The Lands of Warlderia

The Languages of Warlderia 

Warlderia is home to hundreds of peoples, cultures and communities, and inevitably to almost as many ways of speaking. Some languages are ancient, dating from before the rise of humanity, while others have spread through conquest, trade and migration. Most inhabitants speak only their native tongue and perhaps one other language commonly encountered in their homeland. Merchants, soldiers, scholars, adventurers and those living in culturally mixed regions are much more likely to be multilingual.

Common

Common is the principal language of humanity and the closest thing Warlderia possesses to a universal tongue. It is spoken throughout most of the Divine and Kaegorian Empires and is widely understood far beyond its borders. Trade, diplomacy and centuries of human expansion have carried Common into lands where humans themselves may be a minority. There are countless accents and regional expressions, sometimes very strong ones, but speakers can generally understand one another. Common is the normal language of merchants, travellers and adventurers from different backgrounds.

Elven

Elven is one of the oldest surviving languages of Warlderia and has a long literary tradition.  There is not, however, a single uniform form of spoken Elven. The isolation and longevity of Elven communities have produced numerous dialects. High Elves, Wood Elves and other Elven peoples may speak noticeably differently while still generally understanding one another. Ancient and formal Elven is particularly complex. Its vocabulary is enormous and its grammar contains distinctions that shorter-lived races often find unnecessary or bewildering.

Petty Elven

Petty Elven is the name commonly given to a simplified form of Elven that developed as a language of communication between Elves and other races. Its importance increased enormously under the old Kaegorian Empire, where it became widely used in administration, education and scholarship. The name is somewhat disparaging. Many Elves dislike the term, particularly when used by non-Elves, but it has become so widespread that it has endured. Even today, educated humans may know some Petty Elven, and numerous old documents, inscriptions and scholarly works are written in it.

Wood Elven

Woodland communities have developed their own rustic forms of Elven. Wood Elven tends to be less formal, incorporating words and expressions from Sylvan and local languages. Speakers of conventional Elven can normally understand it, although some expressions can sound distinctly provincial. The inhabitants of the Golden Woods of Anwyn, for example, commonly speak such a dialect, alongside Sylvan and Common.

Dwarven

Dwarven is another extremely ancient language. Traditional Dwarven is precise, structured and exceptionally rich in terminology concerning stone, metal, engineering, genealogy and craftsmanship. Different Dwarven clans possess distinctive accents and expressions, but the language has changed remarkably little over the centuries. Written Dwarven is particularly durable. Inscriptions carved thousands of years ago can often still be read by modern Dwarves.

Dull-Dwarven

Dull-Dwarven is a simplified version of the language developed for communication with non-Dwarven craftsmen. The name originally carried a degree of Dwarven contempt: it was Dwarven made simple enough for those supposedly too dull to master the real thing. Despite the insult, Dull-Dwarven became enormously useful. Engineers, miners, architects, siege engineers, masons and smiths across Warlderia commonly employ Dwarven technical words, and knowledge of Dull-Dwarven is particularly widespread amongst skilled craftsmen. It has sometimes been called the Builder's Tongue.

Halfling

Halfling communities once possessed numerous related dialects, but centuries of living amongst larger peoples have weakened the idea of a single universal Halfling language. Many Halflings simply speak the Common tongue of the region in which they live. More isolated communities retain traditional Halfling speech, and places with large Halfling populations may still use it as their everyday language. Halflings are particularly likely to learn other languages through necessity, and multilingualism is common amongst those who travel.

Gnomish

Gnomish remains the traditional language of the Gnomish peoples. It has a reputation for being expressive, precise and occasionally maddeningly elaborate. Gnomish contains extensive vocabularies relating to craft, illusion, mechanisms and natural phenomena. Most Gnomes living amongst other peoples also speak Common, and consequently outsiders rarely need to learn Gnomish unless dealing extensively with Gnomish communities.

Orcish

Orcish is spoken throughout the many Orcish societies of Warlderia. There are numerous regional and tribal dialects, but most are sufficiently similar for speakers to understand one another. Centuries of conflict, migration and coexistence have also made Orcish surprisingly widespread. In regions with substantial Orc or Half-Orc populations it may be heard almost as frequently as Common. Many soldiers and frontier inhabitants learn at least a little Orcish.

Goblin

Goblin is the shared language of many Goblin and Hobgoblin peoples. Like Orcish, it possesses numerous dialects. Hobgoblin speech tends to be more formal and structured, particularly amongst organised military societies, while isolated Goblin tribes may use highly localised forms. In lands where Goblinoid and human communities exist alongside one another, Goblin may be an important regional language rather than simply the tongue of an enemy.

Sylvan

Sylvan is the language of the Fey and of many creatures closely associated with the natural world. Dryads, satyrs, sprites and numerous other woodland beings speak it. Elves, particularly Wood Elves, frequently understand Sylvan, and the two languages have influenced one another over countless generations. To outsiders Sylvan has a musical, flowing quality, but it can be surprisingly difficult to master. Its meaning often depends upon subtle changes in tone and emphasis. Sylvan is especially common in ancient forests and places where the boundary between the mortal world and the Fey realms is thin.

Draconic

Draconic is among the oldest known languages of Warlderia. It is the language of dragons but its importance extends far beyond them. For thousands of years scholars and practitioners of arcane magic have employed Draconic in magical writings, inscriptions and research. Consequently, a wizard who knows Draconic is considerably more common than a traveller who has actually spoken to a dragon. Ancient ruins, magical artefacts and forgotten tombs frequently contain Draconic inscriptions. It remains one of the principal languages of scholarship and magic.

Sōren

Sōren (Soo-ren) is the ancestral language of the people of the Blood Isles. Migration from the islands carried Sōren to the Crimson Coast, where it remains spoken amongst some communities descended from the original Blood Isler settlers. Common has gradually replaced it as the everyday language of much of the region, but Sōren remains important amongst traditional families and is particularly associated with followers of Kord and Vatun. Speaking Sōren can therefore be as much a declaration of cultural identity as a practical means of communication.

Gond

Gond is the ancestral language of the Hugond peoples of Kylma. Although most Hugond now speak Common through centuries of contact and trade with outsiders, Gond remains widely spoken amongst the tribes and is an important expression of Hugond identity. Gond has no traditional written form. Hugond history, genealogy, law, religious teachings and legends are instead preserved through an extensive oral tradition of stories, songs and recitations. This is particularly important amongst the more traditional tribes of the Central, Southern and Eastern Hugond lands. Regional differences exist, with the widely scattered Hugond tribes possessing distinctive accents and expressions, but these remain dialects of the same language and are generally mutually intelligible.

Other Human Languages

Common has spread enormously, but it has by no means extinguished the older languages of humanity.

Numerous kingdoms, isolated peoples and distant regions retain their own tongues. Some are spoken by millions, while others survive only in a handful of valleys or amongst particular cultural groups.

Languages such as Tumuri remain important within their own regions even where Common is also widely understood.

Ancient human languages are also frequently encountered in old manuscripts, inscriptions and ruins.

Languages in Everyday Life

Knowing a language does not necessarily mean speaking it perfectly. A traveller might know enough Orcish to bargain with a merchant without being capable of understanding an Orcish poem. A human scholar might read Petty Elven fluently while struggling to follow two Wood Elves speaking rapidly to one another. Likewise, accents matter.

Someone raised in the Divine Capital may immediately recognise that another speaker comes from Everwatch, the Crimson Coast or some distant rural province even though all are speaking Common. Language can therefore reveal a great deal about a person's homeland, education, race and social background.