Azári

The official language of Barazár, Azári can be divided into two distinct subsects, Zartá Azári (Imperial Wythian: The City) and Ámel Azári (Imperial Wythian: of the farmland) which are spoken in their respective regions. Listening to Master Heyso Hertel speak in the tongue was akin to hearing a child attempt to sharpen a sword on a grindstone, although he would garrison his opinion on the claim that one must have a certain ear to interpret its beauty. Note: Knowing a few tongues myself, I must insist the Azárian Golden Tea he consumes in vast quantity must've had some adverse effect on his hearing.

History

Before the introduction of paper to Barazár sometime in the First Century of our esteemed emperor's ascension to the Imperial Wythian Throne, the Azárians used large thick leaves to scratch their words and letters into. To my understanding, this process first starts by harvesting the leaves, which tend to grow to be almost half a man. Once collected, the leaves are dried and wet repeatedly until they become hard but not brittle. The next step involves someone taking small tools, much like a stonemasons, and begins chiseling the letters into the leaves, followed by ink being spread all over the leaf so it can reach into the crevasse of the niches made. After the ink is wiped off, the remaining ink stays in the indented letters, and the script is ready. Here at the University of Acton, we are privileged to have one of these leaf scrolls, and even one such as I must admit the attention to detail and skill needed for this process is something of an art within itself. To my knowledge, which is vast, Barazár has standardized their scripts with paper and quill to sent messages to foreign dignitaries, but inside the country itself they still prefer to use the methods of their ancestors.

Zartá & Ámel

When one hears Azári outside of Barazár most often then not they are hearing Zartá, the tongue used by most city dwelling Azárians. To the foreign born it sounds the same as Ámel Azári, but a native ear can clearly hear the difference. Zartá contains much sharper vowels and is spoken like a spear is being thrust. Ámel on the other hand is far calmer, and flows like a stream with it's vowels and enunciations.