For many generations, the Abanye had traded with merchants in Athalassa. The city bustled with both domestic and foreign trade, and was often the best place to both offload goods and obtain exotic sundries. In recent years, malachite-painted pottery had taken off, becoming one of the most valuable trade goods the Abanye could provide due to their exotic appearance.

However, one thing the Abanye traders had come to notice was the fantastic precision and meticulous detail with which Athalassan traders conducted themselves. Abanye traders were used to trading like for like and approximating amounts, and debts were usually enforced by the holder. However, in Athalassa, merchants seemed to have an uncanny knowledge of every good they had traded and the quantity. They would remember debts, know exactly how much of a good they needed and were willing to buy. It all seemed too much information to commit solely to memory.

It turned out it was. As many Abanye traders began to discover, these men were making physical records of the goods they traded, the goods they required, and the debts owed. Though some Abanye traders would keep tallies on sticks or the hulls of their boats, this was a level far beyond. A merchant could track how many of each of several dozen kinds of goods had passed through, and even could record from where. For obvious reasons, the Abanye became very curious.

Small numbers of Abanye had begun residing in every place they traded, which shouldn't be a surprise. Sometimes thy stayed for work, sometimes for trade, and sometimes to apprentice to local craftsmen. However, a new kind of resident Abanye began to emerge in Athalassa: the scholar. These Abanye were fascinated with Athalassan ledgers and record-keeping, and sought to learn their ways. Building on traditions of translation, these men already spoke the Hegeni-Athala tongue, so they soon learned that the symbols on Athalassan ledgers represented certain words. Some were used literally, and some more abstractly (the Abanye were written as sail-people, which was a novel idea that flattered them greatly). Nonetheless, these scholars began to pick up this writing system, soon going into work recording logs of Abanye trade.

So it remained for a few more generations, with Abanye mostly writing ledgers for Athalassan use, written and read in the language of Athalassa. But a few enterprising Abanye realized that these symbols meant little that was inextricably tied to Athalassan, as many of their words existed in Luturran, just by another name. Starting with a few, and only in the biggest towns like Zultanlam, Abanye began writing trade ledgers for Abanye use. It started slow and was not yet widespread enough to expect every merchant to read the writing, but it had become possible to take, keep, and trade records of trade and history.

The magic of writing had come to Abanye lands.