.Welcome, To, Θe, Virtual+
;course, For, Nsl, 159 !₾ & ₲1
Painting of a Divoši Woman(1806). The meaning of "I am a person who believes that Grand Karcist Ion will ascend" is inscribed on her back in Ämärangä Pilesaran.
Syllabus
To start, I am your Professor, Senior Researcher Dr. Evika Cohen, and lead of the Department of Tactical Linguistics and Graphemics. I can be reached by email at any time but will respond only from 14:00-22:00 UTC Monday through Friday. If you want to speak to me in person, send an email about it. Do not come to my office at Site-83. I am never in my office. I do not care how inconvenient that is to you personally.
This three-week course is not intended to improve your speaking skills in the language of the community you've been assigned to. Those assigned to communities that still speak languages descended from Adytite should have completed their assigned language courses already. If you have been assigned to one of these communities and have not yet completed your language course, please take this up with your commander.
No previous course is required for those of you who have been assigned communities that speak your native language. This course is taught in English, though the transliteration of Latin letters that do not exist natively or have been adopted into Pilesaran is covered. If you were assigned to a region that uses primarily Cyrillic script, again, take this up with your commander. You are in the wrong class.
This course primarily focuses on reading and transliterating into the alphabet known as Pilesaran, commonly used in Nälkän and some Neo-Sarkic communities found in most of Europe, Northwestern Asia, Western Siberia, and some immigrant communities in parts of the Americas, Oceania, and Africa.
In the modern era, Pilesaran, and Soonesaran, are primarily written with ink and paper. However, cutaneous larva migrans tattoos are still very common and the ability to control the flesh-shaping required to create these CLM tattoos is seen as an important part of learning the scripts. Because of this, both Pilesaran and Soonesaran are taught to most students through a method of shaping pieces of wet yarn into the desired words. This is known as the "twine-and-paste" method. We will not be using this method, but feel free to use it on your own time.
Soonesaran, a logography understood by most modern Nälkän communities worldwide, will be touched on in this course primarily for its use in Pilesaran. However, it is important to note that the use of Soonesaran should be avoided in the field. Assignments that outright require Soonesaran should be assigned to a natively Soonesaran-literate agent. I'll go into detail on exactly why this decision was made later in the course. For now, if your assignment requires Soonesaran-literacy, you cannot read it already, and you've been sent to this class as a substitute: do not contact your commander. Contact me with your commander's name so that I can personally have them stripped of their responsibilities.
For discussion assignments between peers meant to improve reading comprehension that are submitted through the online portal, the tool below may be used to create digital characters.
All introductions aside, let's get to actually learning something.
History and Background
Due to missing historical records, little can be confirmed about the origins of these writing systems. However, it is accepted that Soonesaran is much older than the relatively modern Pilesaran.
The larval stage of Uncinaria graphia
The script's shape and form come from Uncinaria graphia, an anomalous nematode parasite the script was originally written in via cutaneous larva migrans(CLM). Some much older or isolated individuals call these markings "niŋəžamže," literally "(subcutaneous parasite)worm-skin" in Adytite, but by and large, they're referred to as just the regional word for "tattoo." To differentiate them, we'll be calling them CLM tattoos.
Though this species descends from a very recent common ancestor with Uncinaria stenocephala2, it was selectively bred and genetically altered by Early Nälkän communities into a new species entirely. Uncinaria graphia has lost the ability to move, react to stimuli on its own, and has increased in relative circumference to improve legibility under the skin. Worms do not infect on skin contact as their ancestors did; larvae are forced under the skin with a sharp implement and then pushed and stretched into the desired logograph with pressure and flesh-shaping once under the skin3. These worms are then connected to the host's circulatory system. Mild irritation appears around fresh CLM tattoos for the first few weeks but diminishes as the injuries heal. The worms can live indefinitely within the host with little to no negative side effects.
Soonesaran tattoo belonging to PoI-83721("Võlutaar Saarn4"). The meaning is "I am a person that believes Gluttony/Heresy is the same as death."
Nälkän oral traditions dictate that Soonesaran was developed by dissidents during the Daeva empire's rule, as a method to communicate with like-minded allies while avoiding detection. Writings were easily mistaken by those in positions to quash rebellion as the ever-common parasite infections that plagued the lower classes in the empire and were mostly ignored. Messages were transported secretly by living animal and human "messengers" and butchered cuts of meat that bore the markings.
An Adytite Stele. "Ion's ascension" or "Ascension of Ion."
Though no specific written examples remain from this period, it is presumed that messages were relatively simple in content and shape, with the more complex logographs that dominated current Soonesaran literature appearing during the Deathless Empire. This view is reinforced by the Adytite Steles, one of the few examples of writing on non-perishable material from the Deathless Empire.
Per Nälkän tradition, it was Klavigar Nadox who created Soonesaran in its modern aspect, creating thousands of characters to represent concepts both material and ethereal, with the primary objective of uniting the thousand ethnic groups in the Empire under the same literary tradition. The ease of proselytism given by it also made it an attractive choice for the nascent religion.
