Dhu Gillywack Runes

The Dhu Gillywack Runes were runestones sold on the Dhu Gillywack,an enormous airship run by gnomes. One of the shops on the ship has a series of runestones that, when cast, randomly show paired images.

Runestones

To activate the runestones you TOSS the RUNESTONES in the air. Like so:

You shake your branded fel runestones and toss them into the air. They spin wildly as they descend, and land with a clatter. The runestones finally settle and show a cloud symbol and a harvest rune.

It is very important to TAKE the RUNESTONES off the ground after each cast or they will stay there.

Runestone Samples

Here is a sample of what some of the runestones look like:

a pair of branded fel runestones

a pair of granite runestones

a pair of antique silver runestones

a pair of bone-inlaid runestones

Translations

Each pair of runestones has six sides to them. They can be broken down by Domain Runes and Direction Runes.

Domain Runes	Direction Runes
sun	Journey
Snowflake	Retreat
Shrouded Sun	Joy
Cloud	Harvest
Rainbow	Protection
Blank	Strength

Domain Runes

Symbol	Sphere/Translation
the sun:	success, power, fertility, attainment, the physical
the rainbow:	mercy, surcease, foresight, the intellect
the cloud:	chaos, confusion, change, the societal
the snowflake:	death, comfort, divinity, the spirit
the shrouded sun:	illusion, treachery, deception, the emotional
the blank side:	none, some, or all of the above, no true context

Direction Runes

Symbol	Translation
journey:	passage from one thing to another, voluntarily or involuntarily; usually symbolic, but sometimes literal
protection:	guardianship, maintaining inner focus, things which are precious
strength:	power, prowess, pride
joy:	love, happiness, gain of any kind
harvest:	gain and loss simultaneously, balance, a final result or destiny
retreat:	fear, confusion, the subconscious, the dream realm, a refusal; usually symbolic, but sometimes literal

When the Runestones are paired they create patterns. These patterns, detailed below, have names and translations.

Sun Patterns

Domain	Direction	Pattern Name	Translation
sun symbol	journey rune:	The Quest	This pattern indicates a search of some kind, and generally indicates that the object of the search has not yet been achieved.
sun symbol	protection rune:	Honor	When all else is lost, some will remain strong if they retain their honor; others sacrifice honor first and foremost.
sun symbol	strength rune:	Prowess	This pattern reflects true strength. This strength may be physical, but is more often whatever drives a person and makes them feel best about themselves-- whatever grants self-confidence and assurance, and whatever sets that person apart from the crowd.
sun symbol	joy rune:	Love	This may be love of any kind-- romantic love, the love of friends, the love of siblings, the love of parent and child-- but typically indicates love between two people rather than love for an object or an ideal. Another connotation of this pattern may be pride, either in another person or in the self.
sun symbol	harvest rune:	Triumph	This indicates either triumph gained or triumph forthcoming-- achievement and success in the final end.
sun symbol	retreat rune:	Loss	This pattern may also be read as failure-- something wanted, desired, and often needed is no longer within reach, or possibly even destroyed. Unlike the pattern of Defeat, the pattern of Loss indicates no fault of the person's-- Loss ensues when a goal is beyond achievement, while Defeat comes from within and from personal flaws.

Rainbow Patterns

Domain	Directions	Pattern Name	Translation
rainbow symbol	journey rune:	Growth.	This pattern indicates a journey, conscious or unconscious, towards becoming something more than one already is-- typically growth in knowledge, spirit, and soul rather than physical.
rainbow symbol	protection rune:	Intervention.	This pattern indicates a time when one person (or power) intervenes in the destiny of another. Usually, this intervention is beneficial. Sometimes, it may indicate a desire to maintain control over the person-- to freeze them and protect them at a lesser state than they might otherwise achieve.
rainbow symbol	strength rune:	Insight.	This is a very important pattern, and a very individual one. The pattern of Insight indicates that something has been perceived that was clouded or unknown before, and that such perception has come from inside rather than being offered by another. Alternately, it may indicate the need for meditation or self-examination in order to gain insight not yet achieved.
rainbow symbol	joy rune:	Hope.	When all is darkest, the merciful touch of hope still guides mortals through to open their eyes upon a new and brighter dawn... or to wander forever in the mists of twilight, never perceiving the truth of their fates.
rainbow symbol	harvest rune:	Stalemate.	This pattern suggests that the final outcome of a conflict will end in... a pause. There is neither victory or defeat; there is neither winner nor loser. The end of a situation is identical to the middle of a situation, no matter how much those involved might wish otherwise.
rainbow symbol	retreat rune:	Vision.	This pattern is suggestive of the subconscious-- of those quiet imaginings that rise to the surface, like bubbles rising through water, and hold either truth or delusion within. It reflects both dreams and nightmares, and reflects as well the true visions that come from time to time.

