Runic Alphabet

An ancient series of runes can be found in use throughout the Stygian Abyss. Perhaps a remnant of a previous age, or something brought with one of the Underworld's inhabitants, these runes nonetheless are worth learning, as many challenges in the depths can be overcome (or avoided) with the knowledge they impart. Mages especially will need to know runic, as they are at the heart of the power of magic.

Only a subset of these runes (ᛒᛖᚺᛃᚲᛗᚾᚱᚦᛏᚢᛉ) can be found as runes for casting spells in the Stygian Abyss. A couple of other runes (ᚠᛇ) can be found branded on wands, but since no rune exists for them, those wands are the only way to cast those spells.

Icon	Char	Sound	Name	Meaning	Purpose	Type	Rune	Description / Notes
	ᚫ	A	Ansuz	God?	?	n/a	No	(From the Loading screen "ᛚᛟᚫᛞᛁᚾᚷ" message.)
	ᛒ	B	Berkanan	Birch	Create/Most	Effect/Power	Yes	Symbolic of growth, fertility, and beginnings.
	ᛞ	D	Dagaz	Day	Light?	?	No	Represents light and darkness, clarity and illusion.
	ᛖ	E	Ehwaz	Horse	Move	Effect	Yes	Associated with movement, transportation, and unbinding.
	ᚠ	F	Fehu	Cattle	Beast	Target	Wand	Literally "wealth", but associated with beasts.
ᚷ	ᚷ	G	Gyfu?	Gift?	?	?	No	(From the Loading screen "ᛚᛟᚫᛞᛁᚾᚷ" message.)
	ᚺ	H	Hagalaz	Hail	Air	Target	Yes	Signifies weather, air.
	ᛁ	I	Isaz?	Ice?	?	?	No	(From the Loading screen "ᛚᛟᚫᛞᛁᚾᚷ" message. Not used in magic.)
	ᛃ	J	Jera	Harvest	Plant	Target	Yes	Symbolizes plant life, fruitfulness.
	ᚲ	C and K	Kenaz	Torch	Fire	Target	Yes	Fire, fiery power.
	ᛚ	L	Laguz	Lake	Water	Target	No	Water, the sea. Mastery of flowing or shapeless things.
	ᛗ	M	Mannaz	Mankind	Person	Target	Yes	Linked to fellow-beings, friends and enemies, and the social order.
	ᚾ	N	Nauthiz	Need	Bind	Effect	Yes	Denotes restrictions, delays, or bindings.
	ᛟ	O	Odal?	Heritage?	?	?	No	(From the Loading screen "ᛚᛟᚫᛞᛁᚾᚷ" message. Not used in magic.)
	ᛈ	P	Peorth	Game piece	Magic?	Target?	No	Calls on fate, mystery, and hidden forces. Magic.
	ᚱ	R	Raido	Journey	Sense	Aiming	Yes	Symbolically associated with discovery. Seeking after truth.
	ᛋ	S	Sigel?	Sun?	?	?	No	(From? Not used in magic.)
	ᚦ	Th	Thurisaz	Giant	Destroy	Effect	Yes	Indicates destruction, ruin, and naked violence.
	ᛏ	T	Tîwaz	The Hero	Spirit/Mind	Target	Yes	Giver of law, leadership, and purpose; the guiding spirit.
	ᚢ	U and V	Uruz	Ox	Strengthen/Much	Effect/Power	Yes	Emblematic of toughness, health, and potency. (Sometimes drawn as "Λ")
ᛇ	ᛇ	Y	Eiwaz	The World Tree	Earth	Target	Wand?	The fabric of the world, which is solidity and earth. (May also exist as a rune?)
	ᛉ	Z	Algiz	Elk	Protect	Aiming	Yes	A totem of stalwart strength and mighty defense.

Rune Stones

Main article: Rune Stones

Scattered around the Abyss is an alphabet of rune stones, each inscribed with a runic letter. The Avatar discovers these stones as they explore the Abyss, over time building a vocabulary of spells used in Runic Magic.

Similarity to Earth Runic

This runic alphabet differs sharply from the runic in the original Underworlds, the Ultima series, and Shroud of the Avatar.

Instead, Runic in Underworld Ascendant is heavily influenced by the runic traditions of the world from which you came - Earth.

While they are not a perfect match for any of EArth's Runic traditions, borrowing as they do shapes or names from a variety of sources, their names, shapes and sounds will all be familiar to students of Elder Futhark, Short- or Long-Twig Younger Futhark, Anglo-Saxon, or Medieval runic traditions, or even the more modern spiritual rune-casting mythologies. Their meanings and purposes, too, follow the meanings historically ascribed to the runes, and from which many of them gained their shapes.

While 'Q' and 'X' do not exist in this alphabet, this is accurate: in runic writings these sounds are typically formed with 'KU' and 'KS' sounds respectively. The list as it is now may well be complete, as can be seen by comparing to Wikipedia's 'Runes' category - the only common rune that might still remain unfound is Wynn, though that might instead just use Uruz' 'U' sound. There may also be some compound runes missing.

Because of this unusual level of research into the runes, players can learn this alphabet without concern that it will teach them bad habits for reading Earth runic; if anything, the game may help aspiring students of Futhark.

Trivia

• In early prototypes, Thurisaz was called Thurs, with the meaning Thunder. Though the meaning is Giant, the rune Thurisaz is considered tightly bound with Thor and Thunder.
• In early prototypes, Fehu originally had the meaning "Chattel" rather than "Cattle": both meanings (and "wealth", and "beast") are appropriate for this rune.
• That all their sounds, names, meanings, and purposes are appropriate for each rune suggests they did some serious research into correct rune usage.
• Runic is often written phonetically, excluding unnecessary letters instead of being a simple letter cypher. For example, the Kickstarter exclusive Backer's T-shirt has "Kickstarter backer" on the back in runic, but uses the characters "Kikstarter Baker", eliminating the phonetically duplicate "c".
• The runes have changed a couple of times through the development process, with some logos using the Ultima runes and some using the updated alphabet.
• Algiz, Berkanan, Dagaz, Ehwaz, Eiwaz, Fehu, Hagalaz, Jera, Kenaz, Laguz, Mannaz, Naudiz, Peorth, Radhio, Thurs, Tiwaz, and Uruz were present in the first Playable Prototype released to players. Of these, Berkanan, Ehwaz, Eiwaz, Hagalaz, Jera, Kenaz, Naudiz, Thurs, and Uruz could be used to cast spells.

Pledge Reward

Backers at the Legendary Hero tier and higher will receive a poster with a language and runic translation guide as part of their Collector's Edition Box.

Previous Appearances

• The Runic Alphabet was used through the Ultima series, including both Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss and Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds. Shroud of the Avatar uses a similar Runic Alphabet.