Thousands of years later in the 11th century, a movement among traveling Karcists began to adapt to the contemporary changes to languages spoken by Nälkän communities that occurred since the fall of the Deathless Empire. Inspiration was taken from the writing systems endemic to the region such as the Cyrillic, Latin, and Futhark alphabets. Due to limitations of the medium of CLM tattoos, Pilesaran words are written in a continuous line to minimize the number of worms required for each word and ease legibility.
Most of the languages that these scripts were originally developed for started to die out entirely and were replaced by the dominant languages in the regions. These scripts did not fall out of use alongside their respective languages and were instead repurposed to write the new languages spoken by the communities. Their continued use is attributed to various factors by Nälkän communities; most commonly cited are the secrecy provided by their use, the preserved art of religious calligraphy passed down among generations, and a cultural sense of resistance to assimilation.
Though in the modern era Pilesaran is used internally by most Nälkän and some Neo-Sarkic communities in the regions it's spread to, even within these communities Soonesaran remains an important component for writing titles, names, and grammar throughout the Nälkän sphere.
Pilesaran
Pilesaran, literally translated as "long words", is simple to memorize in practice. It was designed to be easy to pick up and has accomplished that goal relatively well. Learning Pilesaran will not be the hardest part of your assignment, I promise.
Words are made up of one large worm with smaller accent worms. Words start with the pointy posterior of the nematode and end with the blunt anterior end. This is because worms are inserted head first down away from the previous writing to ensure the spaces between words remain consistent. This rule does not apply to accent worms, the direction of those does not matter.
Punctuation
Pilesaran is read omnidirectionally. In addition to the pointy end of the nematode, There are five kinds of anchors in Pilesaran to further clarify directionality and serve as punctuation. Three of these anchors, the 'punctuation anchors', correspond directly to English end punctuation.
.
.
!
!
?
?
The 'period' punctuation anchor has existed at least since Soonesaran was expanded during the Deathless Empire but the other two were added later on. All letters are read from their relation to these anchors. Unlike English, these anchors are written at the start of each sentence like in the examples below.
!Hello,5
For the sake of this course, all text will be read horizontally. The other two anchors do not correspond to anything in English. These are the 'line anchors.'
End
-
Start
:
Line anchors appear at the beginning and end of each new line of text to show you which line is next and which direction to read the next line respectively. If the end of the line goes down it is directing you to read the line directly below it next. If it's pointing up, or any other direction, that is the line you read next. For the sake of this course, all lines will go from top to bottom.
.I, Am, Doctor+
;cohen,
It is important to remember that the line anchor on the line you are directed towards is treated as a new punctuation anchor. This means that the direction you were reading the text from is flipped on the next line. A good way to think about this is as if the text were a piece of rope folding over on itself.
As one last visual, here is what the text looks like with Latin characters.
→I am Doctor↓
→Cohen
Note that the above example is not the most correct way to write this sentence; names and titles are written in Soonesaran. We will go over this later.
If the end of the sentence falls at the end of the line, the punctuation anchor can replace the start line anchor.
.Hello+
! It, Is, Nice, To, Meet, You,6
Punctuation anchors within a line of text function no differently than English end punctuation other than their placement at the beginning of each sentence.
.Sentence+
;one, .Sentence, Two,7
There is no comma in Pilesaran; conjunctions are placed between each item on the list. There is also no apostrophe in Pilesaran; contracted words like "can't" or "don't" are written as "cannot" or "do not." However, anglophone readers of Pilesaran still skip over unnecessary uses of conjunctions and use contractions while speaking. Apart from the anchors, there is only one other form of punctuation in Pilesaran: quotation marks.
"
."
These were added relatively recently, in the 17th century, but spread quickly and are recognized by almost all communities that use Pilesaran today. These are used as you would use a regular quotation mark, but the anchors go on the outside of the quotation marks.
.'like, Θis",8
Alphabet
Pilesaran was originally created with 31 letters. These letters correspond directly to letters found in the Old Adytite language.
A
.A
Ä
.Ä
B
.B
C
.C
D
.D,
Dʲ
.{
E
.E
Ə
.Ə
G
.G
I
.I
J
.J
K
.K
L
.L
M
.M
N
.N
Ŋ
.Ŋ
O
.O
Õ
.Õ
P
.P
R
.R
S
.S
T
.T
U
.U
Ü
.Ü
V
.V
Ž
.Ž
Those of you who've taken the Ämärangnä course may be familiar with the following.
.Soone, Ültü, .Ültü, Mi, Vjema+
;ütü, Mi, Bə}ema, .Mi, Sülä-
:ŋemu, Kuŋ, Uree, Mi, Tüle, Gemu+
;kug, Uree, .Ŋämän, Cuca, Gemen-
:susa, .Mäcä, Siŋa, Mese, Tiga+
.Num, Murun, Num, Murun, .Ŋum-
:salu, Gum, Talu, .Ŋum, Suem+
;gum, Təbem, .Üe, Küce, Üe, Küse-
.Suem, Küce, Təbem, Küse+
.Käjä, Ŋuŋa, Ke}e, Guga, .Raŋa-
:uree, Daga, Uree, .Lujuma, Me+
;lu}uma, Me, .Mimin, Ün, Näm-
:mimin, Ün, Nem, .Ŋul, Ŋul+
;säsäjä, Gubu, Gubu, Sese}e, Mi-
:suunam, Mi, Suunam,
Additional letters were added to the script later on at various times.
