Hue

Hue is a religious language of Dollies, who have skin that can change color, texture, and opacity. The exact shade and saturation of the skin can be used to convey everything from basic commands to epic poems as they relate to their creator Little Circle.

Morphology

The basic unit of the language is a circle. After the Braid Prayer was performed and the Dollies were created, circles became ways of silently invoking their creator's name. Adding elements inside the circle is said to emphasize the inner parts of Little Circle that are most admired, such as the virtues of curiosity and play. Gradients and patterns in the backdrop emphasize their natural world that has been gifted to them by their benevolent god. Solid lines represent Worms as a whole, including the great Sky Worm that is their Moon. Lines are often adorned with sucker-like patterns to indicate the way in which Circle bent Little Circle into its round form by using an arm, often understood as a tentacle.

Syntax

Circle patterns are arranged in a sequence to convey basic information. Large solid circles are simple, such as greetings or goodbyes, and other more complex sequences tell entire stories using the story of their creation as a central point in time.

Excited greeting

Round shapes can be eschewed in favor of other shapes or even chaotic swirls and squiggles for a Doll who is in need of spiritual help. These warning signs can be spotted from far away and struggling Dolls can get the spiritual help they need quickly if encountered by others.

Expression of extreme grief and distress

Structural Markers

Other structural markers include where on the body the pattern starts or where it ends. Ending on an arm or tentacle conveys a past tense, mimicking the past history of their world, but if the pattern ends on the head or near the eyes it conveys a future tense, as in they are looking with new eyes toward the world that is yet to be.

Usage

While all Dollies know how to speak in Hue, it is a religious and spiritual practice and mostly contained to religious services or personal connections with the divine. In daily life, their coloration matches the environment to help give them camouflage from predators like anguil, which is why it is imperative that Dollies act quickly if they see a Doll out in the wild expressing their negative emotions in Hue: it could be the last thing they ever do.