Languages

Dialects

Language Check

• If you know a different dialect of the target language, the DC is the language's Dialect DC.
• If you know a language from the same family as the target language, the DC is the greater of the two languages' Family DC.
• If you know the Related Language of the target language, the DC is the Related Language DC.

Suggested Feat

The Linguist feat grants a bonus to the language check.

Human Languages

Sonnern

• Simple grammatical structure and clear word delineation make it relatively easy to learn and understand
  • Extreme usage of compound words makes it expressive without making it more complex
• Used by mages across the world for academic purposes since the founding of VIAL and the binding of Leviathan.

Etelaan

• Similar to Funish
• Spoken very quickly, difficult to understand for most people

Tengan

• Has not changed much since downfall of ancient Tanatenga

Funish

• Similar to Etelaan
• Some Halfling influence, especially relating to commerce and seafaring

Shamalian

• Traces of Orcish influence from when they were geographically near the Orcs, before being kicked out
• Some recent Sonnern influence

Ogofen

• Language has a lot of low-pitched sounds
  • A simplified version of the language can be broadcast over long distances underground by an instrument called the curtal
• Distinctive writing system
  • All symbols are homeomorphic to a line segment (like 'L' or 's', but not 't' or 'o'), but still unique up to rotation
  • Symbols are not necessarily placed in a line: each symbol "points" to the start of the next symbol, which can be rotated as desired
  • Writing can be read by tracing finger from one symbol to the next
  • Emphasis can be added using deeper gashes in stone

Gnomish Languages

Gabrorian Gnomish

• Spoken by Rock Gnomes and Rot Gnomes
• Different dialect in each city
• Significant Dwarvish influence, especially pertaining to geology and metallurgy

Sand Gnomish

• Spoken by Sand Gnomes
• Similar to Gabrorian Gnomish but with no Dwarvish influence

Verdanian Gnomish

• Spoken by Forest Gnomes in Verdania
• More extreme regional variation in dialects, as they don't travel or trade much
• Some Elvish and even Sylvan influence, but no Dwarvish influence

Fey Gnomish

• One dialect spoken by Fey Gnomes
• Another dialect spoken by Forest Gnomes in Gabroria
• Both dialects seem to be somewhere in between Gabrorian and Verdanian
  • Only Sylvan influences- no Dwarvish or Elvish

Dwarvish

• Many dialects, but all mutually intelligible
  • Dwarves rigorously maintain language conventions
• Some dialects have more Gnomish influence
• Writing system uses runes that are easy to carve, reminscent of giants' runes
  • Runes can overlap for compactness and speed; these are called "bindrunes" (unrelated to the magical process)

Elvish Languages

Elvish

• Spoken by blessed elves
• Old Script: the original writing system, which uses topologically distinct characters
  • Still used for calligraphic purposes
• New writing system adapted from Sonnern to facilitate communication, especially in academia
• Largely unchanging due to immortality of elves
  • Some recent loanwords from Sonnern language
• Can sometimes tell generation of elf based on speech patterns

Marese

• Spoken by sea elves
• Branched long ago from Elvish, no longer remotely intelligible
• Three main dialects, one for each continent: Verdanian, Gabrorian, and Atan

Malese

• Spoken by deep elves
• Branched off of Marese

High Sylvan

• Spoken mostly by fey elves and other fey nobility
• Branched long ago from Elvish, no longer remotely intelligible
• Influenced slightly by other fey creatures

Sylvan

• Spoken by denizens of Feywild
• Extreme vulgarization of High Sylvan with many variants

Goliath

• Spoken by goliaths
• Some loanwords from stone dialect of Jotun, but base language appears unrelated and has very few consonants
• Writing system adapted from stone style of Jotun runes

Jotun

• Also known as Giant
• Spoken by giants, all of whom reside in Gabroria
• Runes serve as primitive writing system
• Each type of giant (hill, stone, fire, ice, cloud, storm) has its own dialect and style of runes

Orcish

• Spoken by orcs
• One variant for each subrace
• Ice, Cave, and Wood Orcs have pictographic writing supplemented by utilitarian system of ice, stonoe, or stick markings
• Great Orcs use a full alphabet completely different from pictographs of other orcs <redacted>

Goblish

• Spoken by common goblins
• Many, many variants: each tribe has its own
• No writing system of its own, as most goblins can't read or write

Dark Goblish

• Spoken by dark goblins
• Distinct from Goblish
• Uses a braille-like writing system based on chips in stone

Draconic

• Spoken by dragons, dracaska, and some religious groups
• Many different accents/dialects, but mostly mutually intelligible
• No labial consonants ('m', 'v', 'f', 'b', 'p'), since dragons and dracaska lack lips
• Many glottal ('h'), velar ('k', 'g'), palatal ('ž', 'š', 'č'), and especially alveolar ('s', 't', 'z', 'd', 'n', 'l', 'r') consonants
  • The 'r' is trilled in the back of the throat, like in French
  • 'ž' as in "vision"
  • 'š' makes the 'sh' sound
  • 'č' makes the 'ch' sound
• Not many vowels; mostly short 'a' and short/long 'u'
• Common to string words together to form new words

Urnakasla

• Spoken by lesser dracaska that live in tunnels
• Rarely heard outside of Žagraš

Ixian

• "Spoken" by ixilit
• Uses many unvocalizable sounds and emotional impressions, so can only be spoken telepathically
• Writing system exists but is rarely used due to lack of underwater writing surfaces and poor lighting
  • Based on circles of varying sizes, so it's easy to write in sand by telepathically pressing it (or using a spherical implement)

Soraskan

• Spoken by soraska
• Two varieties, Sea Soraskan and Cave Soraskan, are highly diverged and all but unintelligible
  • Sea Soraskan is sometimes just called Soraskan, since sea soraska were "discovered" by humans first
• Sea Soraskan uses many gestures that help with underwater communication; Cave Soraskan does not