Angry Wild Legends Home of Stories

A Little Bit of Detail

PRISM - Exiles is available as a paperback or eBook from:
http://www.lulu.com/nigeledwards

On this page I want to give you some clues about the world of the Prism: a little foray into the natural world; a snippet of history; a brief overview of politics and demographics; a soupçon of linguistics. I don't intend to go into any depth for any particular aspect, but simply provide a taste of the things that provide some of the flavour for the Prism experience. You can find out more in the Appendixes that are published on Lulu.

Nigel Edwards, 2008

General

Here for your enjoyment is a pot pouri of PRISM information; there's a great deal more, but this should give you a little idea of what is involved in creating a whole new existence.

The Number Three

The number three is the most significant number in Plaq-tî society. Almost everything finds a base in three. It is representative of the Prism, which is generally depicted as a triangle, or a three-faced (excluding its’ equilateral base) pyramid. But the number three predates the actuality of the Prism; it is accorded a certain mysticism, based on ancient mythology and religion.

Time & Dates

Dates are represented by four values. For example, 1/3/5/1000 BS means the 1^st day of the 3^rd week of the 5^th season of the year 1000 Bri Shimqol (New Prism.) The current calendar begins from the day (so it is believed) that Godî Selim discovered the ruins of the Great Prism, Zoshimqol.

Time is represented as follows:

*PLAQ-TÎQ*	English
Impshaf	Seconds (1 impshaf equals approx. 2 Earth seconds, 33 impshaf in 1 tipshaf)
Tipshaf	Minute (99 minutes per hour)
Shaf	Hour (9 hours per day)
Zha	Day (9 days per week)
Wézha	Week (18 weeks per season)
Nîtaq	Season (6 seasons per year)
Qoja	Year (a 3 year period)
Tipsqoja	Year (9 years in a Plaq-tî decade)
Qojasé	Millennium (729 years in a Plaq-tî millennium)

Life & Survival

Life Span: the Zoheft year equates to roughly 2.75 Earth years, and the Plaq-tî people have a natural span of around 45 – 55 native years, though the number who actually achieve those limits is relatively small. It will be seen, therefore, that Plaq-tî natives live somewhat longer than we do. Conventionally, women generally out live men, notably because of lifestyle (women don’t, for example, engage in armed conflict as a rule.) A population explosion is prevented on several counts.

Biological. The Plaq-tî birth rate is approximately half that of ours, though the fertility of the female lasts around three times as long. There is no specific reason why this should be; it just is. Importantly, the custom is for only the acknowledged wife in a Plaq-tî marriage to provide children, though births outside the custom is common. Gestation is usually around twelve earth-months. It will be interesting to what affect this might have on future relationship between the Plaq-tî and Luke’s people (probably in PRISM - Descendants. [NB, Luke is the central character of the book.]
Military. Plaq-tî civilization might be considered primitive in comparison to that of a modern western society. There is significant similarity with the Middle Ages of Europe. The land of Zoplaq is comprised of a number of Provinces, each lorded over by a powerful family. Despite the niceties of politics, and pacts and treaties that exist, conflict between them is an on-going fact of life, and there is a high attrition rate.
Medical. Illness is accepted as normality, without any consideration given to causality (though obvious associations between sickness and, for example, the presence of rotten meat, is easily recognised). Efficient disposal of sewerage has yet to be discovered. There is no concept of preventative medicine, and no formal medical expertise to call on. The ‘Companions’ are the only group to offer anything approaching a health service. When someone falls ill or is hurt, in larger towns a Companion may be called to attend, but the amount of curatives and techniques at their disposal is limited. However, most hamlets and villages will have someone – invariably a woman – who offer remedies for a variety of ailments. Sometimes those remedies are valid. Only if one is suitably placed (socially, or by sheer luck) near to one of the Motaan order can one expect a treatment based upon the esoteric skills of that fraternity.
Religion. To say that life is held cheap would not be a fair comment. The Plaq-tî have a firm belief in a continuation of life beyond the grave. Consequently, death is not seen as an ending, rather it is a transition. This means that the masters who control the populace are not too concerned if their actions lead to the deaths of others. Some leaders are more enlightened, but the degree of enlightenment should not be compared to that of modern-day human society.
Lifestyle. Class is important in Plaq-tî society. The lower the class of an individual the less their life is worth to the classes above them. Obedience to ones’ superiors is instilled from birth, and the upper classes rarely hesitate to spend the lives of the serfs in order to achieve an end. Equally, the more wealth (and therefore position) you have, the more able you are to afford the better things in life (good food, quality accommodation, etc.); hence there is a better chance of living into old age.

