Saturday, December 21, 2019

Languages of The World of Nightwick


The ones listed here are only those that may be encountered in the Dark Country - even if only in very unlikely circumstances. Those of the same language family typically use the same or similar script and are usually mutually intelligible. A roll is required to avoid certain grammatical fuck-ups, especially in things such as business deals. However, non-native speakers cannot mutually understand languages in a family different from their native one. 

A person from the Realm can understand Zenopolitan, but if he learned Novgovite he could not understand Bogdani without learning it.  Conversely a person from Novgovy could understand Bogdani, but if they learned common they would still need to learn Zenopolitan separately.

Westron Language Family - Languages that descend from High Westron, the language of the now extinct Empire of Man. The script for this family resembles the writing in the Voynich Manuscript.
  • Common - The language of the Realm of Man and most of its subsidiaries, including Averois, Karse, Attalia, and the Seven Cities of the Dark Country.
  • Zenopolitan - The language of the Zenopolian people and most of the inhabitants of the Desert Lands. Those south of the Desert Lands also often know how to speak this but non-natively. It is more directly like High Westron than is Common.
  • Lazarene - A form of High Westron perverted by the inhuman Lazarenes who dwell near Ruined Acheron.
Eastron Language Family - This family was spoken by barbaric peoples who invaded the eastern lands of the Empire when it collapsed. In those spaces it is largely replaced by Common, but in their homelands the languages live on. It's script resembles the Gothic alphabet of Ulfilas.
  • Novgovite - The language of Novgovy and Muscorod.
  • Bogdani - The language of the native people of the Dark Country. While there are White and Black Bogdani "accents," they are mutually intelligible even to outsiders.
Croakish Language Family - This family can be approximated by the mouths of other creatures, but is only truly spoken by Froglings. It borrows its script from the Westron family.
  • Croakish - The language of Froglings.
  • Bullywug - The perverted language of Bullywugs.
Dwarfish Language Family - This family is spoken by dwarfs as well as the other stolid sorts of fairies. If it is related to the Languages of Fairy, that relationship is entirely undetectable to anyone but the fairies. Dwarfis script is runic but often involves very phallic symbols, leading to certain jokes among Dark Country denizens.
  • Dwarvish - The language of the Dwarfs, Knockers, Gnomes, Mine-monks, and other such dwellers in darkness.
  • Goblin - A diabolic dialect spoken by Goblins as well as those of other races who are their allies.
The Languages of Fairy - These languages are spoken by the Old Gods and their servitors. They do not have a script, but some have attempted to approximate it using other alphabets.
  • High Fairy - The Language of the Old Gods themselves, used only by them and their highest ranking cohorts.
  • Elfish - The common tongue of the servants of the Old Gods, though rarely taught to humans.
  • Druidic - A fully debased from of Elfish taught to humans so that they might be able to communicate with the human servants of their gods.
Languages of Heaven and Hell - These languages are unrelated but are similarly cosmic in their implications. Enochian and Crowleyan each have their own script.
  • Proto-Ur - The language of the God of Law Himself. Said to be understandable by all creatures, though currently at best only heard as a deep thrumming in space.
  • Enochian - The language of angels, first learned by the men of Acheron to control them. Now used by the Church of Law for certain rituals.
  • Crowleyan - The language of devils and demons. Like Enochian it was first learned in Acheron, though it was given to them willingly by the fiend Armadeus.
Dead Languages - These languages are no longer spoken in the World of Nightwick, but can be found in the written form.
  • High Westron - The language of the Empire of Man, replaced by the Common tongue of the Realm of Man.
  • Old Nothron - The language of those barbarians living in the Realm, Karse, and Averois before the uniting of the Empire. Its script is sometimes used in ancient texts to represent the Languages of Fairy.
  • Acherontic - The tongue of Ruined Acheron. Most similar to Lazarene, though with obvious difference. Its texts is similar to the ancient Phoenician.
Most monsters in the World of Nightwick do not have the internal lives they have in other settings, being only a parody of civilization. As such, when they speak it is in one of the tongues mentioned above. When among each other they usually do not speak.


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