Dethek Dethek was the name of a runic script used by the Dwarvish language , as well as some , and by the giant , ogre , orc , gnome , goblin , and terran languages . It consisted of letters , numerals and symbols for common words or phrases . " Dethek " was also sometimes used to refer to the Dwarvish language as a whole . Writing . Alphabet . The Dethek runic alphabet consisted of 24 characters . The sounds " w " , " x " , and " z " were represented by the same character . This might have been confusing for humans trying to translate into Common . It was not an issue for native Dethek users , as few words in those languages had these letters . Numerals . The Dethek method of counting used a collection of straight lines , joined together to create a number . This means that each number appeared as a single character . The characters for 1 and 5 were combined in various logical ways to create the numbers 1 to 9 : The characters for 1 , 5 , and 10 were combined to created numbers up to 20 : Numbers from 20 to 99 could be created using logical combinations of the 1 , 5 , and 10 symbols : To make 100 , simply invert a 10 on top of itself ( 10×10 = 100 ) . The rest of the hundreds could be created using combinations of previous symbols : To make 1000 , flip a 10 symbol on its side in front of 100 ( 10×10×10 = 1000 ) . Additional thousands were added with a notch in the flipped thousand symbol : Symbols . Clans and tribes and some of the most common words , races , or phrases had their own symbols . These were useful for sign - posting or creating runestones . Each of the main races in Faerûn had a collective symbol assigned to it . The symbol applied to both singular and plural , leaving the reader to work it out from context : Other symbols were used for tracking and signposting . These were hieroglyphics based on commonly understood concepts : a foot to mark a safe trail , an inverted helm or drinking horn to indicate fresh water , and so on : Others were " Marthammor Marks " , after the dwarven god Marthammor Duin , the Finder - of - Trails . Punctuation . Dethek was extremely lacking in punctuation . This was probably due to the fact that dwarves rarely recorded anything more than simple instructions , warnings , or spells . The first letters of nouns and words that began sentences could be capitalized . This was achieved with a simple horizontal accent over the letter : Words were generally separated by spaces . To end sentences , the most common method was a large line or slash across the line . To emphasize or show contrast against the writing surface , the runes could be painted . Names of people , races , and locations were highlighted in red , while the rest of the text was painted black or left unadorned . Any numbers enclosed in boxes were dates , written as day followed by year . Emotional content could be represented in how the runes were oriented , such as how the dwarven warhammer Oath - Hammer was marked in slanted runes to express the rage of its creator . Application . Dwarf - written Dethek runes were preferably carved into durable stone , and less often into metal , and rarely written on paper or cloth due to the short life and fragile nature of such materials . Dwarven runes were usually carved or scraped into the stone walls of a building or cave ; on a cairn , pillar , or standing stone , or inscribed or stamped on metal surfaces such as a weapon . Particular forms of dwarven writing were books of bound metal sheets or on stone tablets called runestone s . The simplicity of Dethek runes and their straight lines made carving them into stone simple . Despite this , runes inscribed on runestones were typically written in a spiral - form , from outside in . Examples . This example shows Dethek letters , symbols , and punctuation : This piece of text shows how written stories using the collective symbols can be misinterpreted : Depending on how one wanted to tell the story , this passage could be read in two ways : This example is a partial phrase demonstrating runes written on parchment : It transliterates to : " bases of operation of the zhentarim or black network " . History . Dethek runes dated to back to the beginning of recorded history in Faerûn , but it was only one of a number of different runic scripts in use over the centuries , including individual clan codes . Dethek survived to become the most well known and commonly used runic script by the 14th century DR . The others became " dead tongues " and were little used at that time . Strong links between the gold dwarves of the Great Rift and the early people of Unther led to the Untheric language using Dethek runes . The Siremun dwarves of the Firepeaks taught Dethek runes to the Raumviran people for the Raumvira language . The Damaran language used Dethek runes as a result of cooperation between the people of Impiltur and the dwarves of the Earthfast Mountains early in their history . Speakers of the Shaaran tongue picked up Dethek runes from gold dwarf traders from the Great Rift . Users . The following languages commonly used Dethek writing for their written forms :