Here is a quick synopsis of what has happened so far.

• I found a very old book written in Biblical Hebrew. With it was a notebook written in cursive yiddish detailing instructions on how to open a gateway to another world, written by my great great aunt, Dora Lipman.

• I successfully opened a gateway to Qwamaqqar, the land of the Qwamaq people. The portal opened into a small farming village called Matar.

• I started to collect language samples and analyze their language while getting to know them better.

• Zhoniker ("walker") is a songwalker who lives with his mother Uqumer ("woodworker") and his grandmother Akakiper (a reduplicated version of the word for "rock"). They also raise two children together named Usalamaper ("tree-climber") and Ripiper ("trickster").

• Zhoniker, Uqumer, and Akakiper told me that Akakiper used to be well acquainted with Dora Lipman, who showed up in this world a very long time ago.

• The Oriti are an ethnic group from a different place who are occupying most of eastern Qwamaq land. They do not treat the Qwamaq well and do not let non-Oriti people enter and leave their capital city, which the Qwamaq call "Oritshipar"

• At least a few decades ago, Dora moved to Oritshipar BEFORE Oriti occupation, and the Oriti occupation began while she was still living there. Nobody knows what happened to Dora, but she probably wasn't allowed to leave Oritshipar.

• Akakiper told me that in order to find out what happened to Dora, I needed to visit the city Konoprar (/konopr/ means "to rise," so the city's name would translate to "Rising City." Not sure why yet).

It has been several days since my last journal entry. In the meantime, I've completed a full grammar for the Qwamaq language (which can be found here). Going forward I will be writing the Qwamaq with an English translation in parentheses. I have a lot to share soon about what else I've been doing. Stay tuned for Oct 16, 2024!

By pure chance I found a door just on the ground outside. Here's a picture from when I found it:

If you don't believe me, try reverse image searching the image. Nothing will come up, because I took that picture!

I've done some experiments using the door and some translation of the Hebrew book. I think I've found out something very interesting about how doors relate to gateways. So I tried using the magic circles on several door-like objects:

• Windows! Didn't work at all at first, but if I close my eyes, when I open the windows, they lead to Qwamaqqar. But they usually open into the interiors of cupboards.

• Naturally, I tried cupboards in my own home next. And drawers. The drawers led to the interior closed pots (and the shape seemed kind of warped? I couldn't test it out because all of my drawers led to pots that were very hot. smelled good tho.)

• Next I tried making my own small door out of cardboard as a proof of concept. It was about the size of an index card and it opened into the hole in a tree. I kept it open and put it next to my wifi router. I wrapped it in cheesecloth so bugs and stuff couldn't move back and forth freely. If I ever find a hole in a tree with cheesecloth inside of it, I'll see if I can't get Uqumer (who is a woodworker) to remove it from the tree so I can have wifi wherever I go in Qwamaqqar.

• I tried one of my friend's garage door, and when it opened up, it opened between two trees in the middle of a forest near Matar. The warping I mentioned for the drawers was full swing here. So, if I hypothetically needed to get a vehicle or large animal or something very large through, I could use a garage door.

The only consistency here is that gateways always open to the same places. They seem to be tied together in some VERY hard to decipher network, so I'm not sure how to make sense of it. I've tried drawing maps of where the doors are in both worlds and it doesn't match up 1:1, just by general area, but none of them really make sense. Two doors in my own home open to doors on opposite ends of Matar, which is a large (but very spread out and rural) city. One of the doors in Uqumer's house leads to someone's bathroom in Minneapolis (according to google maps), which is, given, only technically a different city from the one I live in, still different enough that this was surprising to me.

I shouldn't be that surprised though. I don't know why I assumed these gateways would be the same as nether portals lmao.

Then I brought Zhoniker with me to my world for the first time, to help transport the door I found through a gateway. I also showed him my spice collection, which he thought was interesting. Maybe one day I'll sit down with him and Akakiper and see what neologisms* they come up with. The door from my world is resting in Zhoniker's home right now. I have no idea what it'll do because it's not attached to a door frame, but Uqumer has my permission to try doing something with it.

While learning to cook Qwamaq food**, I've talked to Uqumer about transporting the door to their home with the doorframe to Konoprar so I can visit Konoprar, but she seems to be against the idea. At this point in time I think these are my options:

• Find out somewhere in my world that leads to Konoprar, and visit Konoprar from that location

• Wait until fall break or winter break and spend my time visiting Konoprar and exploring/sleuthing. (This ideally requires that I've found the wifi cheesecloth treehole by the time fall break starts, and I'm not sure how plausible that is.)

• Find some doorframe in Matar that leads to another door either in my house, a friend's house, or somewhere on my campus, and transport it physically to Konoprar, or have someone else transport it.

• Try to decipher the original Hebrew book more and figure out if I can change the location of the gateway somehow.

I don't know which of these I'm going to go for. Option 2 seems the most reliable and simple, but I would have to wait a while. I don't have a car, so option 1 would be difficult. Option 4 seems the hardest, and Option 3 seems potentially too much to ask for Uqumer and Zhoniker. I may run it by Zhoniker but idk.

I also don't know for SURE that moving a doorframe doesn't change where the portal opens up, but once the portal is ALREADY open, I know that the doorframe can be moved around (from the small cardboard one I made).

Not sure where to go from here, but I have been doing more than just playing around with the gateways. I've been spending a lot of time with Zhoniker. He's tattooed me, which means we're in some sort of queerplatonic-esque relationship.

My fall break actually starts tomorrow, and I have until the 21st to finish, so we should probably act fast.

Zhoniker and I have come up with a plan.

First, we installed the door I brought from my world in a random doorframe in Matar. (Well; Uqumer made a doorframe for us and put it outside leaning against the wall.) I tested out my gateway magic circle on it and it opened into someone's front door a few blocks down. Luckily, I'm well acquainted with most of my neighbors, and this was one of them. His name is Scott and he grows peppers in his front yard. He's let me take a few of them, and they're very good!

I showed him how the gateways worked and he gave me the key.

The next step was moving the doorframe INSIDE Qwamaqqar. Luckily, when we walked with it about a half a mile towards Konoprar, it opened to the same door in Minnesota. So with a little luck, if Zhoniker brings the door with him to Konoprar, I should have access to Konoprar AND Matar without having to travel far in Minnesota.

I've also found the cheesecloth gateway! It's in a tree growing in Uqumer's backyard. She has graciously been working on making the small gateway portable, i.e. sawing it out of the tree so it can be put a bag. Once she finishes it, I'll see what happens when I bring it through a portal back to Minnesota. I postulate that this will allow me to connect to my home wifi from anywhere, but I don't know if the gateways work once moved into a different world, or what happens if I do this while the gateway is open.

