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.

Icon	Char	Sound	Name	Meaning
	ᚫ	A	Aesc?	From the Loading screen "ᛚᛟᚫᛞᛁᚾᚷ" message. Not used in magic.
	ᛒ	B	Berkanan ("Birch")	Symbolic of growth, fertility, and beginnings.
	ᛞ	D	Dagaz ("Day")	Represents light and darkness, clarity and illusion.
	ᛖ	E	Ehwaz ("Horse")	Associated with movement, transportation, and unbinding.
	ᚠ	F	Fehu ("Chattel")	Literally "wealth", but associated with beasts.
	ᚷ	G	Ingwaz	(From the Loading screen "ᛚᛟᚫᛞᛁᚾᚷ" message. Not used in magic.)
	ᚺ	H	Hagalaz ("Hail")	Signifies weather, air.
	ᛁ	I	Isaz?	(From the Loading screen "ᛚᛟᚫᛞᛁᚾᚷ" message. Not used in magic.)
	ᛃ	J	Jera ("Harvest")	Symbolizes plant life, fruitfulness.
	ᚲ	K	Kenaz ("Torch")	Fire, fiery power.
	ᛚ	L	Laguz ("Lake")	Water, the sea. Mastery of flowing or shapeless things.
	ᛗ	M	Mannaz ("Mankind")	Linked to fellow-beings, friends and enemies, and the social order.
	ᚾ	N	Nauthiz ("Need")	Denotes restrictions, delays, or bindings.
	ᛟ	O	Othalan?	(From the Loading screen "ᛚᛟᚫᛞᛁᚾᚷ" message. Not used in magic.)
	ᛈ	P	Peorth ("Game piece")	Calls on fate, mystery, and hidden forces. Magic.
	ᚱ	R	Raido ("Journey")	Symbolically associated with discovery. Seeking after truth.
	ᛋ	S	Sigel?	(From? Not used in magic.)
	ᚦ	Th	Thurisaz ("Giant")	Indicates destruction, ruin, and naked violence.
	ᛏ	T	Tîwaz ("The Hero")	Giver of law, leadership, and purpose; the guiding spirit.
	ᚢ	U and V	Uruz ("Ox")	Emblematic of toughness, health, and potency.
	ᛇ	Y	Eiwaz ("The World Tree")	The fabric of the world, which is solidity and earth.
	ᛉ	Z	Algiz ("Elk")	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.

Trivia

• The runic language in Underworld Ascendant differs slightly from the runic in Ultima and Shroud of the Avatar.
• The runes also do not match any known runic alphabet from Earth, whether Elder Futhark, Short- or Long-Twig Younger Futhark, Anglo-Saxon, or Medieval.
• The runes all exist in the Runic block, and the game uses those Unicode characters for the runes in graffiti.
• The rune names are as in Unicode, with a few slight spelling differences.
• The meanings of the runes are also essentially the same as their generally accepted Earth meanings.
• 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") are considered correct.
• All of this suggests that whoever designed this alphabet did some serious research into correct rune usage, unlike the wince-worthy alphabet of the Ultimas!
• In the resources.assets file, there is a list of translation strings for Runes/b through Runes/z, missing only (agioswx), with c and k both mapped to Kenaz, U and V both mapped to Uruz.

• 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.