Characters may begin with one common language, and additional languages equal to their Intelligence modifier. Characters may also learn languages from their Class, Race, or Background.
Most languages can be treated as 'language families'. A speaker of one language may sometimes be able to communicate with speakers of other languages in other scenarios where the dialects have similar roots (though not without some risk of misunderstanding).
Likewise, speakers of common languages may find that regional variants can often have their own particular idioms and idiosyncrasies that can be occasionally confounding.
Human Languages:
BRIN
KAELISH
IMPERIAL
YMIRI
KOSHKA
TALUMAR
HUANZU
SANKARI
SANKARI
STREET' CANT
Duathan
Lundish
Athari
Non-Human Languages:
ELVISH
FAERIE COMMON
CHTHONIC
Dwarvish
Jotun
DRUIDIC
DRACONIC
CHAOS SPEECH
CELESTIAL / ABYSSAL
(*Note that some languages do not conform to D&D convention)
H U M A N L A N G U A G E S
BRIN (aka Kingspeak)
Originally a synthesis of ancient Duathan speech from Briconas and the Lundish tongues of Wellundia, Brin variants have been spoken across northern Duatha since before the Clarion Call.
The language gained a broader dissemination beyond the Hundred Thrones thanks to the Gospel of the Child Prophet Braius, who preached in the Brin tongue. Over time, it became a common mercantile language along the north-south trade routes between the Thrones region and the Imperial Cyronic south, incorporating bits of local vernacular as it traveled.
The language gained a broader dissemination beyond the Hundred Thrones thanks to the Gospel of the Child Prophet Braius, who preached in the Brin tongue. Over time, it became a common mercantile language along the north-south trade routes between the Thrones region and the Imperial Cyronic south, incorporating bits of local vernacular as it traveled.
Two centuries ago, when the High King of Clarion accepted the surrender of the Last Emperor of Cyrona, and the era of the northern dominion began. As the language of the Clarion Throne, Brin became the most widely-spoken language in Duatha. In the southern regions where the old Cyronic Imperial language once held sway, the two languages merged into a distinctive Southlands dialect which southerners sometimes called 'Kingspeak'.
Today, each region of Duatha has its own form of Brin that includes local idioms and accents. Brin speakers are generally intelligible to one another, though some dialects are more particular than others, or may carry the associations of old ethnic and class divides.
After the fall of the Clarion Throne in recent years, elements within newly arisen Kasparian Empire in the Southlands have sought revive the usage of Old Imperial. However, for now Brin remains the common tongue.
Spoken by:
Basically all inhabitants of Duatha
After the fall of the Clarion Throne in recent years, elements within newly arisen Kasparian Empire in the Southlands have sought revive the usage of Old Imperial. However, for now Brin remains the common tongue.
Spoken by:
Basically all inhabitants of Duatha
Trade tongue spoken by merchants and travelers.
Related: Lundish, old Duathan, Kaelish
Related: Lundish, old Duathan, Kaelish
(Anglo-centric mashup of all the languages of the British Isles along with Norman Frrench, then imposed over the rest of Europe, such that most languages have now become a patois with Brin as the foundation. It is the Common Tongue.)
KAELISH
To the north-east of Duatha are the green hills, misty highlands, and coastal islands of Kaelthea. Although these lands were brought under the rule of the Clarion King in ancient times, they retained their distinct character.
It is said that the Kaelish people were Fae-touched in ancient times, and this is reflected in their language. It has its roots in bygone Duathan speech like Brin, but also incorporates elements of the lost Elvish tongue, giving it a lilting, musical quality. For this reason, it is a favourite language among troubadours and lore-keepers.
In central regions, Kaelish is often blended with Brin, the product of which is often considered a Brin dialect. However, in the more remote regions of Kaelthea, a Brin-speaker would be lucky to catch a word. In its pure form, Kaelish is likely the oldest language in Duatha spoken by Men.