After we confirmed that the new doorframe worked, Zhoniker told me "aʃaˈsel wokaˈpel fu Konoprar tar qaˈmer paˈpiʃ" (I will bring your door to Konoprar). Something they don't tell you is that doors are HEAVY, but Zhoniker and I can move it together if we take breaks! We are planning on starting this trek tomorrow in the afternoon. I have never slept in Qwamaqqar before, so we'll see how it goes! If I need to, I can return home at any time by opening the door to Scott's house and walking down the block to my home. It's a little jank but we'll have to work with it!

I don't foresee needing to return home during the journey to Konoprar, but that doesn't really matter too much because Uqumer will be done with the portable cheesecloth gateway by then, and I'll be able to send updates on my way to Konoprar.

Zhoniker told me "esˈsel fu pompompeler ampar fiŋ Konoprar ˌʃannaˈŋapa" (We will reach Konoprar in two days on foot).

Note that pompompeler is /poŋ-poŋ-pel-er/. poŋer means "to be a square," and Akakiper has told me that pompoŋer used to mean "eight day cycle" when she was a child, but now just means "day." ʃannaŋapa means "like a string," and it's also used to mean "in single file."

So we should have arrived by the end of the day on Sunday, and I will be back home in time for classes! I'm very excited to make the trek. I wonder what we'll run into on the way.

Greetings!

It's been less than three hours since I've been in Qwamaqqar on my way to Konoprar and I already have so much to report on. I've divided this entry into parts.

Uqumer's Portable Wifi Gateway

Uqumer finished making the wifi gateway! It's been really quite incredible. It works like a charm. My phone is connected to the wifi and works perfectly, and I can sit down and use my laptop. I got rid of the cheesecloth on the side of the gateway in my world and put it on the side of the portal in Qwamaqqar. Then I placed a phone charger and a computer charger (plugged into the wall) right next to it, so I could reach in and pull them through to charge my devices.

Zhoniker seems really interested in technology. I showed him my web journal but he couldn't read anything. because he can't read the Latin alphabet. But I did show him inkscape and some video games, and he seemed very interested in the video games. Maybe if we have a moment of recreation in the coming days, I can show him something more on the simple side? Let me know if you have tips for games I can show him.

The Lore of Zhoniker's Hometown

While we were walking, Zhoniker told me about the origin of Matar. Apparently it was named after a large greenhouse. /mat/ means "to grow in a greenhouse." A greenhouse is matʃiqar and matar is "the city where things grow in a greenhouse."

So I asked, "aʃaˈsel fu fol tar matʃiˈqar?" (where did the greenhouse go).

He understood me, but I'm pretty sure this isn't how you'd say something went missing. There are a few other ways, including an nominalizer "-selpaʃ" that replaces the patient nominalizer when something goes missing or is destroyed. At the very least I should have asked what happened to the greenhouse, not where it went.

Zhoniker responded: "ˈtaraʃ tar anoritʃiper. tʃiˈproŋ kaˈpel tar krifiʃuler pamaˈtar" (it was destroyed by the Oriti. The people of Matar rebuilt it).

"tʃiˈʒaŋa qap fimol?" (why doesn't it exist?)

Note: this may be better translated as "why doesn't it inhabit something?" because the patient of the transitive verb ʒaŋa (to exist) is the place it exists in.

"tʃiˈproŋ araˈʃel. tar anoritʃiper. ʃoˈpoŋki fufu tʃiˈproŋ kaˈpel anʃi fu matʃiqar. ʃoˈsempa fufu tʃiˈproŋ anʒa araˈʃel" (it was re-destroyed. By the Oriti. If we rebuilt it, they would destroy it again).

Food allergy

I brought food to share with Zhoniker (enough food for the two days), but he had an allergic reaction to the food. It was a minor one, but he was very clearly uncomfortable and having slight trouble breathing. His face went red too. Luckily I had my meds with me, which included generic non drowsy antihistamine (same compound as zyrtec), so I gave him one and within a half hour all his symptoms were gone. But I have no idea what caused the allergic reaction.

So it seems like it's the kind of minor allergy that can be fixed with zyrtec? But I would still like to figure out what triggered it. The food I brought had rice, olive oil, chicken, peas, and a spice blend. And some root vegetables.

First Village: Writing System

The first village we visited was called Mapar. There were beautiful trees growing everywhere, but the first thing that caught my eye was the writing. I had a double take; was that an alef and a reysh I saw? They looked similar enough, but the symbol before them (RTL) wasn't something I recognized. I've created a graphic of what the sign looked like using inkscape:

The thickness of the lines was consistent all the way through, which made it really easy to recreate in inkscape.

It was weird because some of the glyphs I didn't recognize. I pointed to the signs and told Zhoniker "fol kaˈpoʃ?" (what is that? literally "what thing")

"ʃopiˌkataˈfoʃ fu kaˈpoʃ" (It's writing).

Note: I have come to learn that /kataf/ is a root meaning "to write." Which sounds a lot like the hebrew word for writing. Which is. Weird. Why does it seem like this language has Hebrew influence? Were there people from my world here before me and Dora? I mean, there must have been if the book was made. Also note /i-kataf-oʃ/ is a stative verb form of the word for "that which is written" (i.e. writing). /i-/ is a productive prefix that turns a noun into a stative verb.

I pointed at the reysh and pronounced [ɾa]. Zhoniker's eyes lit up and he said "tʃikeʃi qap par fufu tʃiˈkor mekeˈnel epi tar!" (I didn't know you could read it!).

Note: he used ejectives for this statement to show enthusiasm, I just didn't feel like transcribing them.

I think. I think this is somehow the hebrew script, but with logograms. There was a new logogram here for "ma." This is pretty cool. I will be documenting any writing I see. I've kind of always wanted there to be a logography version of yiddish; maybe I will adapt this for Yiddish lol!

I asked Zhoniker to write matar, and he wrote this:

No logogram here, but what was really interesting to me is that he connected the aleph and the reysh at the end. I asked Zhoniker to write his name, and he wrote this:

Once again, in his handwriting, he combined the reysh with the letter before it (which in this case was ayin). And I'm assuming the first bit is the logograph for ʒonik, which means "to walk." I'm going to have to get him to show me all of the logograms he knows. I had no idea he could write!

Interestingly, they use ayin for e, just like Yiddish! I wonder how they write o. I don't see a world in which vav isn't u and yod isn't i. But I digress.

I showed Zhoniker the hebrew textbook and flipped through it. I said, "ʃopiˌpiɴqliʃiˈfaq epi fu qamifaq paˈpaka." (This is English, my language; lit "the thing that an English person uses is it and is my language"). But there was also hebrew on every page, and he seemed to recognize most of the letters.

He said, "ˌʃopiˌqwamaqiˈfaq qap epi" (this isn't Qwamaq). I laughed and said "qap" (no).

Stopping and Going to Sleep

I learned a new phatic phrase today! The thing you say to say "goodnight, lipamanka" is "be in good fabric, lipamanka" (miˈqami fu toraper, soˈʒaŋa fu ʃaŋŋaˌpalaˈmoʃ). So I will say this to you all! miˈqami an, soˈʒaŋa fu ʃaŋŋapalamoʃ.