Most of these letters bear a resemblance to the characters they are borrowed from and are noticeably different than the other letters with the exception of the ".Ö" and ".Р" glyphs which take their shapes from the ".Õ" and ".R".
Pilesaran, due to its history of adapting to languages it wasn't originally made for, is used in English mostly orthographically in a way much like the Latin alphabet. However, there are some English multi-letter graphemes that are written phonetically: the constant graphemes.
Bb
.B
Ck
.K
Ch
.Chs
Dd
.D
Dge
.Dž
Gg
.G
Mm
.M
Ng
.Ŋ
Ph
.F
Qu
.Q
Rr
.R
Sh
.Shs
Th
.Θ
Wh
.W
Wr
.R
So, the sentence "I wrote about chewing bubblegum on the bridge" would be written as follows.
.I, Rote, About, Chsewiŋ+
;bublegum, On, Θe-
:bridž,
In Latin characters, it looks like this.
→I rote about chsewiŋ↓
→bublegum on θe↑
→bridž,
For languages other than English, whether the language is written in Pilesaran orthographically or phonetically depends mostly on when the community adopted the language they are writing in and when the script was introduced to the language. Exactly which graphemes are used for which sound varies.
But, more often than not in communities that use Pilesaran orthographically, the accepted transliteration of graphemes from letters that don't exist in Pilesaran is often the same as transliterating into other scripts missing the same letters. Remember, most who can read Pilesaran can also read the scripts of the surrounding region. The spellings, outside of a few outliers, tend to match.
If "Č" in the Czech language is spelled "Cz" in transliterations to nearby alphabets that lack the letter, then the Divoši spell it as ".Cz" too.
Soonesaran
Soonesaran, literally translated as "sinew words," is much more difficult to learn than Pilesaran. However, you have already learned five symbols in Soonesaran: the Punctuation Anchors. These have existed long before Pilesaran.
That said, you will not be using Soonesaran on its own. Instead, you will be learning its use within Pilesaran. This dynamic of Soonesaran and Pilesaran can be compared to the use of Kanji and Hiragana in Japanese, though these are not an exact match. Soonesaran is used for proper names, titles, certain coordinating conjunctions, and rarely as a poetic device. Notably, most Neo-Sarkic sects do not use Soonesaran at all, even for these purposes.
For Nälkän and the rare Neo-Sarkic sects that do, spelling out the proper names for concepts will feel off. It is not illegible, they will understand it, but, when you've presented yourself as part of a community, it is a sign that you are an outsider. This mistake is often deadly. You do not have to be completely literate in Soonesaran, most raised in communities that use Pilesaran are not, but you should know to use it where you're meant to and how to write important logographs.
To start, we will be learning two of them for the examples of structure
Pilesaran
.₾
Soonesaran
.₲
Soonesaran glyphs are read with the same directionality as Pilesaran and are treated like words. There are spaces between each word the same as in Pilesaran.
.Θis, Is, ₲10
When a Soonesaran character falls at the end of a line, a space is placed before the End Line Anchor. The same idea goes for the Start Line Anchor; a space is placed after.
Four Soonesaran coordinating conjunctions are used within Pilesaran. The first three symbols correlate to the English words "And," "Or," and "Nor." Additionally, there is a symbol for "Not And." An easy way to remember which coordinating conjunctions have a symbol is to remember which ones can be used to describe a list of items.
And/&
.&
Or
.∧
Nor
.∇
Not And
.∆
As noted earlier "and" and "or" are treated like the word "nor" and are placed between every item on a list.
.I, Eat, Rice, & Beans, & *+
;lentils .I, Eat, Θem, Wiθ-
:garlic, ∧ Onion, ∧ Pepper, .I+
;do, Not, Eat, Θem, Wiθ-
:cheese, ∇ Milk, ∇ Eggs+
;i, Also, Do, Not, Eat, Mangos-
:, ∆ Almonds, ∆ Sesame,12
The ".∇" symbol is not a direct correlation to the English word "Nor." ".∇" is used for all lists of what something is not. The sentence "I do not like meat or fish," will always be written as "I do not like meat nor fish." The thing I like to eat is NOT meat or fish so you use ".∇." If you are making a list of negatives that you might use "or" for, use ".∇."
The ".∆" symbol is used identically to the ".∇," but replaces "and" instead. "I do not like meat and fish," will be written like "I do not like meat not and fish" with the ".∆" symbol in place of "not and".
Personal Names
The sect you are assigned to may have a different naming tradition, but names in Soonesaran almost always come from a traditional pre-existing logograph. However, there is one universal rule. Names of people are never more than one logograph at a time.