Spoken by:
Kaelish peoples
Bards, singers, performers
Low Faeries of the northern realms
Related: Duathan, Elvish, Brin
Spoken by:
Kaelish peoples
Bards, singers, performers
Low Faeries of the northern realms
Related: Duathan, Elvish, Brin
(a caricature of old Irish/Gaelic tropes)
IMPERIAL (aka Helicosian)
Derived from the roots of old Aesos, this was the common language of the southern seas of Helicos in ancient times. It is said this language was passed to men by the God-Kings of Aesos, themselves descendants of the Apotheoi. When the Cyrons built the First Empire and conquered the South, they formalized their version of the language, and it became the first fully standardized system of written speech used across such a large region.
Vulgarized forms of Imperial are sometimes spoken by commoners, usually mingled with other languages like Brin, but the high form of the Imperial tongue was the voice of the old Cyron Empire's bureaucracy and academia. Today, it is rarely used colloquially, but it remains the language of philosophy, science, law, and religion in the Southlands.
Dialects of Imperial are still found some former territories of the old Cyron Empire, particularly those places which never fell under the rule of the Clarion Throne and so never transitioned to using Brin (such as the fortress island of Old Cyrona, or Malocovia, where it is spoken by the noble classes).
A decade past, the Clarion Dominion dissolved when the High King of Clarion was murdered. In the following period of strife, many of the southern nations re-consolidated under the aegis of the Holy Kasparian Empire. For now, the Brin tongue of the north is still widely spoken through the new empire.
It is uncertain if the more formal Imperial language will ever gain enough popular usage to replace it. Indeed, if that should ever come to be, how else would the elites know other elites?
Spoken by:
Classical texts
Clergy
Scholars, scribes, officials
Southern nobility and Imperial courtiers
Scholars, scribes, officials
Southern nobility and Imperial courtiers
Inhabitants of Old Cyrona and Aesos
Malocovian nobility
Related: Apotheoi
(Latin and Greek rolled up into one)
Malocovian nobility
Related: Apotheoi
(Latin and Greek rolled up into one)
YMIRI (aka Norn)
The language of the Northmen of Ymir is indigenous to the Utgaard snowlands and to communities on the rim of the Thrashing Sea. It is said that it derives originally from the language of Dwarves and Giants, and those ancient beings born of the stone and soil. For these reasons, it often carries uncivilized connotations, but it has nonetheless travelled far beyond the cold, hard lands of the North.
Ymiri are famous seafarers, and in antiquity, their northern speech spread to barbarian tribes in Koshkovia, across northern Duatha, and even to the southern seas of Helicos. Today, a bastardized form of Ymiri is commonly used as a mercenary tongue wherever northern reavers once traded steel and blood for gold. It serves as a dialect spoken by sailors all over the continent, and the guttural echoes of old Ymiri can also still be heard in the Torvaldic-Brin dialect spoken in the northern Kasparian Empire.
Spoken by:
Ymiri northlanders
Ymiri are famous seafarers, and in antiquity, their northern speech spread to barbarian tribes in Koshkovia, across northern Duatha, and even to the southern seas of Helicos. Today, a bastardized form of Ymiri is commonly used as a mercenary tongue wherever northern reavers once traded steel and blood for gold. It serves as a dialect spoken by sailors all over the continent, and the guttural echoes of old Ymiri can also still be heard in the Torvaldic-Brin dialect spoken in the northern Kasparian Empire.
Spoken by:
Ymiri northlanders
Northern Koshkas
Mercenaries
Mercenaries
Sailors & sea traders
Related: Dwarvish, Jotun, Chthonic (distant)
(old Norse-ish)
KOSH
This was originally the language of the ancient Kos peoples, first denizens of the region now called Old Kosya. Today, the Kosh tongue and its variants are spoken througout the Koshkovian continent (with the exception of the nobility of Malocovia, who prefer to speak Imperial). It is also the foundation for many languages used on the Taizong Steppes.
It is a bold, sonorous tongue, with many regional and ethnic dialects from the various nations that make up Koshkovia. The versions spoken to the north incorporates elements from the Ymiri language. On the southern marches of Koshkovia, there are many influences from the Talumian tongue.
