'tl. (I read the book) [pos = sa]

Dat: Qob po quyob jakesh'tl (I looked at the book) [pre = po]

Loc: Qob jek quyob kthulch'tl (I wrote in the book) [pre = jek]

Abl: Qob az quyob azqech'tl (I learned from the book) [pre = az]

*noun "book" is from a classical amatyar language, much vocabulary from proto-amatyar is largely speculative thus a later subject is used as an example of the presumed language structure.

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Additional examples

Quyob-e ga'ak sanaq'tl (I read the new book) [note: drop of the subject pronoun, and that the article "sa" moves after the adjective ie the whole noun phrase.

Jaqob quyob-e ga'ak sanaq (Jacob read the new book) [1st per singular "tl" is dropped]

Jaqob aqai quyob-e ga'ak sanaq. (Jacob read the new book quickly) [adverb precedes noun phrase]

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Preposition and postpositions in Amatyar

~ examples of these in Amatyar include

Sa: the
Po: at/to
Jek: in
az: from
qeb: with
Chik; like
toq: until
baq: on
yub: for
tek: without
bal: under

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Pronouns

Amatyar, as noted before, is a null-subject or pro-drop language, so personal pronouns (e.g. 'I', 'he', 'she') are optional. Pronouns add (sa) when they are used as the object but otherwise stay the same. The first-person singular accusative form (Qobsa) 'me' can be shortened to Qobā.

· 1st per - sin: qob - pl: qa

· 2nd per - sin: Guq pl: Guchak

· 3rd per singular - sin: Am (Amatyar) sin: Ob (human, non-amatyar), sin: An (non-human

· 3rd per plural : Gaq/Anak (Amatyar) pl: Obek (human, non-amatyar), pl: Anhaq (non-human)




Pluralisation

Pluralisation in Amatyar differs depending on whether the subject is animate or inanimate.

Amatyar = The People (yar = animate plural: Amat = person - note there is separate term for non Amatyar persons, Obok [ergo: Obokyar refers to non Amatyar nations])

Quyoban = The books (an = inanimate plural, ).

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Demonstrative pronouns

aq = this, ik = that - these are pluralised as aqyar and ikyar for animate objects and aqan and ikan for inanimate objects (these and those),

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Possession

~Possession is expressed by adding suffixes to nouns which can also be used as object pronouns. For the third person these are ambiguous as Amatyar is a genderless language. These have singular and plural variation

· 1st Person singular: "Tl" (ex: Naq'tl = I read)

· 1st Person Plural: "Tlan"

· 2nd Person Singular: "Ts" (ex: Jaqob Naq'ts = Jacob read"

· 2nd Person Plural: "Tsob"

· 3rd Person singular: "Ash" (ex: Kuyobash = His/Her Book)

· 3rd Person Plural: "Asheb".

linkage between two objects is indicated by special grammatical particles. These are -qa or -be after vowels, or -a or -e after consonants. Adjectives typically follow the noun using this construct also with a suffix -tar for a comparative.

ex: Jaqob-a Bataq (Jacob's brother)

ex: Bataq-e oqui (Big Brother)

ex: Chaq'ta-qa sa'akh (Chief's slave)

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Verbs

· Negative prefix: na, which changes to ne before the Imperfective prefix (ka)

· Imperfective or durative prefix: ka

· Subjunctive/Imperative prefix: be

· Past suffix: d, which changes to t after unvoiced consonants

· Personal suffix: e.g. -Tl 'I', -Ts 'you (sg.)' etc.

· Object suffix: the most commonly used is -ash 'him/her/it'

Person suffixes

1st - sin: Tl - pl: Atl

2nd - sin: ach - pl: ich

3rd - sin: ek - pl: ekich

Object Suffixes

1st - sin: Tl - pl: Tlan

2nd - sin: Ts - pl: tsob

3rd - sin: Ash - pl: Asheb



Tense

Infinitive
The infinitive ending is formed with "iq": ex: (naqiq) 'to read'.


Past
The past tense is formed by deleting the infinitive ending and adding the personal endings to the stem: ex (Naq'tl) I read - or (Naqtsob) they read.


