TfV 5e'14 - Languages
"Kurik hadn't heard the language of the great Zaan Lords used before until they had moored in Zerrack. Sure, he had read about it in his aunt's copy of The Howling of Winds: Secrets of the Lords of Sand, but he hadn't thought it would have sounded so..rough. While agreeing to help his uncle transport cargo all the way from Dorn had allowed him an opportunity to continue his studies in the flesh, Kurik hadn't realized just all that his journey would entail. Not only did he have to learn the Za'har language while here, but all four of its dialects too. Four! He was beginning to get nervous. But if he was going to help his uncle secure a contract to trade his family's dyes, he would have to find a teacher. And not only a teacher, but one who didn't mind showing an outsider a few secrets or two of the Zaan Wastes..."
Languages in TfV 5e'14 have been designed to deepen a character with the world around them, rooting them in the lore and making them feel a part of living people and cultures. It's ultimately up to the GM to implement these things, but pains have been taken to build a rewarding system for those who fully engage with the world's lore while in character. These languages are tied to specific creature types and regions, making the choice of which language to pick up much more important, especially with the removal of Common from TfV 5e'14. Though this may seem daunting at first, languages are easy to learn and allow different characters to shine, especially when playing in a mixed party of Hearts, Draelish, and Wildlings.
Getting Started
Your Template indicates the languages your character can speak by default, and your Background might give you access to one or more additional languages of your choice. Note these languages on your character sheet. You may also learn additional or unique languages depending on your class, such as Aspetheurgy or Thieve's Cant. Languages you do know are listed in your Character Sheet by their name followed by their category tag in brackets. There are four types of Language categories in the TfV 5e'14 Campaign Setting. There are Ancestral Languages, Native Languages, Trade Languages, and Specialist Languages, all of which are described below.- Ancestral Languages are languages that a culture either recognizes through its historical record, religious observances, biological/genetic memory, or by an innate supernatural connection. These languages are usually ancient and/or archaic and may represent an incomplete version with meanings that have become corrupted over time but are invaluable when deciphering ancient texts, exploring ruins from a bygone age, or talking to a primordial being.
- Native Languages are languages that a person learns from growing up in a certain culture or country, with them possessing all of that culture's inflections and contextual meanings as well as accent. People may respond to someone differently if spoken to in their native language or help the speaker blend in more readily than someone who only has a surface-level understanding of the language.
- Trade Languages are languages that a person learns either through personal study or from a tutor. Merchants, researchers, and travelers are the sort of people most likely to pick up a trade language, but anyone can benefit from learning the language of another culture, especially those who would want to do business with them or avoid sticking out.
- Specialist Languages are languages that individuals and/or communities learn for use in specific circumstances and generally less so for broad speech. Learning these languages (or jargons) isn't needed for most social encounters but can come in handy for niche situations, whether in esoteric circles, covert operations, or for disabilities.
Dialects
Some of these languages include Dialects which act as more particular forms of the language for a specific region or social group. For example, the Tearil language includes the Silver Tearil and Golden Tearil dialects, one for the ordinary inhabitants of Elysia and one for the heros and gods who reside upon Mt. Elysium. Creatures that have a basic understanding of a Trade language or that speak a dialect of a Native language can usually understand someone who is speaking another dialect of the same language or the parent language itself, though differing word usages and/or accents can cause some difficulties or misunderstandings, especially between different cultural groups or social hierarchies. Creatures that speak one dialect of an Ancestral language do not automatically understand other dialects of the same language or even the parent language itself. If a creature speaks the parent language of an Ancestral dialect, they can usually understand someone who is speaking another dialect of the same Ancestral language but may have some difficulties or misunderstandings due to cultural changes.List of Languages and Dialects:
Below is a list of the different languages and dialects found in the Tales from Vaxus 5e'14 Campaign Setting followed by a section on how to learn new languages during downtime as well as examples for using languages for creating interaction between the lore and roleplay. Tables to the side (or below if using mobile) are offered for a more structured look at languages and their dialects.Ancestral
Discerning an Ancestral Language or one of its Dialects can take decades of study, with some requiring far more than simple knowledge in order to understand its meanings and a few that are beyond mortal minds to comprehend. Most Ancestral Languages are only available through Character Creation, though a few are made available through other means such as class features. Below you will find 1 Heart ancestral language, 1 Draelish ancestral language, 5 Wildling ancestral languages (along with 11 dialects), and 4 other Creature Type languages (and 1 dialect):- Ancestral Instinct
- Atenmae
- D'shkan - (e'Rula & n'Pkris)
- Glk - (Olmi)
- High Speech
- Icoradix - (Venra, Domar, Hislar, Lagra, & Sekra)
- Ketalik
- Menadic
- Nurok - (Nurok'ki'ra & Nurok'he'nu)
- Song of the Fae - (Lynnumra & Deep Nuumer)
- Vkelok
Native