It is also said that in the foul reaches of forbidden Chernagor, a corrupt form of Old Kosh is spoken by the monsters and half-men who are spawned in that blighted land (at least, those which are capable of human speech)
Spoken by:
Koshkas of all kinds, Rastanian barbarians, Steppes nomads
Spoken by:
Koshkas of all kinds, Rastanian barbarians, Steppes nomads
Related: Ymiri (distant), Talumian (distant), Fellspeech (corrupted)
(all Slavic languages at once)
TALUMIAN
The language spoken by the Daramadi Caliphate and the nations of Talumia to the south-east, across the Helicosian Sea. It is an old language which has traveled far due to Talumia's mercantile culture, and the Caliphate's past ambitions of conquest. It is believed to have developed from the Sankarite tongue, combined with the tribal languages common across Talumia.
When spoken in the cities of Talumia, it is a poetic language, dripping with culture and sophistication. In the hinterlands of the southeast, like Rastania and the great steppes, cruder dialects are often spoken as a common tongue between different barbarian tribes.
Talumian is also spoken by many of the Duma people who settled in the south of Talumia, and on the island of Dumacea, though this dialect is rich with old words and idioms from the distant archipelago of Ubala.
Talumian is also spoken by many of the Duma people who settled in the south of Talumia, and on the island of Dumacea, though this dialect is rich with old words and idioms from the distant archipelago of Ubala.
After almost a century under Daramadi rule, there are also still many in Iagos who know the Talumar language, although its usage is virtually forbidden now by the Iagosi king.
Spoken by:
Spoken by:
Talumars
Eastern Duma folk
Rastanian tribes, some Taizu tribes
Rastanian tribes, some Taizu tribes
Merchants, sailors
Related: Sankari
(Arabic with some Persian just for the heck of it )
HUANZU
The common language used throughout the Eastlands of the Kulanese continent, with various dialects spoken by steppes tribes, the imperial courts of Tianxia, and even the far off warlords of Yama.
Although it was first popularized in Huan, its spread was driven by the military and cultural imperialism of the ancient Yang Court. Regional languages were subsumed, and the Huan script became a standard across the region, save for Sankar.
Although it was first popularized in Huan, its spread was driven by the military and cultural imperialism of the ancient Yang Court. Regional languages were subsumed, and the Huan script became a standard across the region, save for Sankar.
For this reason, although the various iterations are only barely mutually intelligible, the shared pictographic alphabet allows the literate to read, write, and be understood in all parts of the continent.
Huan is claimed to have been passed to humans by the cloud-dwelling Immortals of the preceding age, and Huan calligraphy is often considered to have magical invocative properties inherited from its celestial origins. Such lore might suggest a relationship to the old Titan language, but it appears to be something distinct.
Spoken by:
Inhabitatns of Tianxia
Yamashima, Jeongku
Taizong steppes tribes
Yamashima, Jeongku
Taizong steppes tribes
Related: Sankari (distant)
(universal pan-asian cliche)
SANKARI
This is the language spoken in Sankar and parts of Talumia. Hundreds of dialects exist within Sankar's borders alone, and derivations can still be found across the Sea of Spice in Talumia and Zoraka.
Its origins are ancient and unknown, dating from long before the rise of Men. In the first era of Kulan, Sankari was an important spiritual language. Many old religious texts and holy incantations were originally transcribed into Sankari.
It is suggested that both Sankari and Huanzu were languages handed down by the Immortals who once lived in Dakala. Although the earliest forms of both languages share some common written elements, they would seem to have few similarities otherwise.
The most significant distinction among Sankari speakers are those who use the Dakala script vs the Sankar script. This divide is effectively a spiritual one, separating those who honour the Immortals of the Sky from those who worship the Spirits of the Earth. The Sankar script is the more common and widely dispersed. The Dakala script is used largely in the northern regions.
Spoken by:
Sankarites, Dakals, some Talumars or Zorakars
Merchants and traders (Eastern)
Priests and religious scholars (Eastern)
Related: Huanzu (vestigial)
Priests and religious scholars (Eastern)
Related: Huanzu (vestigial)
(umbrella for various Indian languages)
STREET CANT
This tongue is less a language than a shared codex of informal slang and code-talk that has developed in parallel with polite society ever since antiquity. By design, it is an impenetrable mix of polari and surreptitious hand-signals shared by criminals, con-artists, vagabonds, and assorted street-scum found across Duatha.
With a strong non-verbal component, the Cant is ideally suited for communicating covert messages, either by sign-language, or by way of cryptic glyphs - often scrawled in chalk on a flagstone, or carved with a knife on the underside of a barroom table. Due to heavy use of innuendo and euphemism, skilled Cant-users can carry on a conversation while seemingly making small-talk about nothing in particular.
