A sigh blew through Tormod’s nose as he finally released the quill from his magic. He looked over the written words in his journal for a moment before he blew at the drying ink. A week had passed, a whole week since his friends had left the village to recover the key and left him behind to do it. While it still stung to have been left behind, he knew that his presence would slow them down and likely endanger them all.

Even so, he hadn’t remained idle. The deer Elder had just left the healer’s tent to address another matter, and Tormod took the opportunity to look over his notes. A week straight of getting a crash course into the deer language had been rough. Fortunately, the Elder was more than patient in teaching him.

A quick learner as he was, Tormod still took the opportunity to write his notes about it. In the off chance he forgot something or he needed to teach the others when they returned, having his journal with all his notes would be helpful.

As the ink dried, he flipped back a few pages to quadruple—or quintuple—check his notes.

As I’ve come to learn in the past few days of learning the language of the deer—the Maederhallowians as they call themselves—is a rather unique and interesting language. As I understood it, their language was once like our own Equestria, but diverted due to the isolation of the deer tribe. Similar to how the Germane and Prench language evolved in our own societies. However, the deer have evolved their language to use a different set of sounds and inflections, yet still hold to the core of the Equestrian mode of speak.

By this, and I am basing this off of the few written works the Elder has shown me, I mean that the grammar and sentence structure between our two languages is still the same. In fact, the deer still use the Equestrian alphabet to form their words. And if one were to listen carefully, the usage of vowels and consonants are also the same, yet mixed.

When the Elder showed me how to write ‘I am Tormod’ in their language—which is ‘O ev Cuzvul’ in their alphabet—I began to notice a pattern. The letters for vowels were still used, just in a different order compared to our own. My example was this—from Equestrian to Maederhallowian: the ‘I’ is ‘O’, the ‘A’ is ‘E’, and the ‘O’ is ‘U’. When comparing the two side by side. If this was true of the vowels, it must be the same for the consonants.

I asked the Elder to write out a passage for me in their language and then started testing it compared to Equestrian, and I believe I’ve got it figured out how to translate their language on paper. The actual speaking method is far more difficult and will take time to learn, probably more time than I will actually have in Maederhallow. If Tourmaline and the others are successful, I will be leaving with them and getting back to Greensborough as fast as we can. That aside, this is what I found when comparing Maederhallowian alphabet to the Equestrian alphabet.

Vowels: (Equestrian to Maederhallowian)

A - U, E - A, I - E, O - I, U - O.

Note: I noticed there was one discrepancy in the useage of vowels, namely, the use of the letter Y. It took me some time and practice before I learned that the Maederhallowian language does not have a Y in it. The word ‘Piwi’ being the case. It translates into pony, both a noun and a curse in their language. It was then I noticed that the second I is used in place of a Y. With that in mind, their I can also be a Y as well as an O.

Special Rule: Y - I

Consonants: (Equestrian to Maederhallowian)

B - J, C - K, D - L, F - M, G - N, H - Q, J - R, K - S, L - T, M - V,

N - W, Q - X, R - Z, S - B, T - C, V - D, W- F, X - G, Z - H.

It was also here I noticed another special note, the letter P in both languages is still a P. Once again, I used the word ‘piwi’ for this example.

Special Rule: P - P

As further proof of what I’ve found, I took the time to write out the passage the Elder gave me. As well as my translation below it using my key.

Neda cquwsb ci cqa Nzauc Vicqaz aukq uwl adazi lui. Miz bqa pzicakcb oz mziv cqa fiztl cquc fiotl li ob quzv. Qiwiz iioz uwkabcizb uwl Atlazb, miz cqai pzidela noeluwka uwl febliv im cqiba cquc kuva jamiza. Cusa pzela ew iioz czuleceiwb, uwl wadaz bfui ew cqa muka im uldazbeci. Miz ub tiwn ub cqa Nzauc Vicqaz saapb qaz denet, bqutt cqa Fqeca Cuetb bozdeda uwl cqzeda ew ioz qiva.

Give thanks to the Great Mother each and every day. For she protects us from the world that would do us harm. Honor your ancestors and Elders, for they provide guidance and wisdom of those that came before. Take pride in your traditions, and never sway in the face of adversity. For as long as the Great Mother keeps her vigil, shall the White Tails survive and thrive in our home.

As one can see above, with my key, one can translate the Maederhallowian language. In the future, I hope to provide instructions on how to verbalize the language, but that is for another day when I’m no longer in the Forest of the Oak.

Nodding to himself, Tormod lowered his journal, closing it and tucking it away in his saddlebags. When his friends came back, he knew they would be leaving in a hurry, and he didn’t want to run the risk of leaving his journal behind.

As he settled on his cot, his thoughts once again turned to his friends. Once more he prayed that they were safe and that he would see them again.