The Daedric Alphabet is used in the popular video game series The Elder Scrolls. At the beginning of Act 5 Act 1, Andrew found this particular writing in the suggestion box which he opened only shortly, as people were pouring in and slowing down the server. It was used to name Karkat Vantas on his 6th Wriggling Day, in a similar fashion to John's naming on his 13th birthday and was also used to name the planet: Alternia.
In Homestuck, the Daedric alphabet is used to represent the troll language. When used in this manner, the entire text is read flowing right-to-left and bottom-to-top.
Technically, the Daedric alphabet is not actually an alphabet, but merely a set of alternate glyphs for the Roman alphabet (the letters are the same, just drawn differently).
Interestingly enough, in The Elder Scrolls, the Daedric alphabet is primarily used by the Dremora, who, like the trolls, are a warlike race of grey-skinned, yellow-eyed humanoids with horns who use a caste-based social structure. However, as Andrew has stated he picked the alphabet at random, this is most likely a very lucky coincidence.
List of Daedric Alphabet insertions in Homestuck
- It was used to name the planet the trolls originated from. However, while the image caption refers to the planet's correct name as Alternia, the Daedric text in the image itself reads "Trollplanet
". On the previous page, it was used to give Alternia an incorrect name; this text reads "Turdodor Fuckball
". - It was used to give Karkat an incorrect name, "Bulgereek Nookstain", before his correct name was revealed in the next page's caption.
- Karkat's movie posters are written in this font, as well as the cover of his Game Grub magazine. Unlike with the name of Alternia, the text on the magazine cover is as described in the image caption: the name of the magazine is indeed "Game Grub", and the headline is "Exclusive Leaks". Oddly, Karkat's The Thresh Prince of Bel Air DVD and book on the ~ATH programming language (as well as ~ATH code itself) are actually written in the Roman alphabet.
- During Karkat's encounter with his Custodian, the word "grief" appears. This is likely the troll equivalent of Strife. It may be a reference to griefing, an online activity just as obnoxious as trolling.
- Aradia's Ouija modus has Daedric writing on it, showing the alphabet, the numbers, and reading "OUIJA GOODBYE"; as well as spelling out a word related to the item being retrieved. The only one seen so far is the Crosbytop being "BING".
- Feferi's can of Tab.
- The title of "Sweet Kid and Hella Jack".
- The subtitle in [S] Wake., unsurprisingly, reads "Derse".
- In Kanaya: Return To The Core, at the beginning of Sollux and Eridan's fight, there is briefly Daedric text which reads "Grief"
- Vriska's ancestor's journal.. Curiously, the image shows spaces where the numbers "8" should have been, as there are no "Daedric numbers". This is, however, contradicted by the upside down numerals on Aradia's Ouija modus page. It reads: "would aghast misgivings did not complement his so endearing arsenal of qu8nt flaws it is impossi8le to stifle this grin even now as i write"
- When Vriska fights against Jack Noir the title is "Grief" instead of "Strife". This follows the pattern of Karkat's previously mentioned encounter with his lusus.
- Vriska's ultimate attack and highest roll on the Fluorite Octet, "ANCESTRAL AWAKENING".
- Vriska's and Bec Noir's health bars read "Health Vial"
- Vriska's action upon using her ultimate attack, "AUTO-PIRATE"
- The Handmaid's "Grief" against Doc Scratch is headed in the usual manner. Her commands are Aggress and Aggrub.
- The Condesce's flagship is known as the "BATTLESHIP CONDESCENSION".
- The text on the computer screen at the start of [S] Act 6 reads "CLICK ==> TO CONTINUE".
- The text above the record player at the end of [S][A6I1] Karkat: Mental breakdown. reads "THIS IS STUPID".
- The alphabet is laid out on a computer keyboard that is used by Calliope.
- In [S] Jane: Enter., after the text in Latin alphabet "Years in the future", a text in Daedric alphabet reads "but not many".
- The text on the folder given to Roxy by the Condesce says "YOURE WELCOME"
- The text in Calliope's scrapbook (a ~ATH programming manual) is also written in Daedric. The first line on this page reads "ge first laser - is light true - short the source code for our first program" (to be verified), this would suggest that the entire content of the page is not random text, but indeed includes actual programming instructions.
External links
- Daedric Alphabet on The Elder Scrolls Wiki. Further information regarding the subject can be found here.
- Daedric Alphabet on The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages. A TrueType Daedric font can be downloaded from there.