"These symbols here - we know they correspond to the name of an ancient king, because we have seen his name referenced elsewhere on a tablet that also bore his name in a standard primordial script. It may seem like a minor detail, but these sorts of details are how we decipher all unknown languages, piece by piece."

-The Archaeologist and Explorer, Melrose of Beruf

Languages in Adra

Languages in most fantasy RPGs, do not, in my view, accurately represent languages in the real world, and rarely, in my experience, lead to more fruitful kinds of roleplaying, either between players or between NPCs. Real languages are diverse, based upon cultures and nations, and form into groups which share both common features and a shared history of origin - in many ways, the evolution of languages can be conceptualized and mapped akin to the evolution of species. Just as in a biological taxonomy, where there are families, genera, and species, in a linguistic taxonomy, there are language groups, languages, and dialects. Undergirding this taxonomy are scripts, which some languages in a group share, while others might not.

          As an example from our world, we can group languages which originate directly from Latin as being members of the Romance Languages, which we might consider a Language Group. So, in this sense, French and Italian share commonalities, and a French speaker conversing with an Italian speaker might recognize a few words, but for the most part, will have trouble understanding each other, because they are still different languages. Then we take French, and we can further break it into regional dialects - Parisian, Quebecois, Haitian, and etc. These dialects share many more similarities with the core language of, let's say, Parisian French, so that a Parisian and a Haitian will be able to understand most things they say to each other, while occasionally getting confused as to the meaning of more complex sentences, colloquialisms, or idioms. Furthermore, both French and Italians, and even non-romance languages like English share a common Latin script.

          So, our languages in Adra break down in this way. There are Language Groups, Languages, Dialects, and Scripts.

          Languages Groups are just a way to conceptualize the organization and similarities of languages in Adra. There are three great language groups and a series of other smaller language groups. Often, the smallest of language groups are ones that share a common script.

          Languages are distinct units of speech - two characters with different languages will not be able to understand very much at all with one another, unless one of them has great knowledge or intuition for linguistics.

          Dialects are the regional species of a language, and they share more similarities than differences with their brother and sister dialects, including the language they originate from. Because of this, for the most part, characters with two different dialects of the same language will understand the majority of things they have to say to one another. However, there may be the occasional confusion - anytime two characters with different dialects of the same language come to converse, for every 5 minutes of conversation, the DM will secretly roll a d20 against a DC of 10 + the Intelligence modifier of the PC in the conversation. If the roll is higher than the DC, then some word, phrase, or sentence is confused in its meaning, either from the PC to the NPC, or vice versa. Sometimes these confusions will be minor, and discovered easily. Other times, they will be major, and might remain unknown until something of real consequence comes about as a result.

          Scripts are the written version of a language - they often are in the form of a common alphabet, but might sometimes utilize more complex characters or hieroglyphs. While knowing the script of a language you aren't fluent in won't allow you to understand the written language, it will allow you to roughly know how to repeat the spoken version of written words out loud, even if you don't know what they mean, or haven't heard them before. Dialects always have the same script as the core language from which they originate.

          Other than the division above, languages can also be divided into Living Languages, Epic Languages, and Secret Languages. Living Languages are languages that people still speak to this day. They could be languages spoken by the various cultures of Adra, or they might be languages spoken by otherworldly beings. All of the languages herein are Living Languages, with the exception of one. Epic Languages are ancient, dead, obscure, or maddening, to the extent that learning about them is at best a challenge, and at worst, damn near impossible. Epic languages cannot be taken as an option at character creation, and while they might be discovered in the world by players, they are not detailed here, with the exception of Black Speech, which is detailed here, but may not be taken by players. Secret Languages are languages that are kept hidden from the world at large, and usually their secrecy is protected, so that those who are not supposed to know a secret language are usually held in contempt, or punished somehow. The two most common secret languages are Thieves' Cant and Druidic. Player Characters may only know a secret language if something explicitly says they know it - they may never choose it as an option.

          The following are the languages which players in theory have access to - still, players are expected to think about how a character became fluent with a language when they choose it, particularly if it's a language that is obscure or rarely spoken by the average folk of Adra. Because it is epic, Black Speech is in Red. Core Languages are in Orange, and Dialects are in Blue.