Imperfect
The imperfect tense is made by taking the past tense as described above and prefixing it with (Ka-), thus (Kanaq'tl) 'I was reading', 'I used to read'. This tense can also have a conditional meaning: 'I would read', 'I would have read'.


Perfect
The perfect tense is formed by taking the stem of the verb, adding ه (e) to the end and then adding the different persons of the present tense of 'to be'. So (Naq) to read, in the perfect first person singular would be (naqe'tl 'I have read' and the 3rd person singular would (naqetash).


Pluperfect
The pluperfect tense is formed by taking the stem of the perfect, e.g (naqe), adding (buq), and finally adding the personal endings: ex: ( naqe buq'tl), 'I had read'. In the third person singular, buq is added (with no ending).


Future
The future tense is formed by taking the present tense form of (xaqtiq), to want, and conjugating it to the correct person; this verb in third person singular is (xaqash). Next, it is put in front of the shortened infinitive of the verb, e.g (naq), thus (xaqash naq) 'he/she/it will read'. For compound verbs, (xaqash) goes in between both words, and the second word of the compound is reduced to its stem. In the negative (xaqash) receives na- to make naxaqash naq 'he will not read'.


Present
The present is formed by taking the present stem of the verb, adding the prefix (ka-), and conjugating it. The present stem is often not predictable from the infinitive and so is to be learnt separately. The present stem of the verb (naqiq) 'to read' for example, is (naq), so the present first person singular would be (kanaqiq) 'I eat, am eating, do eat'. The third person singular ending is (-ash). The negative is pronounced ne before ka, but in all other tenses, it is pronounced na.


Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is made by changing the prefix ka- of the present tense to be- or bo- (before a verb with the vowel o): ex: benaq'tl 'I may read' or "bejakesh'tsob "They may write"

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Final Sentence Examples

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here are some sample sentences with some nouns. I have noted some of the nouns mentioned in examples above under the second sample as well as some key words.

Chaxabyar salak sa gaqchik,ug oboksaaq sa gaqnachik. (Children like shali fruit but they don't like human [non amatyar] meat.)

Aqinyar obok sa gurmakatl, ug saaqash natepok. (The priests sacrificed the [non-amatyar] man, but did not eat his flesh.

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Vocabulary

• Aqin - priest
• Naqom - Diviner/oracle
• Gurmak - sacrifice
• tepok - eat.
• Naq - book
• Chaq'ta - chief
• Sa'akh - slave
• Bataq - brother
• Nisaq - Sister
• Ama - Mother
• Apa - Father
• Oqui - big
• Kaliq - Prophet (Kaliq Halaw = High [exalted, great] Prophet)
• Chaxab - Child
• Salak - Shali Fruit
• Gaq - they
• Saaq - meat
• Sebok - Crocodile
• Keq - Frog
• Chiqip - Bird
• Ayub - Cloud
• A'atsak - Warrior
• Umaya - Ocean
• Benok - Dog
• Soq - Stone
• Soqak- Axe
• Soqik - Knife
• Soqtip - Adze

 

[Thlayli]

Three Old Stories of the Bones of the Earth

A Sa'a story:

In the beginning, Watcher created the skies, and set His children to watch over their glittering beauty. Watcher had all His children collect the great shining stars and scatter them around His throne. But Ko’oa, the deep one, instead made a great plot of land on Her stomach and covered it in fronds to hide from Watcher. It was Ko’oa who made the people out of the mud of Her body. When Watcher saw it, He was maddened with jealousy. He struck Ko’oa with His adze many times, and the scars in Ko’oa’s body carved the hills and the rivers, Ko’oa’s blood. This is why Ko’oa sleeps forever, the sleep of the fevered. Yet She and Her children can be seen in dreams, when we dream as She does.

With their mother asleep and no longer able to speak to them, Watcher turned to the people she had made. Watcher gazed down with hatred, and burned, and burned away their memory of their maker. But some, the Sa’a, hid under the fronds and remembered that Ko’oa had made them, and that Her body protected the people. The lesson of this story is that even in Her sleep near to death there is great magic to be wrought from the body of Ko'oa, and that, by covering themselves in the blood of Watcher’s children, He can be tricked into ignoring the Sa’a for a time, for Watcher cannot see what He cannot smell.

The other lesson of this story is that if you are found, you will die, so it is important to hide.

