3. Regional Languages

Regional Languages


  • Here's the article about Assassins in Dragon #379, and again says nothing about languages, like the DMG it focuses on explaining traits, spells, skills and mechanics. In lacking evidence or source of any kind, I'll go and say that assassins don't get their own language in Forgotten Realms, at least until some documented proof says otherwise.


  • FR wiki assassin entry refers only to DMG and a Dragon article:

    Mike Mearls. Assassin, Dragon #379, p. 16-38. Wizards of the Coast.

    Probably worth a gander. I'll see about looking it up tomorrow if no-one else has before then.

    Everything in core DND tends to apply unless FRCS contradicts it so there needn't be any FR-specific lore. But for possible realms-specific source books to check there's a list here:
    http://www.candlekeep.com/bookshelf/3rded.htm


  • Yeah, I have it in front of me. See, that's a DND book. Can't have FR lore in a DND book. DND is based around Greyhawk Campaign Setting, so there's no Lathander, there's Pelor, and so on. I'll see if I can find the book that speaks about assassin lore/background in the Forgotten Realms.


  • http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/lists/prc

    DMG to check according to that.


  • Yeah. The thing is, the assassin PRC is in a DND book, not a FRCS one. So the FRCS lore about assassins has to be hidden in some book that I don't remember…

    As I said, googling hasn't returned any benefitial input, and I can't remember where I saw/read about the assassin's language.


  • That's a Green Ronin splat book.

    House rules on sign language should be coming in due course.


  • What about Assassin's Cant/Sign language?

    I'm almost certain I've read about it in some FR source book as a special language that assassins are trained with when they enter the "trade", but I can't find anything in my books neither googling.

    There is a DND book called "The Assassin's handbook" that explains:

    @6d5fb7559f:

    Bonus Languages: The assassin may substitute any language for one available to him because of his race. He may even select secret languages, such as Druidic. Additionally, all Assassins are taught a secret sign language that consists of hand signals and subtle motions. The Assassin sign language may not be learned by non-Assassins and is never taught to outsiders.

    But that's not Forgotten Realms as far as I can tell. I think to remember the source of the Assassin's language to be a FR book, not a regular DnD one.


  • It doesn't exist. Our bad for pointing to the wiki without checking it :oops: you're good for taking something else instead of that with your intelligence bonus or skill points.

  • V

    @f0721dca63:

    Mordain Dethek. Spoken by the dwarven clergy of dwarven dieties

    Does this one exists?
    I took it for Vander, but it s not listed in the teacher and a DM said he wasnt sure this was right?

    Edited to point out I am asking to change it to something else 🙂


  • I have no idea where that comes from. My stuff's from the core books like Fiend Folio, as FR borrows for its cosmology.


  • …Demons and Devils as one group before the Blood War? I understood a very, very different history between the Demons and Devils... that the Devils had always been Demons' enemies, but became like Demons as they fought them - originally Angels.


  • Yeah, that sounds like someone's house rule. Demons would have based their language on Infernal because as the core lore goes, once the Demons and Devils (and Yugoloths) were one group, before the Blood War began.

    FRCS doesn't change much except to add regional languages, but I'll go and update those alphabets.


  • Both are house rules (as is Romani). Dora has documented how cant will be handled here:

    http://www.narfell.us/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=479187#479187


  • Where can we read in FRCS about the sign and cant languages? I think I was playing Aelhaearn with both.


  • The Narfell languages wiki, having looked at it, is a load of nonsense. eg if you google you'll find that out of all the internet there is no other website with those Clerical languages. It might have been a house rule for whoever wrote that page. I don't trust anything without a [FRCS] tag of it because of that.

    The 3.0 PHB agrees with Cardamon's list, and the FRCS doesn't change anything for the monster languages. Just change the following:

    Elven = Espruar
    Dwarven = Dethek
    Common = Thorass

    Abyssal does indeed use the Infernal alphabet.

    Disclaimer:
    Unless someone can point to a 3E source which says something other. I've been through all the basic books.


  • Great post Card, except much of the alphabets bit is wrong. For example, Abyssal uses Abyssek, not Infernek - and of course, Elven, Dwarven, and Infernal use Espuar, Dethek, and Infernek alphabets respectively. I bring this up because it'd be a misnomer, for example, to call the Dwarven alphabet "dwarven" because IIRC (and I could very well be mistaken), the alphabet is actually the Giants' from when Dwarves were their slaves. Also, Druidic doesn't have a written language according to our wiki. And Common's alphabet (I believe?) is Thorass.

    Here's the languages with their alphabets from the wiki.

