AUTHORS NOTE: Because I had SO many illustrations, I had to break the book up into sections because it took far too long to load not to mention my netscape crashing because the file was way too big. :¬Þ

TABLE OF CONTENTS

± Preface

± Runic Backgrounds

± Scripts
The Runic Alphabet
Runic Alternatives
Ugaritic Alphabet
Brahmi Alphabet
Etruscian Alphabet
American Braille Alphabet
Phoenician Alphabet
Early Greek Alphabet
Classical Greek
Sanskrit Alphabet
Georgian Alphabet
Glagolitic
Cyrillic (russian) Alphabet
Old Hebrew Alphabet
Linear Hebrew
Cherokee Syllabary

± Pictograph
Egyptian Alphabet
Chinese Characters
Magical Scripts
Ogham Alphabet
Alphabet Of Demons
Alphabet of the Magi
Enochian Alphabet
The Alphabet of daggers
The Alphabet of Nug-Soth
Masonic/Rosicrucian Alphabet
Theban Alphabet
Malachum Writing
Celestial Alphabet
Pafsing The River

± Numbers
Roman Numerals
Babylonian Number System
Glagolitic Numerals
Brahmi Numerals
Nagari Numerals
Hebrew Numerals
Pentathic Numerals
Arabic Numerals
Sanskrit Numbers

± Today in Runes
Using Runes in Your Adventures
Making Runes Magical
Background on Symbols
Bindrunes
Magical Elder Runes

± Symbols
Symbols of Defence
Symbols of Energy
Component Substitution
Symbols of Components used by Alchemists

± The Runemaster Class
Appearance
Background

± Runemaster's Powers
Mind Link
Soul Link

± Runemasters of Today
Gemstone Folklore

± Other Ideas
Crazy Ideas

± Epilogue

Draft 9.1
Title: Forgotten Scripts
Written by Dino Manzella
© 1992 Dino Manzella Copyright Registration # TXu 540-165 All rights reserved.


PREFACE

I always felt there was something missing when I played role-playing games. Maybe I yearned for the sensation of actually being my character. Every game I played seemed too "on paper", and too mathematical; not enough realism for myself. Using our imaginations was great, but I wanted something more physical. I looked for a way to bridge the gap between player and character -- then I found it! Props were the key. I have to give credit to a gamemaster that personally inspired this concept to me. He didn't invent it, but when he opened my eyes to it, it changed my method of playing forever. His name is Mark Whitehurst. As our gamemaster, he at many times encouraged us into role playing our characters as often as possible. In an act to make the game more exciting, Mark spent extra time in preparation. He often would do things like taking a piece of paper, spill coffee or tea on it and let it dry. Afterwards he would write a message on it and burn the edges making it look like old parchment. This prop was then used as an ancient scroll, map or note in the game. It was thrilling to have a tangible item that stemmed from our imaginations. Now the game was no longer just "on paper"; it was amidst us. I knew that it was still just a game, but while it lasted, it was real. Thanks Mark!, wherever you are.

Eventually I lost contact with Mark when he moved to California. I then went off to gamemaster on my own. I felt that as a gamemaster, it was my responsibility to make the game more real; to bring excitement. I wanted to take Mark's idea about the ancient scroll one a step further. I would go to flea markets and garage sales to collect medieval looking items. My pursuit led me to find small treasure chests, real flint & steel, small animal pelts, glass marbles, old large metal keys, swords, shields and many other artifact look-a-likes. I still to this day find it truly entertaining watching a group of weekend adventurers try to figure out which key to use to open a locked chest. It becomes VERY amusing to see them fumble with a leather pouch wondering if certain death awaits them upon opening it.

Back when I was a sophomore in high school, a friend of my sister Gianina showed me a version of the runic alphabet. I, in turn, showed it to all of my friends at school and we used the alphabet to pass notes in class without fear of their contents being revealed. I knew that the runic alphabet actually existed because I saw forms of it in pictures and on lead figures all over the fantasy role-playing world. I wanted to find out more on this topic, but I could only find bits and pieces of information within role-playing books. This led me to check my local library. My trip to the library proved successful, however I was overwhelmed with the amount of useless information that accompanied my main focus. I weeded out the insignificant data and thus this book was created.

My search for alphabets led me to places I never thought I would ever go. For instance, while questing for magical celestial alphabets -- I found myself in old seminary colleges thumbing through their oldest books that holy men of ages past used in the casting of white magic spells. As I dug further and further, I uncovered demonic alphabets as well. Some of them on pages on the brink of decay.

This book by no means is meant to be used to decipher scripts from around the world, nor to write spells for casting. Some of the alphabets have had characters intentionally withheld or slightly altered for the purpose of making them easier for use in gaming. Even some of the ceremonial processes contained within these pages are of my own fabrication. Because the magical effects of this folklore does not exist, I had a hard time pinpointing the intended effects of some signs and symbols. Thus some of the magical effects are my own interpretation and/or fabrication. In other words.. Don't take this information seriously. This is only intended for use in gaming.

Dino Manzella

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© 1992 Dino Manzella Copyright Registration # TXu 540-165 All rights reserved.
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