Zhoniker and I are sleeping outside under the stars. Apparently it's common for the Qwamaq to sleep outside while travelling. They don't bring tents with them on journeys, they only draw a circle around themselves. Or at least this is what Zhoniker did. He also sang a song:

"miˈqamiˈqami fu nataˈler paˌnataliˈqar. miˈʃum an. esiˌʃiʃraˈŋa fu nataliˈqar paˈpampaka. esʃuŋˈŋa ampar fufu tʃiˈkaʃu ano. ʃoˈkaʃu an ampar" (o spirits of the ground, protect us and live (thread yourselves) in our ground. protect us while we sleep. Put us to sleep.)

I wonder if people who aren't songwalkers bring tents with them. I guess I can ask Zhoniker in the morning. Alright, signing off. Zhoniker is waiting for me on the soft and cool moss.

There's something about the moss, the air, the stars, Zhoniker sleeping beside me, feeling protected by the spirits. I'm writing this having woken up with the sun for the first time in a while. Zhoniker is still asleep. I imagined it'd be the other way around. He's resting his head on my chest. I'm typing on my phone and updating my website via the github app lol. HTML is kind of funky to use on a phone but I'm making do.

I'm noticing all the flora and fauna. All around us there's dew on the moss, but within our little circle, the moss is as dry as it was when we went to sleep (which is to say, moist, but not dewy). I see a line of ants avoiding our circle and going around it, carrying leaves on their backs. I can hear birds singing to each other. They sound just like they did when I visited mesoamerica. But I was very young back then, and the glass through which I see the past is stained by the trauma of loss.

And so my day begins. Calm, still, warmed by sun and body, cooled by moss and air. Warmed by anxiety and anticipation, cooled by shade and breezes. G-d I hate the mornings. I always felt so alone when I would wake up early.

I will update again later today. We should reach Konoprar tonight or tomorrow morning. I think. I just wanted to get my thoughts down. Zhoniker is smiling. I wonder what he's dreaming about.

Several things happened today, just like yesterday! I already told you what waking up was like. I was really bored, but when Zhoniker woke up, we cradled one another for a short while before beginning our trek up a hill well forested and thorned, but fragrant and rosy. When we reached the top, Zhoniker pointed to a town two greater hill before us, each hill with a great arch built upon it.

I can't help but think that I'm something new today.

We spent the rest of the day approaching the bottom of the Konoprar hill. We didn't talk. I wasn't feeling talkative, and he didn't seem bothered by the silence.

At one point he stopped walking and said, "tʃiˈʒaŋa fu konoprar tar keraŋer paˈpaka," he said. "ʃoˈmaŋi fufu aʃaˈkaŋil qamiˈqar epi par. ʃoˈsempa fufu ˈtasoke proɴˈqar qamiˈpel epi par" (My parent lives in Konoprar. I don't speak to him, but maybe I can come to re-speak with him).

I lifted my arms as if to offer a hug, but he didn't notice, so I just hugged him. He hugged me back for a short while and then we started walking again.

Bramble patch

We passed by some berries that resembled raspberries, save for the fruits were composed of much more pink segments. They remind me of cloudberries a bit but they're very very large.

"ʃopiˌpuluŋˈkwam ʃopiˌtumpaˈper ampi" (they're join-together edible plants and fruits).

Note: the "uluŋ" here is the same as the "ulum" I used when talking about rocks with Uqumer a couple of days ago. I've heard the /-kwam/ agentive nominalizer a few times before. It seems to be mostly used for edible plants, but not for ALL edible plants.

We spent about five minutes picking berries and eating them. They were kind of bland, honestly. They tasted like under ripe raspberries with the texture of ripe raspberries.

I said, "ʃoˈpoŋki fufu emˌmiʃiˈŋa fu ʒaɴˈqar paˈpaka, ʃoˈmiŋku fufu aʃaˈsel wokaˈpel par iʃ fufu ... fufu tumpaˈper. uniˌtumpaˈper fu epi" while pointing to the bush. (When you come to my place I'll bring you to a fruit... this is like the fruit).

Note: this was my attempt at saying "I'll take you to a fruit like this one" but it came off a little weird I think. He didn't correct me though. Having to circumlocute around there being no demonstrative except for a weird infix nobody uses is tricky!

He responded with "puriˈpuri" (please).

More info on songwalking

While we walked I asked Zhoniker some questions I had about songwalking. My first question was "ʃaˈkʼa ta? iˌkaʃiˈper un" (do you work a lot? you're a petitioner).

Apparently, even though some people are particularly skilled at songwalking, such as Zhoniker, and do it professionally, everyone knows how to songwalk and does it from time to time. Most villages have at least one songwalker (Matar just has Zhoniker at the moment), but some don't, and they do just fine because everyone does their part.

Songwalkers are usually tasked with setting up events and leading group petitions, which tend to be much more powerful than what one person can do. If a whole village comes together and asks for rain, the spirits in the sky are more likely to take notice, especially the ones that live in the water, and if everyone draws a circle, the spirits will all come down to live in the circles. That's the logic, at least.

It's said that songwalking doesn't work outside of Qwamaqqar, but Zhoniker has never heard of anyone testing that out. The mountains, even though not populated by the Qwamaq, are still considered part of Qwamaqqar, potentially because Qwamaq folk live on the beaches behind the mountains.

My next question was: "tʃiˈkaʃi fu nataler tar fol fimfim ʃoˈqom un?" (who will petition the spirits while you're gone?) And he responded simply with "Akakiper. esiˈkaʃi oʒa fu qoɴqar. tʃiˈqolim fu Zhoniker" (Akakiper. She used to petition. They used to call her "Zhoniker.") Which is interesting! At least Matar will be safe while we're gone, and I didn't know that Akakiper was a retired songwalker!

Zhoniker also told me that all plants need songwalking or petitioning to grow on Qwamaq land, especially during the dry season. Every tree has circles carved into it so that spirits can inhabit the tree and help it grow. Even the smaller plants have evolved to grow with circles on them, because the circles allow spirits to live within them.

It kind of reminds me of indigenous stewardship. Of course the Qwamaq play an important role in their ecosystem. Even though I'm somewhat skeptical that plants wouldn't grow without songwalking, I HAVE seen songwalking work in real time, so I'm vaguely trusting Zhoniker on this one.

We see a deer!!!

Or maybe it was like a gazelle or something! I'm not an expert on animals. It definitely looked like a deer, and it had no horns. Zhoniker called it "ʒonikipiŋkiˈkor" (strong-running animal? I think?). That's about it for that one; it was just exciting for me!

We Passed Some Olsem Folk

So first I should talk a little bit about how the Qwamaq people (the Anqwamaqer) look, so I can explain how ODD it was to see a group of Olsem walking together.

