fiction – Snapshots of the Labyrinth

The Olympian Language

Update: Draft 2. Added sound changes. Added vocabulary. Olympian is an Indo-European language spoken by the barbarian overlords who ruled Mount Olympus. From there, they launched raids that ravaged the surrounding countryside. Later ages deified them as gods. The name Zeus derives directly from the Olympian word ʒīw, meaning “god”. Olympian is a genderless languageContinue reading “The Olympian Language”

Mazdō-yo Heardō̃

Update: Draft 3. Changed the title from an intermediate phase. Attempt at a combined grammar: https://snapshotsofthelabyrinth.photo.blog/2026/04/10/ligurian-grammar/ Notes on the Heart Speech A descendant of the Solar Speech (Sauleis Bazdā). Predominantly voiced, with voiceless stops and /s/ preserved from cluster reductions. 1 · Sound Changes (Vulgar Solar Speech → Heart Speech) Eleven phases, applied in order:Continue reading “Mazdō-yo Heardō̃”

SAULEIS BAZDĀ

Update: Second draft. Changed sample texts after confirming grammar. Fixed some typos. There are more. Updated sound changes. Attempt at a combined grammar: https://snapshotsofthelabyrinth.photo.blog/2026/04/10/ligurian-grammar/ Notes on the Solar Speech I · Phonology Consonants: p t k · b d g · s z · m n · r l · w y Vowels: a eContinue reading “SAULEIS BAZDĀ”

Zelāi Umnos

Update: Changed to fit the draft grammar. Ek brugó rudó zelān wisān pōiFrom the red fruit, drink all the wine sā esti esār Sabáziō, genton dēsōn,this is the blood of Sabazios, flesh of the gods, yos en Naktāi sersāi dēsos genése ta derése.who in black Night was born as a god and was torn apart.Continue reading “Zelāi Umnos”

Ruins

I. The Cloudy Lens The fog of a January morning in Shobhabazar coated the tongue with particulate matter and river damp and the faintly sweet residue of last night’s garbage fires. You breathed it in and it became part of you. The distinction between body and city dissolved in that grey, chemical intimacy. I wanderedContinue reading “Ruins”

Doubts

Santanu loved the mountains. Though he would never have admitted it, the sight of mist climbing a hillside offered an innocent substitute for his own failed aspirations. He worked a dead end job he didn’t believe in. But one day, it paid off being yelled at by his boss and even being called in forContinue reading “Doubts”