diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9182ec0..b208fea 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -71,6 +71,15 @@ Every chat instance exposes the following methods:
 
 The handler accepts two parameters: a message and a state object, and returns the response and the new state object. If the returned state object is `None`, then the chat loop exits. Non-command handler (i.e. what should be done on any user input that doesn't start with a registered command) is registered under the `default` command.
 
+### `deck.xlat`
+
+Character translation helper library. For now, only supports base Cyrillic character set.
+
+Exports the following functions:
+
+- `enc(s, mapname='CYR')`: encode from the selected character set into Latin 
+- `dec(s, mapname='CYR')`: decode from Latin into the selected character set 
+
 ### `deck.fs`
 
 FS helper librаry.
diff --git a/deck/xlat.py b/deck/xlat.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..907bc18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deck/xlat.py
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+# deck.xlat: character translation routines with some presets
+# Usage: from deck import xlat
+# If there's no preset selected, CYR (cyrillic) gets selected by default
+# Created by Luxferre in 2025, released into public domain
+
+maps = {
+  'CYR': {
+    'prefix_chars': ['J', 'X', 'Y', 'j', 'x', 'y'],
+    'source': '\u0410\u0430\u0411\u0431\u0412\u0432\u0413\u0433\u0490\u0491\u0414\u0434\u0415\u0435\u0404\u0454\u0401\u0451\u0416\u0436\u0417\u0437\u0418\u0438\u0406\u0456\u0407\u0457\u0419\u0439\u041a\u043a\u041b\u043b\u041c\u043c\u041d\u043d\u041e\u043e\u041f\u043f\u0420\u0440\u0421\u0441\u0422\u0442\u0423\u0443\u0424\u0444\u0425\u0445\u0426\u0446\u0427\u0447\u0428\u0448\u0429\u0449\u042a\u044a\u042b\u044b\u042c\u044c\u042d\u044d\u042e\u044e\u042f\u044f',
+    'mapping': [
+      'A', 'a', 'B', 'b', 'W', 'w', 'G', 'g',
+      'XG', 'xg',
+      'D', 'd', 'E', 'e',
+      'JE', 'je', 'JO', 'jo',
+      'V', 'v', 'Z', 'z', 'I', 'i',
+      'YI', 'yi', 'JI', 'ji', 'JJ', 'jj',
+      'K', 'k', 'L', 'l', 'M', 'm', 'N', 'n',
+      'O', 'o', 'P', 'p', 'R', 'r', 'S', 's',
+      'T', 't', 'U', 'u', 'F', 'f', 'H', 'h',
+      'C', 'c',
+      'XX', 'xx', 'XW', 'xw', 'XQ', 'xq',
+      "x'", "x'", 'YY', 'yy', "'", "'",
+      'YE', 'ye', 'JU', 'ju', 'Q', 'q'
+    ]
+  }
+}
+
+# generate direct and reverse key-value mappings
+for mkey, m in maps.items():
+  maps[mkey]['s2m'] = {}
+  maps[mkey]['m2s'] = {}
+  idx = 0
+  for char in m['source']:
+    dst = m['mapping'][idx]
+    maps[mkey]['s2m'][char] = dst
+    maps[mkey]['m2s'][dst] = char
+    idx += 1
+
+def enc(s, cmap=None):
+  if cmap == None:
+    cmap = 'CYR'
+  mapobj = maps[cmap]
+  out_str = ''
+  for char in s:
+    if char in mapobj['s2m']:
+      out_str += mapobj['s2m'][char]
+    else:
+      out_str += char
+  return out_str
+
+def dec(s, cmap=None):
+  if cmap == None:
+    cmap = 'CYR'
+  mapobj = maps[cmap]
+  prefixes = mapobj['prefix_chars']
+  m2s = mapobj['m2s']
+  out_str = ''
+  buf = ''
+  for char in s:
+    if char in prefixes:
+      buf += char
+    else:
+      if buf != '':
+        buf += char
+      else:
+        buf = char
+      if buf in m2s:
+        out_str += m2s[buf]
+      else:
+        out_str += buf
+      buf = ''
+  return out_str