A Sasad story:

In the first day, Watcher was great, and He shone with every light, and the world was burned to ash. In the second day, Watcher grew tired, and decided to sleep. But then the world froze to ice. Watcher saw that it was poor, and sought to restore balance. So Watcher had many children, yet was careful to make them less strong than Himself. Watcher was a strong god, but a stupid one, and this is why the world failed to be in balance.

His children, the lesser lights, He made lesser, and made them to only shine when Watcher was tired of rising over the World - the night when He slept. His first and greatest child, He called Waiter, and He set Waiter to watch over all the lesser children which came after him when Watcher slept. One day, Watcher came to realize His folly, that each child's light diminished His own. And so He came to take the lights from His children, crushing their skulls with His club and casting them down out of the sky. And still, to this day, some of these dead ones can be seen falling from the sky.

Waiter saw this, and did nothing, knowing that Watcher loved Him most, and would kill Him last. The children cried out to Waiter for mercy, but Waiter showed no remorse, pleading powerlessness before the great Watcher. But one day, Waiter told Watcher that there was a light He had seen, a light greater even than Watcher's light. He claimed it was a light that only came out at night, when Watcher slept. But if Watcher would come out during the night, He would show Him this rival and He might kill him.

So Watcher one day came out at night, and stepped into the shadow of the moon, and was covered in its shadow - and in this moment Watcher's power was taken from it, and He felt true fear. But Waiter (and some other ones, Waiter's children) seized Watcher, and they stabbed Him with bone knives and spears many times. And Watcher's blood fell, and where it congealed, it became the great red ridges of rock which you see rising from the sand. And where Watcher's urine and bile fell, it dried out and became the sands themselves. And where Watcher's tears fell, it became the water (yet remains salty, for nothing Watcher gives can ever be good).

But the skin of Watcher, Waiter kept, since He knew in time Watcher's other children might resent Waiter for His action, and seek revenge. Waiter sets Watcher's corpse to rise and fall in the same pathway. That is why Watcher is a dead god, for its course does not change, rising in the east and setting in the west. But Waiter is a living god, for its course and appearance and phase changes all the year. Watcher's other children are fooled by this and think Him to still be alive. But there are still times when Waiter celebrates His victory over Watcher, and these are the rare days once in a person's life when the sun turns black.

The lesson of this story is that what you think to be balance is really a trick.

A Thehad story:

Know now, and hear! For I will tell, the story of the Watcher’s knell,
His fourteen children, sired all, in days when every star would fall,
And one by one, their flesh consumed, as Watcher’s greed, His children doomed.
The children fought, but all was lost, their Father scourging them when crossed.
Their bodies fell and made the land, their tears the oceans, and the sand.
Their hair the trees, their voice the air, their bones the hills and mountains fair,
Then born of these Fourteen, came Man, their birth defying Watcher’s ban.
That life would burn and land would fade, till light consumed the final shade.
The underworld indwells them still, their haunts of darkness under-hill.
From whence the gods and ghosts still come, to where we go when life is done.
Those gods themselves will rise again, the era of the Second Ken.
And heroes of your fathers’ time, still trace their blood upon this line.
Know Freken, Kelsr, Thendr, Med, Hodalren, Krstr, Redorled.
Know Gristren, Karstren, Jormid, Lir, Alandr, Vod, Varhallindir.

 

[Jehoshua]

A Song of the Black God

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In the time of ancient gods, beyond the veil of heaven
Our father conceived the world, and hallowed gods unbidden
to descend from up on high, to manifest all things
to fashion earth and water, and become undying kings.

Yet to the giver of life, the world begetting serpent
envy rankled in their hearts, thus to evil their wills bent.
Taking counsel together, the gods bemoaned their fate
Their power bound in the world, heaven locked behind a gate.

Forever lost to the gods, was the ambrosial font
Eternities bright rapture, lost to their capricious want.
Then spoke the chief betrayer, of murder did he intone
that the heart of god raised up, might for his offense atone.

"Oh brothers his divine spark, will our wicked bonds unbind
his heart shall sustain the world, and grant life to mortal kind.
May fire enlighten the world, from divinities wellspring
whilst we partake of true light, and His life to darkness bring"

Heeding the traitors whispers, they hearkened to His abode.
To the mountains pinnacle, the high gods unyielding strode,
at its foot lay groves of trees, verdant with golden-hued fronds
streams in four directions flowed, spirits laughed in crystal ponds.