Qwamaq usually wear sarongs (called qaʃuˈfaq), which are large cloths that are wrapped around the whole body under the arms. People of all genders wear these as a base. Some people cover their shoulders with another cloth (called ʃiliŋoʃ, which also means hat or tarp). Zhoniker does this, and so does Akakiper, but Uqumer and the children don't. The Anqwamaqer also tend to have lots of tattoos, but that's not universally true (Zhoniker only has one, on his right arm). The Anqwamaqer also don't wear shoes and have callused feet.

The Qwamaq tend to dress in a maximum of two colors. Their clothing uses a lot of opposite colors. For example, on this day, Zhoniker wore a purple Sarong with a yellow shoulder covering.

The Qwamaq I've seen have light olive skin with cool tones. In Matar (and Mapar too!), everyone seemed to have the same skin tone. They also skew tall. Zhoniker is about a head taller than I am (I'm just under 5'7"), and Uqumer and Akakiper are both about my height. They have ever so slightly droopy eyes (kind of like my father and grandfather, actually) and very small noses. They all have smooth shaven heads (no matter the gender) and I've seen Zhoniker shave his.

So you can imagine my shock when I saw a group of very short people with eyes that curved upward, long black hair, a large variety of skin tones, and extremely colorful clothing. Instead of sarongs, they were all dressed in skirts and what I can best describe as crop tops, with lots of jewelry everywhere. The Qwamaq only wear one ring each. The Olsem did have the same noses as the Qwamaq I've seen, though.

Zhoniker stopped and talked to them in a language I couldn't recognize at all, and they seemed to get along. I wasn't prepared at all for a new language, so I don't have any information for you, except for I noticed [dʒ] and [ʎ] and a LOT of diphthongs.

I will ask Zhoniker more about them when I get the chance, but he stopped and talked with them for so long that I took the time to catch up on what has been going on in MY world. I'm glad I can just escape into Qwamaqqar, but I'm not sure Qwamaqqar is free of political issues. So far I've heard NOTHING good about the Oriti.

When Zhoniker finished speaking with the Olsem, he explained to me who they were. They're an indigenous ethnic group that live in the mountains to the North (I already knew that much), but he told me about their importance to the Qwamaq economy. The fruit that the Qwamaq use to remove tattoos (which is surprisingly REALLY common) only grows wildly in the mountains, and cultivated versions lose all tattoo-removing properties. I asked why these Olsem were in Qwamaq land, and he said "fifi maqomer" (because of a far away tree). So. I am really confused. Uqumer said the same thing about the origin of the oil. Is there some mysterious tree out there, or is this just a weird idiom?

Anyway, Zhoniker and I are going to go to sleep now. We will be arriving in Konoprar tomorrow morning.

Finally made it to Konoprar! It's a pretty large city. I think. idk for sure; it has walls, and they go all around it, and I've been able to see the whole thing from afar. It's nestled between two hills, and the front gate is to the east, so on my way I got a chance to see the whole thing. It is probably nowhere near as large as the cities I've been to in the United States. It would be closer to a large town, like perhaps a few times the size of Bemidji or Hyannis or Great Barrington or something.

Here is what the spelling of "Konoprar" is in the Qwamaq writing system:

Entrance

Before I could even enter Konoprar, Zhoniker had an exchange with an older Qwamaq person with a fantastic beard. Zhoniker opened: "tako ono oʃi. poˌqolinˈʃi anʒa paka fu ʒoniˈker. esiˈʃiʃra par fu matar. poˌqolinˈʃi oʒa fu toraˈper. esiˈʃiʃra par fu ʒaɴqar paˌtoraˌtoraˈper fu toraˈpam." (Greetings. They call me Zhoniker. My thread is in Matar. This is Toraper, and Toraper is from the place that Dora Lipman is from, known as Torapam.)

Note that "my thread is in Matar" plays into the "people are needles going through the fabric that is the land" conceputal metaphor. I may expand on this later, but know that here it means "I technically live in Matar right now."

The older Qwamaq person nodded and said "tapa ˌtoraˌtoraˈper. hm. ʃoˈkor ono fufu aʃaˈmiʃ anʃi fu konoprar." (Dora Lipman, eh? Hm. I allow you to enter into Konoprar.)

And thus we were permitted to enter the city. Zhoniker told me later, "tʃiˈpuri oʒa fufu ʃoˈpalam qwamaqiˈfaq paˈtampaka." (They were checking to see if our Qwamaq speaking was good.) I think Konoprar is "fortified," unlike Matar, mostly based on the walls, but also based on Zhoniker and his family using the word "aramˈoʃ" to describe it before (which I think literally means "beseigable" which is kind of funny, but it's used to describe fortified settlements, as opposed to non-fortified ones).

Smells and sounds!

The first thing I noticed upon entering was the SMELL! Well, there was more than one smell, but they were all amazing! It appeared everyone was cooking, and it seemed to me like everyone was wafting the steam from their pots directly into my face.

I smelled sweet apple-like smells, shellfish, and a beautifully funky soy sauce-like scent. Lots of cooking vegetables too, stuff that smelled like mild cheeses, and umami glazes. Qwamaq people were outside of their houses kneading dough and pasting fruits. It was about mid-day.

Signs!

As soon as I managed to quell my whelms from smells and sounds, I started to notice writing EVERYWHERE. Unlike in Mapar, where I only got a chance to see one sign, it seemed like every building was labeled. I recognized NONE of the writing. Here are some more things I noticed:

• All of the writing looked like it was burned into wood
• The line thickness of the strokes was uniform for each sign, though it differed between signs
• Each glyph when repeated had slight alterations, suggesting that it wasn't some sort of font
• Once again, the writing system seems to be composed of characters from the hebrew aleph bet, in addition to logograms
• In many places, people combined glyphs as Zhoniker had two days ago, but many others didn't do this and wrote them separately

Learning to read Qwamaq properly is going to be a pretty serious undertaking if I feel I need to do it. For the time being though, I have Zhoniker, who can just tell me what stuff says. So I'm not going to worry about it too much. But if I feel like it, I may include written versions of the text from time to time! Maybe some of y'all can help me figure out what's going on.

HOWEVER. Almost every sign ended with the same symbol. Here are four signs I saw and what Zhoniker told me they said:

Note the rebus! The tav next to the glyph in tumpameleʒ may distinguish this glyph from another possible meaning. We'll see how invested I am in learning this writing going forward, and if I am, I'll give an update on the other potential meanings of the glyph.

Off Limits Buildings

One building was mysteriously labeled "qaɴqar," which means "the place that opens into a house," but Zhoniker told me "aʃaˈkor miˈʃel fu qaˈmel" (you can't enter the interior). I asked "fimol" (why) and he said, "ʃiʃraˌpakiˈpel," which means either "rock house" or "old wise house." Probably the second, because the sign did look very old. I asked him why again and he said "fifi maqoˈmer" (because of a far away tree) and I am starting to get the sense that it means "I don't feel like explaining this." Note the triple ligature in the sign for this building though!

I don't know why the building would be off limits, but I don't wanna test this out until I need to. Zhoniker is usually lax about rules, but he seemed to not want to enter at all.

