Interimal

Interimal is a secret language developed by the Order of Liminal Observation to allow for safe communication between members. All members learn Interimal and become as fluent in it as they are in common. It is a written language only.

Interimal is a language consisting of a series of characters arranged in a particular spiral pattern about a circle in order to form a single symbol representing a word in Common. A single character is created by overlaying two character halves on top of one another; every character represents one Common letter. That character is then placed in its corresponding position in the symbol spiral (See Fig.3) to denote where that Common letter is placed within it's Common word. The letter's two character halves are determined based off where the letter sits in the Decoding Grid, the halves acting as grid coordinates (See Fig. 1, full letter characters seen in Fig. 2).

**Word Structure**

Words consist of letter characters arranged in a spiral pattern about the first letter character of the word enclosed within a circle. The particular spiral arrangement can be in spokes of 2, 3, or 5 (See Fig. 3) based off of the number of letters in the word (See Spoke Formula Below). For example, "run", being a 3 letter word, would have 2 spokes about the center circle; the center circle containing the character corresponding to "R" (4th row, 2nd column) inscribed inside of it. "U" and "N" would then be placed free standing (not inscribed in a circle) on the top and bottom of the circle respectively and touching the circle. Other words would follow the same structure. When the number of spokes is determined, the characters are then placed in a spiral pattern, always beginning at the top touching the circle, and proceeding clockwise. When the number of spokes touching the circle has been extinguished, the next character is placed in the next open space between characters, clockwise of the current character's position and not touching the circle. When two full rotations have been completed, characters are then stacked directly above the first line of characters. For example, a word like perfection (3 spokes) "P" would be inscribed in the center circle and "E", "R", and "F" would touch the circle and go around clockwise. "E" would then fill the gap between the first "E" and "F". "C" and "T" would fill the other two gaps in clockwise order. Finally, "I", "O", and "N" would be placed above the first "E", "R", and "F". This pattern of character arrangement causes each word to create a shape resembling a square (2 spokes, 7 characters), a triangle (3 spokes, 10 characters) or a pentagon (5 spokes, 16 characters).

**Spoke Formula**

The number of spiral spokes can be determined by the following formula: *(N-1) = S*, where N is the number of letters in a word and S is the number of spokes in the initial spiral, rounded up to the nearest factor of 2, 3, or 5. With the only exceptions being if N-1 is a prime above 5. (See Table Below)

**Important Words and Phrases**

Select important words and phrases have been shortened to easier symbols to draw as the spirals can get quite large quite quickly (as is apparent above). There is a running list of these terms below. (See Fig. 4 for some of the more prominent examples) It is also common for members of the Order to shorten their names to a single symbol of their own design (Always inscribed inside of a circle denoting that it is in fact a full word). It is always easy to tell when a word or phrase has been shortened as the symbol for it extends beyond it's circumscribed circle.

**Number System**