"Come forth brother" cried the beast, his knife hidden by his side
"Let us feast on bright nectar, let our souls in spirit ride
on bright clouds of memory, savouring what we have wrought
the seas and the endless sky, and of all that we have thought"

Thinking all of this quite fine, Noroqin left his dwelling
His hearth smoking untended, no thoughts of war compelling
for here were his great brothers, kings and gods of all the earth
and his mind held no evil, for what thing do gods have dearth?

"You stole our place in heaven!", did the wicked spirits cry
their knives flashing like the stars, their spears rending through the sky
Then His heart they raised aloft, to become the shining sun
His body did they rend apart, to become His rightful sons.

Oh lament the death of god, for he knew this was his fate
to be locked beneath the earth, imprisoned behind deaths gate.
He was sacrificed for us, for us did his blood outpour
Thus we offer blood to him, and partake in holy war.

For as by his blood we live, so by blood may he be freed
the bonds of death cast aside, as our god on life does feed.
When he walks the world again, the gods shall tremble in fear
the earth shudder and sea smoke, as they lose what they hold dear

Rejoice brothers and sisters, when the world anew is made
for we rise in his rising, and regain all that we have paid,
Shedding the scales from our eyes, and the bonds that bind our minds
that we might attain the light, and see wonders of all kinds.

O blessed liberation, for this we give sacrifice
imbibing the carnal flesh, to god paying a due price.
That we might have victory, an end to trials and fasting
that in his final triumph, we'll have peace everlasting!

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~ It is believed based on this cave-image dear students, one of the most northerly Amatyar sites to date, that the warriors of this ancient people would sing songs and offer sacrifice before engaging in raids against foreign foes. What manner of hymns might they have sung, what spiritual songs might they have intoneed as they partook of their flesh-feasts? Alas we can only imagine the kinds of canticles that might have left these warriors lips as they paid tribute to their black god for the mysteries of this most distant of ages are found in no written testament nor ancient book, only these enigmatic carvings, crude altars of stone and a great many skulls bear testament to their passing.

 

[tuxedohamm]

Early Oaya/Oaye Language
Google Doc

For most words, the root will be followed by a number of descriptive infixes with an ending determiner suffix. Prefixes are primarily used as grammatical markers. With some inevitable exceptions, only the root and determiner suffix are required.

Oaya: "Mother's people." Conceptually a term used for "human(s)", and more specifically the early Oaya/Oaye culture group. The word is composed of the root "O-" which is understood to represent a person/people but isn't used by itself, and the suffix "aya" which is the word for mother. With no following suffix, "aya" is therefore in the possessor position of the word and not used as a descriptor. Compare with oayasa, "that/the mothering person" and oayatun, "a mothering person."

Aya: "Mother," and Aye: "father." Both words can be broken down into the "A-" which is an archaic form of "O-," and a gendered suffix "-ya" for female, "-ye" for Male, and "-yů" for neuter/nongendered words. (Such as "anyů" for "it" when used as a sentence object.)

As such, it is supposed that an earlier word for human may have been, "aaya." Broken down into syllables it would be, a-a-ya. With the possibilty that aaya came from an even earlier q"aa" or a-a.

In communication, a child would likely use "Aya" as a name for their mother. However, as a word, "aya" would require a determiner suffix. Ayasa, "the mother;" ayatun, "a mother;" ayaaya or ayaya, "mother's mother."

As mentioned before, "O-" is not used by itself. The words osa "the person" and otun "a person" are used instead. However, the words do not exclusively refer to human people, and may instead refer to any humanoid or humanlike being.

You can then get the following:

1: Baelůn anosa? : See the person?
2: Odus? : Which person?
1: Osůmetsa. : The birdman.


Known Words

*Hyphens indicate that the word cannot stand alone and requires an additional suffix/prefix in usage.