Zhoniker's Father

Zhoniker told me that he was raised by his mother, Uqumer, and his grandmother, Akakiper. Apparently, they use the same word (fosoˈler, which also means "farmer") for anyone who takes care of you, and any family member who is related to you but wasn't involved in caring for you is called a "keraŋer." Anyone else isn't considered part of your family. It's kind of like the term "bio-parent," without the added connotation that someone is estranged.

We would be staying with Zhoniker's father, who lived with a younger woman named "rameter." Their home was nestled against the southern wall of Konoprar and between two trees that bore fruit. The fruit looked like a tomato, oblong and odd, but when I went to feel one, it was firm like an apple. Zhoniker said "tumpanuˈser," which I think means "breathing fruit," but is probably just what the fruit is called.

The trees looked like they were struggling, even though trees all over Konoprar looked like they were doing well. The fruit was small and seemed underripe (though I don't know what ripeness is supposed to look like for those fruits).

The house had two stories and was made of stones that for the most part fit together snugly like the tiling of Uqumer's home, but several stones seemed to be loose. They still had circles drawn on them, though. I pointed at them and looked inquisitorally at Zhoniker, who said "tʃiˈkor kaʃiˈpam par fufu ʃoˈpulum fu akiper" (I can petition the stones to come together). But aren't there plenty of songwalkers here?

Zhoniker told me to wait outside, and he went inside. After a few minutes, he came outside looking a little upset but said, "tʃiˈkor oʒi fufu aʃaˈʃiʃra anʃi qaˈmel" (He said we could move in).

I asked Zhoniker, "ta ʃoˈpalam un?" (are you good?). And he responded, while shaking slightly, with "esiˈlif ono tar moɱfaq." Which, I think, means "teeth live inside me."

Which is confusing, but it's probably an idiom. It is oddly common that Qwamaq speakers use a wealth of idioms to talk about their feelings. I've also heard "ʃoˈpalap ʃwikiˈŋer mafˌesiˈlif ono" for "I'm happy" (literally "the bird within me is dancing").

We brought the doorframe into the dwelling. We set it up in the room Zhoniker would be living in moving forward as I looked for information on Dora. I opened a portal back home and fell to the ground at Scott's stoop. I made it to Konoprar. Now all I have to do today is homework... damn. Whatever.

Before I left, I told Zhoniker that if he ever wanted to return to Matar, or otherwise needed me for something, he could put some interesting keepsake through the cheesecloth gateway and I would see it. I'm still planning on returning soon, but I'm not sure how much time I'll need to recuperate! But if Zhoniker needs to return to Matar without having to travel over the course of several days, he would need to be able to travel through a gateway to Scott's house, walk a few blocks west, and then open another gateway from the door in my room. And I would need to guide him through that.

He told me that it would be easy for him to find work in Konoprar as a songwalker. So I'm not worried. I just… feel like I uprooted his life, and I have no idea how to show him how thankful I am that he wanted to guide me.

I took a bit of a day off yesterday. Walking for miles is exhausting. But it was worth it!

I finally returned to Qwamaqqar. Today, I spent time looking around Konoprar with Zhoniker, learning about how the city functions, but also keeping an eye out for clues about Dora.

Local Architecture

The buildings here, unlike the buildings in Matar, are built of stone. But most buildings are very well taken care of by those who live in them, and songwalkers often walk the streets singing so that the stones can fit together snugly.

There are some very beautiful buildings here. The most stunning buildings are the ones built with many different types of stone, just like the floor in Uqumer's dwelling, but much more impressive.

There are plants growing along every wall. Even though each stone fits together with every other, the surface is still rough enough for plants to cling and climb. There are vines that remind me of ivy, save for they smell fragrant, as if roses had rooty carroty notes. The smells in Konoprar are still fantastic.

There are so many cool buildings here, and they are ALL labeled. One building has a very long label, pictured below. I saw it while Zhoniker was distracted talking to someone, so I haven't gotten a chance to ask him what it said yet, but I may tomorrow if I remember. I have vectorized it anyway because I think the writing system is really pretty.

New information! Because Konoprar is so large, names tend to get more specific. There's nobody else who claims to be from a different world, so I'm still just "Toraper" or "Torapwaŋer" (which is just "new Dora"), but Zhoniker is now usually called "Zhoniker Pamatar" (Zhoniker of Matar), because he is the only "walker" from Matar who lives in Konoprar.

I've also been speaking with Zhoniker's father a little. Zhoniker's father's name is ʒaŋapaˈkrer (literally "one who inhabits in the south"). From now on, I'll be calling him Zhangapakrer, romanized.

It has been a while since I last posted (five days!). I got caught up in not only school, but also the new Factorio DLC. It's really fun, but I just landed on Vulcanus and I'm ready to take a break. I have still been visiting every couple of days, but I haven't had time to sit down and write everything up yet! This is everything I've done since last I posed. Every time I've visited, Zhoniker has taken me songwalking.

This will be the last time I post before the festival.

Zhangapakrer

Zhangapakrer told me that it's uncommon for a songwalker like Zhoniker to know how to read and write. Apparently Zhoniker took so well to songwalking that he had extra time as a child to learn how to read and write Qwamaq.

Zhangapakrer told me that he, too, has a profession whose practitioners usually don't learn to read and write, but he learned how to read and write as well, just like Zhoniker. Apparently Zhoniker kind of resents him for leaving Uqumer alone with him, even though it's pretty normal for one parent to not participate in raising the children.

This part is actually kind of interesting: most relationships in Qwamaq culture are homosexual. Conception is usually seen as a spiritual ritual act between people who are not lovers, and most pleasurable sex is between people of the same gender. (People with neither gender and people with both genders commonly enter relationships with everyone.) However, Zhoniker's father fell in love with Uqumer, who was somewhat attracted to him (but not as much as he was to her). When Uqumer started to pursue relationships with women in Matar, Zhangapakrer got jealous and moved away. Eventually, the Oriti invaded the town he moved to, and he was forced to flee to Konoprar.

I wonder what Zhoniker's side of the story is, and why he resents his father if this kind of relationship isn't super out of the ordinary. But for now, I'll leave him to acclimate to Konoprar. He is certainly not a city boy.

It seems like heterosexuality is much less stigmatized among the Qwamaq than homosexuality is stigmatized among like, Western Europeans. Also, polyamory is the default here, but monogamy seems pretty normal too. It's kind of refreshing to see what we consider "queerness" COMPLETELY normalized within a society.

Songwalking with Zhoniker

Zhoniker taught me some songwalking! I'm going to briefly recap what he taught me here.

Even though rhythmic cycles don't have consistent lengths and vary a lot, they still use the word for "square" to describe them (poˈŋel, which is literally "the place where things are squares," is one beat/step). Songs take a while and repeat the same few lines over and over again.

