RuneScape Forum Archive | Analysis; Dragonkin language

May

2008

The Mather1

Posts: 1,172 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Realized I missed a term from Desperate Measures:
Hepencaraun - the password to the Nodon hibernatorium.

We can then identify the root Hepen, which it has in common with Bujahepen. However as the two chambers have little in common, we cannot as of yet translate it.

"Abscondita est in Astra."

10-Nov-2020 20:25:17

May

2008

The Mather1

Posts: 1,172 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Now from Orthen we have a new text to translate;

Original message details are unavailable.

Hep! Kal! Ort!
Sha Cra Lith Kab
Nos Kay Mok

The lack of structure and few known words makes this difficult to translate, however we know that "It speaks to [the Dragonkin's] long journey [to Gielinor], the trials [they] have overcome, yet posits that the truest trial is understanding oneself".

Here we can identify the following previous words:
The word Kal has previously been encountered in the phrase Roake Kal.
The word Ort may be root to the phrases Ortha and/or Ortium.
The word Hep may be root to Hepen.
The word Cra may be root to Cras.

We also have the following terms:
Raksha - "The One that Speaks"
Moksha - A mind transfer device.
Skekslan - A cycle of reincarnation referred to as "The unbroken wheel"

We can then derive the following roots:
Rak - This seems to refer to communication or the use of words.
Mok - Could translate to mind or self.
Sha - Seems to be a very generic term, along the lines of "it".
Skek - Death.
Slan - Not enough information available to begin translating.

"Abscondita est in Astra."

10-Nov-2020 20:30:13 - Last edited on 10-Nov-2020 21:07:20 by The Mather1

Nov

2018

MarcosFBE

Posts: 5 Bronze Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I have a theory about Roake and Rak.

Raksha also translates as "The One Above All", so I'm guessing Rak means "above all/main". What makes me believe so is that, in the Dragonkin research book from ED2, Kerapac writes:

" Skekkin Kranon is the rak to it. Roake rak. "

"Dead-kin Kranon is the main (responsible) to it. [The] main Roake."

From this, I also guess Roake could mean "curse/damn", as Kerapac was blaming Kranon for their problems. Also, from the Dragonkin research:

"For now, my priorities have reverted back to this roake curse."="For now, my priorities have reverted back to this damn curse."?

It also makes sense for them to call the Elder Gods the Curse-Kin (Roakin).

EDIT: Rak is also mentioned in one the Ulthven Kreath murals:

"Skekkin Kath Rath! Kranon Roakin Rak"="Dead-kin Weakling Waste! Kranon above [the] Elder Gods"?

EDIT2:

A big giveaway for me to Roake being the curse is also present in the same page of Dragonkin research:

"Destruction on Kranon. Waste on Kranon. We'll seal him, or destroy him. And the roake . More dragons for this purpose."

12-Nov-2020 11:59:49 - Last edited on 12-Nov-2020 12:21:02 by MarcosFBE

May

2008

The Mather1

Posts: 1,172 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Rak meaning main is an interesting take. There's definitely some strange etyomology there which would have allowed the transition of Raksha from meaning The One Above All in old Dragonkin, to meaning The One who Talks in modern Dragonkin. However I doubt it means above, as that would then infringe on the territory of Lith = superior, and the Dragonkin language does not appear to be big on homonyms.

Roake meaning curse however does not seem right. We know that Roake Pthen means portal, notable in Forcae referring to the World Gate as Lith Roake Pthen, or the superior portal. Most of the portals it refers to have nothing to do with any curses, which leads me to suspect it rather translates to something more like magic in general.

"Abscondita est in Astra."

27-Nov-2020 17:59:44

May

2008

The Mather1

Posts: 1,172 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Raksha lore Q&A actually gave some insight on the word Rak that may help explain its etymology and how its meaning changed from "above" to "speak". Rowley dropped a bomb by revealing that the word Rak is part of the word Verak, thus here we then have a word that uses both meanings of the word Rak.
Verak, meaning "king", can then both be interpreted as someone who is at the top in terms of authority, and someone who speaks commands.

I thus also theorize that the other component of the word Verak is then Ver (as we have yet to see any words shorter than three letters), which probably pertains to authority or leadership.
This word may then also be a component of the word Vertentis, which I have theorized to mean abandon.

We also got some confirmation on the word Sha, which Rowley described as meaning "one" or "singular".

"Abscondita est in Astra."

01-Dec-2020 10:59:16 - Last edited on 01-Dec-2020 11:01:39 by The Mather1

Feb

2020

Questcaping

Posts: 565 Steel Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Excellent thread, and a good resource at that!

This is something I've been thinking a lot about lately. I want to contribute one conclusion I've drawn -- that I'm almost certain that "Mok" translates to "understanding", though in more of a spiritual/personal sense than a logical one.

We have "Nos Kay Mok" as presumably "the truest trial is understanding oneself" (presuming that the three facets of the poem's explanation follow the three lines of the poem". We have Moksha, of course, and we now know that "Sha" is considered to mean "one" (in the sense of referring to an entity).