Biologically, Plaq-tî people mature at a slower rate than we do, and their heart-rate is almost half that of our own. They are hardy in terms of natural health and resilience, but they are certainly not immune to discease. The age of Plaq-tî children is generally given in terms of seasons until they have reached a Plaq-tî age of 4 years (24 seasons, roughly equivalent to a 10 year old), and they reach nominal adulthood at the age of around 9 years; however, they are not accepted as mature members of society until they reach a Plaq-tî age of 18 (around 50 Earth years). From that point the males of the society are allowed to own (or at least be stewards of) land, officially marry (though younger, and sometimes unofficial liaisons are common, particularly for political or strategic purposes). Males are considered eligible for military service from the Plaq-tî age of 8 (around 21 Earth years). Females reach biological womanhood at around the age of seven or eight, and from that time they are considered ready to assume the role of an adult female in Plaq-tî society. It is important to remember that females are not generally accorded any of the rights of men, and are often seen as almost a form of property. This is not to say that 'love' is unknown - but how that love is shown should not be compared to the way we express love. Remember, Plaq-tî society is not a modern, western society.

The Motaan, and certain other folk (for example the Maazhé-o, the Channellers), have an even more extended life, most probably attributable to their association with the Prism. There is a considered belief that a blood relationship with To Dåm (assumed by many to be immortal), or to his acolytes (the original Motaan), or even to the earliest of the Maazhé-o, is instrumental in achieving longevity; however, this is unlikely to be true, since attainment of full Motaan-ship is not dependant on genetics. (On the other hand, a propensity for manipulation of rosh does appear more prevalent in some blood lines than others.) It is said that Godî Selim himself lived for over 300 (Plaq-tî) years before he disappeared from the history books. Certainly the Motaan regularly achieve ages exceeding 150 (Plaq-tî years), and Adéqoso Persîen Efremîen sî to Qan Qotip is credited with surviving for 198 years. At the time Luke meets with Motaan Dosan Qotaq, in Exiles, the Mediator is already over 100 (Plaq-tî) years of age. The acolytes of the Motaan share in this longevity to a degree, but only the very few who finally achieve the accolade of Motaan, and come into physical contact with the remnants of Zoshimqol, gain the full extension to their lives. An acolyte may certainly expect to live beyond their normal span, and this may be a ‘proxy’ effect, brought about by close association with both full Motaan and Channellers.

One thing that might raise an eyebrow is the rate of technological development in Plaq-tî society. In twice the amount of time as passed on Earth, the Plaq-tî have not passed beyond the equivalent of the Medieval era, and indeed, in some ways lag even behind that. Why should this be? Well, to start with there was the Cataclysm. The devastation it brought wrecked all that had gone before, effectively returning civilisation to an almost stone-age, survivalist beginning. Even so, since the Cataclysm, 4000 earth years passed before Luke arrived, yet still the development of Zoplaq was incredibly slow. We can ascribe this to two main factors.

Firstly, birth-rate. As previously mentioned, Plaq-tî birth rate is much slower than our own. This may translate to a similarly low instance of, for want of a better word, genius. An expanding population is always a driving force on the road to progress: necessity drives invention. Secondly, rosh. This so-called ‘magic’ is the dominant science. When the Motaan are so minded, they can call on Imshî to effect many amazing feats. A cultural reliance on rosh to solve and resolve may well have reduced the need to invent more mundane, or merely physical solutions to problems.

Top

Politics & Demographics

Government

The country of Zoplaq is loose federation of provinces, each controlled dynastically by a ruling family. The seat of government for each province is the city where the head of the dynasty normally resides. Each province is divided into a number of districts, each usually governed by members of the ruling family. The districts themselves are segmented into wards, control of which is usually awarded to noble families for loyal past service. Other minor nobles may also be given title to land or property. Rule is effectively fiefdom, with taxation applied to the nobility, who obtain their own income from tithes in a waterfall effect. The general population owes allegiance to, and resides under the protection of, the local governing family.

