Language

There is no "common" trade tongue, but Ubrekti comes close on the Mainland and most educated and literate people can read and write it. People generally speak the tongue of their homeland, while most traders and many in border regions are multi-lingual. Church business and most official international correspondence is conducted in Ubrekti. Adventurers generally fit into the "educated populace" paradigm, and will thus for one reason or another have that as a starting language. In addition, most of the nations of the mainland will have developed their own tongue, in which the day-to-day is conducted. In more Nationalistic countries (like Odessa), almost everyone can be expected to speak the national tongue (like Odessan), but in countries where national identity is a little more fluid, such as Fresia, this expectation is less certain. For countries like Gildenhome and Sidhe-Praxen, racial mixing is low enough that the national language is, in fact, named after the races (Dwarven and Sidhe, respectively).

The mother-tongue is generally called Prime, and is thought to have been primarily an oral language. Some particularly ancient monuments, such as the Obelisks, bear a unique and never-deciphered script that some believe to be Prime.

Demihuman

These languages are presumed to descend from Prime, although the mechanics and alphabets of Dwarven, Human and Elven show almost no similarities.

Dwarven

The language of the Dwarves, and the primary language written and spoken in Gildenhome. Uses the Dwaven Alphabet.

Gnomish

The language of the Gnomes, and the primary language written and spoken in Hakan. Uses the Gnomish Alphabet which has strong similarities to the Dwarven one, although Gnomes themselves argue that is due to linguistic corruption during the Gnomish Vassalage rather than a sign that some aspect of Gnomish culture is taken from the Dwarves.

Halfling

An extinct oral language with no writing system that was lost after the fall of the Halfling Khans to the early Ubrekti Empire.

Sidhe

The language of the Elves, and the primary language written and spoken in Sidhe-Praxen. A flowing melodic language that reflects the elven perception of the natural world. Indeed, ancient folklore and sordid tales speak of Sidhe's almost spell-like ability to evoke the emotions of listeners (usually fair ladies or handsome gentlemen put under the unfortunate thrall of a seductress). Written in Elven Script.

Human

All human languages of the Mainland are presumed to have originated with Prime, although the subfamilies diverge enormously, and in some cases the similarities are disputed. The Human language tree, as one might imagine from such a short-lived and prolific race, is much more diverse. All use one of two alphabets. Since the Human written tradition appears during the Ubrekti Empire, all of the human languages of the civilized mainland use the Ubrekti Alphabet. Written language was only introduced to Ulan in the first century FI, by Mikos Lygit in exile, who taught the Zupan Alphabet, a system of his own creation.

Fresian Subfamily

The language of Fresia. The Fresian tree diverged in relatively recent history within the past couple of thousand years. At least thirty variants are spoken, but any speaker of a Fresian language can understand any other speaker of a different Fresian language, although sometimes with difficulty if the two are of the more divergent subgroups. Some speculate that the lack of a single language is what keeps the nations from uniting under a strong central government, while others speculate that it is the other way around. Some of the most-spoken variants include Malusian, Temforith, Temrennith, and Dulisian

Odessan Subfamily

The language of the Odessan people, by virtue of its highly traditional societal mores and relatively stable long-term government, is fairly unique among the Prime branch of languages in that it has been relatively unchanged for the past couple of millennia. Even records from the very beginning, in the time of the Ubrekti Empire's dominance, are readable to any person literate in Odessan, even if they can be difficult to understand.

Petaran Subfamily

Petara's two major ethnic groups divide strongly on linguistic lines between its nomadic and its agrarian peoples.

• Old Petaran (Extinct)
• Petaran - The language of coastal Petara, as well as some parts of Utrell.
• Bedowyld - The languages of the nomads and Bedouins of inland Petara and the Bedowyld Steppes. Bedowyld further divides regionally into several dialectical variants.
• Utrellik - A Petaran-rooted pidgin dialect spoken primarily in the Principality of Utrell and among the sailors, traders, and pirates of the Heretic Sea. Based on Petaran syntax, it borrows Celesti word structures and is peppered with words derived from Odessan, Elven, and Ubrekti.