    @e8757cef6f=cardamon:

    Abyssal Abyssek Demons/Chaotic Evil outsiders - Evil Clerics.
    Aquan Aquanek Water creatures - Clerics of water deities, Druids.
    Auran Aunanek Air creatures - Clerics of air deities, Druids.
    Celestial Celestial Good outsiders - Good Clerics.
    Draconic Draconic Modern language of dragons - Mages, Clerics of dragon deities (Bahamut and Tiamat).
    Dwarven Dethek Dwarves
    Elven Espuar Elves (including Drow, though accents and dialects may vary dramatically).
    Giant Common Dethek Giant tounge.
    Gnoll Dethek Gnolls - Clerics of Yeenoghu (demon lord of gnolls) if in fact any exist in Narf.
    Goblin Dethek Goblinoid creatures, such as goblins and bugbears.
    Halfling or Hin Thorass Halflings.
    Infernal Infernek Devils/Lawful Evil outsiders - Evil Clerics.
    Ignan Iganek Fire creatures - Clerics of fire deities, Druids.
    Orc Dethek Orcs and half-orcs.
    Sylvan Sylvan Forest creatures (dryads, etc.) - Clerics of nature deities, druids, some elves.
    Terran Tarranek Earth creatures - Clerics of earth deities, Druids.
    Treant Entish Trees (at least the ones that can talk).
    Undercommon Espuar The common of the Underdark, as used by Drow and Illithid (Mind Flayers), etc. - Evil Characters, Dwarves.
    [edit] Regional Languages
    Language Alphabet Description
    Aglarondan Espruar Spoken in Aglarond and Altumbel. [FRCS]
    Alzhedo Thorass Spoken in Calimshan. [FRCS]
    Chessentan Thorass Chessenta [FRCS]
    Chondathan Thorass Amn, Chondath, Cormyr, Dalelands, Dragon Coast, civilized North, Sembia, Silver Marches, Sword Coast, Tethyr, Waterdeep, Western Heartlands, Vilhon Reach. Common is in fact a pidgin version of Chondathan, due to Chondathan's widespread use. [FRCS]
    Chultan Draconic Chult. [FRCS]
    Damaran Dethek Damara, Great Dale, Impiltur, Moonsea, Narfell, Thesk, Vaasa, the Vast. [FRCS]
    Dambrathan Espruar Dambrath. [FRCS]
    Durpari Thorass Durpar, Estagund, Var, Veldorn. [FRCS]
    Halardrim Thariss Threskel.
    Halruaan Draconic Halruaa, Nimbral. [FRCS]
    Illuskan Thorass Luskan, Mintarn, the Moonshaes (NOT the same as the Moonsea), the Savage (uncivilised) North, Ruathym, Uthgardt barbarians. [FRCS]
    Imaskar Dethek Imaskar, Unther, Mulhorand. Sometime written in Celestial or Abyssal
    Lantanese Draconic Lantan. A lot of gnomes hail from Lantan. [FRCS]
    Midani Thorass Zakhara - Otherworldly contintnet. The Bedine (Anauroch). [FRCS]
    Mulhorandi Celestial Mulhorand, Murghom, Semphar. (Mulhorand has a long history of the manifestation of deities and a high proportion of Aasimer. [FRCS]
    Mulhorandi (var.) Infernal Thay. [FRCS]
    Nexalan Draconic Maztica - Otherworldly language. [FRCS]
    Oillusk Octivish North Sword Coast
    Rashemi Thorass Rashemen. [FRCS]
    Raumvira Thariss Thesk.
    Serusan Aquan Inner Sea. Serusan is the aquatic equivalent of Common, and is spoken by most aquatic creatures. [FRCS]
    Shaaran Dethek Lake of Steam, Lapaliiya, Sespech, the Shaar. [FRCS]
    Shou Draconic Kara-Tur - Otherworldly language. [FRCS]
    Talfir No written form Western Heartlands.
    Tashalan Dethek Black Jungle, Mhair Jungle, Samarach, Tashalar, Thindol.
    Tuigan Thorass Hordelands. [FRCS]
    Turmic Thorass Turmish. [FRCS]
    Uluik Thorass Great Glacier. [FRCS]
    Untheric Dethek Unther. [FRCS]
    Vaasan Dethek Vaasa, High Ice, Tortured Land.
    [edit] Dead Languages
    Language Alphabet Description
    Aragrakh Draconic Old high wyrm (dragons). The ancient language of dragons, now disused. Is a precursor to the Draconic language.
    Auld Wyrmish Auldi Another dead draconic language.
    Hulgorkyn Dethek Archaic Orc.
    Loross Loral Netherese Noble Langauge. An old human empire that no longer exists.
    Netherese Draconic Netherese common tongue.A precursor of Halruaan.
    Roushoum Imaskari The precursor to Tuigan. The Imaskari built mighty networks of portals across Faerun and other worlds, transporting slaves.
    Seldruin Hamarfae The language of Elven High Magic. The Elven High Mages still use this tongue, although they are a highly secretive society, and most do not know they exist. Many Elven Scholars learn to read, if not speak, this language, to better allow them to search through the history of their culture.
    Thorass Thorass Thorass is the precursor to modern common. It is to Common what Ye Olde Englishe is to the modern tongue. Most people that can understand common can also decipher Thorass, although with some difficulty, given the variable nature of human languages. Thorass is also the name given to the Common alphabet used in Chondathan etc.