Although Cant users from different countries might not share a common orthodox language, they can often communicate basics to each other - though leaving too much to interpretation in such cases may lead to dangerous misunderstandings.
*As a Skill Proficiency gained by the Rogue class, the Street Cant also functions as a 'Streetwise' skill, applicable to such tasks as finding illegal goods, making contacts, gathering hearsay, and finding your way around large cities, etc...
Although Cant users from different countries might not share a common orthodox language, they can often communicate basics to each other - though leaving too much to interpretation in such cases may lead to dangerous misunderstandings.
*As a Skill Proficiency gained by the Rogue class, the Street Cant also functions as a 'Streetwise' skill, applicable to such tasks as finding illegal goods, making contacts, gathering hearsay, and finding your way around large cities, etc...
A R C H A I C H U M A N L A N G U A G E S
DUATHAN
The tongue of the First Men may be a dead language today, but the script may still be seen adorning the many ancient ruins and structures they left behind... and echoes of its sounds surely live on in the many human languages that have grown from it. Although variations have been identified between the Northern Duathan vs the Southern Apotheoi, many scholars believe that these both equally stem from the divine language of the God-Titans.
LUNDISH
This was once the language of the many tribes of northern Duatha, extending across even to parts of Torvaria. Indeed, although true Lundish is no longer spoken, it forms the foundation of modern Brin. Today, those folk from Wellundia and Delon still bear the ethnonym of their forebears (Lundish and Londais respectively).
ATHARI
The Athar tribes once ruled much of Delon, and even today, the Londais people still cling to their Athari roots as a marker of difference. At different points in history the court language of Delon and Athagon fluctuated between Athari, Brin, and Old Imperial, such that the present Londais Brin dialect is peppered with vocabulary and borrowings from each. Ironically, the only remaining natural Athari speakers in Delon tend to be those living on the periphery, often under poor conditions. This particular accent however, is not admired at court.
The Athar tribes once ruled much of Delon, and even today, the Londais people still cling to their Athari roots as a marker of difference. At different points in history the court language of Delon and Athagon fluctuated between Athari, Brin, and Old Imperial, such that the present Londais Brin dialect is peppered with vocabulary and borrowings from each. Ironically, the only remaining natural Athari speakers in Delon tend to be those living on the periphery, often under poor conditions. This particular accent however, is not admired at court.
N O N - H U M A N L A N G U A G E S
ELVISH
The true tongue of the Fading Folk (Elves) and other related races. This elegant language is rarely heard, but is often seen as the root alphabet of ancient magical script. It is florid, complex, and quite difficult to learn. Among the Faerie races, it is treated as a form of high speech. Many scholars have studied it to aid in reading glyph enchantments and deciphering the long histories of the Fading Folk.
Spoken by:
Elvenkind (including Alukah)
Spoken by:
Elvenkind (including Alukah)
Archfey of many kinds
Mages, Scholars
FAERIE COMMON
This rough and very localized tongue is a form of pidgin used by various spirits and lesser faeries. Functionally, it is an informal patois of the old Elvish and Goblin tongues, with a liberal smattering of words and expressions stolen from mortal languages common to the local region. Speakers of any of those languages may discern vague meaning from Faerie Common, but without grasping the eccentricities of the vernacular, it is rather easy to get lost.
Faerie Common is lilting, fast-moving, and often confusing. It sometimes takes a peculiar mindset to fully understand it - the more immortal the Fae speaker, the more confusing the tenses can become, as time concepts often have a loose meaning for such creatures.
Faerie Common is lilting, fast-moving, and often confusing. It sometimes takes a peculiar mindset to fully understand it - the more immortal the Fae speaker, the more confusing the tenses can become, as time concepts often have a loose meaning for such creatures.
When spoken by more mundane Fae, the language is simpler and more pragmatic, but it is always idiosyncratic. Goblins and Trolls are known to speak a particularly corrupted, blunt, low-class version of the Faerie tongue.