Ubrekti Subfamily

The languages that derived from that spoken by the Ubrekti Empire are among some of the most influential in the world, and it is the Ubrekti alphabet that is generally used by all save the Ulan subfamilies. Speakers of these languages can often pick up on the vocabulary and structure of words spoken in the others of this group, and simple ideas can often be expressed between them, if the speakers are patient.

• Old Ubrekti (Extinct)
• Ubrekti - The language of Ubrekt, the Temporal Authority, and the most commonly spoken language in Wydmoor and the northern coastal lands which once made up Alexia (though Odessan is common in some communities near the border with Odessa). It has widespread usage for a variety of reasons, most notably its original codification and spreading by the Ubrekti Empire and later adoption by the Alexandrian Church as the language of Church Affairs, which in turn lead to its adoption as the de facto language of the universities and scholars across the Mainland.
• Flanneri - The language of Flannary.
• Celesti - The language of Celestia.
• Hakni - The language spoken by the humans of the Kingdom of Hakan, it is rarely still spoken and only in a few parts of Ubrekt where the descendants of that kingdom were resettled.

Ulan Subfamily

Little studied, the Ulan subfamily is quite diverse, and consists of the various tongues spoken by its various tribal families. Writing was not developed independently in the Ulan--the alphabet used there was constructed and introduced by Mikos Lygit, one of the Children of Tragedy and adopted son of Sayid ibn Maimun, who used it as a vehicle to promote his own Alexandrian Heresy, known as Zupanism. He was wildly successful, and its use has spread throughout since. The following languages are a small selection of the most commonly spoken tongues in the region, although possibly as many as a hundred variants have been noted.

• Root Ulan (Lost) (Oral only)
• Yarnich - Ulan language variant that is spoken most often in the northern areas of Ulan that border Fresia and Hakan. As this variant is also spoken by the barbarian tribes in southern Fresia, Yarnich is the only Ulan language spoken in large amounts outside of Ulan itself.
• Medrol
• Tefthur
• Medrich
• Kreblin
• Bledoc
• Eweack

Servitor

The Servitor language groups are much less-studied, but nevertheless have their own groups.

Giant subfamily

The Giants have their own, very ancient, tongue, usually called Giantish by outsiders. Many Giants, living solely or in small family groups among larger groups of other Servitors, speak it very rarely, instead opting for the more common Goblin or Orcish tongues. The Giantish tongue is a mystery, not just because it is little known, but because it has survived for so long - Giant-kin tend to be spread out, and mingle with other races, yet Giants, when alone, will communicate with each other in Giantish. Anecdotes have reported that the vocabulary is even consistent among widely separated Giant groups, but due to the lack of interest among the Goodly Races in the language, as well as the sheer rarity of Giant kind, such stories are an unreliable source at best.

Goblin subfamily

The Goblin language is of uncertain origin--all that is really known about its history is that it is quite old, and several regional dialects exist, some of which are barely comprehensible to the others. It serves as a sort of lingua Ubrekti for subterranean Servitor races. It has a fairly large, albeit fairly unstandardized, vocabulary, and its main utility stems from its relative ability to convey difficult or abstract concepts, when compared to certain other Servitor languages (notably Kobold).

• Kobold - Kobold is less a language, and more of a pidgin of several regionally related languages (notably Gildenhome Goblin and Dwarvish). Its structure is not suitable for extremely abstract discussion, but its simplicity makes it a common language between Servitor groups when not enough time exists to form a proper linguistic connection (which is most of the time, since Servitors are hardly known for being particularly cooperative). Different regions have wildly different variations, but the language's sheer simplicity allows highly disparate Kobold cultures to communicate in broad strokes, which is usually more than enough to support the majority of Kobold diplomacy (as it is mainly composed of the actions "Fight" and "Do Not Fight"). The simple structure and vocabulary of Kobold make it particularly suited for battlefield use, especially in a group of varying linguistic background.

