On Xayah and Yakhem

Dear Varus Vantinius

Before your deployment in Morrowind, I have been asked to provide some further clarification on the 'Daedric' alphabet used by the native Dunmer.

You should already be familiar with their alphabet through the texts I delivered a fortnight ago. You may have noticed the absence of X (Xayah) and Y (Yakhem) from the alphabet. This is because the Daedric alphabet does not actually include those two letters. Due to the nature of the Daedric language, those two letters do not exist. To make up for this, the elves of Morrowind have taken to creating their own replacements for them. When the ancient Chimer took up using the alphabet, many added these letters in order to fit their language. Different groups have added different versions of the letters, as I will highlight below.

Xayah The character Xayah has remained fairly consistent since its introduction into the Dunmeri alphabet. The original shape was similar to that of the 'U' seen in our own alphabet, but more angled. In the late Merethic Era, Morrowind's elves began to split into groups. Some of these would become the modern Great Houses, while others would remain as the savage Ashlanders. This gave rise to another variant of this character. While the Ashlanders stuck with the primitive shape detailed previously, the civilized Chimer began incorporate more elegant, flowing versions of Xayah. Eventually, House Redoran's version became the most popular, due to its simplicity compared to the overly extravagant patterns of other houses such as that of House Telvanni. This is the version you will mostly see in present day Morrowind, with the occasional Velothi using the early style picked up from their traditional upbringing.

Yakhem Again, this letter fell into multiple variants during the late Merethic Era. For a time, the style of House Dagoth was the favourite among many, with a shape similar to their 'E' (but with a dot at the bottom). After the War Of The First Council, House Dagoth lost a lot of power due to its near-destruction and the remainder of the house lost the respect of many due to the apparent acts of their leader Voryn Dagoth , such as attacking their war leader- Indoril Nerevar. This version of the letter is rarely seen in modern Dunmer society, having been mainly replaced by the Telvanni Yakhem. Although, it has been seen more often as of late. With the rumours of the 'Sixth House', this may be something to keep an eye on while posted there.

I wish you the best of luck with your new position.

Yours faithfully,

Savos Indarys, Head of Dunmer Literature, Imperial City School Of Julianos