So IIRC Big D left it to Page in his will, and Page released his analysis (but not, it seems, the full translation) in 2060, which spurred the whole Or'zet revival and orxploitation etc.

SOTA '64 definitely implies that the actual contents of the codex were not published (Draco got a privileged peek in exchange for funding, and other academics clearly examined the book itself but not necessarily the translation.)

Anyone know, or care to suggest, what was actually described in the codex? How much information do you suppose it actually gives about the lot of ancient orks? Can it fail to describe the Scourge? Etc etc.
Ultimately: how would a modern day put-upon Ork feel about the world and his race if he got to read the codex himself?

My Idea is that it is about the re-establishment of Cara Fahd under Krathis Gorn, and possibly includes some of her imediate successors.

It could possibly end with the destruction of that nation at the hands of the invading Indo-Europeans.

The letters written by Krathis Gron before the re-establishing of CF may be contained there too.

Difficult to say. There are specific phrases that were picked out of different tribal groups, indicating the text was written after the creation of the new nation of Cara Fahd under Krathis Gron, but the context of those phrases is not given - which may indicate the text may have been written a long time after the nation had formed and stabilized. It isunlikely the text dates from the first kingdom of Cara Fahd.

Have there ever been written records of the first kingdom be found? (english grammar can be challenging sometimes )

I vaguely recall that some of the writings from the first kingdom might survive in the Library of Throal. Of course, copies may also have been kept in the Eternal Library of Thera and various kaers in Cara Fahd and Landis. Receipts, contracts, et al. from the Orichalcum Wars would probably still exist in Thera as well.

Good point. But that would be records written by other people, like the Therans or throalic scholars. I always considered the first CF to be based of oral traditions only, because they're based on the cavalries which had less use for written documents.

Nah. First kingdom was exactly that - a kingdom. There were written records, treaties, diaries, all the happy litter of civilization. I can't speak to the general level of literacy, but or'zat was definately a written language.

You are mighty AH, so whom am I to disbelieve you?

Failed your save, eh?

Yeah, botched.

Serioulsy, I don't have the time to re-read the CF sourcebook and as you are a very reliable source there's no need to distrust you.

I tried, I really tried, but...

Trust, distrust, meh...Go with what works for you.

Thanks for the help. My memory of the history of Barsaive is a bit shakey, but let me see if I've got this straight...

The original Cara Fahd was founded by Wudra Muntak before the Scourge. Thera and the dwarven kingdom of Throal already existed at that time, and minor horrors had already been encountered. CF 1.0 lasted about 240 years but collapsed during the Orichalcum Wars. The Scourge begins another 600 years later, and lasts for about 400 years.
After the Scourge, Thera occupies Barsaive, and dwarven Throalic becomes the common language and influences the original ork language of Or'zat which becomes Or'zet.
Then Krathis Gron comes along, writes the 'Seeds of Nation' letters (which may be in the codex), and reunites the ork tribes into a new Cara Fahd, which presumably lasts for some time (until invaded as Kalvan suggests or perhaps until the orks disappear at the end of the fourth world?)

I've vague memories of many orks being slaves at some point. Was that post-Orichalcum wars or during the Theran Occupation or am I remembering all wrong?

Presumably the codex can't fail to mention the Scourge, which may be one reason why its full translation hasn't been published?

I'm pretty sure orks being slaves was Theran Occupation stuff.

The Or'Zet Codex

Thanks Adam but I've read that one. If you check it over you'll find that it doesn't actually answer my question. It presents Page's deciphering of Or'zet (which is what he actually published) but there isn't any info (anywhere, it would seem) about the actual contents of the document that he deciphered.

So it looks like the orks were slaves throughout large tracts of their non-Cara Fahd history. I imagine that would quite inflammatory reading if it ever percolated through the ork community. They'd be demanding their own nation all the more.

"To Serve Man" heh

My guess is that the book contains very little fourth world history and almost certainly doesn't reveal the scourge, except perhaps cryptically. I'm only presuming that because if it did: a) certain persons of great power would have gone to great lengths to conceal it, and b) after being decoded, that information would likely have gotten out.

More likely, I imagine that it is a collection of very mundane writings, something that wouldn't give too much away but still have a wide sampling of the language. Just a guess.