Oaya: Human
Oaye: Human
Aya: Mother
Aye: Father
O-: Person
Sů-: Animal
Met: Sea/Ocean
Vos: Cloud/Float/Fly
Bak: River/Movement/Flow

-sa: the/this/these
-tun: a/an/some (Though is often omitted on word roots that can stand alone.)
an-: sentence object
-ya: female/feminine
-ye: male/masculine
-yů: nongendered

 

[Aiken_Drumn]

How insanely exciting

I'll get more involved with time

 

[Jehoshua]

@Aiken_Drumn :feel free to get involved any time. While orders for update 1 are not yet locked do note that update 2 is scheduled for around March 14 (a week from now) so when it drops that would be a good time to get more involved if you want to ramp up involvement later on. (same for anyone reading this before that time who is considering joining this endeavor).

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Documents List.

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The Public Folder

~ Orders

Update I
Update II
Update III
Update IV
Update V (a)

~ Background

Religion Notes

 

[Aiken_Drumn]

Thank you @Jehoshua I will if I get a moment

 

[North King]

Update 2 is up!

 

[Jehoshua]

It was in Syarno, late one moonless night,
The God-Bird first appeared to human sight –
He let a feather float down through the air,
And rumours of its fame spread everywhere;

Throughout the world men separately conceived
An image of its shape, and all believed
Their private fantasies uniquely true!
(In Syarno still this feather is on view,
Whence comes the saying you have heard, no doubt,
“Seek Knowledge, unto Syarno seek it out.”)
If this same feather had not floated down,
The world would not be filled with His renown –
It is a sign of Him, and in each heart
There lies this feather’s hidden counterpart.
But since no words suffice, what use are mine
To represent or to describe this sign?
Whoever wishes to explore the Way,
Let him set out – what more is there to say?

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Update 3 - for the interested has been up for a little while (this game primarily going on through the NES discord). It is expected that states and equivalents may begin to appear in the next few turns as we emerge from the mists of prehistory, so those perchance interested in governments, politics and interactions of like kind may do well to keep an eye out, or better yet join early and set the stage.

Here's hoping the emergence of states permits better use of this thread.

 

[Terrance888]

The First Arrivals of the New World

Link to a summary of the cultures which made the journey to the New World.
Orders should be in approximately 5 days coming.

 

[Jehoshua]

Update 4 is up.

A new world (continent) has been discovered whilst in the old domains of humanity man stands on the precipice of civilisation. All in all a good time for anyone interested in NES's to have a look and join in.
As noted before, this game mechanically occurs primarily via the medium of the NES discord, however as states (and state analogues) become established it is to be hoped that we'll see more offerings on this thread (diplomacy, stories and the like, for which a forum is in my opinion a better medium for ease of accessing records than a discord thread).

 

[Aiken_Drumn]

Excited for the progress to states!

 

[Jehoshua]

Excited for the progress to states!

If you are excited you ought to join, we very much could do with some more players!

 

[DuneBear]

Is the game still active? I’d like to join in if possible

 

[Jehoshua]

Yes it is, I have sent you a link to the NES discord (in case you aren't there already). Now is a very good time to join the game since it is shortly after an update. (note the update will cover the proto-literate period up to about 4k bc approximate, the next turn or the one after will see us enter the bronze age, states, writing and all that traditional NES territory.

 

[Thlayli]

OOC: A very simple cautionary nursery tale from the early Ren (Chalcolthic) period in eastern Thestrenia with pre-agricultural themes. Later iterated on in much greater epic/dramatic detail by period.

The Feasts of Mirnal

In the days when Varhal still walked the earth, and his clouds shielded man from the cruel gaze of God, lay a land named Mirnal. It was a land of five valleys, each more beautiful than the last. In the first valley, gold and silver lay upon the ground for the taking. In the second, docile harts and hares who feared not man willingly gave up their lives to the hunter. In the third, all the fruits of the land which the gods had hidden from God were cultivated on shining trees. In the fourth, the boughs of the trees dropped wood sweet and dry, easy to plane and strong of surface. In the fifth, animals of finest fur offered their pelts of soft and supple red and silver.

So it could be said that Mirnal was a paradise of the Earth. The first who came to Mirnal lay astounded at its bounty, and they resolved to preserve it. They took only a small measure from each of the valleys - each man and woman and child wore a circlet of gold, a pelt of finest fur, and each day, a rich meal of tender venison stewed with berries. For a time, this was all well.