There is no national government in the modern, western, conventional sense. Nîtilth province provides (historically) a neutral point, where politicking takes place. Each province has a permanent representative in the Rosen, the inter-provincial council (also the name given to the building where it sits.) At certain times (for example, when there is a major dispute between rival provinces, or when an external threat is perceived) the Heads of the Houses will attend themselves, or at least send a strong envoy.

Demographics

The population of Zoplaq (at the time of Arrival) is less than five million. Demographically the population is largely rural, with only 25% of the people (as an average across all provinces) living in urban communities (cities and large towns.) Some 15 – 20% of the rural populace is itinerant, moving from place to place with the working seasons.

Each province produces goods or services that it is able to trade with other provinces, thus establishing basic commerce. Each specialises in at least one given industry (arable farming, lumber, mining, etc.), determined by local geography and resource, ensuring that trade is an essential aspect of Plaq-tî life.

A few useful terms:

*PLAQ-TÎQ*	English	Notes
Jaar	Province	There are nine provinces in the country of Zoplaq, each ruled by a dynastic family.
Flan	District	Each province is divided into either 3 or 6 districts. The number of districts is not indicative of anything; it’s simply the way the province developed over time (always observing, however, the magic of the number 3).
Tipflan	Ward	Districts are sub-divided into wards, usually governed by favoured noble families.
Spéthasoth (abbrev. Spétha)	City	City status is granted to the town where the governor for the district holds court.
Spîthasoth (abbrev. Spîtha)	Town	Township is achieved when a village grows to a size large enough to warrant a permanent militia.
Stathasoth (abbrev. Statha)	Village	Village status is achieved when a hamlet gains a permanent market.
Tipthasoth (abbrev. Tiptha)	Hamlet	Consists of just a few dwellings.

Top

Natural World

The world of Zoheft supports life that is as diverse and plentiful as any found on earth. Life, plants and animals, fungi and fish, birds and insects, exists in the air, on land and in water. I don't know whether that life is exotic, as such; after all, there's a plethora of absurd and beautiful creatures here on Earth, after all. Anyway, here is a small sample of the life found on Zoheft.

*PLAQ-TÎQ*	English	Comment
ALÎETA	Plant species	Native flora. Rare plant that grows in small crevices. It has the property of inducing a comatose state in almost any animal that eats it.
EQELMÎR	Plant species	Native flora. A plant with some medicinal properties. It can act as a coagulant, and has a mild antiseptic property.
FEROT	Animal species	Native fauna. A large (several feet body-length) three-tusked herbivorous, goat-like creature that lives mostly on mosses that grow on certain trees. It has a powerful, rasping tongue that it uses to obtain its’ food. A staple meal for many predators in the wild.
HAMBÎ	Pixies	Native fauna. Brown monkey-like creatures, adults less than eight inches tall. Living in packs like wolves, they are fierce hunters, and have been known to attack prey considerably larger than themselves.
IMPO’QIDÎ	Whitesox	Native fauna. A scavenger, similar to a lizard in shape, covered in dark fur with white socks on the paws (hence the name). It grows to a length of around four and a half feet. Whitesox are not especially aggressive, but are extremely curious creatures.
MOÎQOS TIPRIT	Modesty bushes	Native flora, a bush that grows in curious half-circles. Much used by the exiles as a private location for performing toilet duties.
QESH	Critter	A four-legged, man-high beast with a mass of thickly-matted fur, and ferocious yellow fangs protruding upward from the lower jaw.
RIT’IP	Bush / Shrub	Lit. ‘tree little’. The actual term ‘little tree’ would be rendered as ‘tip rit’.
WALIN	Plant kingdom	Generic term.

Top

Language

PRISM - Exiles is a science fiction story, with a modicum of fantasy thrown in. A key element of the story, an element that permeats everything, is (are) the language(s) of the native peoples, and there are several. However, this webpage will discuss only the main one: Plaq-tîq.

During the earliest stages of writing 'PRISM - Exiles' it became clear that the story would move in a direction where the exiles from Earth would need to communicate with the natives of Zoheft. Inevitably, perhaps, regular English was inadequate to convey any 'flavour' of the alien aspect, and equally neither the natives or the exiles would have an automatic understanding of each others' tongues.

So I invented a new language. It started as a small idea, to generate the few words necessary to construct a simple sentence. It was not long, however, as the exiles began to interract more with the Plaq-tî natives, that the need to expand on the language became an imperative. Soon it became a project in its' own right. Believe me, inventing a whole new language is not simply a case of writing a random collection of pseudo-words! You have to consider the origin of the words, how they interact, what rules bind them, and so forth. Then there's the visual aspect, what the language look like. Anyway, here's a few examples of the rules, and pronunciation.