    [edit] Special Languages
    Language Alphabet Description
    Druidic No written form Language of the druids. Druids only.
    Thieves Cant Any Secret Language of rogues and other ne'er-do-wells. Rogues only.
    Assassin's Cant Any A variant of Thieve's Cant used by assassins. For assassins and rogues only.
    Sign N/A Although not a recognised language in standard Faerun, it is safe to assume that over the fifty gap narf imposes between itself and FR, sign language has become widespread. The sign language you will see used in Narfell will probably be Common Sign - meaning the conversations are in common. If you know sign for the Common alphabet, you can probably sign for all other languages you know that use the common alphabet. It's not really a smart move to learn other sign languages (except possibly Drow Sign Language) since they will likely never be used.
    Drow Sign Language N/A Used by Drow. The drow sign language is meant to be used for tactical communication in the Underdark without giving their positions away. DSL is mostly a military language, and his little practical application outside this. It is unlikely that it will be possible to exchange the latest gossip while conversing in DSL.

    [edit] Clerical Languages
    Language Alphabet Description
    Chorash Thariss. Spoken by the human clergy of CE and NE dieties
    Corethon Espruar. Spoken by the elven clergy of elven dieties.
    Garltung Dethek. Spoken by the gnomish clergy of gnomish dieties
    Latharian Thorass Spoken by the human clergy of Lathander and True Neutral and NG dieties
    Mordain Dethek. Spoken by the dwarven clergy of dwarven dieties
    Myltall Thorass Spoken by the human clergy of Mystral and LG dieties
    Selouni Octivish. Spoken by the human clergy of Selune and CG dieties
    Vilarin Thorass Spoken by the human clergy of LE and NE dieties

    [edit] Alphabets
    Alphabet Description
    Abyssek Abyssal variation of Infernek, the Infernal alphabet.
    Aquanek Aquatic variation of Espuar, the Elven Alphabet
    Auldi Old variation of Draconic. Not in use.
    Aunanek Arial variation of Draconic
    Celestial Alphabet of good outer planar creatures
    Dethek Dwarven alphabet.
    Draconic The dragons alphabet. Used to write some types of arcane magic scrolls
    Entish Alphabet of speaking trees
    Espruar The elven alphabet
    Hamarfae Alphabet of Elvish High Magic. Not is use today.
    Iganek Script version of Draconic used by fire creatures
    Imaskari Alphabet of the old Imaskari empire. Not used today.
    Infernek Writing language of Infernal creatures.
    Octivish Written language of the northern sword coast
    Loral Old variation of Draconic. Used by Netherese nobility. Not in use.
    Sylvan Alphabet of forest creatures
    Tarranek Writing form of earth elemental creatures
    Thariss Human alphabet (need some info on this one)
    Thorass The commone alphabet. Widely used. Based off the dead language of Thorass.

    1 Reply

  • Thanks Card.


  • After I had a few drinks then got bored thought we could use a thread explaining it with the advent of the new language system.

    Every PC gets Common, A Racial Language if they're not human, and a Regional language based on where they're from.

    Beyond that you receive a number of Bonus Languages equal to your Intelligence Modifier (system doesn't currently care if you started at level 1 with that many). Some Races/Regions/Classes will further define what is and isn't a bonus language, but the system does not currently enforce such restrictions manually. To purchase a language not on the list would require spending points on it.

    @5cdb489404:

    Human - Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages, such as Druidic). See the Speak Language skil
    Dwarven - Bonus Languages: Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, Terran, and Undercommon
    Elven - Bonus Languages: Draconic, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan.
    Half Elves - Elven Racial Language but Human Bonus Language list.
    Gnome - Bonus Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, and Orc. …and once per day a small burrowing mammals (NO REALLY!)
    Half Orcs - Bonus Languages: Draconic, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, and Abyssal
    Halfling - Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, and Orc

    Additionally, Clerics receive Abyssal, Celestial, and Infernal as a bonus languages, Druids get Sylvan, and Wizards get Draconic.

