La-Mulanese or La-Mulana Script is one of two languages found throughout the ruins. It is a more ancient form of writing which predates the writing used by the Four Philosophers. While the written language is most commonly found on Tablets, other instances of it appear in backgrounds and on different objects as well. Several puzzles in La-Mulana require the player to translate characters manually.
In real terms, La-Mulanese is a simple character substitution for the modern Latin alphabet, with symbols replacing A-Z (capitals only) as well as Arabic numerals 0-9. It is technically possible to translate La-Mulanese tablets by hand before being able to fully decode them in-game, and this is in fact partially necessary to solve several puzzles.
The La-Mulanese characters are horizontally flipped versions of those used for the Philosophers' alphabet - this can easily be seen by disabling reader.exe and viewing one of the "Rosetta Stone" tablets which display the same text in both languages.
Understanding La-Mulanese[]
While the reader.exe translation software is enough to read most tablets in La-Mulana, occasionally the player will come across La-Mulanese tablets which cannot be decoded. In order for the software to learn La-Mulanese, three special "Rosetta Stone" tablets which contain writing in both languages must be found. When read, a message will state that you understand X% of the language.
The following three tablets are required to fully understand La-Mulanese.
- Tower of Ruin (C-4) - Access the upper area from (D-4) by defeating the Thunderbird. 20% decoded.
- Chamber of Birth (D-1) - Read the upper-left tablet. 60% decoded.
- Shrine of the Mother (F-3) - Read the lower tablet. Can only be accessed after speaking with Giltoriyo. 100% decoded.
Learning La-Mulanese is a requirement for gaining mantra.exe, as well as reading Mantra Tablets and other special tablets scattered around the ruins necessary for solving many later puzzles.
These other special tablets can be found in the following rooms.
- Gate of Illusion (C3, D2, E2)
- Graveyard of the Giants (E5)
- Temple of Moonlight (B1, E4, F4)
- Tower of the Goddess (A5)
- Tower of Ruin (C3, D6)
- Chamber of Extinction (D1, H2, I5)
- Chamber of Birth (E6, F2, G6)
- Dimensional Corridor (A7, B4, C5)
- Shrine of the Mother (A3, E6)
Numbers[]
Numbers in La-Mulana are written in La-Mulanese characters as opposed to Arabic numerals. They do, however, follow the same base-10 system, requiring only a simple character substitution to decode.
The numbers are used to represent various things:
- The four Key Seals in the game appear as tablets with a numeral from 1-4 on them:
- 1 = Origin Seal
- 2 = Birth Seal
- 3 = Life Seal
- 4 = Death Seal
- Each digit is also assigned a meaning - the other numbers mean:
- 0 = Nothing
- 5 = Rebirth
- 6 = War
- 7 = Deceit
- 8 = Eternity
- 9 = Ascension
- Each Field has a number from 0 to 9. Most Field Gates have a background plaque nearby labeled with the destination field's number.
- The numbers on the plaques are flipped horizontally in Backside Fields. This includes the eastern half of the Twin Labyrinths and the Endless Corridor (which is technically a Backside Field).
- Most Backside Doors also have their Field number printed above the doorway. These do not appear until you have obtained the Bronze Mirror.
- The Surface, though not labeled, is known to be field zero.
- Numbers are critical to solving a puzzle in the Endless Corridor.
- A weighing machine in the Mausoleum of the Giants shows Lemeza's weight in La-Mulanese numerals (61). Interestingly enough, this is still apparently in kilograms.
- Each room in Hell Temple is numbered with these numbers.
Translation Reference[]
