Languages - Info (Lore and Server)

[Nomster]

ah darn.. Sorry, I didn't grasp it in the beginning... I understand it now..

That said, using another language should give more xp

[fury165]

I'd like to inform whoever makes the languages that Thayan isn't an actual language.

Thayans speak Mulhorandi. The only difference between Thayan dialect and the "normal" dialect is that Thayans use the Infernal alphabet, and the other version uses... something else. I forgot what. AFAIK they're both spoken the same way, roughly, they're just dialects though, so basically interchangeable.

[Rasael]

I'll make either work if you have it.

[Nomster]

How would someone curse in draconic...? Any suggestions?
That is, curses from a dragon's point of view, not a wizard who knows draconic. Someone did a listen check once when Valge was cursing, I usually only write *curses*/*mutters curses*

[Hoihe]

May your eggs be eaten by a vulture. May your hatchlings be Wyverns. May your scales be ripped off. may your hoard be stolen. May the gold your hoard holds be naught but fake gold. etc etc

[Nomster]

Ah but they seem so meek.. No bloody things? Like ripped to pieces etc. *squeezes Hoihe like one of those talking toys for moar*

[Hoihe]

May the five heads of Tiamat feed on each your limbs. I shall rend you to pieces, then feed you to my hatchlings.

[Ardul]

Is it possible that we get seldruin as a language?

[Sartain]

What is the most common language in Baldurs Gate/The Sword Coast area, other than Common? I think I remember it being Chondathan (which is not on my list of choices) though I have also seen Illuskan suggested.

[Nomster]

It is definitely Chondathan. The way I read it is that Illuskan is spoken on the Northern Swordcoast, illuskan people seem to come off as a bit savage to me. Baldur's Gate's region is the Western Heartlands.

The in game selection does not reflect all the languages. I'm not even sure if the languages posted by Brightstar in the second post in this thread are all available? Chondathan is a language I've never seen available in start-up. Perhaps if its actually available IG a DM needs to give it to you. If it isn't, I'd suggest picking Thorass as that is available. There's a source suggesting Thorasta is the regional language, not much info is given but from the name its clear it derives from Thorass. Thorass itself is actually not spoken as a language anymore but the alphabet is widely used (why its listed IG as a separate language I don't know). Chondathan uses the Thorass alphabet. That's the best I can make of the sources and what's available IG.

Thorass - Thorass is an old human language, the direct ancestor of Common. It was a pidgin variant of Chondathan that western Faerûnian traders developed to communicate with their counterparts in other lands. An inscription in Thorass will translate directly into Common, though it will often have a stilted and archaic form of phrasing and vocabulary.

You can have RP reasons to learn other languages, IE if you really want Illuskan over Thorass for example your character could be descendent from illuskan people. Keep in mind that DM's rarely give you an addition language, you have to plan your bonus languages accordingly.


Sources are Forgotten Realms Campaign setting p84, Player's Guide to Faerûn p12 and Dragon Magazine Annual 4 1999 p25. The Player's Guide has interesting regional information including languages for all races. If anyone else have any more sources, please let me know. You can also check out the Forgotten Realms Wiki: Category Languages - with a grain of salt applied.

[Amaer]

Thorass is also apparently the language used for official documents in Amn.

[Nomster]

Do you have a source? Its stated to be a dead language which is why I'm curious.

[Amaer]

Ah, here we go.

Languages
As a merchant nation, Amn hears every tongue of the
Realms (and some other worlds and planes) in its markets. It
rarely takes more than an hour in Amn to find someone who
can translate any language spoken in the past few centuries—
for a fee, of course. Still, merchants doing business in Amn
must brush up on the ancient trade tongue of Thorass, long
abandoned elsewhere for today’s common language. All doc-
uments, contracts, court proceedings, and official scripts and
speeches used by Amnian merchant houses or the govern-
ment use Thorass. While an understanding of many lan-
guages is certainly helpful, the further one goes in Amnian
politics or trade, the less one needs any tongue other than
Thorass.

[scriver]

Ah, Amn. Taking the "keep the language of law strange and archaic to make it incomprehensible to common folk and necessitate lawyers just to translate it" thing to a whole new level.

[Nomster]

Thank you, much appreciated!