Something that all music I've ever seen from all around the world has is some sort of tension and release. For Western European music, it's the dissonance of the triadic harmony. For West African drumming, it's the complex rhythms. Every culture has some sort of ebb and flow of the tensing of sound. The comfort of tension resolving is enticing. And I've never seen a culture do this more than the Qwamaq.

All of the instruments I've seen so far are pitched. I've also only really payed attention to Zhoniker playing his drum by himself and singing along, and this is specific to the tradition of songwalking, so it may differ for, say, folk music, which I don't know much about. (I'd ask but I am still not great at Qwamaq and I don't actually care too much for now.) Tension, usually on unstressed syllables, builds by the singer deviating from the pitch of their instrument very slightly either slightly up (which they call "blunt") or very slightly down (which they, confusingly for me, call "sharp"). I think there's nuance to when you go up and down. When he wants me to go down when I'm singing along, he tenses all the muscles in his face, and when he wants to go up, he furrows his brow and brings his lips forward a little. But I think he's doing this specifically for my benefit.

I've also heard Zhoniker sing a fifth away from the pitch of his drum and deviate from that fifth instead of from a unison. The last syllable of each sentence is not tense, musically, and is always a unison. Zhoniker has me sing the drone while he sings other things. I'm still not sure how he gets payed but I've never seen anyone pay him anything.

If you'd like to learn more about this just let me know.

Festival

Zhoniker tells me that there's a festival (ullipel) coming up. He says it's unique to Konoprar and very important for all of the Qwamaq. I'm not quite sure what he means, but I can tell people are making preparations. I see people outside their homes cleaning the stones and carving the circles in each one deeper and deeper, singing songs. Zhoniker has been walking up to strangers (I literally could never) and just offering to help them petition spirits to live in their stones. They seem thankful; I think he is garnering respect in Konoprar as a songwalker.

Zhoniker has asked me to take him back to Matar two days after the festival. He says, "ʃopiˌʒoniˈker pamaˈtar ono." Which isn't how people normally say their names. So maybe it's literal? Not quite sure but he has been speaking with a lot of neighbors and he actually went into the Wisdom Holders House, so it must be important! He says he only went to it for matar "esiˈmiʃ par fu qaˈmel fim matar" so I'm not really sure. I'm sure it will make more sense when the festival comes around.

Maybe I can get him to help me look for more info on Dora, but I think he's doing enough for me right now and I won't push him on it. I am patient!

I would really like to find out what the festival is for. At the time of writing, the festival is three days away (Zhoniker said "esiˈmiʃ fu pompompiper tar ulliˈpel pakonopranʃ" (lit. "the festival of konoprar (?) will arrive in three days").

I don't actually know how the Qwamaq convey ordinality vs cardinality. I wonder if there are any languages that don't do this. That could help me figure stuff out. I've heard that there are some languages that have like, four categories? Not sure yet. I am apprehensive to try asking about it because I don't even know how to explain the concept without having the words I'm used to.

As for the festival preparations, people are bringing spheres made of glass into their various gathering spaces (squares, markets, the like), and clearing out the stalls and stands near the centers. They are put on these really old stone pedestals and all over the city they seem to point towards both arches (many of them angled), each pedestal with two spheres on it. People also draw circles on the pedestals with chalk.

Other Songwalkers Knocking at the Door.

While Zhoniker is off songwalking, I spend a lot of my time in Zhangapakrer's house. Multiple songwalkers have come up to the house in grups of two and knocked on the door. They all say the same thing: "tʃiˈkaʃi ampar fu nataˈler" (we petition spirits), and then would introduce each other. Zhangapakrer turns every pair away. I asked him why and he said "fifi tʃiˈkipi fu ʒoniˈker pamaˈtar tar ikwikriˌpaʃikapuˈmer mafitʃiˈkaʃi fu nataˈler" (because Zhoniker Pamatar is like no other person who petitions spirits). Of course, I'm biased, but I share the sentiment. Now I'm really curious about why Zhoniker resents his father.

I think the reason why there are so many songwalkers around now is because of the festival coming up. I still don't get why they keep offering their services for free, though. A lot of them seem to be less skilled than Zhoniker though. Not all of them, but I think Zhoniker is considered a particularly skilled songwalker.

All of the songwalkers had completely different names, though. I heard Peshoper Apaper multiple times, for example. A lot of them modified their names with "pa-place they are from," because most people who live in Konoprar moved there. Not moving is not all that stigmatized, but it is a little weird. Zhoniker has been doing this, though, without anyone to introduce him. At least as far as I know.

As promised, I'm back with an update about the festival!

Now the name of the city makes sense. Twice each year, once around now, and I assume once on the opposite day, everyone gathers in their local gathering spots. It's traditional for everyone to start gathering a few days before the event and perform the ceremony every day until the conditions are satisfied.

The two great arches on the hills to the east and the west of the city are large enough that on every day except for the solstices, the sun rises between them. But on the solstices, the sun is just barely blocked out by the arches. This must be why Konoprar is called Konoprar. Konoprar literally means "rising city" (I think), or like, "the city in which rising occurs."

The ceremony consists of people gathering and singing together (songs lead by songwalkers, a call and response type deal that Zhoniker participated in leading), and as the sun rises, people start cheering when it doesn't rise between the sides of the arch.

Then, songwalkers (I think? It translates to "walker") set out as soon as they can to return to their homes and tell them how many days it's been since the solstace upon arrival. Apparently even though most people use what I think is the calendar system from the Oriti (which they call "qoɴiˌɴoriˈtar," but Zhoniker says "qaɴiˌɴoriˈtar"), this is how they kept track of seasons and years.

This solstice marked the beginning of a new year. This year was called "kanˌʒifiˈkar" (which ... I think means "pure year" but I'm not sure. The morphology of this word makes no sense to me.)

I took Zhoniker through my world (he said it was very cold, "ʃoˈpaŋ fu nuˈsoʃ" (The air is cold).) so he could return to Matar instantly and tell everyone that it was the new day immediately. Apparently the first songwalker to return to Konoprar receives great favor from the spirits, which Zhoniker unambiguously was. Also, the farther away the town is from Konoprar, the more favor a songwalker gets for completing their task quickly.

Upon arrival in Matar, Akakiper said to me and Zhoniker, "emˈproŋŋa ʃiˈfwaɱfi fu ʃwikannaˈqar mafiˌʃopiˌkonoˈprar. unˈratʃiŋa fu ratʃiˌʃiʃraˈper! apaˌʒoniˌkaŋkaˈperiŋa." (return to the place you live that is Konoprar now. Don't stay like bones! Be one (the first?) walker (songwalker?)). Not quite sure the ins and outs but she wanted us to return and not stay for pleasantries. She quickly gave us what appeared to be a shard of glass, and I wasn't sure why yet.

As we left, she yelled "emˈwokaŋa fu matar fim iɱfiˈfaq paˌnataˈler!" (bring the favor of the spirits to matar).

