What Language Is This? (Darkest Night Text)

[FJerome]

A friend was showing off Darkest Night to me when we noticed that the script doesn't appear to be Eorzean, there's a heck of a lot of diacritics going on that Eorzean just doesn't do. Has this script ever shown up in the game before?





(And a big thanks to Tenchiko Uitsurugi for running around with me taking screenshots of this last night)

[Xerxus___]

A friend was showing off Darkest Night to me when we noticed that the script doesn't appear to be Eorzean, there's a heck of a lot of diacritics going on that Eorzean just doesn't do. Has this script ever shown up in the game before?





(And a big thanks to Tenchiko Uitsurugi for running around with me taking screenshots of this last night)

It looks a bit like celtic to me.

[Berethos]

It looks pretty much identical to the script written on the floor spell effects in the Thordan fight during his big screen-shatter attack.

As for what it actually is, my speculation is that it is the Eorzean script (or something meant to resemble it but isn't it, which I personally think is more likely) with a bunch of extras added to it for artistic license, possibly to make it appear to be an ancient or esoteric form of writing used specifically for spells (which would be consistent with the examples where it has thus far appeared).

I wouldn't be surprised to find it visible in a variety of other spell effects if one looks carefully, but it's definitely appeared in at least one other place that I can immediately remember.

I tried to make sense of it when I first noticed it in the Thordan fight, but with so many of the letters ranging from slightly to different to not existing in the Eorzean alphabet, I don't think it's decipherable with the information we currently have.

[CatStarPrime]

You get a similar wheel o' text when you open up a Summoner's "Book of Spades", which is still my favorite weapon glamour for SMN.

I can' help but start chanting "Ash nazg durbatuluk -" when I open it

Hmm... need to go see what the word for "book" would be, in Black Speech -

[Daralii]

It looks pretty much identical to the script written on the floor spell effects in the Thordan fight during his big screen-shatter attack.

As for what it actually is, my speculation is that it is the Eorzean script (or something meant to resemble it but isn't it, which I personally think is more likely) with a bunch of extras added to it for artistic license, possibly to make it appear to be an ancient or esoteric form of writing used specifically for spells (which would be consistent with the examples where it has thus far appeared).

I wouldn't be surprised to find it visible in a variety of other spell effects if one looks carefully, but it's definitely appeared in at least one other place that I can immediately remember.

I tried to make sense of it when I first noticed it in the Thordan fight, but with so many of the letters ranging from slightly to different to not existing in the Eorzean alphabet, I don't think it's decipherable with the information we currently have.

It also appears during the Shinryu fight. When his wings are casting attacks, it appears in rings around them.

[FJerome]

I got all excited after the Orthardian text turned out to actually say something and went back to take another crack at this but, unfortunately, it looks like it's either a generic graphic or an even more generic invocation (like abracadabra) as the exact same text turns up in Unmend and Broil. The script that shows up in Thordan's Reign is this same text plus a mirrored version.



. . . On a more interesting note, the text in the Shinryu fight is Eorzean! I've been able to read "Retribution" and "Revengance" so I guess Ilberd's will was still chugging away in there somewhere.

[Rocl]

Huh! Neat! I hadn't even thought to look at Shinryu's wings because I assumed it was the same as this generic "magic" text that's been used since 2.0.

Let's see if I can't try to help here... (the actual words aren't in caps but it felt appropriate to shout them)
It looks like his wings just get 2 lines and the colour varies depending on the spell they're casting:
Left wing: BRUTALITY SEVERITY FEROCITY
Right wing: RETRIBUTION REVENGEANCE

I didn't see anything else there from scouring youtube videos, but that's a really neat catch!

But, yes, the text in Blackest Night, rather unfortunately, is the generic magical text previously seen in Scholar's spells, Tri-bind, Book of Spades, etc. It is interesting that Dark Knight somehow uses the same text as Arcanist though maybe there's a connection! (It shows up in Adloquium and Succor too, as illustrated below)

I don't think there's a connection