Runic

Before the golbal acceptance of the Common Language, regional dialects were the primary means of communication throughout Amaranthine. This meant, of course, that a traveller from one part of Amaranthine would find it difficult to understand the words of a local from another area. As such, the acceptance of a group of common written languages came into being long before the establishment of a common spoken language. This group of languages came to be known as Runic.
Whilst this did not solve every problem with the old system - many regions chose to maintain their own methods of writing rather than switching to a new one - two forms of Runic language did gain a notable position within Amaranthine. The two most notable forms of Runic were Nivician and Xinos Runes.
In addition, the usefulness of Runic was heavily debated, with the primary concern being that Runes written based upon one regional dialect would most likely not translate well, if at all, to any other dialect. Despite this concern, Runic language prospered as many adapted to recognising the symbols in relation to other physical or pictoral aids.
==Nivician Runes==
Nivician Runes, also known as Magi Runes were the primary written language for all of Amaranthine formally. Bearing a striking similarity in many ways to the Common Language of today, the Nivician Runes were a breakthrough in regional relations. 
Whilst formally named after Nivicus, the High Lord and First of the Seventeen Divines, the runes quickly became known as Magi Runes, due to their primary establishers and subsequent promoters, the Magi. As known, the Magi would go on to use this new unified method of communication to unite Amaranthine fully under the banner of the Kingdom.
Whilst the use of Runic fell out of practice with the creation of the Common Language, many potential Manipulators are taught to read at least Nivician Runes to fully grasp older tomes, as unlike the Old-Tongue, Nivician Runes were available for all to study.
==Xinos Runes==
Xinos Runes, commonly referred to as Chaos Runes were the second most popular form of Runic language used across Amaranthine, intended primarily as a secular language in stark comparison to the much more formal Nivician runes. Due to the fact that most runes could be written in either a single or two strokes, Xinos Runes quickly came to be associated with travelling merchants, with most inventories being written in this language.
Whilst many would assume that the Xinos Runes are named after Lord Xinos, the God of Chaos, in a similar method to how Nivician Runes gained their formal title, this is not the case. Xinos Runes were never given a true formal title, and the term Chaos Runes came to be as a result of their many differences to Nivician. Shortly after, the term Xinos Rune was adopted to bring the un-named runes into parallel with Nivician Runes.
Despite their held position as the second most common and popular Runes in Amaranthine, they were also notable for falling victim to the issues concerning regional differences. Whils the alphabet itself remained mostly identical throughout regions, the methods of representing numbers differed greatly. This led to many disputes regarding the prices of items presented by merchants. However, as Nivician Runes have no dedicated numbers, instead using a system of either spelling out a number or using letters in substitue for numbers. As such, Xinos Runes remained the simplest fundamental method of displaying prices.
Category:Lore