Misc > Languages
There are many languages in the world in Heibesu and beyond. Here is a short list of all languages a character is likely to encounter during his journeys.
Linguistics
Someone who knows Linguistics is skilled at working with language, may it be spoken or written form, and even extralinguistically. They can speak several languages. One's skill in writing allows the user to create and detect forgeries as well. Someone with the Linguistics skill can decipher writing in an unfamiliar language or eve something written in an incomplete or archaic form.
The base DC is 20 for the simpler messages, 25 for normal texts, and 30 or higher for more intricate, archaid or uncommon writing. If the check succeeds, the character can understand the general content of something about one page long (or the equivalent).
If the check fails, the character must make a DC 5 Wisdom check to see if they avoid drawing a false conclusion about the text. If they pass that check they do not draw a false conclusion, if they fail, it means that they do. Both the Linguistics check and (if necessary) the Wisdom check are made secretly by the GM, so that you can't tell whether the conclusion you draw is true or false.
Languages
Whenever you put a rank into this skill, you learn to speak and read a new language. Here is a list of commonly spoken languages :
Ton'keena Languages
Ton'keena Languistics
The major languages are quite different from one another :
Non-Ton'keena Languages
Secret Languages
Other Languages
Linguistics
Someone who knows Linguistics is skilled at working with language, may it be spoken or written form, and even extralinguistically. They can speak several languages. One's skill in writing allows the user to create and detect forgeries as well. Someone with the Linguistics skill can decipher writing in an unfamiliar language or eve something written in an incomplete or archaic form.
The base DC is 20 for the simpler messages, 25 for normal texts, and 30 or higher for more intricate, archaid or uncommon writing. If the check succeeds, the character can understand the general content of something about one page long (or the equivalent).
If the check fails, the character must make a DC 5 Wisdom check to see if they avoid drawing a false conclusion about the text. If they pass that check they do not draw a false conclusion, if they fail, it means that they do. Both the Linguistics check and (if necessary) the Wisdom check are made secretly by the GM, so that you can't tell whether the conclusion you draw is true or false.
Languages
Whenever you put a rank into this skill, you learn to speak and read a new language. Here is a list of commonly spoken languages :
Ton'keena Languages
- Common (Heibesese) : De-facto the trade language of the world. Most people have at least a spoken grasp of it. It is the official language group of Heibesu and at such, is spoken everywhere on the continent.
- Catharian : The language of the northern lands of Catharia, where it is most spoken.
- Daarian : The official language of the Daarian Empire. Spoken in Daaria and her colonies.
- Wild Mainland languages : There are many languages spoken in the Wild Mainland. The most prevalent are those of established nations, like Sohese, Lainese, Dwalsh, Neesese/Tuskese (these count as two very close dialects of the same language). There are also countless tribal languages, referred to more generically as Tribal.
Ton'keena Languistics
The major languages are quite different from one another :
- Common is made of two syllabic alphabets known as kana; the usual Cursive kana, and the Angular kana, used for loanwords or otherwise peculiar lexicon. It also makes uses of 1508 logographic characters, which are very common words, though they are gradually phased out and replaced by the simpler Cursive kana form of writing. Common is an agglutinative, mora-timed language with a lexically significant pitch accent. It is characterized by a very developed system of honorifics.
- High Common is the clerical, ancestral language of the Imperial Ton'keena. While not used in everyday speech, it is very common in court rulings, arcane texts and religious writings. Not everyone understands High Common, and it is in fact fairly different from its mundane sibling.
- Orandan is a language that borrowed heavily from Common, but retains many features of its own - enough for it not to be easily mutually understood with Common.
- Catharian is an agglutinative language written using an alphabet set of some 24 curved, formerly logographic characters often depicting stylized animals to represent syllables that begin with a single consonant, and to which a vowel must be supplied by the native speaker. It distinguishes three tones and “hard” and “soft” counsonants (marked in writing by dots next to the characters). Catharian is notoriously difficult because of its complicated rules concerning declensions, marked by particles, and of its tones. Technically, there are many variants of Catharians to the point that some variants become difficultly mutually intelligible. It is unclear how many variants there are, as they form a dialect chain with few clear boundaries. However, literary Standard Catharian is usually spoken by the educated elite.
- Daarian is a fusional language written using an abjad script. It has a distinct phonology, with either three or four morae syllables (short or long) and, like Catharian, uses tones to change the meaning of words. Formal Daarian is the unitary, written language taught in the whole of Daarian territory. In addition each city has its own spoken dialect, and usually several depending on context.
Non-Ton'keena Languages
- High Dwarven/Low Dwarven : Dwarves speak dialects of the same mother language, roughly split in two big tongues : High Dwarven (from the Wild Mainland) or Low Dwarven (spoken in Daarian dwarven holds), which are difficultly mutually intelligible and each count as a language. Each citadel has its own special dialect, but all dialects from one specific major tongue are mutually understandable. Halflings, too, speak these languages. Dwarves use an alphabet script, usually made of circles. Depending on syllables and words even, though those circles can combine, and at such Dwarven can be considered to also use a logographic system.
- Tengu : The Tengu have their own language, which is a blur of ancestral tribal tongues and Common. It mostly uses Common script, but with many loanwords depending on the tribe.
- Kitsunese : While Kitsunese dialects are fast becoming different from one another, and traditional dialects were lost or evolved strangely after the Kitsune left their homeland, Kitsunese as a whole is still mutually understandable and counts as one language. It is mostly spoken by Kitsune. It is a purely logographic language, related to Common though different in its structure and logic.
- Drow : The secluded Drows have many dialects depending on the city they live in, but Drow refers to the most common and most usually spoken dialect. It is mostly spoken by drows. Drow use their own alphabet script for their fusional language,and most dialects are characterized by the consistent loss of less important words in the sentences, which must be deduced from the context.
Secret Languages
- Celestial : The language spoken by Hikai, Reiki and other good spirits and outsiders. Learning this language depends on a social rather than racial background : ALL characters regardless of language racial bonuses can learn it but only if they spend enough time as priests, shrine maidens and so on.
- Sylven : The Unseelie fae of ages past spoke many languages. Sylven seems to have been their high tongue, which they used for official document, trade, and magic.
- Terran : Earth Elementals and other Earth-attuned entities, including some Dwarves, speak Terran.
- Undercommon : The creatures dwelling in the Underdark or in corrupted areas of the world speak languages generalized as Undercommon. It is a mixture of ancient Elven (the ancient tongue of Drow), Sylven, and even more unknown languages. Speaking Undercommon in Heibesu is sometimes considered a crime, and a Kitsune will take great offence if they hear somebody speaking the language. In folklore, it is considered the language of demons and bad spirits. (Abyssal and Infernal are two close dialects of this language, spoken respectively by some demonic creatures and evil-aligned outsiders).
Other Languages
- Draconic : Spoken by the dragons of legend, Draconic is only found today on inscriptions on walls. With no real way to understand or decipher this language, it is dead, but efforts to find some reference frame are still ongoing, and there is a whole department at the Sokomo Academy dedicated to it.
- Elven : Tales speak of a time when the Elves walked the land. Following a war with the Unseelie, most Elves died out, leaving only the Drows unscathed. Drow and Undercommon might provide reference to understand the ancient Elven tongues, but they have evolved so much there is very little known about Elven – even Drows cannot understand it.