We'll be using a few examples for this kind of name.
So, in order to correctly introduce myself, without my title, I would write the following.
.Hello, I, Am, #
Of these four, two of them are edited from traditional symbols and two are taken straight from a pre-existing symbol.
Visionary
.®
War
.£
Hare/Rabbit
.§
Student
.#
You should notice right away that the symbols that were edited did not already have a spiral in them. Spirals in Nälkän tradition are a symbol of Grand Karcist Ion and are used to denote both something's relation to Nälkä or, more broadly, something with sapience. The edits to symbols are almost always to add a spiral if it does not already have one to denote that the symbol represents a person rather than an object.
Name symbols usually have no relation to the sound of a name. This tradition tends to differ based on sect, though. Kuobach was given the ".§" symbol as a baby due to a cleft lip. The sound of their name, when spoken verbally, also means "Hare" in their native language. "Jáska" means "bright star" and is entirely separate from the symbol used to write her name.
These symbols also often change throughout a person's life without changing the pronunciation of their actual name. The initial symbols are usually superficial and based on a physical characteristic of the child that the parents find endearing. These changes are usually made after their personality develops or drastic changes happen in a person's life. Kuobach did not change their symbol as they feel it still represents them. Jáska did change hers when she developed the passion to pursue a role as a Võlutaar. Karcist Halyna Ieva cannot be interviewed, but her symbol was most likely changed as well. Most reasonable people aren't going to name a child after something as negative as "war" and most Nälkäns, despite what you may have been told, are reasonable people.
When choosing your name, choose a logograph based on the persona you are trying to put forward. Try to avoid logographs with aggressive or negative connotations. My symbol is based on my academic pursuits.
There are exceptions to the rule of names being based on pre-existing symbols, of course. The most notable of which are Grand Karcist Ion and his Klavigar.
Ion
.¥
Nadox
.$
Lovataar
.¢
Orok
.€
Saarn
.₹
These symbols' detachment from secondary meanings is most likely just because they are older and were deemed too important to assign a secondary meaning to on their own. These logographs are never used to name a person other than the figures they are attached to. This does not mean these words cannot be used as part of a compound logograph to form a new meaning but we will get to that.
In addition to these five symbols, some sects may opt to develop new symbols entirely when naming their children but this is a rare practice. This is more common in the rare Neo-Sarkic communities that use Soonesaran and fully isolationist sects.
There are some other names that will be important to know, but we won't be going into much detail about.
Yaldabaoth
.₺
Archon
.ƒ
Titles
Moving on to titles. There are only four titles that you will likely use during your assignment. Each of them corresponds to a hierarchical role. However, we will be learning one more for the sake of example.
Ozi̮rmok
.₦
Klavigar
.₱
Karcist
.₴
Võlutaar
.₽
Doctor
.=
Titles are never left on their own. If they are meant to refer to the title itself without a name attached, the symbol for "Person" is placed after them in place of a name.
Person
.¶
These symbols are always placed directly before the name they are assigned to. There is no space left between these two symbols. An example of both these concepts would be the sentence below.
.Θe, ₱¶ Of, ₦¥ Are, Called+
;, ₱$ & ₱¢ & ₱€ & ₱₹13
This system of titling, of course, continues for all other titles and names attached to them.
.₴© & ₽® Boθ, Have, Titles,14
Finally, to truly introduce myself, title and all.
.Hello, I, Am, =#
Nälkän Numerals
Nälkän numerals are deceptively difficult. At first, they seem simple; they have the same basic structure as Arabic numerals. There are a number of digits that are placed next to each other to form larger numbers. There's no complicated system to memorize like Latin Numerals; the only numbers you'll have to remember are the single digits.
However, rather than using a decimal system like the Arabic numerals we're used to, Nälkän numerals are transcribed in a duodecimal system. This means that there are 12 single-digit numbers rather than the Arabic numeral system's 10.
Duodecimal systems of numbers are tricky, but the concept is easy to understand. Numbers 0-9 are exactly the same as they are in Arabic numerals. Instead of shifting to double digits at "10", there are an extra two single digit numbers correlating to "10" and "11": ".(" and ".)." Double digits start at the number 12. This means that, if written in Arabic Numerals, ".10," which is a 1 and a 0, actually means 12.
One Võlutaar I met once claimed that it correlates to the number of bones you have in your fingers on one hand that can be counted with your thumb. She explained that Klavigar Nadox learned to count that way when the Daeva cut off one of his hands. Another Võlutaar overheard our conversation and came to correct her; her explanation was that he had never had his hand cut off by the Daeva but was instead born with 6 fingers on each hand. Various other explanations exist, but most credit the numerical system to some aspect of the anatomy of Nadox's hands.
Compound words and Nälkän Communities.
Compound words in Soonesaran are two different logographs put next to each other without a space. Notably, both words are always nouns and the "descriptor" noun or nouns always come first. We're going to learn a few more words for these purposes.