►Black Speech (Black Script): The long forgotten language of the Old Ones, an epic language, named for being the text inscribed on the Black Scrolls, and believed to be the origin of all languages across the Inner and Outer Planes of Adra.

►Primordial (Primordial Script): First of the three great living language groups. The primeval speech of most Kith, and the largest language group by far. Still spoken by some elementals. Known for its heavy, guttural throat sounds. The script is broken up, mostly made up of naturally occurring shapes and imagery.

►Wodan Speak: The language of the Yalewood, has been spoken there for an incredibly long time, and is perhaps older than the common languages of humanity. It still endures there today in the woodland communities. It is quicker and lighter than normal primordial.

►Sowsokain: A derivation of Primordial, spoken by the peoples that inhabit the islands of the Great Southern Sea. The language was developed as a way to gain independence from the Merpeoples, who long dominated and conquered the beleaguered isles. It is extremely similar to Primordial, but with slight grammatical differences and a great deal of different nouns and verbs.

►Dwarvish (Dwarvish Script): Oldest of the Kith Languages, foundation of its own large Language Group. Known for being unchanging, as there are no separate Dwarvish dialects. The script of Dwarvish is purposefully suited for being carved into stone, being a series of very boxy, straight-lined runes. It is often known outside of Dwarvish cities, by merchants who wish to make trade with the dwarves, and it is considered lucky for a builder to write Dwarvish runes somewhere on a new building.

►Undercommon (Dwarvish Script): Undercommon is in many ways a strange hybrid language. With the slave trades of the Duergar and the Drow came great wealth into the Underdark, and with it, merchants. Undercommon originated as a way to communicate between the duergar and human merchants on the surface, being a derivation of Dwarvish with aspects taken from Old Keloran Common.

►Old Keloran Common (Common Script): Old Keloran was the first language spoken by humans, originating first on the island of Yuyake in Kelior. It is easy to learn and serves as the common tongue in the continent of Kelior.

►High Arissian Common: Halflings who lived in the Southern Valley had taken their language from their distant relations, the humans. It is similar to Old Keloran, but more formal, logical, and complex. It became the language of the Arissian Empire, and as the Empire expanded and aged, the language evolved even further into Middle and Low Arissian. High Arissian Common is still spoken in the Empire, and used in human temples across the empire, as it is thought to be a more reverent language in which to pray to the gods.

►Middle Arissian Common: Middle Arissian is a stripped-down version of High Arissian, much easier to learn and understand. It is the language of the lowlands of Aegyri (much to the Dragon Lords' chagrin) and the people of Haeland and Martum.

►Low Arissian Common: Low Arissian is the opposite of High Arissian. It is completely stripped down, with a grammar that barely holds up to any scrutiny, and seemingly more slang than proper words. Those in the Empire sometimes call it "Orcish for Humans."  It is the language of Zaltia, Manfried, Halstat, and Rackam.

►Kamanoan Common: The Kamanoans resisted the cultural occupation of their land as much as the physical one. They retained their rich language, known for its thoughtful prose and flowing intonation. If Low Arissian is "Orcish for Humans," then Kamanoan might as well be "Elvish for Humans." Kamanoan is so influential that it remains to this day a "second language" for the Arissian Empire, often known and spoken by members of the elite, or the lands nearer to Kamomenus.

►Oberen Common: The native dialect of humans who settled in the southern Great Steppe, between the Far Bogs and the Wandering Mountains, which travelled along with most of its people to Oberbrücken. It is most closely related with its sister dialect, Saravoan Common. The dialect is famous for having complex compound words, that can sometimes reach up to 50 letters long.

►Saravoan Common: The common tongue spoken in the Wild Steppes, particularly in the remnants of the old human kingdom around lake Saravo. It is also spoken by the Noregran people of the White Wastes, and is closely related to the dialect of Oberen having originally developed alongside it.

►Loxocommon: The language of the upper-class and nobility of most of Kelior, it is a hybridization between Old Keloran and Old Loxon, the latter being the original and now dead language of the Loxodons, before they came to politically dominate Kelior after the fall of the Great Jungle Kingdom. The language is slowly-paced and requires a good deal of moisture in the mouth to speak properly.