But the neighbor-ren of Mirnal, the Nothren, whose forests were pierced by God’s rays, and minds with God’s lust, saw the prosperity of the neighbor. Our pelts are thin, said they to the Mirnalren. Our stomachs are empty. Our children are weeping. Our lands are striven.

The Mirnalren said to the Nothren, trade then with us that we might share our bounty. But the Nothren said, we trade our lives, for that is all that we might offer. The Mirnalren took what was offered, and the Nothren came to serve in Mirnal. Day in and out the Nothren carried meat to the table, built the houses of the Mirnalren and their own upon the peaks.

The Mirnalren now lived in even greater paradise, for their labors in taking the bounty were done by the Nothren. Yet as more and more of the Nothren came to the bounty, the Mirnalren did not lessen their feasts, they grew still more riotous as more Nothren swelled their halls. Still they offered all the circlet of gold, the pelt of red, the hall of planed timbers, to each of the Nothren. And the feasts of Mirnal became legend in the land.

Yet the sounds of these feasts echoed up to the very heavens, where God in His golden hall heard the sounds of the revels. And who, said tyrant God, dares mirthmake without My leave, outside My majesty? His gaze pierced the clouds to see Mirnal in its five valleys. And to it He brought fire, and drought, and in less than a moonspan made of that place a desert.

The Mirnalren and the Nothren fell upon each other then, in slaughter and chaos, and their paradise was thrown to the winds under the vindictive gaze of God’s hate. Yet even this day, the ashes of Mirnal, planted in your valley, might bloom flowers.

 

[Jehoshua]

Update 5 part 1 is up:

After a year's hiatus, this is a regional update covering continent B in the great archipelago. We are expecting the central sea region to be covered next whereupon we shall have a focus set of turns as the game finally reaches the stage of polities and politics. Anyone who is interested in this would do well to consider joining at this stage as that is when the next orderset will be required.

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LINEAR CADAIC SCRIPT​

​

The centre of the nascent bronze age urban revolution and the font of writing for all the cultures bound together by the maritime trade routes the converge upon the Isle of Herun was undoubtedly the Cadai civilisation. Whilst early pictographs have been uncovered, the earliest Cadai script that can be with certitude ascertained as true writing was a relatively complex (albeit relatively simple compared to the hieroglyphic script of Gahad) script composed of around three hundred and fifty signs. The first examples of this script found were preserved clay tablets, for these signs were cut into clay as a simple, expedient and cheap means of record keeping in a time of increasing mercantile and political complexity. Later as ruins were more fully excavated inscriptions were found in stone (most notably in palace complexes and temples, as well as on steles), and relatively rare finds of linear script on organic materials (these most often being found in desert lands where the climate preserved them) were later uncovered as well, with some of these being in a cursive form.

The signs of this script can be categorised into four groupings.

• Phonetic Signs: symbols representing syllables and sounds in the Ancient Cadai language.​
• Ideograms: symbols representing whole words and concepts​
• Ligatures: composite signs​
• Numerals and metrical signs.​

Referring to the above samples some of these signs can be observed.

The word Kaantazarrik, a Cadai city is composed of the signs KAAN (God), the particle TA, and ZARRIK (fortress). The name of the city means God's Fortress. This word aptly demonstrates the use of logographic characters to convey meaning. The name of the city Karhat on the other hand derives from a mysterious linguistic substrate of a previous and lost people. Accordingly, the non-cadaic part of the name is phonetically transcribed, whilst the character HAT derived most likely from a field pictogram means "settlement".

The words KATTAI, the endonym of the people, and EMEKAZZU (commoner) both show the use of the sign for a person and reveal something of the Cadai worldview. The sign TTAI indicates an honorific third person plural particle and the word KATTAI can be determined to mean "The True People" or "The Exalted People". On the other hand the ZZU character in EMEKAZZU is a simple third-person multiplication marker, which pluralises the previous character. This same term is used for foreign nations (for instance VAKKAZU, for the Vyrgyr). Scholars have suggested that this may indicate the Cadai believed in the superior essential character of their nation over other peoples.

While this most ancient of languages remains quite obscure, various details regarding its grammar have been uncovered as the languages script has been deciphered. More details regarding the language as currently known to scholars may be found here.