Languages

Imperial

The language of The Old Imperium is the most commonly heard language in The Civilized Lands and in the realms of The Holy Universal Church of Chantrel. It serves as the official language of The Church and as the lingua franca for the plethora of races and cultures in The Known World. However, since the fall of The Old Imperium it has fractured into a number of regional dialects.

• Classic Imperial - Classic Imperial is the international language of learning and scholarship in the realms of The Holy Universal Church of Chantrel. All scholarly work as well as the holy texts, liturgies, and official business of The Church is conducted in Classic Imperial. The Church maintains that the Classic Imperial is the pure, unchanged, eternal tongue that was spoken during the height of The Old Imperium. And they are active against any intrusions from "the vulgar tongues". As a result, any translation of the holy texts into a vulgar tongue is considered a grievous blasphemy.
  
  
• The Vulgar Dialects - These are the plethora of regional dialects that are spoken in everyday conversation by peasants and commoners. Often they serve as a lingua franca or common set of second languages. However, they do vary widely in pronunciation and vocabulary from region to region. It is not guaranteed that a speaker of one dialect will understand the speaker of another dialect. Considered the tongues of the common people, they are generally scorned by aristocracy as being crass and uncouth.

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South-Tongue - Misriat

Known as "South-Tongue" in Imperial, but natively as Misriat, South-Tongueis the language brought to The Civilized Lands from the southern land of Misr by the forces of Unity. Much like Classic Imperial in the north, South-Tongue is the common language of learning and religion for the realms of Unity; unifying elves, dwarves, and halflings in the lands of the south. In particular, it is the dominant language in Jeet Siti.

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Elvish Dialects

Each elvish subrace has its own set of dialects, all of them descending from the language of the True Elves, Celesti.

• Celesti - Celesti is the lyrical, enigmatic language of the reclusive star elves and Drow. Few outsiders have heard it, fewer still have learned its secrets.
  
  
• Lunesti - As the moon elves are the most numerous and dominant race in The Civilized Lands, their native tongue has spread far and wide. In many regions, Lunesti has melded with the local vulgar Imperial dialect to make a mixed tongue, with only hints of its Celesti ancestry.
  
  
• Sylvanesti - The lyrical language of the wood elves is the closest of all the elven tongues to its Celesti forerunner. The mountain elves speak a rougher, more guttural version.
  
  
• Solitesti - In the vast deserts of The Dead Wastes the howling calls of desert elf hunters and raiders carry on the wind. Their cry is a warning to all those who hear it.
  
  
• Meresti - The lyrical language of the island elves of The Paradise Islands. Each island has its own dialect, but as a sea elf moves further from her home isle, each isle's tongue becomes more distant as well. Its melodies are a common sound on the decks of moon elf trading vessels.
  

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Dwarvish

The dwarven peoples have a number of dialects shared between their villages and underground citadels. Most are mutually comprehensible, but there may be difficulties. For example, a mountain dwarf living deep in her citadel on the edges of The Underdark might have trouble understanding her hill dwarf cousin living on the surface.

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Gnomish

The gnomish language was brought to The Civilized Lands by the air gnomes. And as the tinker gnomes and forest gnomes, migrated away from their predecessor' original landing sites the language migrated with them. The gnomes' tongue, with its numerous technical treatises, has heavily influenced the scholarly works of Classical Imperial.

Starting Languages

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	Imperial / Misriat	Native Tongue			Imperial / Misriat	Native Tongue
Hill Dwarf	either	Dwarvish		Air Gnome	either	Gnomish
Mountain Dwarf	either	Dwarvish		Forest Gnome	either	Gnomish
Star Elf	both	Celesti		Tinker Gnome	either	Gnomish
Drow	both	Celesti		Halfling	either	-
Island Elf	neither	Meresti		Human	either	-
Moon Elf	either	Lunesti		Abomination	various	various
Mountain Elf	neither	Sylvanesti		Dragonborn	either	-
Wood Elf	either	Sylvanesti		Orc / Half Orc	either	-
Desert Elf	neither	Solitesti		Goblin	either	-