Magic and arcane text

[Kendelian]

So, i have an idea for a character that stumbles upon an ancient library used by ancient sorcerers. The books are written in a dead language, and I’m trying to figure out how to get my protagonist to be able to read the language. It’s set in a more medieval time, and he’s illiterate. The magic in question is hereditary, and he’s lucky enough to get said magical birthright. The magic in question requires materials to preform, although some don’t require any materials. I’m toying with the idea of a spell that allows him to understand the language, but that feels like lazy writing. What are your thoughts to help on the matter?

[Channelknight Fadran]

Is the language alphabatized? Cuniform? Fourier transform?

[Kendelian]

42 minutes ago, Channelknight Fadran said:

Is the language alphabatized? Cuniform? Fourier transform?

It’s just a phonetic version of English. It has a central horizontal line with vertical lines separating each symbol. The attached photo reads “hi, how are you?

[Quantus]

3 hours ago, Kendelian said:

So, i have an idea for a character that stumbles upon an ancient library used by ancient sorcerers. The books are written in a dead language, and I’m trying to figure out how to get my protagonist to be able to read the language. It’s set in a more medieval time, and he’s illiterate. The magic in question is hereditary, and he’s lucky enough to get said magical birthright. The magic in question requires materials to preform, although some don’t require any materials. I’m toying with the idea of a spell that allows him to understand the language, but that feels like lazy writing. What are your thoughts to help on the matter?

Under normal circumstances I'd say he needs a Rosetta Stone of some kind to bridge the gap to the dead language. But if the MC has no written language basis to connect to and/or build on, the options are limited.  At that point it's either Oral Tradition or Magic.  You could Download the knowledge directly but that raises all kinds of education questions when he has to learn later a less than instant rates.  He could have a magic item that Bypasses the Language barrier, which has the plot benefit of being immovable, destructible, etc if if becomes problematic (but then could feel a bit cheaty if not handled with grace).  Or he can have a mentor, living or magic spirit, that can teach him the old fashioned way and up to their own limitations, but this can be the classic Talking Head problem if overdone, but Jim Butcher turned into a literal talking head named Bob that people loved, so it can be done well.

[+Invocation]

How long has the language been extinct for and how is it connected to the language the character speaks? I know if it were me, I'd go the whole Talking Head thing that Quantus is talking about with ghostly librarian assistant things or something like that. 
Or you could take it the PJO route and have the bloodline connect to an instinctual knowledge of the language.

[Kendelian]

2 minutes ago, Quantus said:

Under normal circumstances I'd say he needs a Rosetta Stone of some kind to bridge the gap to the dead language. But if the MC has no written language basis to connect to and/or build on, the options are limited.  At that point it's either Oral Tradition or Magic.  You could Download the knowledge directly but that raises all kinds of education questions when he has to learn later a less than instant rates.  He could have a magic item that Bypasses the Language barrier, which has the plot benefit of being immovable, destructible, etc if if becomes problematic (but then could feel a bit cheaty if not handled with grace).  Or he can have a mentor, living or magic spirit, that can teach him the old fashioned way and up to their own limitations, but this can be the classic Talking Head problem if overdone, but Jim Butcher turned into a literal talking head named Bob that people loved, so it can be done well.

One idea I came up with after I posted this is make the MC a scholar. He is part of the city guard, and an injury could potentially remove him from the force, and i could give him an interest in the scholarly arts. I do like some of your ideas, though.

[Quantus]

Just now, Kendelian said:

One idea I came up with after I posted this is make the MC a scholar. He is part of the city guard, and an injury could potentially remove him from the force, and i could give him an interest in the scholarly arts. I do like some of your ideas, though.

Interesting! Is he still Illiterate in that case? That might work if the magic knowledge is more of a Glyph & Diagram sort of thing than long scholarly texts.  

[Kendelian]

2 minutes ago, Invocation said:

How long has the language been extinct for and how is it connected to the language the character speaks? I know if it were me, I'd go the whole Talking Head thing that Quantus is talking about with ghostly librarian assistant things or something like that. 
Or you could take it the PJO route and have the bloodline connect to an instinctual knowledge of the language.

The capacity to use magic is hereditary, but the bloodline is very polluted, due to the ancient sorcerers dying off a thousand years ago. I did have the PJO idea, but that feels lazy.

[+Invocation]

6 minutes ago, Kendelian said:

The capacity to use magic is hereditary, but the bloodline is very polluted, due to the ancient sorcerers dying off a thousand years ago. I did have the PJO idea, but that feels lazy.

You know, that's fair. Could go half-and-half and just say it lets him pick up the language easier. Slight predisposition but not quite the instant understanding.

[Quantus]

4 minutes ago, Invocation said:

You know, that's fair. Could go half-and-half and just say it lets him pick up the language easier. Slight predisposition but not quite the instant understanding.

Or it could be something he's only heard spoken (in family songs or something) but never seen written, so it's familiar and easier to pick up but still fundamentally alien at first glance. 

I knew a girl in High School that was 2nd generation french immigrant, so she Spoke fluent Conversational French, but was taking French classes to learn how to a) speak formally, and b.) spell any of it at all.

Edited April 24, 2023 by Quantus

[+Invocation]

Just now, Quantus said:

spell any of it at all.

Truly the most difficult part of French. 

Just now, Quantus said:

Or it could be something he's only heard spoken (in family songs or something) but never seen written, so it's familiar and easier to pick up but still fundamentally alien at first glance. 

But yeah, that's a good idea.

[Channelknight Fadran]

If it's phonetic then given enough time anyone could crack it. You can find word puzzles where every letter is scrambled, and by trial and error you can begin to determine which letters stand for which and eventually work out the phrase. Starting with simple words like "the" and "to" and such, then slowly whittling away possibilities until you come across an interpretation that works.

Could totally be worth a few chapters if you go with that