Orrian syllabary

ArenaNet's official table for Orrian syllabary.

Orrian syllabary is the writing system for Orrians prior to the Cataclysm and the kingdom's death.

Locations of visible Orrian syllabary

• Abaddon Shrine, during Temple of the Forgotten God
• Orrian Obelisk, during Victory or Death
• Orrian Runestone, at Stone of Hazaan

Reading Orrian syllabary

The following section only shows the glyphs that are available in game:

	A	E	I	O	U	Y
B		BE
C	CA		CI
D		DE	DI	DO
F
G			GI	GO
H	HA	HE	HI	HO	HU
K		KE	KI
L	LA	LE	LI	LO
M	MA	ME	MI
N	NA	NE	NI	NO
				PO
					QU
R	RA	RE	RI			RY
S		SE		SO
T		TE			TU	TY
		VE	VI
	WA		WI	WO

Notes

• According to Matthew Medina, Orrian syllabary was designed to be a translatable language seen in the game, however due to the challenge in using it and difficulty in QA testing it, it was shelved during development. Because of this, only one model uses Orrian syllabary.

Trivia

• This script resembles an alphasyllabary. In actuality, it is a digraph cipher.
• The text of the syllabary may reference the inscription on a statue of Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II, which is famous for having inspired Percey Bysshe Shelley's sonnet "Ozymandias". The paraphrased inscription in Shelley's poem bears a similar message to the text of the syllabary using similar language, and the placement of the syllabary in-game amidst the ruins of Orr echoes the theme of self-proclaimed great civilizations inevitably falling into decline. Shelley's poem is especially familiar to many gamers because the part containing the inscription was used as a flavor quote in the game Civilization 4.

And on the pedestal these words appear:

'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'

External links

• Orrian Syllabary Translator

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Languages and writing systems

Asuran • Charr • New Krytan • Orrian