Orcish subfamily

Orcs have developed their own tongue, thought to be distantly related to Sidhe, but muddling from surrounding Human and Dwarvish groups (and a lack of living speakers of Sidhe on the Mainland) have kept any such speculations from being verified. Contrary to the rough nature of Orcish appearance, the tongue is melodic, and Orcish chants might be considered some of the more beautiful in the world, if they didn't regularly precede the destruction of the town that heard them.

Other

Druidic

Druidic is the magical and mysterious language shared by all Druids regardless of background. Sometimes confused with being related to Sidhe or the strange Slyvan languages common to Fey creatures due to some mingling of vocabulary, it is a separate language with unique characteristics. The Druids themselves are not known to have made any comment on the matter, but the language seems to have some magical component as it is indecipherable and can not be learned by mundane means. Outside of short-lived magical spells such as comprehend languages or tongues only people who have trained as a druid can speak, read, or understand it.

Extinct Mythological Languages

• Draconic - The legendary language of the extinct Dragons.
• Naga - The legendary language of the extinct Naga.
• Sahuagin - The legendary language of the utterly alien shark people who live under the seas. It is said that the sounds of Sahuagin language are a frightening combination of ethereal trills mixed with wet flapping and short grunts, punctuated by basso popping noises that can carry quite long distances under water. Sahuagin have not been seen on the mainland for ages and are are considered mythological to many, but they may still exist, lurking beneath the waters. Many sailors still tell tales of seeing them but few have believable stories of surviving an up-close encounter and many tales of hearing Sahuagin "talking" turn out to be simply seals, whales, or other mundane beasts.

Outlands

The linguistic history of the Unknown Lands is largely unknown and unstudied. There is no regular or reliable contact or relations between the two lands and what few stories of contact do exist describe languages and writing systems with few similarities to any Mainland languages.

Planar and Outsider

Creatures from outside The Veil typically speak their own languages, but outside of especially scholarly clerics, wizards, or those with strange magical powers very few even know of the existence of these.

• Abyssal - The language of Demons
• Celestial - The language of Celestials
• Infernal - The language of Devils
• Primordial - The language of Elementals, made up of Auran, Aquan, Ignan, and Terran dialects, one for each of the four elemental planes. Creatures that speak different dialects of the same language can communicate with one another.
• Sylvan - The language of Fey creatures.

Ssel'it subfamily

Ssel'it, the language of the Lizardfolk, is unique among the languages of the Mainland, largely due to their unique physiology. Much like cursive writing, all its sounds are combined into one sibilant chain of phonemes that is almost impossible for the untrained to distinguish into lexical units.

Naming

Tips from the World Master on good naming themes:

• Is it Gnomish? Make it long, and don't skimp on "g"s and "n"s! Feel free to give places non-gnomish "alternate" names.
• Is it Odessan? Make it just left of conventional. Boooring.
• Is it Ubrekti? Latin that shit up! -i, -ae, -us, etc make great endings here.
• Is it Fresian? -berg or -burg are always good, if predictable, suffixes for major towns. This would be a good place to put those Z's you've been holding on to. Austrian, Polish, & Germanic flavored names all work well here, but careful not to stray too far into the Slavic.
• Is it Petaran? Persian and Turkish traditions are good places to start.
• Is it Bedowyld? No, of course not, because they don't have cities! But, they still name stuff, and when they do it's an Arab/Mongol mashup.
• Is it Flannari? Frenchify that shit! Focus on the fruity endings: -aux, -ailles, etc.
• Is it Celstian? Gaelic mashup! The mountainy parts are more Scottish flavored, while the lowland and foresty parts are more Irish themed. I do believe the Gaelic language likes consonants.
• Is it Alexian? Hardly matters, since it's a polyglot culture. You could do worse than looking at the Ancient Greek cities.
• Is it Hakni? Iberian works well here, though Portuguese is probably better than Spanish when push comes to shove.
• Is it Dwarven? So far been naming them after Dwarves from LotR (Port Turin) or just making stuff up whole cloth (Draglet).
• Is it Sidhe? Leave it to the WorldMaster usually.

Tools

• Donjon random name generator - Can generate town names, character names, etc.
• Squid RPG Name Generator - Generate along popular themes