Cloud Patterns

Domain	Direction	Pattern Name	Translation
cloud symbol	journey rune:	Transformation.	Rather than a smooth, gradual journey, this is the pattern indicating metamorphosis-- chaos that leads to a new reality. Once transformation is complete, the person transformed can never return to the way things were, not any more than the butterfly can return to the cocoon-- and attempting to abort a pattern of transformation is almost inevitably futile.
cloud symbol	protection rune:	The Eye of the Storm.	Legend claims that certain ocean-storms hold a spot of calm in the center. Without the permission of the storm, none may penetrate to that center without being destroyed, but, for those who are so blessed, the calm is pervasive-- just as it is with a sorcerer's Maelstrom. This pattern indicates one who causes or is surrounded by chaos without being directly affected by the overturning of normal events.
cloud symbol	strength rune:	Chaos.	This pattern is the pattern of the Destroyer's joy-- the pattern of revolution, and the pattern in which nothing is secure and everything is potentially unstable.
cloud symbol	joy rune:	Magic.	This may indicate the art of a spellcaster, or this may indicate miracle-- this pattern denotes a time in which the ways of the physical world are overturned by a touch beyond the physical, and the sense of wild wonder or fear that accompanies such a touch.
cloud symbol	harvest rune:	The Battlefield.	The harvest of chaos can be nothing save destruction. No one may stand upon a battlefield without being torn-- in heart, in spirit, or in body-- unless that person has already been ravaged so fully that there is nothing left for devastation to touch.
cloud symbol	retreat rune:	Catastrophe.	In the previous pattern, The Battlefield, there remains the sense of struggle-- of determination, despite the fact that all has wound to an end. The pattern of Catastrophe indicates the consequence when not even the strength of will remains and all options for escape are in doubt or destroyed. This is the pattern of greatest disaster.

Snowflake Patterns

Domain	Direction	Pattern Name	Translation
snowflake symbol	journey rune:	Solitude.	Some paths can only be walked alone. This pattern indicates such a path-- a journey of the spirit, either literally through death or symbolically through a change in ideals and goals. It may also indicate a time of literal solitude, either self-chosen or imposed by circumstance.
snowflake symbol	protection rune:	Determination.	This pattern indicates willpower, inner strength, and discipline; it reflects conviction as well, and sometimes piety.
snowflake symbol	strength rune:	Prayer.	When all else is confused and all hope has fled, guidance and new strength may be found by reaching to a higher power for aid.
snowflake symbol	joy rune:	Healing.	Empathy might be a better term for this-- it indicates a gentle, quiet joy that comes from knowing others and from aiding them, either physically, spiritually, or mentally. The pattern of Healing is almost never a wild or passionate joy, and often a joy tinged by grief, sorrow, or melancholy-- it suggests a warmth from within, a joy that endures despite all other things fading.
snowflake symbol	harvest rune:	Death.	The harvest of winter is death, as the Gatekeeper claims the souls that She wishes and sends others back to the world of the living. This may also indicate a death of the spirit or heart rather than a death of the body-- a numbness, or a grief that washes all other concerns away.
snowflake symbol	retreat rune:	Rebirth.	When death retreats, life comes again. This may be literal, but is often symbolic.