Understanding a Native Language enough in order to speak it fluently and comfortably takes dedication and opportunity, but with it comes an understanding of a culture's stories and history. Most people grow up speaking only one native language or dialect unless they have lived within multiple locations long enough to grasp speaking organically. In order to learn a Native Language you must first know its base Trade Language or a root language, followed by either the tutoring from a local speaker for a set amount of time within the native region or by speaking it yourself within the native region for over a year. Below you will find 15 Heart languages (along with 13 dialects) and 1 Draelish languages (along with 4 dialects):- Akian
- Ceyraen
- Dornel
- Draelik** - (Nar'ak, Nar'kun, Sun'yul, Sun'yun)
- Ekavarian
- Ganel - (Janu & Tunag)
- Gudalic
- Immortan - (Imperial Standard & Mortak)
- Kotomai - (Kotus)
- Napyrean
- Old Akian - (Frontier)
- Rakian
- R'lyah - (Ki'nur'rah)
- Tearil - (Golden Tearil & Silver Tearil)
- Tolm
- Za'har - (Do'zar, Le'at, Re'nar, & He'dai)
Trade
Learning a Trade Language allows its speaker to converse with those who speak it in the most basic forms of the language. Though the speaker can understand most Dialects that fall under the language learned, with each region having its own grammatical quirks and social contexts, some things can only be learned through experience and time. Trade languages can be picked up from various sources such as backgrounds and feats or can be learned during downtime by teaching yourself or hiring a tutor, with different creature types always needing a tutor when learning the language(s) spoken by other creature types. Below you will find 12 Heart languages along with 1 Draelish language:- Akian*
- Ceyraen
- Dornel
- Draelik
- Ekavarian
- Ganel
- Gudalic
- Immortan
- Kotomai
- Rakian
- R'lyah
- Tearil
- Za'har
Specialist
Utilizing a Specialist Language requires mutual understanding and the knowledge of where and what to look out for. While the majority of Specialist languages follow these guidelines, Signed can act as an alternative language for Native/Trade language speakers, especially for those roleplaying a deaf or mute character (you must first know the respective Native/Trade language in order to use its Signed language variant). Specialized languages are usually only learned upon Character Creation or by multiclassing, but your GM may make it available by other means.- Aspetheurgy
- Signed
- Thieves' Cant
- Whisperic
Learning New Languages
Learning a new language takes time and patience. You need to have a total of 250 Learning Points (LP) in order to learn a Trade Language. When you teach yourself a language, 1 point = 1 day of self-taught lessons (you must spend at least one hour practicing during downtime). When you learn under a tutor, spending one hour a day with them for 1 week = 25 points. You learn 1 week at a time when tutoring, with any interruption resulting in you losing the 25 points for continuous study (Most Hearts follow an 8-day week, with Draelish following a 9-day week). For learning Native Languages or their Dialects, you need 500 LP instead (500 days self-taught or 20 weeks under a tutor). While teaching yourself takes more time, learning under a tutor isn't free, with 1 week of training costing 25gp for both Trade and Native languages or dialects.Example Scenario
Below is an example of how you would calculate learning a new language using both methods: Say you've been teaching yourself a Trade language for 60 days. You then hired a tutor for 3 weeks, but had to leave early due to party shenanigans. How many days are left until you learn the language if you continue learning it by yourself? You would have started tutoring lessons after already knowing 60 Learning Points worth of self-taught lessons, so subtract 60 LP (the amount learned so far) from 250 LP (the total amount needed) for a total of 190 LP left in order to learn the language. Next, have 190 divided by 25 (the amount of points gained from 1 week of tutoring). The result is 7.6, or about 8 weeks (For the sake of simplicity, this time is always rounded towards the closest whole number) of tutoring for 200 points. After learning from a tutor for 3 weeks, you gained 75 LP, meaning that you now have a total of 135 LP. By subtracting 135 LP from 250 LP, you know that you need 115 LP to learn the language, which is equal to 4.6 or 5 weeks of tutoring (by dividing 115 by 25) or just 115 days of self-teaching.Using Languages During Roleplay
Languages as they stand in 5e'14 are oftentimes undervalued, with the languages in the basic rules being built around the Forgotten Realms. In order to make languages more viable in the TfV 5e'14 Campaign Setting, the system around them has been revamped. Languages are now tied to the regions where they are found and the cultures within them, with maps showcasing the areas of their influence. Characters will want to know how to speak the region's languages in order to interact with its people while out adventuring, with those taking the time to know its Native Language and Dialects gaining more rapport with locals. Knowing various languages can also benefit adventurers when encountering certain creatures that share variations of a language known but otherwise lack a direct method of communication. For example, the Faelyn use an ancestral tongue when speaking to one another, but knew the Akian Kingdom well enough to have some experience with its language. Some may speak Old Akian, which means adventurers who know one of its descendant languages, such as Ceyraen, would be able to discern certain root words. This makes communication possible, if a bit patchy. More examples such as this can be roleplayed out if the players and GM utilize the lore found in TfV.Dead Languages
Nasskaru and Echoes use these or composities of them - WIP Knowledge of multiple languages may be needed, if only to understand traces (especially if the speaker used multiple languages that are too obscure or just too far dead).Language Tables
- Below you can find listed the Ancestral, Native, Trade, and Specialist languages along with their dialects and typical speakers. Note that most of the people groups listed can be found under the TfV 5e'14 Creature Types article, which can be found here.
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