Nälkä
.฿
Valksaran
.₡
The way you would describe a version of the Valksaran written in Pilesaran or one written in Soonesaran would be by putting the words for Pilesaran and Soonesaran in front of the logograph for Valksaran.
.₾₡ .₲₡
Names of communities are treated differently than personal names. These are almost always a compound word made up of multiple symbols unless a group is being referred to very broadly. These symbols are typically a combination of a descriptive noun and the symbol for the broader "category" after it. In the case of Nälkän communities, ".฿" for "Nälkä" is used. To learn these, I'll introduce the logographs that we will need.
Sky
.₪
Flame
.₷
Clothes16
.৳
Balance
.₸
Adytum
.₮
Falsity
.¤
Death
.₶
Sun
.૱
Clay
.₳
Womb
.₢
Curse
.₰
Horse
.₻
Sea
.₯
Merchant
.₠
With these symbols, we can make the names of communities.
Vaśńa
.₪₷฿
Divoši
.৳฿
Seŭlga
.₸฿
Ur- Nälkä
.₮฿
Neo-Sarkicism
.¤฿
Vātula
.₶฿
Solomonari
.₳฿
Pannonian Avars
.₰฿
Abraxas Group
.₠฿
Order of the Wyrm
.₹฿
This method of naming groups of people doesn't just apply when naming Nälkän communities. All groups of people are referred to with logographs. Compound words are also formed with the logographs for different groups to further differentiate them just as you do with ".฿."
Daeva
.₩
Mekhanite
.₵
In an Adytite Stele, Daevites from a port island were called ".₯₠₩," literally translated as "Merchant Seaman Daeva." An 11th-century manuscript describing an ancient Mekhanite army that was believed to use Greek fire used the word ".£₷₵" for "Greek Fire Mekhanite."
Notably, The word for Vaśńa and the Daeva and Mekhanite examples I gave are made up of three logographs. The first two logographs in these examples make up a separate compound word. There are quite a few of these words but we'll only be learning a handful.
Aurora Borealis
.₪₷
Merchant Seaman
.₯₠
Greek Fire
.£₷
Jautapi20
.£$
Heresy/Gluttony21
.¤₡
Lightbulb
.¤૱
Emptiness/Apathy
.0₰
A Birth Parent22
.₺¶
Eternal Love
.₦¢
A Cruel Person
.Ħ
A Tailor
.৳¶
An Undertaker
.₶¶
Ascension
.₶₺
Menstruation
.₢૱
Savant23
.₳¶
Compound words for generic nouns and concepts like the above can also be used in place of the Pilesaran and are done so to add a "poetic" element to writing or to emphasize something.
.He, Turns, On, Θe, ¤૱24
With that in mind, it is not suspicious to spell these words out with Pilesaran.
The "Order of the Wyrm" Incident
If you are still in this class despite your circumstances matching one of the scenarios I told you to contact your commander about, your commander told you to keep attending, or you were warned in advance to not listen to me: you aren't alone. There has been at least one in every class since I started teaching this course. I'm going to give you a reason to advocate for yourself.
This incident was the primary reason cited in overturning the "Silence is Self-Containment" policy towards disclosure of anomalous religious affiliation as well as why the Department of Tactical Linguistics and Graphemics exists at all.
It is true that the Foundation has a better understanding now that Soonesaran-Literate staff members are allowed to contribute to the conversation openly. That does not mean that something like this cannot happen again. Clearly, there are still commanders ignoring the safety protocols my department put in place to protect agents like you in a misguided effort to skip past "red tape." For your well-being, you must hold your commanders accountable to the safety nets we have in place.
Your takeaway from this tragedy should not be how far we have come, but that we cannot let this happen again.
In early March of 1998, an assassination attempt was carried out on a Site Director.
The group responsible was GoI-827, a loosely Serpent's Hand-affiliated Pan-Nälkän network known as the "Order of the Wyrm." Despite how the Foundation became familiar with this organization, the majority of the group's resources are dedicated to improving social infrastructure within the Wanderers' Library. This is accomplished through extremist leftist measures described by the group as "direct action" and "mutual aid." These actions often put them in conflict with the librarians.
The group is made up of thousands of different individuals all originating from various Nälkän and Neo-Sarkic communities as well as a handful of non-religiously-affiliated allies. GoI-827 operates on all 6 populated continents in addition to the Wanderers' Library and uses a form of bio-anomalous cross-dimensional communication to accomplish that. The organization is unique in that "open" recruitment periods take place every year during March in Three Portlands. These recruitment events do not require prior vetting and can be attended without access to the Wanderers' Library.
Agent Laura D'Vour was sent to one such recruitment posed as a Nälkän hopeful in an attempt to infiltrate the organization. She was asked to strip for examination and an initiation ritual. She was terminated by the Karcist who oversaw the introduction before she could be initiated. The last thing observed over the audio transmission was a comment by the Karcist that she "Did not even have [Soonesaran Marks.]"