►Orcish (Orcish Script): A very simple derivation of Primordial, known for having such a simple grammatical structure that meanings are often lost and confused to non-native speakers. The script is quick to write, having few words more than five letters long.

►Goblin (Orcish Script): A harsher, even quicker tongue than Orcish, Goblin was created by the Hobgoblins who wanted a way to organize their troops quickly and fiercely. The words are easiest to pronounce and understand when yelled out loud, similar to Abyssal.

►Worg: Worg is the more feral version of Goblin, the result of Goblin riders slowly and gradually teaching their intelligent mounts to speak. Worg involves growls, barks, and yips, and has no written component.

►Deep Speech: The language of aberrations, best spoken and understood telepathically, and when spoken out loud, it can cause headaches. It has a complex grammar that relies on the position of the speaker, relative to the nearest Aboleth City. This makes it notoriously difficult to learn. It lacks a standardized script, but some races who speak it, such as the Mind Flayers, have developed ways to write information somewhat independently of the language.

►Slaad (Slaad Script): The Slaadi began their reign of terror as mute horrors, and only later learned to speak in their interactions with the Mind Flayers. The Slaad language is not as unnerving as Deep Speech, but far uglier. It apparently sounds like the screaming of a human with their throat ripped out. The Slaadi, more able to write than the Aboleth, did develop a language to write their heathen ravings in eventually.

►Grell: The Grell, paranoid and reclusive towards all non-Grell, slowly developed their own language independently of Deep Speech. Theirs was simpler, and easier to learn, if not so simple that it lacked the vocabulary of most living languages. Indeed, the Grell language has no word for love, family, or luck, but has over thirty words for meat.

►Qualith (Qualith Script): While Deep Speech lacks a written component, the Mind Flayers eventually developed their own written language. Qualith is an entirely written language, related to Deep Speech, but so different that Qualith is not a script for Deep Speech, but rather its own language entirely. It is written using textured lines that can be read by feeling a surface on which they are imprinted.

►Terran (Primordial Script): The language of the earth elementals, being an even lower-toned version of Primordial. It was also adopted by the Tabaxi of Alz Gamora, now being the lingua-franca of Arathia. The script is said to look best written in the mud.

►Thri-Kreen: Thri-Kreen is a chittering, chirping language, which can be easily heard from up to a mile away. However, to those who are not familiar with it, most think it is the chirping of birds.

►Hookspeech: Hookspeech was originally taught to the Hook Horrors by a nomadic circle of druids, who in discovering some intelligence in the beasts, believed that helping them to create and learn a dialect of their own would enable them to elevate themselves and become more peaceful and kind. The effort succeeded at giving them a language, but failed in every other regard.

►Otyugh: This language developed over eons with interactions between Otyughs and various earth elementals and similar creatures. It sounds, when spoken, very similar to someone who is vomiting trying to talk at the same time.

►Umber Hulk: Legends have it that the Umber Hulks are mutants, created by some ancient madman or wizard. Whatever created them, they have always seemed to have a dialect of their own, which they use to organize their hives deep under the earth, using their mandibles to create clicks that form the syllables of words and sentences.

►Vegepygmy (Primordial Script): Vegepygmies do not always need to speak with each other. When they do, their language is so slow that it can take hours to hold a small conversation. Some druid circles use it as a method of meditation, carrying out long conversations that last days.

►Auran (Primordial Script): The language of the air elementals, being a breathier and lighter version of Primordial. It is also spoken by Aarakocra, who find it easy to speak.

►Aquan (Primordial Script): The language of water elementals, it is difficult to speak outside of the water, and requires the building up of plenty of spit in the back of the throat.

►Caxamalcan Aquan: The Tortles of the Caxamalcan Commonwealth originally spoke pure Aquan, but gradually changed it to accommodate it to speech above the water. It is slower also than Aquan, given the tortle's proclivity for taking their time with everything in life.

►Merspeech: Merspeech is spoken by two sister species, the Tritons and Mermaids. Merspeech is a sing-songy language, similar to Celestial, but with more rhythmic beats to the speech patterns. It works well spoken in or out of the water.

