Hello!
Has there ever been any official write-up of the writing used by the tohr-kreen? i know all kreen (thri and tohr) can read it; that much is stated in the “Thri-Kreen of Athas” supplement. I also know it has a name,
“Chachik”, according to both of these sites: https://seared-to-the-bone.obsidianportal.com/wikis/languages https://darksunbergen.fandom.com/wiki/Språk
it’s even described a little in the “Thri-Kreen of Athas” book, saying it looks like a series of random slash marks. it’s also supposed to be syllabic.
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That’s a really handy resource.
From what I’ve seen elsewhere, it does seem to me he’s made a couple of mistakes though-- common is called “Trade Common”, and there are also spoken regional dialects for the various City States. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of them had written languages as well.
As for Tohr-Kreen, if it’s a full-blown empire, it makes sense that it should have a standardised written language, even if there are some dialectical differences between the various sub-species of Kreen.
If “all Kreen” can just read it, then either it predates the Kreen Empire or all Kreen have to have come from the Kreen Empire (as the writing would need to date back to before the to groups split for it to be in the Kreen racial memory).
You’re right about an empire needing a written language, that just wouldn’t explain how savage Kreen from the Tyr region could auto-read it.
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the text implies that it has something to do with the kreen’s ancestral memory, similar to how every single one of them is instinctively aware of the concept of an avangion.
Yes, i got that. But its not the Force. Racial memory come from ancestry, so the memory AND the Kreen bloodline would need to be from the same place.
So either all Kreen in the Tablelands are descended from refugees from the Empire (which would sorta make sense, given they also all have a racial memory about how the Kreen Empire is bad news) or that script is MUCH older than the Empire. Like, at least as old as the Chak’sa.
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I tie the racial memory about the zik-chil to the Blue Age where the zik-chil served the nature-benders and helped them bend the primitive kreen of that period into their modern day form.
Thats not canon, just my own take on kreen history.
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To be honest, the idea of a written language all Kreen can “automatically read” seems a bit of a stretch to me. If Thri-Kreen instincts were automatically programmed to that level of sophistication, it would make as much sense for them to be manufactured Blue Age bioweapons. And I don’t know if I’d want that for the race. Takes away from what makes them special to play.
For my campaign, the primitive kreen were “evolved” to be a servitor race to the rhulisti. It wouldn’t be a century or so later that the moral implications would be debated which would later be the catalyst for the Shaper-Bender War.
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If I recall there was a Dragon magazine from the 90s that had some stuff on their language. There maybe something in that article you can use for inspiration. Additionally take a look at pitman shorthand for English. It has a lot the slash type look to it.
Actually it was Polyhedron magazine issue 75. The article was written by Tim Brown.
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WOAH that’s GREAT! now all I have to do is convert that into a font. Does your player have an online alias so I may credit him properly?
I can’t wait to add it to my collection!
Cool - glad you dig it 
He’s an artist (his page is here: https://www.aernoutvanpallandt.com/home/Home.html) so I’m sure he’d be happy to receive credit.
If you turn it into a font, please share - that would be great.
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Yes please do that would be a wonderful tool for our games.
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UGH all of the font make tools that involve scans cost money now.
i transferred the text onto one of the templates, but i don’t have a credit card so i can’t pay.