Shrouded Sun

Domain	Direction	Pattern Name	Translation
shrouded sun symbol	journey rune:	Deception.	This may be speaking falsehoods, lying to oneself, lying to others, or merely clouding the truth, but one thing is certain: the path of deception is an easy one to begin and a difficult one to leave, and every lie leads to a thousand more.
shrouded sun symbol	protection rune:	Lethe.	How can deception best be hidden, the emotions best be shielded, or knowledge best be secreted away? Lethe: in forgetfulness, all is protected... but all is destroyed.
shrouded sun symbol	strength rune:	Betrayal.	This pattern indicates a betrayal at work somewhere: the strength of a lie is greatest when the lie is most believed, but, in time, that lie will be uncovered, and a betrayal will result. When performing a twinned rune reading (here for more information), an appearance of a sun symbol when the pattern of Betrayal has already manifested suggests revenge will ensue.
shrouded sun symbol	joy rune:	Lust.	The falsest joy comes when the heart is completely absent, and the eye or body moves to possess rather than share. This does not necessarily reflect a lust of the body; it may indicate greed, powerlust, jealousy, or any other self-centered "love" that causes harm to others.
shrouded sun symbol	harvest rune:	Defeat.	The final harvest of lies comes when those who fall with lies on their lips arise in the Serpent Lord's power. In its most extreme form, this configuration may indicate the presence or approach of the Undead. In lesser forms, the pattern of defeat indicates precisely that-- and implies that the defeat was caused in some way by conscious or subconscious voluntary action. This is most common when defeat ensues either from failing to take all possible steps toward achieving a goal or towards attempting to achieve a goal that do not correspond with the true desires and will of one's heart and soul.
shrouded sun symbol	retreat rune:	Insanity.	The realm of dreams when dreams are clouded by deception is the realm of nightmare. This may indicate either a momentary lapse of reason or a permanent one.

Blank Sided Patterns

Domain	Direction	Pattern Name	Translation
blank side	journey rune:	The Messenger.	This indicates a change in events brought on by an outside party or force with no personal stake in the matters at hand; in particular, natural phenomena and random chance are often indicated when runes display the pattern of the Messenger. This change may be for better or for worse; the Messenger is impartial, and only indicates the change.
blank side	protection rune:	Fear.	At the heart of protection is a fear of loss-- loss of honor, loss of a loved one, loss of an ability, loss of property, loss of the self, loss of perhaps a thousand other things, but nonetheless loss-- for, without fear, there would be no reason to protect. Simultaneously, by the very act of fearing for the loss of a thing, value is placed upon a thing. This pattern reflects the innate vulnerability of all beings.
blank side	strength rune:	Power.	The pattern of Prowess reflects that which grants self-confidence, but the pattern of Power reflects that which grants control-- over the self, and over others. A person with no self-confidence may have a great deal of power, and the opposite is true as well. Wealth, strength, magic, respect, the attention of the gods, and the love of others are all things that may be indicated with this pattern.
blank side	joy rune:	Ecstacy.	This is the pleasure beyond all other pleasures-- the pleasure that blinds at the same time as it exhilarates. Whether it comes from physical pleasures, drink, drugs, gambling, the frenzy of battle, the call of scholarly research, the company of men or women, or something entirely different from all, this pattern is indicative of a pleasure great enough to cause addiction-- something that cannot be readily set aside, or sometimes even set aside at all.
blank side	harvest rune:	Memory.	When all else is over, the only harvest remaining is the harvest of memory-- the chance to pick up the pieces and move on, learning or failing to learn from whatever has passed.
blank side	retreat rune:	Refusal.	This combination may indicate either a refusal on the part of the self or another person to take a potential action or may indicate a refusal of the runestones to reply. If the latter is suspected, the best thing to do is to set the runes aside for the rest of the day-- pushing further will only lose the Somber Lord's favor.

Credits

These translations were given to by Nofret Hrist. She was a dear woman, bardess by profession, and an amazing talent. She is the only woman that I've trusted to scrye for me. This set of translations is the only set that I use.

Also of note, Tanager Skydancing wrote a wonderful guide using these translations for how to best learn to scrye with the runestones.

~Charna