Aurum

Description

Aurum is the language of magic itself, and is the mechanism by which mortals, and even the gods, communicate with the Aura. The language allows the speaker to "program" the Aura by outlining what a spell will do using a simple structure. Aurum is not a conversational language, though it is used for naming various structures and points of interest across Aellorah.

Mechanics

When a magic user describes a spell using Aurum, each spell must begin with the word "Byax", which means "Beginning", and must end with the "Exyx" meaning "Ending". All of the spell's behavior is described in between these two words. It is imperative that every word be pronounced correctly, or the spell can backfire. This is why it can take so long for magic users to prepare spells (at least, those of them that need to prepare spells ahead of time).

Spells are prepared ahead of time so that the magic user can cast that spell with only a short phrase when needed. Any spell can be cast on the fly if the speaker so wished, but spells take a considerable amount of time to recite, and it would not be smart to stand there and recite a spell that takes several minutes to finish while your friends are being beaten to death by a horrifying creature. Also, unless you are the type of magic user that needs to prepare spells ahead of time, spontaneous spellcasters have a limited reserve of spells they can cast per day granted to them by their power source. They do not need to recite the full spell and know only the activation phrase.

An activation phrase is a short 2-5 word phrase that is designated at the end of a spell that assigns a specific string of words that the spellcaster can use to activate that spell later. You can also designate activation gestures to further ensure that the spell is not activated accidentally or to focus the spell. Some spells even require activation materials which act as focuses or fuel for the spell itself. Activation phrases can be made up of words in any language, or even a combination of languages (though nobody really does this).

Certain spells are so complicated that they must be performed with the use of a ritual circle. In this case, the behavior of the spell can be inscribed in the circle on the ground with chalk in the Aurum script, reducing the amount of time that is required to cast the spell. These ritual circles can also be a required focus for the spell or act as a beacon for targeting purposes.

Magic items are created by enchanting an inanimate object with a spell in a similar fashion to ritual circles, and essentially allows the item itself to remember the spell incantation and components and cast it using only the activation phrase. These inanimate objects are bestowed with a small reserve of power that replenishes (or sometimes not) under certain conditions. Depending on the amount of care and work put into a magic item, they can have certain protections bound to them that can make them extraordinarily difficult to destroy, such as in cases of items like the Chronicle of the Dead.

Linguistic Rules

There are certain rules that the language follows in terms of the way the words are used and pronounced.

• A word ending in a consonant is usually a base word. A word ending in a vowel usually indicates tense. Ex: The base word for to move is prod. The present tense of prod is produ.
• A word ending in an "a" sound is past tense.
• A word ending in an "u" sound is present tense.
• A word ending in an "e" sound is future tense.
• A verb ending in an "o" sound nominalizes it. (ex: "protect" becomes "protector")
• A word ending in an "i" sound is plural.
• A word with an "sh" (ʂ) sound is written as "x" unless preceded by an "h" sound.
• A word with an "a", "i", or "e" sound followed by a "ya", "ye", or "yo" sound is written as "-ya", "-ye", or "-yo".
• An activation phrase for a spell must be between 2-5 words. The words that activate the spell can be in any language.
• Large numbers are formed by multiplying and adding smaller numbers. The word "and" is used to separate higher order operations from lower order ones (ie: 100s place and 10s place). Higher order operations go first. The lowest order number (leftover from 10s, or single digit numbers, like the 5 in 225) is placed after the word "and" instead of "add".
• Ex: 420 = (4 * 100) + (2 * 10)
• Ex: 16 = 10 and 6
• Ex: 134 = 100 + (3 * 10) and 4

Dictionary

The Aurum dictionary can be found on Google Drive (access restricted to those with permission).

Example Spells

Here are some example D&D 5th Edition spells translated into the Aurum language.

• Firebolt - "BYAX ARAZ YAX IX PRAVAT PRUK XAN VUUZAT NEYA EXYX"
• Ray of Frost - "BYAX ARAZ RIZ QUARI PRUK XAN VUUZAT NE ARAZ QUARIVI UN XEKUM ET YAXEV EXYX"
• Mage Hand - "BYAX ARAZ XALAKEV OR NEYA BLET VUUZAT BLOZ EXYX"
• Detect Magic - "BYAX ARET VUUZAT HOZI HOZAN AURA BYOMEV AXER EX AVIR EX DEVAVIR EX AXAL EX AELL TAXAN'DAXAL XU ZOD ZIREB PAZEN ZOD BET AREX NEPROD KOT ALEZ'NEYA HANX'AKI AREX NOXUTI (X) (Y) (Z) EXYX"
• In this example, the "(X) (Y) (Z)" bit is the designated activation phrase chosen by the caster.