Plurals are denoted by the suffix –o, except where the root lexeme itself ends with a double vowel sound, regardless of actual final character(s).

Plaq-tîq uses the , glyph to denote word boundaries. Sentences are delimited by beginning on a new line. Topics and sub-topics are separated from a previous topic / sub-topic by extended white space, i.e. inserting blank lines. Topic headings / titles are simply written using larger script.

Common Nouns can be formed from verbs (where not catered for specifically) by the addition of the Î suffix. The suffix is pronounced as in the word ‘bee’. E.g. To Come is ÉVOK, but the word Visitor is BRIVOQÎ. However, the Î suffix is also sometimes used as an alternative to the aan suffix.

Proper Nouns (mostly names) are denoted by cartouche enclosures, the Plaq-tîq glyphs ( and )representing this in printed form. As a rule, proper nouns are only used for the names of people; place-names are treated as common nouns.

Pronunciation

Generally each character is pronounced in only one way, though there are a few words where there are exceptions. Here are some examples of how the main sounds are formed:

A	Pronounced as in the word ‘hat’.
AA	Pronounced as in the word ‘car’.
Å	Pronounced either as in the word ‘could’, or as in the word ‘hut’. A ‘–å’ suffix may also be used to feminise a word, if not specifically catered for.
E	Pronounced as in the word ‘red’.
É	Pronounced as in the word ‘they’.
F	Prounced as in the word 'cough'.
I	Pronounced as in the word ‘hit’.
Î	Pronounced as in the word ‘see’.
O	Pronounced as in the word ‘so’, but sometimes as in the word ‘hot’. A ‘-o’ suffix a word (but see later for exceptions), pronounced long, as in ‘go’. To aid pronunciation, the ‘o’ may itself be preceded with ‘î’ (‘-îo’, pronounced similar to the word ‘trio’ – ‘tr-ee-yoh’.)
OO	Pronounced long, as in the word ‘zoo’.
U	Generally pronounced as the whole word ‘you.’ 'U' is not treated as a vowel. If appended to a word it denotes the past tense. E.g. Baan (‘Close’), Baanu (Closed), or Taan’ta (‘You think’), Taan’tau (‘You thought’), pronounced 'tahn-ta-you'. If it prepends a sentence, it turns the whole sentence into a question.
J	Pronounced as a soft ‘g’, as in the word ‘gentle’.
Q	Pronounced as ‘ck’, as in the word ‘dock’.
S	Pronounced softly, as in the word ‘rissole’. Hard ‘s’ is written as a ‘z’.
F	Pronounced softly, as in the word ‘off’. Hard ‘f’ is written as a ‘v’.
G	Pronounced hard, as in the word ‘get’.
V	Pronounced hard, as in the word 'hover'.
W	A relatively recent addition to Plaq-tîq, and may be considered an ‘import’ from a ‘foreign’ language. It is sometimes used to replace the original ‘oo’ sound, particularly at the beginning of a word.

With a few exceptions, there are no consonant multiples or combinations. For example, the English word ‘laugh’ would be written as ‘laf’. Each exception has its' own Plaq-tîq glyph, but we represent them thus in English:

AA	Pronounced as in the word ‘yarn’.
OO	Pronounced long, as in the word ‘zoo’.
CH	Originally pronounced as in the name of the famous composer, ‘Bach’. However, the sound has become bastardised in urban areas, and may also be dialectically pronounced as in the word ‘Chop’. Many words containing ‘ch’ are usually derived from an older version of the language.
QS	Pronounced as in the word ‘axe.’
ZH	Pronounced as in the (French) phrase ‘Je suis.’
TH	Pronounced as in the word ‘path.’
SH	Pronounced as in the word ‘wish.’

You've already met a few words and names, and here are a few more; but here they are accompanied by 'sound bites', to demonstrate what the spoken word actually sounds like. (Sorry, the sound files aren't ready yet. Stay tuned!)

*PLAQ-TÎQ*	Glyphs	English	.WAV
Tathaa		Greetings.	WAV1
Fasootatha		Farewell.	WAV2
Hårteq sef		Iron flats.	WAV3
Tazé dîemî to zoheft roté.		He watches the world turn.	WAV4
Drech		Hell (perdition.)	WAV5