Languages
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When passing through the marketplaces of Great Crossing or Rockport, you are likely to hear chatter in a variety of tongues. The lands of Schön are home to many languages and dialects as detailed here.

The Common Tongue


Cathian is the most widely spoken language in the Realm of Sothis. It was brought by the Marianite refugees from Cathia, beyond God's Wall and by the Alarians when they escaped over the Ragnar Mountains.

Cathian borrows words from other languages, like dwarven gem names and faerie musical notations, and is believed to have collected many more in the past.

Accents and Grammar
While few true dialects exist, Cathian does have regional accents. Montegans, Alarians, and Dargaulians tend to pronounce every "r" in a word, while Baridorian and Galdorians tend only to pronounce the "r" when it’s the first letter of a word. Nordanians roll their "r"s, and Verdarians touch upon them very lightly.
In the west and south, Cathian speakers tend to use the past simple when describing something that has recently occurred, while people in the north and east are more likely to use the present perfect. For example, a Montegan might say "I ate too much," while a Baridorian might say "I’ve eaten too much."
Some prepositional differences exist, such as "Firstday through Seventhday" in the south and west or "Firstday to Seventhday" in the north and east.
Spelling varies slightly from the Realms of Sothis to Dargaul and Alaria.

Nordic Languages


The native languages of the north have largely been supplanted by Cathian in everyday use. But some barbaric tribes still know these as their common tongues, while others learned them from their parents or grandparents. Often those living in lands where these languages were once the vernacular speak Cathian with borrowed phrases and words from the old language.

Foingael is the native tongue of the western edges of Nordania and those who came to dwell in Verdaria. It is a lilting language with some Faerie influences. Cathian, when spoken in Verdaria, carries a hint of the musicality of this tongue.
Hargaden is a guteral language spoken by giants and has a number of dialects from the northern frost giants to the ogres of Dargaul.
Nordish is the language of the Nords, spoken commonly in the far north and among the barbarians dwelling in the God's Wall region of Nordania still today. It's a hard language with rolling letters and crisp consonants and has some root-words in common with Ancient Marid and Hargaden, as well Dwarven.

Thannonic Languages


The various tribes of the Planes of Thannon speak a number of distinct but related languages.

Den is the most widely spoken, common throughout the western edges of Montega and among the eastern Plains of Thannon.

Adonic is spoken in the north among the plains people.

Montegan is spoken by the Montegan natives and is similar to Den but with many Faerie words and speech patterns.

Thaon-Den is a simple, signed trade-language used throughout the Plains of Thannon and Montega.

Faerie Languages


The Faerie tongue is an ancient language and has changed little over the centuries. While the elves of the Forest of Dreams, the Waking Wood, and Feylorn may have need of words which their kin do not, these distinctions do not equate to dialects.

Faerie or Feyspeak is the melodic language of the elves and other fey, such as sprites and pixies. It is written in a flowing, narrow script.

Goblin or Goblinspeak is a twisted, vulgar dialect of the faerie tongue spoken by goblins.

Dwarven Languages


The Dwarven language is an old tongue maintained through long tradition by its speakers. It is a tonal language, with nuances expressed through the rise and fall of the speaker's pitch.

Dwarven is spoken in every dwarven kingdom from Mortaar to Angaar and Undaar. The hill dwarves treat Dwarven as a sacred tongue sharing it only with trusted outsiders.

Gnomish is a dialect of Dwarven, but hard to recognize as such as it's spoken so swiftly. The tonality of Dwarven is replaced by over a thousand additional words, often fired in rapid succession.

Underspeak is the common trade-language of the Underworld. It doesn't rely on the tonal subtlety of true Dwarven or the broad linguistics of Gnomish. Instead, it's simple and to the point.

Dwarven Linguistics
Dwarves typically speak Cathian when dealing with humans, and always translate their clan names. Where Dwarven expresses the noun then descriptor, Cathian often reverses this. Burrowmaster, for example, translates to Aalmoor, "moor" being the translation of "burrow", and "aal" being the translation of "master".
Many Dwarven words have made their way into Cathian. Iron and ruby are examples of pure Dwarven words in common usuage. Others, such as forg (forge), hammar (hammer), and ston (stone) can be readily recognized.

Magical Languages


Schön is home to a few magical languages. When a character knows these languages he is able to communicate with others who know the language but is not required to utter specific words. For example, if you are proficient in Draconic, then you can communicate with a dragon while speaking Cathian and understand the meaning behind the roars of the dragon.

Draconic is the magical language of the dragons. Unlike most magical languages, Draconic does include a number of unique words of power which are used in spellcasting. It does have a written form of deeply grooved and elaborate runes, and basic markings can be left with fire scorches or acid burns to communicate territorial boundaries or warnings.

Primordial is a magical language understood by elementals and related, it seems, to Draconic. It has no written form, but can be expressed with Draconic or Eldritch letters.

Sylvan is a magical language understood by beasts. It has no written form, but can be expressed with Faerie letters. This is distinctive from the Speak with Animals spell. When speaking Sylvan, a beast can understand you, but has no concept of place names, creature subtypes (they refer to elves and sprites as fey), or numbers, and it cannot recall information for more than a number of hours times its Intelligence modifier. Speak with Animals allows a beast to communicate specific locations, creature subtypes, numbers, and anything it has experienced in the past day.

The Dead Languages


Some languages are no longer used in common communication.

Ancient Marid is used exclusively in the religious practices of the Maridist Sect of the Faith and for the scholastic study of the Ancient Marianites.

Asheri is an ancient Cathian language used by scholars and the Asherist Sect of the Faith. It is also used for magical incantations, particularly in Alaria.

Eldritch is a language used for magical incantations, chiefly in Alaria and Dargaul. It borrows from Faerie and Draconic.

Languages of Distant Lands


Kyotanese is the common tongue of Taopan in the far west beyond the Andoran Mountains. It's rarely heard in the Realms.

Pyte is the language of Pytes, south of the Ragnar Mountains. The Qids borrow some words from this tongue, peppering their Cathian with it and using varioasions of Pyte in their naming conventions.



Language Spoken By
Adonic North Plains of Thonnon (humans)
Ancient Mariad Realms of Sothis, The Faith (humans)
Asheri Ancient Cathian, Alaria (humans)
Cathian Alaria, Dargaul, and the Realms of Sothis (humans)
Den Western Montega, eastern Plains of Thannon (humans)
Draconic Dragons
Dwarven Dwarves
Eldritch Alaria and Dargaul (sorcers, wizards)
Faerie Elves, Sprites, Fey
Foingael Veldaria, western Nordania (humans)
Gnomish Gnomes
Goblin Goblins
Hargaden Giants
Kyotanese Taopan (humans)
Montegan Montega (humans)
Nordish Nordania (humans)
Primordial Elementals
Pyte Pytes (humans)
Sylvan Animals
Thaon-Den Plains of Thanon trade
Underspeak Underworld trade
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