Voah’s Journal

Gonyaul arrived home later that afternoon to find his welcome sans-Voah. Everything looked organized and as tidy as possible, so he didn’t jump to any worrisome conclusions. She must just be out and about still, hopefully filling her time with the more worthwhile endeavors she had taken on lately instead of drinking.

To pass the time, he thought he should begin scribing the details for the Vauxian ceremony, the mark of kagim, that Voah said she wanted to perform. He retrieved her journal and writing supplies and found a comfortable place to sit and begin.

He was immediately distracted from the task at hand when he opened her journal. It was beautiful, a work of art. Yes, it contained artwork itself; however, her penmanship and design layout was very pleasing to the eye. She had a true talent.

In addition to the breathtaking aesthetics of the content, there was a treasure of pros. Most of it was written in languages that he was not adept at reading. The two of them had been practicing what they could of multiple languages, Voah being an excellent and patient teacher. Gonyaul was improving much better at the speaking elements; however, still behind his age for reading and very behind in writing in other languages other than his own. Therefore, he couldn’t read the overwhelming majority of what was in the journal; the marks representing language simply looked pretty to him.

He did know that a lot of the long recent entries were Voah translating the Vauxian markings on his body onto the parchment. This understanding was reinforced by the fact she also had been redrawing his tattoos along with their meaning. It had been a useful tool in helping his learning because he could see the Vauxian next to the Helian. Working together they had gotten about a quarter of the tattoo marking and meanings into the journal. He was grateful and proud of how far she had already gotten with the project. In truth, it may be the only existing Vauxian document post the Nocta Inquisition on either continent.

After taking the time to admire his talented sweetheart, Gonyaul opened to the next blank page and set small rocks in strategic places to keep the journal open wide. Writing in Vauxian was done in a choreographed and controlled manner, one didn’t just write. He held the marking making stylus at ninety degrees perpendicular to the blank page with his left hand. He then took hold the long sleeves end and folded it intentionally back and held it to the forearm forming a triangle in the fabric with the fold. He lifted the stylus, maintaining that frame with his body; belly button held firmly in, shoulders back, and head pulled high like a string lifting up his spine as well.

Both arms worked together in concert to begin writing on the page. Vauxian was unlike any of the languages he had come across on either continent, almost as if nothing was a derivative of it and it was set apart as not being derived from any of them. The calligraphic strokes didn’t come from the wrist or elbows, instead being generated by the torquing of the torso starting with the hips and ending in the shoulders. Yes, Vauxian writing started in the hips.

He began recreating the mark of kagim ceremony and the different categories that belonged to each mark, and there details. While doing so he remembered back to his youth. He had chosen humanity, then chose kindness, and then specialized in generosity. The deepest level, generosity, was tattooed on his chest where his heart would be, with kindness creating an open perimeter around the mark.

As he worked, he was curious what Voah would end up with? Vaux trained and practiced all the virtues he was writing; however, the mark of kagim was set above the rest as special for the individual.