Languages (Grisaire Supplement)
- See also Speaking in Grisaire
Ultimately, this aspect of most games will be merely flavor and lore. Various cultures and peoples use different verbal means of communication in Grisaire. Language is a critical part of how the cultures of the world function and interact.
Commontongue[edit]
The usual Common is prevalent throughout Grisaire, though there are different dialects. These dialects are not always the result of different languages mixing in, as sometimes they result from the culture around. They still use the same Common script. Common actually is short for the original term "Commontongue" and was invented for the purposes of being a lingua franca for trading internationally. Because it was made to be accessible and easy to use for purposes like trade, many deeper ideas and meanings do not exist in the vocabulary. Therefore, it's use for common locals and everyday life is actually quite rare. The table below shows the most prevalent Common dialect varieties.
| Region/Area Dialect | Description |
|---|---|
| Gigan | Gigan Commontongue is common in south Edim, much of Adum, northwest Zesh, and east Premius. It is a dialect influenced by the language of giants and disseminated further by populations like the goliaths and giant descendants. Gigan is unique for having halting sounds and very long words to try and convey more complicated meanings, as well as many compound words that don't exist in other dialects. This is considered the best of the Common dialects to use in discussing deeper subjects. |
| Sampfan | Sampfan Commontongue was once mistaken to be derived from fey creatures. It is actually a dialect unique to those who are versed in the druidic arts and language of nature. This is the primary dialect of Cijel, though it is also found in Adum, Igribus, and Zesh. Sampfan is known for having extremely intuitive sentence structures, often dropping subject or objects and relying heavily on the listener's ability to detect the speaker's context clues. Sampfan speaking mannerisms are also very quick and words tend to blend together in sound due to how fast they are spoken. |
| Arcoran | Arcoran Commontongue, also known as High Common, is the "standard" of Commontongue which is held to be the original. It can be found in pretty much all parts of Grisaire. This is the Common that is taught in most universities and used in most scholarly writings. Arcoran has a very simplified grammar structure and vocabulary, but uses some of the Gigan word-building capability so it is more versatile. Arcoran also has a lot of cross-utilization of words, giving multiple meanings to a word to reduce the need for new words. Therefore, it is imperative that one know context clues of how a word is used to determine its meaning within that sentence. |
| Lunan | Lunan Commontongue is primarily found in the populations living in the south (Edim, Kalim, Doru Islands, Khaire), as well as Lozor. Lunan has a unique pronoun system since it is made of three components: sex, class, and age. These extend into different parts of the dialect as well, making it a highly culturally aware dialect. For example, different verbs are reserved for use with certain classes of society, like a regal verb for an emperor versus a lower verb for a peasant. |
Main Languages[edit]
The following are the most common languages in Grisaire. Their speakers are generalized in a nation where they have large numbers, but they are not limited to these populations. While the spoken portion is often the most unique, written scripts may overlap in many aspects and thus be legible to someone who does not speak the language. However, the mix of characters will usually prevent complete understanding. For example, while Goblin uses a script alphabet similar to Common, their words remain different. So the word "tree" is written as "reyzak," which only someone who knows Goblin would be able to translate. That is not to say there are not cognates, of course, but the sharing of alphabet should not be assumed to be any ease of communication. A real life example would be how languages like Vietnamese and Polish use largely the same alphabet as English, barring accents, but the words and grammatical structures are completely distinct.
| Language | Found In | Script |
|---|---|---|
| Shou | Lozorians | Shou Pictography |
| Giant | Hagai | Dwarvish |
| Draconic | Khaire, Lozor, Aerzale | Draconic |
| Dwarvish | Engal, Premius | Dwarvish |
| Gnomish | Engal, Aerzale | Dwarvish |
| Elvish | Adum, Zesh | Elvish |
| Orc | Adum, Edim | Dwarvish |
| Goblin | Doru Islands, Zesh, Adum, Hagai | Common |
| Halfling | Premius, Aerzale, Engal | Common |
Uncommon Languages[edit]
Uncommon, or exotic, languages are usually known only via association or culture in a niche area. Outsiders may know them if they are well-read and traveled. However, they do not serve as much purpose as the more common tongues for daily use. Their speakers are restricted here to just groups which speak them. Some of these languages may just exist but are not used at all, or at least barred from players as an option. Spydric, in particular, is an extremely obscure language in which the texts of Resoolt are written. Celestial, Infernal, and Primordial are often the languages among gods and their representatives, though they also speak a tongue unknown to mortals that uses powerful runes even runepriests know only a little of. The Uncreated do not speak a language, instead communicating entirely via telepathy usually. There is a cultish language that supposedly comes from the depths of the planet which some of the Ashen Face have used in ceremony, which is a relative of Deep Speech.
| Language | Speakers | Script |
|---|---|---|
| Shou | Lozorians | Shou Pictography |
| Abyssal | Demons | Infernal |
| Celestial | Celestials | Celestial |
| Infernal | Devils | Infernal |
| Primordial | Elementals | Giant, Dwarvish |
| Sylvan | Fey | Elvish |
| Undercommon | Criminals | Thieves Cant |
| Spydric | Resoolt Priests and fanatics | ??? |
- Aberrant Language
The language spoken by creatures from and creatures touched by the distant voids of unknown space like the Astral Sea and Far Realm do exist in Grisaire. There are ideas that the Uncreated originate from such a place. Generally, aberrations display a tendency towards telepathic arts over that of conventional speech and verbal communication. It is considered a more perfect means of communication, where words would muddle. While rare, there was a written form of language that was found in ruins, supposedly in worship to the Uncreated. The script is very strange and consists of glyphs that stretch and contain pod structures in its depictions. Ultimately, it ends up looking like a scrawl of art on a wall. This would be considered the equivalent of Qualith. Even scholars in this area struggle to determine the true meaning. It is said only those with true connections to the Uncreated can decipher what they mean. In general, for normal people, looking at Qualith gives them unnerving sensations and it makes animals uncomfortable.
- The Language of Magic
See Arcanish
Magic runes are their own language. This language is known only to those who have extensively studied such arts. As such, usually only wizards are aware of runes and their effectiveness. Some, like warlocks, may have gleaned this knowledge through their patrons. Learning the language of magic, also known as Arcanish, is the same as mastery of runes. Runes were created by Tribore as another means of solidifying magic's powers solely in symbols. Arcanish is divided into three groups usually: Koubres, Luk ta, and Renr'a. Each one requires a lot of study to understand, even moreso to master, as they are each unique in construction. Renr'a is the most general of the scripts, while Koubres and Luk ta are more specialized.
- Ashen Runes
- Special runes for magic that were unknown until recently were dubbed Ashen Runes due to their supposed origin being the infamous and legendary City of Ashes. These runes are very rare and highly scrutinized. Their existence was only revealed when alleged cultists worshipping the Uncreated were seen using these mysterious and new runes to cast spells in ways that were not previously explored. For example, a teleportation circle cast once with Ashen Runes has a 60% chance of becoming permanent within just one cast (while also having a 20% chance of exploding into a pool of blood). Spells that cause damage and deleterious effects are also augmented by Ashen Runes. However, Ashen Runes cannot be used for any spells with radiant damage nor necromancy, interestingly.
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Players Guide | Races, Backgrounds, Classes, Spells & Magic, Downtime Activities, Feats | ||||||
| World of Grisaire | History, The World, Society, Cosmology, Religion, Worldly Mechanics, Languages | |||||||
| Dungeon Master's Guide | About, Treasure, Bestiary, Tables, Help, Adventures, NPCS, Variant Rules, | |||||||
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