►Grung (Primordial Script): Grung based their language on Aquan, but diverted heavily from it. Grung involves the use of the lower throat, though the proper technique often causes fits of coughing in non-Grung.

►Bullywug: Bullywugs are bigger and slower than their Grung cousins, and their language is similarly louder and slower. However, Bullywugs have trouble writing with their massive feet, so Bullywug writing is very rare.

►Sahuagin (Primordial Script): Sahuagin is an unsightly language. It is barely recognizable as a child language to Aquan. Underwater it is bearable, but above the water it resembles the shrieking of a banshee.

►Ignan (Primordial Script): The language of fire elementals, Ignan is barely legible when it has not been scorched into the surface the writing is on. Furthermore, it is rumored that Ignan is incomprehensible at temperatures below freezing.

►Yeti: While the Yeti are not known to use any writing, against the assumptions of most of their detractors, Yeti do have a language, indeed a rather intricate one, which they use to communicate among their own kind. Yeti is low and soft when spoken, like a kind of quiet growling, and has many scores of words dedicated to describing the various conditions which fur can be in.

►Infernal (Infernal Script): Second of the three great living language groups. The primeval speech of most Eldar, and the tongue of devils and the Nine Hells. Known for its unearthly hissing sounds. The script is made up of sharp slashing lines, as if made with a jagged knife.

►Draconic (Draconic Script): Draconic is a language wrapped in legend and lore. It is said that when the dragons were created, they spoke Infernal, and melded their breath with fire, creating a language infused with magic itself. Dragons speak old Draconic, and a number of dialects and sub-languages were formed in a new Language Group as the Dragons melded their forms with the Kith. Whatever its actual origins, it is the language that almost all spells are written in, and the script is said to be easiest to write with a sharp claw.

►Aegyri Draconic: Aegyri is the dialect of Draconic spoken by most dragonborn, and those who do business with the Kingdom of Aegyri. It is easier than pure Draconic for humans and other Kith to speak, and the ruling family of Aegyr also speak Aegyri at court or in public, while speaking pure Draconic in private.

►Boggart Draconic: Unlike Bleach Speech, Boggart Draconic is very slow to speak. The Lizardfolk of the Far Bogs like to take their time with conversations, and it is said that sentences in pure Draconic take sometimes ten times longer to say in Boggart Draconic.

►Serpentine: Serpentine, by any measure, is a foul language. The hissing, often present in Draconic phrasings, is all the more drawn out in the language of the Yuan-ti. The language is sacred in Serpentinium, and non-Yuan-ti who speak it are often punished gravely.

►Gith (Draconic Script): The Gith, as clever and irreverent as they are, invented their language from whole-cloth, using Draconic as a basis for its magical significance. The ancient Gith merely sent ideas to each other telepathically to speak, but this took too much time. When spoken out loud, Gith must be spoken using a series of whistles and trills.

►Abyssal (Infernal Script): Some scholars have taken the primacy of Infernal to mean that Devils came before demons. However, in the primeval state of the universe, demons merely couldn't speak, and had no need to. Abyssal is known to be like Infernal, but it is louder, harsher, and higher pitched. It is easiest to speak and understand Abyssal when it is shouted.

►Troglodyte: Troglodytes, the most wretched of the humanoids, would not have learned to speak naturally. As a hideous joke, or perhaps piece of strange artwork, demons from the Abyss granted the Troglodytes a language, allowing them to coordinate their never-ending war in the Underdark. There is no written Troglodyte language, not that they have any need for it.

►Kruthik: Kruthiks were once created by one of Baalzebul's Hell Priests as a kind of siege weapon to be used in battles against demons in the Abyss and elsewhere. In doing so, they were taught a language of their own. Now many of the Kruthiks have spread out into the world of their own accord, and their language has evolved overtime, though it is a simple language for the monsters' straightforward purposes.

►Celestial (Celestial Script): Third of the three great living language groups, and the word of the heavenly hosts. Known for its tonal, singing quality. The script is made up of a complex series of hieroglyphic imagery.

►Sylvan (Elvish Script): Sylvan is a quick paced, light, and bouncy language. It is spoken by the Fey, and its pace and styling is highly representative of their culture and view of the world, often differing in subtle ways depending on the speaker. Similarly to its parent language, it has a rhythmic and sing-songy nature.

