"This particular text is filled with completely unfamiliar runes. Nothing that we’ve tried to reason out has helped us decipher it - and none of our old dictionaries can help us. I can only fathom how it might have been written."
-Grandqueen Azure
Written by
lightningstruck Arthur Bookshone in one of his frenzied fits, this book is huge - over five hundred pages written a dialect of Ancient Draconic. Upon being written, the book was carefully locked away. Over centuries of Skydweller history, no scholars, no matter how much time and effort they devoted to the study, have ever managed to decipher even a sentence of the book.
At least, that was what they all swore. All of them, with hollow, fearful eyes, swearing that the words in the book were undecipherable. Understandably, several newspapers have speculated at the terrible writings within the books, and what horrifying things the words foretell. Upon the attempt to raid a research center and steal the book, a scholar tossed it into a stream.
Since then, it was reclaimed by water sprites. But one man heard of the book's writings. Curious about the prophecies within and greedy for the leverage and power it could give him, the man traded the water sprites his own grandson in exchange for the book. Unable to decipher it, he passed it to his father, and eventually the book was passed to the man's grandson - Maxwell Marionbrook.
Marionbrook requested the aid of a Crysphic to help in deciphering the book, but as soon as they made progress, the Crysphic immediately turned the book over to the royal family.
Why? Because scribbled in that book, page after page, are prophecies about the destruction of the sky. Terrible storms, horrible plagues, famine, war, greed, death, pain, suffering - all with signs pointing to the present-day sky.
Translation Attempts
Hundreds of characters, - no, thousands - all strewn about the walls. All scribbling out the same five words, over and over. There were other words scribbled in smaller fonts, and several numbers. But Stormbreak’s eyes were drawn to the words.
Lost.
Warning.
Prison.
Remnant.
War.
He felt a shiver run down his spine, and suddenly the characters faded, leaving the room darker than before.
After some limited progress on the book's translation made by royal scholars, it was agreed that the book would be transferred to the Archives for safekeeping. Unfortunately, the book was stolen en route to the Archives, and is now somewhere in the sky, in the hands of malicious rogues - what could go wrong?
Overall, the concept is strong and has potential for a captivating story. I would suggest expanding on some more translation attempts to either act as red herrings or to give drops of truth. You could use elaborate a little on the significance of the Skydwellers and the Ancient Draconic language.
Ooh, great idea! I'll have to follow up on some translations. I should also probably follow up on Ancient Draconic - I've been kind of avoiding that, since I'm not the best with other languages, but I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the feedback :)