    To reiterate, Bonus Languages are not free/automatic. You buy them with the points given by your intelligence modifier.

    Thieves Cant is a purchased language, though at the time of writing it's been handed out to every rogue for free.

    Druidic is a class language, not taught to outsiders. as well as being tied into their divine status. You only get it by taking druid levels, and you lose it if you fall.

    Now, Speak Language, the skill is CROSS CLASS for EVERY CLASS EXCEPT Bards. That means that it will cost you two points to buy one Language if your are not a bard, and one if you are. Similarly, Barbarians are Illiterate in any language unless they buy out of it.
    The SRD wrote:
    @5cdb489404:

    Barbarians are the only characters who do not automatically know how to read and write. A barbarian may spend 2 skill points to gain the ability to read and write all languages he is able to speak.

    A barbarian who gains a level in any other class automatically gains literacy. Any other character who gains a barbarian level does not lose the literacy he or she already had.

    A DM will have to give you the points to purchase languages with your skills. Put them into an unused skill like Craft Armor to keep track. The Sun Elven subrace's Int modifier is interpreted correctly I can personally confirm, but since you're probably investing those skill points that you don't actually get in languages, you'll need a DM's help as above. The converse is true for custom subraces with negative intelligence modifiers like Wild/Wood elves.

    The Standard Racial Languages and their Alphabets are as follows:
    @5cdb489404:

    Language Alphabet
    Abyssal Infernal
    Aquan Espruar
    Auran Draconic
    Celestial Celestial
    Common Thorass
    Draconic Draconic
    Druidic Druidic
    Dwarven Dethek
    Elven Espruar
    Gnome Dethek
    Goblin Dethek
    Giant Dethek
    Gnoll Thorass
    Halfling Thorass
    Ignan Draconic
    Infernal Infernal
    Orc Dethek
    Sylvan Espruar
    Terran Dethek
    Undercommon Espruar

    Some of these are not found on the Racial List but rather on the Other Languages list. Undercommon is currently hidden until your purchase more from the same list, so you'll need DM intervention till the bug is addressed to purchase it.

    Since you have to pick a regional language to purchase any further languages, be aware that the majority of the continent speaks Chondathan and that the native language for Narfell is Damaran. That should settle most issues.

    Operating the new Language System
    Interpretation of a known language is handled automatically. Lore checks, made against a specific DC for each language, will tell you what you're language even if you don't speak it and, as I understand it, with a separate higher roll, what was said.

    To buy a language, see the NPC in the Starting Area. If you need skill points you've reserved for languages, speak to a DM. It's also good to post your known languages in a character description post in the similarly named forum.

    There are a lot of commands with the new system. In addition to languages it can also make skill checks and creates a new party chat system that doesn't spam the DMs and doesn't require you all be in one party (thus reducing lag from large parties). I won't go into the specifics, but you can see all the appropriate commands by saying !help just as if you were normally speaking in game. Don't worry, no one will see you speaking strange commands apparently to some unseen god (and even if they did, we're used to it).

    The most used commands will be:

    The top two are self explanatory. /l <a language=""><thing you="" wanted="" to="" say="">will speak one line in the specified language. It won't do common though if you're in another language mode. !speak <language>puts you in a language mode and keeps your there till you change to another. There are prompts the whole way, so don't worry about playing wit it. In fact, by all means, play with it. I can't not read the Abyssal stuff without hearing Jabba the Hutt in my head.

    Anything in another language bracketed by <>,**, ::, and [] will NOT be translated, so you can still emote. However, if you double up the brackets like ::something:: it will translate it. //Hey I wanted to say something OOC// will NOT work 100% of the time now because / sets off the language script. (( )) is still okay, but see above as it'll get translated if you're not in Common mode.

    Remember, if you get lost just type !help and put your reading glasses on! And thank Dorakhan for the wonderful addition to our roleplaying. And when in doubt, ignore it! You don't have to understand it just because you can read it, so if you've got rogue levels and never joined a theives guild, then of course you wouldn't know Theives Cant.</language></thing></a>


  • Checking the FRCS… the link I gave is identical with one exception (FRCS has drow speaking the same elven as any other elf). But I suspect our house ruling will actually be that it's a different language (as per that list) as I've certainly seen NPCs speaking <drow>.

    stickying for now</drow>