►Gnomish (Gnomish Script): Most would hardly recognize Gnomish as a sister language to Elvish. Its hard-sounding consonants and throaty verbiage sounds more akin to Dwarvish. However, it has the whimsy of the Sylvan language group. It is the main language of Tansahore and many of Adra's traders and merchants as well.

►Yogi: Yogi is the language that was widely spoken in the great jungle kingdom, where now the Bleached Desert sits. In the aftermath of the jungle's destruction, Yogi was still spoken by some humans, gnomes, and kobolds, in Kelior and Adra Majoris, but the "High" Gnomish spoken in Tansahore became the dominant dialect in the world, supplanting its older cousin.

►Giant (Gnomish Script): Giant is perhaps the deepest sounding language of them all. It is spoken at so low a pitch, that it is said that some non-Giants, even when they speak the language fluently, cannot be understood by some Giants, more used to hearing their kin.

►Bolgan: Bolgan is the dialect of Giant that is spoken by the Firbolg people of the Rathian Jungle. It is slightly higher in pitch than true Giant, and as such is often easier for non-Giants to speak.

►Gnoll (Gnomish Script): Gnolls, who knew only violence and infighting, took their language from a similarly vicious group, the Giants. Gnoll is a simpler language, and while it can be written down, it is said that very few Gnolls have ever been able to write in their own language.

►Winter Wolf: The frost giants, working with the winter wolves over many centuries, granted their long-time allies the structure for a language of their own. Winter Wolf sounds to those who aren't fluent just like the howling of wolves, which suits them well, since it conceals their intelligence and cunning from the uninitiated.

►High Elvish (Elvish Script): The elves, wiser and more lawful than their Fey ancestors, developed a language that was more logical and stringent than Sylvan. However, Elvish still has a flow and rhythm, typical of Sylvan, and is a popular language among bards and poets. High Elvish is the language of the Black Wood.

►Valenteran Elvish: The elves of Valentera, the Eternal Empire, hardly ever encounter their wiser kin of the north. As such, they have their own dialect of elvish that evolved overtime, and is not spoken across Qualaxi. It is less suited for singing songs, more suited for commanding armies.

►Under-Elvish: The Drow long ago drifted away from their High Elf cousins. They speak a fouler, sharper form of elvish, a melding of the dark speech of the Aboleths and  the Undercommon of Underdark merchants with High Elvish. In Elvish lands on the surface, uttering "That Foul Tongue" is often punished severely, though many non-elves may not realize its significance.

►Shadowspeech: This is the tongue of the Shadowfell and Lothal's Court of Graves. It is also the language of her elven servants, the Shadar-kai, and is rarely heard in Adra. It has a hollow sound to its vowels, almost like a subtle howling in the diaphragm. All undead, even if they didn't know Shadowspeech in life, can understand it when spoken to them, though that doesn't mean they can speak it automatically.

►Giant Eagle (Elvish Script): Giant Eagles are highly intelligent creatures, and have their own language, which very few outside of their own kind speak. To know their language is to be able to easily befriend them.

►Giant Owl (Elvish Script): Giant Owls are highly intelligent creatures, and have their own language, which very few outside their own kind speak. To know their language is to be able to easily befriend them.

►Giant Elk (Elvish Script): Giant Elk are highly intelligent creatures, and have their own language, which very few outside of their own kind speak. To know their language is to be able to easily befriend them.

►Blink Dog: Blink Dogs, the servants of good in the wilds of the world, were originally granted their speech by Gökotta, to reward them for their service, and to push them on to do more good in the world as stewards of nature. Blink Dog is based on Sylvan, but uses more round-sounding vowels, like a dog's howl.

►Sphynx (Celestial Script): Sphynx is, as a living language, only spoken by a few infamous riddle tellers. However, it is coveted as a piece of lore by scholars, to be able to write riddles in the language of the mighty beasts.

►Modron (Modron Script): Modrons use a descendent language of true Celestial, which sounds very similar to a kind of robotic auto-tune style humming or singing. The written version of the language is especially strange, only written on three-dimensional shapes, usually pyramids and cubes, the language being illegible in a simple two-dimensional format.

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