When we returned to Konoprar. Zhoniker brought the shard of glass to the house of wisdom holders (kiŋoˈmoʃ papaˌnakiˈper paˌkonoˈprar), and presented it to their leader, who I've learned is named Porer Papanakiper Pakonoprar, took it and said something to him I didn't hear, but he seemed very excited.

"por" means "to burrow" as far as I can tell, but I have no idea why this would be her name.

She returned, saying "poˈqolinʃi par iʃ fu ʒoniˈker paˌpolaˈroʃ pamaˈtar." (I call you by the name "Zhoniker Papolarosh Pamatar"). Polarosh means "piece" or "shard," which IS what he brought from Matar.

Altars

For the festival, the Qwamaq have tables in their dwellings that they set with a lot of very specific objects. It kind of reminds me of the setup at this one Ethiopian restaurant I go to, except the Qwamaq tables are higher up and against the walls of their houses, where Ethiopian alters are lower to the ground.

Even though Zhoniker usually avoids Zhangapakrer, the two of them seemed very excited to celebrate with each other and Rameter. They both set up the altar together. The altar is called "ʃiliɴˈqar," which has the same root in it for "hat" or "shoulder covering," but I'm not sure why.

First, the Qwamaq drape a cloth over their table. Zhoniker helped hold the table back as Zhangapakrer draped it over. It looked like Zhoniker was trying his damndest to keep the table in contact with the wall. They call this "aqqar" which appears to also be a word they usually use for "place" or "location," but they used it to refer directly to the cloth. The cloth is embroidered in such a way that it resembles a map. I asked Zhoniker "ʃopiˌqwamaqˈqar epi ta?" (is this Qwamaqqar?) and he responded with "aʃaˈpopok oʒa fu qwamaqˈqar" (it represents Qwamaqqar).

On the table they put several wooden trinkets and several clay trinkets. "opoˌkasokiˈper paˌparaˈmoʃ" (small wooden cubes covered in a thin layer of wax, literally "wooden model of the besiegable") are placed on the cloth in specific places. I think that they represent different important cities, but the weirdest part to me is that Zhoniker angrily removed several of the ones on the right side; Zhangapakrer added them back when he wasn't looking and he hasn't noticed yet. No idea what that's about!

Zhoniker put some of the black cardamom I originally gave them in a clay pot. He said "ʃoˈporem fufu tʃiˈʒaŋa ʃuqa fu iʃimˈpaʃ tar pwaˈŋer. ʃoˈpiŋa fufu esiˈŋiki par maʃa fu ʃaˈkoʃ" (a new thing should inhabit the pottery here, thus I put in it black cardamom).

I won't pretend to understand the significance of these alters. I will say that watching Zhoniker and Zhangapakrer set up the altar reminded me of playing games with my sister with toys. They were both using young speak the whole time (with ejectives), which further supports my theory that these altars are kind of like playing.

Tattooing Zhoniker

Zhoniker asked me to tattoo him! And I did so! I tattooed him on his leg and on the back of his neck. I'm not the best artist, but I'm not the worst one either, and I was able to tattoo some things from my own culture (a torah, a "serifed" star of david, an outline of New York City). He asked me to do this because the Qwamaq value intercultural relationships. Though Zhoniker says that the Olsem don't, and the Qwamaq are very untrusting of the Oriti, so this is very very rare, and brings great honor.

One thing to note about the tattoos though: it is forbidden for a tattoo to contain a circle. It's considered gross to harbor spirits on your skin. Zhoniker instructed me to add little lines like the one in the letter Q to any circles I tattooed on him.

With these new cross-cultural tattoos and also with the favor of being the first songwalker back to Konoprar, he is finally comfortable taking me to speak with aˌnakiˈper paˌkonoˈprar (the Wisdom Holders). I will finally be able to ask them about Dora!

This is the last update in part 2. I'll explain here very clearly and systematically what I've learned, what information I have access to, and where I'm going to go from here. Know that for this day, because it was particularly important, I recorded everything I could on my clip-on microphone.

Within the House of the Widsom Holders

Zhoniker finally took me into the house of the wisdom holders. It took a good half hour to walk all the way to the center of the city, where the house was. All the way, people congratulated him on being the first Songwalker to return to Konoprar. Most of the other Songwalkers had yet to return.

The pathways outside were pathed with stones I hadn't seen anywhere else in the city. They were stones of all colors, textures, some translucent and some opaque but all flat and perfectly fit together, and pristine, well taken care of. Zhoniker led me to the front door and grasped the large stone knocker, knocking firmly

A very loud bell rang, sound coming from all angles. I jumped back in surprise and the sound quieted, but as I stepped back to the place I had been, it became just as loud again. I wonder if it's magic or just something similar to the whispering corners in Grand Central Station.

Zhoniker said "ʃoˈpiŋa fufu ʃoˈkor miʃiˈpam" (thus we can enter), and thus we entered.

Porer

Once inside the building, Zhoniker took me down a staircase to the sleeping quarters of Porer. Her walls were covered in crystals instead of plain stones, each with the normal circle in them. The crystals on the top of the room let light through faintly. In the center of her room was a bed of moss, as is true for most Qwamaq bedrooms, but above it hung a canopy of ferns and vines spilling over the banisters of a box above.

Porer stood at the North side of her room, next to a rope threaded through a hole in the wall, facing a lectern-like stand that held some two old slabs of wood with writing burnt into them. Without turning away from the lecturn, she spoke. "esiˈʒaŋa anʃi ʃuqa saliʃ. aʃaˈpuri ono anʃi fu fol?" (You are here, and I'm telling you this even though you should already know it. What do you desire from me?).

Zhoniker spoke for me. "poˈqolinʃi oʒa fu toraˈper. tʃiˈpuri keʃiˈpam oʒa fufu tʃiˈmiʃ fu folanʃ tar toraˌtoraˈper paˌmiʃipiˈqar paˈmaʃa. ta ʃoˈkuri fufu tʃiˈpalor ano oʃi?" (This is Toraper. Toraper wants to know what happened to its family member, Dora Lipman. Can you help us?)

She finally turned towards us and said, "ta toraˌtoraˈper paˌtoraˈqar? tʃiˈfuk qap ono oʃi emeʃ. miˈqami fu ʒoniˈker paˌpolaˈroʃ pamaˈtar." (Dora Lipman, from Toraqar? I take it you wouldn't lie to me, Zhoniker Papolarosh Pamatar). She strode over to what looked like a closet whose opening was covered by a colorful cloth kept pristine through years of ownership that reminded me more of the Olsem I had seen than the Qwamaq. She forced our mouths closed with nothing the elegance of her gesture and motion. Finally, she withdrew a bright blue cloth and made eye contact with me. "miˈqami fu toraˈper. poˈtʃiʒiʃi par iʃ fu tʃiʒifaq pamiˈʃinʃ paˌporiˈpaʃ paˌkonoˈprar. " (Toraper, I will give you the tattoo of entry to the Catacombs of Konoprar). And then, turning to Zhoniker, she said "miˈqami fu ʒoniˈker paˌpolaˈroʃ. esiˈratʃi oʃi fu qoɴqar paˌporiˈpaʃ. tʃiˈkor par fufu ʃoˈmiʃ fu toraˌmolliˈper." (Zhoniker Papolarosh, you will remain outside the catacombs. I only allow Toraper to enter).