Of course, the community Agent D'Vour presented herself as hailing from had a tradition of CLM tattoos of familial symbols. However, at the time the overseer for the project, Former Head Commander of Site-56, Mr. Abbott Costello, assumed Soonesaran CLM tattoos in general were a trait they were looking for in potential recruits to weed out infiltration attempts.
So, developing markings was deemed priority number one in Mr. Costello's plan to accomplish a successful infiltration. Due to his influence, his project was approved quickly, but the resources required for a proper study wouldn't have been available for at least 6 months. He thought the matter was too urgent to wait till the 1999 recruitment period, so he took it upon himself to perform his own research.
A member of the group, PoI-83721("Võlutaar Saarn"), was apprehended outside of a motel room when she stepped outside to smoke a cigarette. Members of GoI-827 are known to self-terminate once taken into custody, so PoI-83721 was offered a deal immediately upon capture: her release in exchange for designing a Soonesaran CLM tattoo that would ensure the initiation of the bearer.
DATE: March 14th, 1998
Interviewed: PoI-83721("Võlutaar Saarn")
Interviewer: Commander Abbott Costello
NOTE: Immediately upon being offered the deal, PoI-83721 agreed to the terms and was given a pen, paper, and 30 minutes to compose her work. She was finished in under a minute.
[BEGIN LOG]
PoI-83721 glares at Commander Costello, snaps the pencil she'd been given to draw the symbols, and tosses it at his feet as he walks into the room. Commander Costello clears his throat and then reaches out for the paper.
PoI-83721's Soonesaran
.৳<>°
Commander Costello: Fast. Are you sure this is correct?
PoI-83721: I get to leave now?
Commander Costello: [Commander Costello looks over the symbols on the piece of paper.] What does it mean?
PoI-83721: Doesn't translate into anything directly. Just lets people know you're important.
Commander Costello: That's the word for clothing, yeah?25
PoI-83721: [PoI-83721 pauses and looks at Commander Costello's face.] It is.
Commander Costello: What's it doing there? What do the other symbols mean?
PoI-83721: The meanings don't matter to the whole. It's like how "butter" doesn't mean anything in butterfly.
Commander Costello: Hmm…
PoI-83721: I gave you what you wanted. Aren't we done here?
Commander Costello: In a moment.
Commander Costello turns back toward the door, still looking at the piece of paper.
[END LOG]
Closing Statement: PoI-83721 was amnescitzied, shown the piece of paper again, and asked to describe what she would think of someone who had it as a CLM tattoo. She scoffed, then stated that she would think they were "respectable." PoI-83721 was amnescitzied again and prepared for release. She was found dead in her cell less than an hour later before she could be transported back to the motel.
Due to the "Silence is Self-Containment" policy, Foundation-loyal Soonesaran-literate personnel could not be interviewed to confirm the meaning of the provided symbols. Instead, Persons of Interest, Anomalies, and D-Class personnel from Nälkän backgrounds were interviewed.
To Mr. Costello's credit, he did attempt the scientific method. The ".৳" symbol that Mr. Costello was already certain of the meaning of was used as a "control" in these conversations. Each individual was asked what they would think of a person with this CLM tattoo on their body and what ".৳" represents.
DATE: March 15th, 1998
Interviewed: PoI-64395("Alyx Gautier")
Interviewer: Commander Abbott Costello
NOTE: PoI-64395 comes from a sarkic community that is being monitored by the Foundation and works as a tattoo artist. Their work incorporates a combination of artistic designs, Soonesaran and Pilesaran in both the traditional CLM and ink methods, and fleshshaping.
[BEGIN LOG]
PoI-64395 leans back in the interview chair with their feet on the table as Commander Costello enters the room.
Commander Costello: These here.
Commander Costello pushes PoI-64395's legs off the table and tosses the sheet of paper in front of them. They lean forward and take a look at the symbols.
Commander Costello: What would they mean to you if you tattooed them on someone's back?
"An Important Person"
.৳<>°
PoI-64395 laughs and picks it up.
Commander Costello: What's funny?
PoI-64395: [PoI-64395 stops laughing and looks up at Commander Costello] Well… [PoI-64395 smiles, and pushes the paper away] I just can't believe it. I've never seen someone from the Foundation use Soonesaran before and this is shockingly well written at that. Better than most of the people who come into my shop with something in mind. The grammar, the strokes, even the thin ends of the worms.
Commander Costello: So… What does it mean?
PoI-64395: It's… ah… Ah, hmm… How do I put this… It means that you're… someone… special, I guess…
Commander Costello: [Points toward the symbol for clothing.] And what does this symbol right here mean? On its own.
PoI-64395: [PoI-64395 pauses, looks at Commander Costello's face, then looks back at the paper] …Clothing…
Commander Costello nods, collects the paper, and exits the chamber.