What I consider crucial here is the fact that Skeka used the poem as the password to the Moksha Ritual Site. She speaks a phrase that poetically means "the truest trial is understanding oneself" to a site designed to understand and unlock the new abilities of individual Aughra via "expanding our consciousnesses". That certainly seems to fit the bill of "understanding oneself". I think it's a safe bet that Moksha does indeed merely mean "understanding oneself", with the "Sha" omitted (as a less necessary word) from the poem for the sake of conciseness.

Presumably, this would leave "Nos Kay" as amounting to "truest trial" in some form.

As for the middle line of the poem: we have Sha and Lith as recognisable words. Lith meaning "superior" certainly makes sense with the notion of overcoming, and my guess is that "Sha" here refers to the dragonkin as a whole, but in a more personal sense than the general "kin" or factual "drakkerkin". Considering its dual meaning as "singular", it may well also serve to emphasise the oneness of the dragonkin race as a whole. Very flexible word, that.

Questcaping the Finally Questcaped

Runefest attendee 2017-2019

13-Dec-2020 05:20:12 - Last edited on 13-Dec-2020 05:32:18 by Questcaping

Feb

2020

Questcaping

Posts: 565 Steel Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

To add to my previous post:

Looking back on the previous page, with "Cras" seeming to be an overly flexible word with no definition much more specific than "do" (and with "Cra" quite possibly deriving from it), we may well be able to figure out the entire middle line of poetry in a way that pretty much seems to follow established sentence structure:

Sha Cra Lith Kab
"the trials [the Dragonkin] have overcome"
We do superior [presumably "trial", "challenge" or the like]

("we" used as the best possible translation for "Sha" that I could think of in the context, with the rationale explained in the previous post)

"Cra", "do", in this context is most likely used along the lines of "prove ourselves".

Questcaping the Finally Questcaped

Runefest attendee 2017-2019

13-Dec-2020 05:31:53

Feb

2020

Questcaping

Posts: 565 Steel Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

One final post on Kranon's poetry (for now).

Based on the assumption that "Kalist" is "Research" (which seems quite reasonable), and with the root word "Kal" having some significance in the line that speaks of the Dragonkin's long journey to Gielinor...

Hep! Kal! Ort!

A more natural/succinctly poetic way of expressing the first line's meaning would be "long journey here". I feel like speculating that "Kal" refers to some kind of extensive undertaking, an endeavour, with "ist" specifying scientific research.

(The only other place I can find an "Ist" is in the Primer's name for Lumbridge: Istruthen. Only relevance I can imagine there is it being the final elder site visited in Heart of Stone, with the Prehistoric Abyssal present but no immediately obvious Elder God involvement.)

Can't make any headway on "Hep" yet, as its use in the rooms of Kerapac's lab still baffles me. "Ort", I don't want to have any connection to "Ortha" (and "Orthen" by extension), what with "t" and "th" being entirely different consonants. Since the alphabet as we've seen it is a direct transposition of English letters though, it may well be.

And on a final note: one word that's crystal clear by now is "Saur" = "lizard" (via Varanusaur and Saurthen).

Questcaping the Finally Questcaped

Runefest attendee 2017-2019

13-Dec-2020 06:57:02 - Last edited on 13-Dec-2020 07:02:00 by Questcaping

May

2008

The Mather1

Posts: 1,172 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Great points there.

However I'm not so sure Mok pertains to the understanding bit, as the Moksha is used for projecting one's consciousness, not self-reflection, and that would make the first time we have a non-personal name in the Dragonkin language that is not some form of literal description.

Rather I believe the poem/password to translate thus:
One do superior trial | One's greatest trial
???? understand self. | Is to understand oneself.

You are definitely correct however that Kab has to mean trial or challenge in some form, so I'll put that down.

Kal however I'm almost certain doesn't mean undertaking, what with the phrase Roake Kal, which appears both as an achievement for reading the Ulthven Kreath murals and in the phrase "Castil kreath fia Roake Kal. Skek Lac Ortius." by Kranon. Undertaking does not fit with either of those contexts. My best guess for the word would be knowledge, but that's still an iffy fit.

As for the reason why I haven't put down saur, that's because it's just straight up copied from Greek, so there's not really anything to analyze there and I doubt it will have much relevance.

"Abscondita est in Astra."

22-Dec-2020 16:27:55 - Last edited on 22-Dec-2020 16:37:44 by The Mather1

Ollie 2020

Posts: 4 Bronze Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Very interesting! Thank you so much for creating this - I've loved trying to understand Dragonkin, and so glad I'm not the only one!

One of the things I noticed was how words can be split up into smaller units of meaning. Fo example, "Ortha" = "First", and "Orthen" is "First city" so we can see that adding "-en" to a word turns it into a noun. Like another one I thought was cool was "Ve-rak" meaning "King/Emperor" and "Rak-sha" meaning "The one above/the one who speaks", so "rak" could possibly mean "ruler/king/top" potentially.

Thank you again for making this! Can't wait to see more Dragonkin sentences

Would love to know who was the main person, or who were the main people who constructed this cool language, and got it into the game

30-Jan-2021 20:02:52

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Analysis; Dragonkin language