She turned back to me. "poˌkaʃuŋa oʃi iʃ. soˈwokaŋa qap kaˈpoʃ. esuluŋŋa paka qoɴqar paˌqwiqaʃuˈqar" (don this and don't bring anything else with you. Join me outside this room).

I nodded, but I managed to sneak my phone under my arm anyway as I dressed, turning on the recording app. Sarongs are more comfortable than I expected. The ones they use here are large enough that they can be tucked comfortably under the arms and secured completely with an attached string that is tied off to the side and over the left arm. Zhoniker helped me put it on by showing me how his was fastened. When I was finished dressing, Zhoniker and I went outside.

Into the Catacombs

People stared at me as we walked to the Catacombs entrance. I think it's because my shoulders are very pale. Well, my whole body is pale. But also I have a lot of incongruent physical features with the Qwamaq, and I think they assumed I was from a different country before when I came in wearing my t-shirts and jeans. But this time I was wearing a very elaborate ceremonial Qwamaq sarong. So the juxtaposition of those things struck people as odd, and they stared.

We walked through the streets to somewhere familiar. On October 22nd, when I talked about local architecture, I saw a particularly long message on a sign. Here it is again.

When we stopped at it, Zhoniker, knowing I am not literate in Qwamaq, read it out for me, pointing at each word as he did. "aʃaˈpor fu sokaŋoˈper tar poriˈpaʃ woŋˈŋapa. tʃiˈklom tar afwikaˈpoʃ mafiʃoˌʒifiˈmoŋa fufu aʃaˈfemi inʃ tar nataˈler fu kaˌpalaˈmoʃ fu kaˌpakiˈpoʃ."

It means "the tunnels lead deep into the mountains. The purest song alone will inspire the spirits to guide you to the good things, to the old things."

Porer said, "miˈqami fu ʒoniˈker. esiˈratʃi ʃuqa." (Zhoniker, you must wait here). Then, she turned to me and said "miˈqami fu toraˈper. aʃaˈmiʃ oʃi fu poriˈpaʃ ʃu ʃipel molliˈŋapa. poˈkoriʃi fu tʃiʒifaq par iʃ. esiˈʒaŋa fu qaˈmel tar ʃuˈmer. ʃoˈsempa fufu tʃiˈkor qap tar ekaˈmer fufu aʃaˈmiʃ oʃi. ʃoˈpoŋki fufu tʃiˈpikiŋ oʃi fu tʃiʒiˌminʃaˈfaq. ʃoˈmiŋku fufu soˈʒiŋ ono." (Toraper, you will enter the catacombs in the future, which I will permit you to do using a tattoo. Within there are guards. The workers will not let you pass if you don't have a special tattoo. Now follow me).

As she took me inside and we passed by a couple of guards (who weren't armed, just sitting in chairs at desks), she said, "ʃu ʃiˈpel ʃoˈpoŋki fufu ʃoˈmiʃ un. ʃoˈmiŋku fufu eɱˈflaŋŋa ampi fim tʃiʒiˈfaq paˈpiʃ. soproŋˈkeʃi ʃannaˈpar paˌkataˈfoʃ" (In the future, when you enter, show these two your tattoo. Remember the way to the writing). She showed them her tattoo on her inner wrist and they let her pass. Am I gonna have to get an inner wrist tattoo? That sounds… painful.

I paid attention and I remembered, so I'll put the order here: right, middle, right, right, down under to the left, touch the skull, and then it's within the room that opens up. I'm not sure how the skull got there but it looks like a human skull (no brow ridge, I know right? wow!). Inside the room were many many scrolls, stone tablets, and wooden panels with writing on them, from all sorts of eras. Some of them seem like they're falling apart, but others seem fresh and new. I wonder how many rooms there are like this one.

She led me to the left side and said, "tʃiˈkataf tar alaˈper paˌpanakiˈper paˌkonoˈprar fu kwikataˈfoʃ mafitʃiˈqami fu keʃiˈpoʃ paˌtoraˌtoraˈper." (Alaper Papanakiper Pakonoprar wrote this document that has information about Dora). She showed me where it was, on a specific shelf adorned with a green cloth. She said, "ʃoˌqoɴˈqorim ono par. esiˈpulum tar poripeˈŋaʃ fim poripeˈŋaʃ fu miʃiˈqar. ʃoˈsel ʃiʃʃiˈqar un. eˈsuluŋŋa paka fu qaʃuˈqar paˈpaka paˌkiŋoˈmoʃ papaˌnakiˈper paˌkonoˈprar. ʃoˈpiŋa fufu tʃiˈtʃiʒi par un. tʃiˈpikiŋ oʃi fu qaʃufaq paˌtoraˈper" (I will remove myself. All the tunnels meet all tunnels at the entrance. You won't go missing. Meet me at my room in the house of the wisdom holders of Konoprar and I will give you the tattoo. Keep the Sarong).

"tʃiˈpikiŋ oʃi fu qaʃufaq paˌtoraˈper" is actually a minor ritual of ownership transferral. Now I'm the owner of the sarong. It uses the inalienable possessive verb "pikiŋ" and the sentence directly translates to "you own the sarong of Toraper" which in a way renames the sarong indirectly I think?

Before she left, I asked "ta tʃiˈpalor ono oʃi ʃu mekeninʃ?" (will you help me with reading?). She replied simply: "qap." Then she elaborated. "ʃoˈmapa fu kwikataˈfoʃ. ʃoˈporem fufu tʃiˈmeken qap oʃi kwikataˈfoʃ peʃoŋapa. soˈnus fu fiɴqipoʃ paˌmekeˈninʃ" (This writing is sacred. You may not read the text aloud. Learn the method of reading).

The Document

As soon as she left, I whipped my phone out and stopped the recording. Then I took a picture. I've vectorized the glyphs (mostly because the image is kind of hard to see; it's very dark in the catacombs, and my eyes were not adjusted to the light).

At the time of writing, I still don't know what the document says.

I followed her instructions and returned to her with Zhoniker, who was waiting outside. She gave me the tattoo (pictured below)

What's Next?

I will spend the next few weeks trying to decipher the document. Because Zhoniker is not allowed to enter the Catacombs, and I'm forced to leave all of my belongings and don a special blessed sarong to go down there, I will have to translate the document by myself. As I've mentioned, Porer also won't help me. Even if Zhoniker could join me in the Catacombs, he wouldn't be allowed to read the text to me.

There are a lot of tunnels, though. The good news is that they don't intersect with each other. It's more like a hydra situation with all the heads growing back at each turn. There's potentially more information in here that could be relevant, like maybe something explaining why they use the Hebrew writing system, or maybe something recording the historical linguistics of Qwamaq.