[END LOG]
In total, 19 different individuals from various Nälkän backgrounds, and a few Neo-Sarkic, including PoI-83721 and PoI-64395, were interviewed in this manner. Of these, 14 were able to identify a meaning.
| Interviewed Individual | Description of Meaning |
|---|---|
| PoI-83721("Võlutaar Saarn") | "An important person" and "A respected person" |
| PoI-64395("Alyx Gautier") | "Someone special" |
| SCP-2075 | "An individual of great honor" |
| D-35763("Park Hyeongjong") | "A person of high regard" |
| D-60834("Mikuk Petrova") | "A trusted person" |
| PoI-8264("Zend Kivelä") | "That whoever wrote this for them thinks they're totally rad" |
| D-85434("Fuxi Wei") | "A trustworthy character" |
| PoI-64395("Võlutaar Iosefka") | "Someone who did something good" |
| PoI-64354("Zend Vigo") | "Morally sound" |
| D-64353("Áiax Álvares") | "Someone I should probably listen to" |
| SCP-2133-1-15, "Zhdan" | "Someone valuable like [Commander Costello]" |
| D-52433("Aliide Mägi") | "Someone to look up to" |
| D-34234("Makisig") | "A dude with class" |
| SCP-2688-A5("Alaparus Belos") | "A respected community member" |
These 14 individuals also correctly identified the control ".৳" symbol as "clothes", "cloak," or "clothing."
From this point, Mr. Costello assumed that the meaning PoI-83721 gave to the symbols was correct. Though a few researchers aware of his project recommended further testing, the yearly window for recruitment into GoI-827 was closing and a second assassination attempt carried out by GoI-827 contributed to the urgency of the infiltration. The symbols were inscribed on Agent Vladimir Thorne using the CLM method and PoI-64395's assistance and he was sent to the meeting point in Three Portlands.
VIDEO LOG
DATE: March 30th, 1998
NOTE: Agent Vladimir Thorne arrived at the hotel room at 02:01 hours. He is let into the room along with 12 other hopeful recruits at 02:07 hours. There are 5 people present in the room as they enter: The overseeing Karcist, a towering man who greets each hopeful recruit with a friendly smile; three Võlutaar dressed in colorful woolen shawls, two of which are women and one is referred to by the others exclusively with gender-neutral terminology; and one non-sarkite Serpent's Hand-affiliated woman.
[BEGIN LOG]
[2:10]: Agent Thorne stands by the door, waiting to be called forward. Recruits are seen one at a time. Each is instructed to strip. Following this, they are examined and the Karcist grips their forehead. Once this ritual is complete, a slug-like organism is inserted into the nasal cavity. The newly initiated member's left eye twitches for several seconds following the insertion. Once the twitching subsides, they react to something that cannot be heard, are given a blanket to cover themselves, are congratulated by the Võlutaar and non-sarkite woman, and then walk to where the others stand to watch the next person in line. None of the recruits before Agent Thorne are terminated.
[2:38]: KARCIST: You in the black. [The Karcist points towards Agent Thorne] Come, child. Disrobe.
2:38: Agent Thorne moves to stand in front of the Karcist, facing away from him and toward the Võlutaar and non-sarkite woman as the previous recruits had. He begins to remove his clothing.
[2:38]: VÕLUTAAR 1: You've been too… quiet. Are you scared to show emotion? I promise he doesn't bite. He has much more efficient ways to hurt someone.
[2:38]: One of the other two Võlutaar chuckles. The Karcist smiles at their joke and shakes his head. Agent Thorne does not react. The Karcist frowns and looks towards the Võlutaar of indeterminate gender with a wary expression.
[2:39]: KARCIST: The silence is unnerving. I always worry some join out of mere bloodlust… Is that your concern too, Lyev?
[2:39]: The Võlutaar tilts their hand from side to side in a so-and-so motion. The Karcist purses his lips and reaches forward to stroke the top of Agent Thorne's hair.
[2:39]: KARCIST: Maybe socialization just isn't his strong suit. He might be well utilized in one of the soup kitchens. You won't have to talk to too many people there.
[2:39]: WOMAN: Maybe he would make a good assassin. Isn't lack of emotion like… a good thing for that?
[2:39]: VÕLUTAAR 226: What? Of course not. It's a memorable trait.
[2:39]: WOMAN: Really?
[2:39]: VÕLUTAAR 3: That's something you saw on your TV, isn't it? I swear it's all propaganda. When I was a-
[2:40]: Agent Thorne removes his shirt.
Agent Thorne's Tattoo
.৳<>°
[2:40]:The Karcist cuts his Võlutaar off mid-sentence with sudden roaring laughter. The Karcist grips Agent Thorne by the throat. He lifts him into the air, turning his body to show his Võlutaar the Soonesaran marking on his back, then toward the newly initiated recruits to show them as well. The others, except for the non-sarkite woman who seems startled and confused and one Võlutaar who crosses her arms and frowns, begin laughing as well.
[2:40]: VÕLUTAAR 1: Oh… Oh wow. [They continue laughing.] Jailors are trying something new, huh? Saarn, did you give 'em this?
[2:40]: VÕLUTAAR 2: I don't know! [The Võlutaar reaches a hand to cover her eyes as she keeps laughing.] Sure seems like something I'd do, though, right? Maybe that's why it took me so long after they picked me up last time.
