드워프 룬공예

오자마르의 다이아몬드 구역에는 드워프조차도 언제 어디서 시작되었는지 모를 정도로 오래된 모임의 한 갈래인 기록회가 자리한다. 그들은 태양이나 계절을 전혀 알지 못하고, 오직 왕의 삶과 죽음으로 시간을 추적하는 민족을 위한 역사의 수호자들이다. 그러나 그들은 단순한 역사가가 아니다. 그들은 장인이다. 드워프는 역사를 쓰는 대신 벼려낸다. 드워프는 그들의 기록을 "기억"이라고 부르며, 이것들은 그것을 만든 기록관의 생각을 담고 있는 리륨으로 정성스레 세공된다.

기록관만이 룬을 만드는 것은 아니다. 가장 흔하게 쓰이는 종류는 대장장이 계급의 구성원이 리륨을 비롯한 마법에 반응하는 금속으로 만든 것으로, 테빈터에서 사용되는 룬과 마찬가지로 이 룬은 잘 사용한다면 각종 물건에 다양하고 매혹적인 성질을 부여할 수 있다. 그러나 모든 룬이 실용적인 목적에만 쓰이는 것은 아니다. 룬은 드워프 예술품에서도 심심찮게 발견되며, 집이나 상점 간판에 새겨져 있거나, 의류에 수놓아져 있거나, 유리 식기에 새겨져 있거나 하다. 심지어는 요강에도 룬이 그려져 있다.

상징의 의미 그 자체가 바로 기록회가 간직하고 있는 신성한 지식이다. 지상 사람들이 흔히 생각하는 것과는 다르게, 이것들은 현대 드워프의 문자 언어가 아니라 오자마르나 드워프 왕국이 있기 이전, 수천수만 년도 전에 존재했던 잊힌 언어의 잔재이다. 기록회가 현재 해석한 드워프 룬은 십여 가지다. "기억", 물론 이것은 기록에 사용된다. 대부분의 룬들은 정확히 번역되지 않았고, 그 의미는 대략적으로만 추측될 뿐이다. 갑옷이나 무게를 지지하는 건축물에 새겨지는 룬은 "힘" 이나 "내성"을 의미할 것이다. 예나 지금이나 무너진 타이그에서 가끔 새로운 상징이 발굴되어 망자의 군단에 의해 전해지기도 하는데, 기록관들은 이것을 열성적으로 모아 그 유래와 사용법을 찾으려고 한다. 이것들은 드워프어의 초기 문자였던 것일까? 현대 공용어로 대체되어 결국 쓰이지 않게 된 당시의 언어일까? 이를 추측하기란 어려운 일이며, '기억' 또한 우리에게 지혜를 주지 못한다.

—제니티비 수사의 저서, 지식을 찾아서: 성가회 학자의 여행기에서 발췌

 

Dwarven Runecraft

Within the Diamond Quarter of Orzammar lies the Shaperate, a branch of dwarven society so ancient that the dwarves themselves do not know when or where it began. They are the keepers of history for a people who have never known the sun or seasons, and who track time by the lives and deaths of kings. But they are not mere historians. They are craftsmen. For the living history of the dwarves is not written, but forged. "The Memories," as the dwarves call their records, are runes painstakingly crafted from lyrium which contain the actual thoughts of the Shapers who made them.

The making of runes is not restricted solely to the Shapers. The most commonly useful kind are crafted by many members of the Smith Caste from lyrium and other magically reactive metals and can imbue a variety of fascinating new properties to an item when properly applied, just as the runes of Tevinter design do. But runes are found everywhere in dwarven artwork and not all serve a practical purpose—at least, not one that's known. They are carved onto houses and store fronts. They are embroidered on garments. Etched in glassware. Even painted on chamber pots.

The meanings of the symbols themselves are sacred knowledge kept by the Shaperate. They are not, as many surface-folk believe, the written language of the modern dwarves, but rather are remnants of a lost language that predates Orzammar, the dwarven kingdom, and even the tens of thousands of years of history recorded in the Memories. The Shaperate recognizes the meanings of a few dozen dwarven runes. "Memory," obviously, is used for their record keeping. Many have not so much been translated as inferred. Runes which decorate both armor and load-bearing architecture might very well mean "Strength" or "Endurance." New symbols are unearthed now and then in the fallen thaigs, brought back by the Legion of the Dead and jealously hoarded by the Shapers who struggle to find their uses and origins. Were these symbols an earlier version of the written dwarven tongue? A language that fell into disuse, replaced by the modern King's Tongue? It is hard to guess, and the Memories offer us no wisdom.

—From In Pursuit of Knowledge: Travels of a Chantry Scholar by Brother Genitivi