Spoken by:
Elvenkind
Spoken by:
Elvenkind
Low Faeries
Goblins
erudite Trolls
Druids, Bards
CHTHONIC
A primal language that was spoken originally by ancient beings born of the earth in primordial times. Today their descendants still use forms of Cthonic speech; Dwarves, Giants, Ogres, as well as various elemental spirits. Simpler corruptions of this language have also been adopted by races that make their homes in the subterranean underworlds, such as Goblins, Trolls, Wights, and other monsters.
It is not known to be a subtle language, and it is most often spoken in loud, direct, and resonant tones. However, there is also a "whispered" form - a low, slow-spoken hum that can carry surprising distances in subterranean tunnels, but may not be immediately recognizable as language to outsiders.
It is not known to be a subtle language, and it is most often spoken in loud, direct, and resonant tones. However, there is also a "whispered" form - a low, slow-spoken hum that can carry surprising distances in subterranean tunnels, but may not be immediately recognizable as language to outsiders.
The Jotun (Giant) and Dwarven languages are the main branches of Chthonic, and remain mutually intelligible enough to be considered dialects. The Ymiri language of the northmen has its roots in Chthonic, but other than some similar words and a shared runic alphabet, it is now mostly distinct.
Spoken by:
Dwarves
Nockers (gnomes)
Giants, Ogres, Trolls
Some Goblins, Wights
Primordial spirits
DRUIDIC
Called "the Green Voice" by some, Druidic is a unique language that cannot be learned through normal means. Instead, the Green Voice is usually only attained though a mystical encounter with the primordial essence of the world itself.
Druids and similar seekers may meditate for many long years before they hear the Green Voice, a life-changing experience which initiates them into the mysteries of the sublime realm of nature. As such, this language is universal to Druids wherever they are found.
When a Druid uses their powers to speak with animals and plants, they do so with the Green Voice. Druidic is also known to many Elementals, Archfey, and Greater Spirits of the earth. It may sometimes be used to communicate with Faeries and many creatures of the Fading Folk. It is also a language frequently known among those Elvenkind who still dwell in the mortal world.
When a Druid uses their powers to speak with animals and plants, they do so with the Green Voice. Druidic is also known to many Elementals, Archfey, and Greater Spirits of the earth. It may sometimes be used to communicate with Faeries and many creatures of the Fading Folk. It is also a language frequently known among those Elvenkind who still dwell in the mortal world.
Some believe that Druidic is the original form of the Chthonic tongue, but that the latter was stripped of its primal power through its use for pragmatic or mundane purposes, so that now the true Green Voice is no longer immanent in Chthonic words.
Druidic is spoken aloud only rarely, in times of need. To do so is to commune with profound forces and allow them to speak through you. When the Green Voice is shared between Druids, it may be almost undetectable to onlookers, mingling with the whisper of the wind, the creaking of branches, the babble of waterways, and the dull thrum of the soil.
When the Green Voice is invoked forcefully, such as when channeling Druidic powers, its phrases and contours remain uncanny and ineffable to uninitiated ears. However, it resonates deeply and carries gravitas with those sympathetic to the natural world, even if they cannot fathom its meaning. On the other hand, supernaturally corrupted creatures, dimensional outsiders, and many otherworldly beings often find the Green Voice disturbing and alienating.
The Green Voice does not truly have a written system, though sometimes its power leaves an 'echo' that marks a place in ways that can be detected by other Druids. However, Druidic also has a 'vulgar' form as well, used mostly by those novices who have not yet heard the Green Voice for themselves. This is a system of simple and discreet signs and markings that may be left to communicate with other Druids and their followers who pass.
DRACONIC
The ancient dragon speech, a language of magic, and of the elements of fire, wind, and water. A truly primordial sister language to Chthonic, and perhaps to the Druidic Green Voice.
CHAOS SPEECH
A weird tongue spoken or scrawled by those touched or corrupted by the great Vagaries of Chaos. This language is always in flux, with an inconsistent iconography that makes it extremely difficult to decipher.
It is sometimes thought that only chaos fanatics can communicate through this language, by way of some unnatural connection to the Vagaries. To most others, this tongue appears as little more than the ravings or scratchings of a mind touched by madness.
CELESTIAL / ABYSSAL
Extradimensional languages corresponding to outer beings, be they on either side of the axis of light and darkness.
