[Information] Languages

[Aeternis]

• The Low Tongue is also known as the folk tongue. It is a smattering of influnces from dozens of other languages. Speaking the common tongue labels one as a common citizen of the Inheritance. This is the language commoner-born characters know for free.
• The Tradespeak of regions near The Inheritance which were once under the influence of the Partheonic Empire is virtually identical to the Low Tongue spoken within. A character can learn Tradespeak as a bonus language if they know the Low Tongue already - doing so allows them to mimic either accent fluidly. This is the language that characters raised outside the Inheritance know for free - mimicking an Inheritance commoner's accent fluidly requires Linguistics checks or a language expended on the Low Tongue.
• The High Tongue or city-speak is interchangeable with Common for basic understanding, but its stilted vocabulary and complex grammar set it apart. The nobility emphasizes use of the high tongue to set itself apart from the common folk. The Low and High tongues share the same alphabet, though the high tongue has a number of accent marks and other special characters missing from the simpler commoners' language. This is the language noble-born characters know for free.
• The Old Tongue is commonly seen in ancient texts and inscriptions. Only scholars learn it in the modern age - it is very similar in structure to the "dead" draconic language, but it uses letter-runes which are obviously the precursors of the common alphabet.
• Kobold Draconic is a degraded, vulgar form of draconic used by kobolds, a common pest in the Inheritance's outlying regions. Few bother to learn it, save for academic purposes - kobolds do not have a written language, and generally don't stop to talk while causing the usual sorts of havoc.
• Racial Languages developed by nonhuman species dwelling in the wider world are available to characters who might have feasibly been exposed to them. Finding a speaker of Elvish or Orcish inside the Inheritance is unlikely, but it has been known to happen - more than a few of the mercenaries who roam the wide frontier have hidden mixed heritage.
• Celestial, Infernal, Sylvan, Draconic, and Aklo are also available as bonus languages - oftentimes, a wizard will write his spellbook in a language such as these to protect it from being browsed by an uneducated eye. These languages can be learned from scholars in the Capitol. Generally speaking, an emissary of Lorr will speak the the High Tongue and Celestial, and an emisarry of Nyac will speak the High Tongue and Infernal, so priests tend to know one or both of these languages.