[2:40]: VÕLUTAAR 3: This could be seen as colluding with the enemy. I hope it was worth it.
[2:40]: VÕLUTAAR 1: Stop being such a hag and enjoy yourself for once!
[2:40]: WOMAN: Could… someone tell me what it says? I can't read Soonesaran.
[2:41]: KARCIST: [The Karcist reaches his free hand up to wipe a tear from his eye.] I will once we're sure no one's listening… I never thought I'd see this for myself. [The Karcist takes a moment to regain his composure and stop laughing before snapping Agent Thorne's neck. The feed is cut.]
[END LOG]
Following the catastrophic failure of the infiltration attempt, Mr. Costello was furious. A dozen more interviews with individuals of Nälkän and Neo-Sarkic background, this time rather than offering rewards, they were threatened with violence if they refused to cooperate. These tests yielded the same result of consistent interpretation of the symbols as belonging to a respected individual. At this point, Mr. Costello finally understood that something about the symbols must have been letting the readers in on a conspiracy.
5 months later, the necessary resources for the project were allocated. As part of the investigation, immunity was granted to Soonesaran-Literate employees of the Foundation who identified themselves for interview.
DATE: April 12th, 1998
Interviewed: Dr. Evika Cohen
Interviewer: Commander Abbott Costello
[BEGIN LOG]
Dr. Cohen smiles as Commander Costello enters the room.
Commander Costello: I can't say I expected someone I knew would step forward. How have you been, Eve?
Dr. Cohen: Fine… But I've asked you not to call me that. [Dr. Cohen sighs, then smiles again.] But… there's a lot more of us than you'd think.
Commander Costello: [Commander Costello places the paper down in front of her.] Oh yeah? How about you tell us what this actually means? Or should we ask one of the many others?
Agent Thorne's Tattoo
.৳<>°
Dr. Cohen: [Dr. Cohen rolls her eyes, lets out a dry laugh, and then looks down at the paper. Her smile drops and she looks back up at Commander Costello with an incredulous expression.] You sent… an agent… into the Order of the Wyrm… with this on his back…?
Commander Costello: …Yes.
[END LOG]
To be frank, I was disgusted by the incompetence and impatience Mr. Costello showed in his "research." Agent Thorne was a human being. He was a good man; he believed in the Foundation's mission and wanted to make the world a safer place just like the rest of us. He had a family and a girlfriend I still talk to occasionally. If Mr. Costello had waited 6 months, Agent Thorne would not have been subjected to such a needless, shameful death.
In addition to the logograph for "clothing," there were three glyphs that Mr. Costello did not recognize.
Enslaver
.<
Pig
.>
One Who Copulates
.°
The greater compound word PoI-83721 gave to Mr. Costello is made up of two smaller compound words.
When Soonesaran or Pilesaran are inscribed on a person's body, it is understood as a statement of identity.
The identity that this CLM tattoo put forward was "I am an agent of the SCP Foundation, I fuck pigs, and I don't know what this says."
Upon seeing this Soonesaran and being asked to identify what it would mean on a person's body, everyone who could read it would, of course, immediately understand what PoI-83721 was trying to do.
During his disciplinary hearing, Mr. Costello kept repeating how he was shocked by what he saw as an inexplicable unspoken solidarity he could not have foreseen. None of these people had met each other. None of them came from the same community. None of them shared the same beliefs or customs. Most of them didn't even speak the same language. And yet, every single one of them, even when threatened, felt enough loyalty to one another to play along.
But all I could think about was that… it wasn't loyalty. If I weren't employed by the Foundation or were asked by someone else I didn't trust under similar circumstances, I'm sure I would have played along with what PoI-83721 set up too. That doesn't make me, or those Mr. Costello interviewed, loyal to her or her cause.
They did it for the same reason Mr. Costello pushed forward with his project despite the many voices telling him to just wait.
Nälkän communities worldwide don't have much in common with each other in the grand scheme of things; Nälkän and Neo-Sarkic communities have even less. But between all of them; Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern; those living in the isolation of the Russian Tundra or the metropolis of New York City; there is one trait all of us have in common. It's why Nälkän communities still use Pilesaran and Soonesaran long after they've abandoned the languages they were developed for.
It's the same trait I share with my husband and his Jewish ancestors. It's what's kept minority religions and cultures told to assimilate or die alive for millennia after the fall of their great civilizations. It's the trait behind the Women's Suffrage, Civil Rights, and LGBTQ Liberation movements and paradoxically why they were needed in the first place. It's why the Foundation has never given up no matter how hard fighting to keep humanity safe becomes. It's why my daughter, face covered in a smear of chocolate, still lied to me about who stole her brother's candy.
We, like all of humanity, are stubborn.
Your commander who kept you in this class despite knowing you shouldn't be here might be the most incredible person. They might be strong, tough, or make you feel like you're family. They might have fully convinced you that I'm dramatic and over-emotional with ideals clouded by my heritage.
They aren't the one with the gun to their head.
We, The Foundation, have to ensure that that stubbornness we all possess drives us forward and not to our deaths.
