Individual letters are written in their own way, but in writing, it's common to combine two letters into one.
Often, in such characters, you can vaguely see the merging of some letters. This applies to all vowels when they appear next to each other - the sigils will vary depending on the number of vowels or their order.
Two letters are also written as one when a consonant is followed by a vowel; however, if a vowel comes before a consonant, they are written separately.
If a vowel is followed by a consonant and then another vowel, the consonant follows the rules for being written together with a vowel as a single character.
Two consonants are not written as one, except for certain sounds like sh, ch, th, and a few others, which are represented by a single leader symbol.
Double letters are written by adding an extra line. All words are written in this way, except for names.
Starfolk give names sacred meaning, tied to fate and life itself. Each name has its own unique way of being written as a single symbol, often making it hard to tell which letters it's made of. Since there’s no way to remember how all names are written, when one reads a name from a brooch, it’s often misunderstood, or when a name is given and someone wants to write it down, they will often ask starfolk to write it themselves. But not recognizing a name isn’t considered impolite - it’s fine to just ask about it, and then it might stick in your memory forever.
Writing can go in any direction (as long as it’s not backward). There’s no strict structure for writing order - the main thing is that it isn’t chaotic and is clearly marked.
On reading and writing materials
While they do have paper, they prefer other materials for recording information, such as wool, glass, crystal, or elemental engraving.
With wool, words are woven into it and then scorched to set them. Glass and crystal come in various forms and have multiple layers that can be read. On simple tablets, the text might be arranged top to bottom, but on shaped or irregular surfaces, the same method is applied, though areas are usually divided into distinct sections and read from the surface down to the core of the material.
There are several methods for recording information on such items. On some, words are carved in, then a new layer is applied and the next “page” is etched onto it - but such text can only be seen when light shines through it to reveal the words.
One can also fill the carvings with ink or another permanent substance to make them visible at all times, though this can make reading a bit more difficult.
Another method involves bending light within the material - these texts are very delicate and can easily be scattered or lost, so they must be handled with care.
Elemental engraving can be used on any surface. It involves a Starfolk inscribing the words and then imbuing the text with their elemental essence. These records are the most durable, as the elemental power won’t fade until it is dispersed by the opposite element (ice dispels fire inscriptions, wind dispels lightning and vici versa), or unless someone wipes it away by hand - although the trace of the text tends to linger for a long time afterward.
However, this is also the most damaging form of writing, as it slowly seeps deeper into the material it’s written on. Because of this, Starfolk typically use it for inscriptions on walls, meant to be erased after being read. Like for example, temporary messages - when the Starfolk arranged a meeting, but one of them didn’t show up, or unfortunately the one who did had to leave for some reason, leaving behind a note.
Their way of writing numbers is fairly standard up to fifteen, but after that, they count a bit differently. Sixteen is written and spoken as “fifteen one,” twenty-one as “fifteen six,” thirty as “fifteen fifteen,” and thirty-one as “fifteen one one,” and so on, up until one hundred, which they say and write differently. However, once the number passes 115, they go back to this same system - for example, instead of “one hundred sixteen,” they say “one hundred fifteen one.”
This system is tied to certain beliefs and traditions. Starfolk believe that the world exists within what they call the “Fifteen Days” - days measured not by themselves, but by the Worldless. Because in their beliefs, that’s how long the Worldless spent shaping the world. It’s also the number of "years" it takes for their absorption abilities to fully develop.
And now I’m starting to think about reducing the number of hours in the AU (Wow, it hasn’t even been a week since I decided to change something.) Honestly, that whole situation was kind of funny, because my thought process about how many hours there should be looked something like this:
“6? Maybe a bit less. Oh no, I don’t like 5 for some reason, it’s too round. Maybe more. Nah, 7 is associated with too many things, like the number of days in a week. 19 is too close to 24, and I was trying to avoid getting close to the 24-hour system (by the way, why did I even come up with the fact that their day lasts 15 Earth hours? It hasn’t affected anything yet). 29 is still pretty close to 24, and 32 even more so. 42 is just a mirrored 24. 78... hmm. Oh, 114! …I have a feeling I’ll regret this later.”
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