aksara jawa

Gameplay

Press space to go to the next page. 

Once the story is over it will loop back to the beginning. You can just ignore this ;D

About the legend

As the title says this is an interactive art piece with not much gameplay about the legend of the "Javanese Script" also known as Aksara Jawa in Bahasa Indonesia. 

The Javanese script, derived from the Brahmi script, is the writing system for the Javanese language, spoken on the Indonesian island of Java, with its unique set of characters.

The story entails Aji Saka and his two loyal retainers, Dora and Sembada. A rough summary of the legend is that Aji Saka was a nomad before he became the conquerer of Java. As he traveled around     , and one of his retainer (Sembada) was asked to stay behind to protect Aji Saka's treasure and told him to never give it to anyone except himself. Dora left with him and on his way met a giant that eats human flesh called Dewatacengkar. To defeat the evil giant Dora was asked to take his treasured relic. When Dora arrived he told Sembada about his orders, and then they argued. As they argue, a fight ensued. As they were both as powerful as each other, the fight ended as a draw and both perished. Due to this, Aji Saka was filled with sadness, and to commemorate his fallen retainers he wrote a poem using the Javanese Script below (also shown in the game). Afterwards, using the same relic, he defeated Dewatacengkar. Though it is to be noted that there can be variations of the legend with some differences for example: other sources may describe the tyrant as a monster or other being.

Translation

I tried to translate the legend the best i could and did some literal translation during the time I made it, so it might not be the best description for things. 

1. I used "messengers" to describe Aji Saka's retainers which may sound odd

2. I used "heirloom" instead of relic. It is a weapon artifact, but I did not describe what the relic was. It is a Keris. 

Art choice

The art itself is heavily inspired by Wayang and Batik, both art forms originating from Java island in Indonesia.

To put it briefly, Wayang are puppets that are used in traditional shadow puppet performances.

Batik is a dyeing technique where intricate patterns are drawn or printed on fabric.