Languages of the Silver Shores

A list of the known languages, both verbal and written, used by all species and ethnicities of the Silver Shores.

• Abyssal (exotic) -The language of demons and other denizens of the 666 layers of the Abyss. Ancient tales say the demonic tongue stems from the primordial language, but has been warped and turned dark and twisted by the demons. Their script, which is used for scribing curses and wicked magic is from an ancient lost alphabet called Bharazhad, which originates from another world lost to time.
  

  

  These are the vile runes of the Bharazhad.
• Arcane (exotic)- This is the language of magicians and wizards. Arcane is not as much a verbal way to communicate but a series of words spoken with a dialect, pitch, and volume that combined with a complex hand gestures, and releasing the energy from a rare material component, can reshape reality itself. The language is a derivative and combination of all the ancient primeval languages such as; draconic, dwarvish (for rune scribing), elvish, sylvan, and even primoridal-though the latter is said to only be used for using the most powerful and forbidden of magicks. While the above tongues are the basis of the arcane script and runes, and many wizards learn these languages to help with studies transcribing and learning spells, being fluent in the aforementioned languages does not immediately give one the knowledge to use the arcane language, nor does the arcane language mean someone is fluent in the mentioned languages. (see sidebar)
  

  

  An example of a spell scroll written in arcane script.
• Celestial (exotic)-The language of the gods of The Twelve and all other residents of The Divine Isles Ancient, hidden, holy texts are written in this langauge of the gods, while clerics will often times speak this tongue when using their powers of divine magic. (see sidebar)
• Catfolk (exotic)-The Catfolk language is complex and looks to be a combination of things such as growls, hissing, roars, purring, and body language such as a rapidily twitching tail, raised fur and facial expressions. Other species are not capable of speaking Catfolk, and it is suspected that they have no actual language relying on the above for simple communication. Not speakable by anyone but Catfolk.
• Dornican (exotic)-An almost dead language used by the original natives of Dornica. (see sidebar)
• Draconic (exotic)-The language of Dragons. According to dragons, their language was the oldest mortal tongue and all other mortal languages descended from it. Due to the arrogance of said creatures this cannot be confirmed nor denied, but it is an exremely ancient language and is used as the basis for arcane writings, along with the other primeval scripts and tongues. Draconic is a language of hard consonants and sibilants that usually sounded like hissing when spoken, as well as a sound akin to someone clearing their throat. There are different dialects among the chromatic dragons, and the metallic dragons all have a similar accent, which also differs from the indiviual chromatic dragon dialects.
  

  

  An example of draconic script.
• Druidic (exotic)-The secret language of druidic circles, such as the Wardens Of The Druidwash. Outsiders speaking this language is considered a punishable crime by druids. The language verbally seems to have derived from elvish and sylvan and also includes hand gestures, a definite non-verbal element of the communication of druidic circles. Symbols and runes derived from sylvan and elvish writings are often scrawled into tree trunks, or written on cave walls, are left behind for the next druid who wanders through the area. (see sidebar)
• Dwarvish-The spoken language of Dwarves. Their writings are made up of blocky runic characters, and their speech is very gutteral with lots of harsh consonant sounds and a staccato rythmic cadence. Scholars theorize that dwarvish was a primeval language.
  

  

  An example of dwravish runes.
• Elvish-Both High Elves and Wood Elves speak elvish with no variations or dialects between the two ethnicicites. Elvish when spoken by elves sounds very melodic, even musical. Lots of vowels and soft sounding words populate the elvish tongue. Their speech matches the elves' lofty appearance and demeanor. Their written language is elegant with lots of curves in their characters. Elvish is said to have originated from the sylvan language.
  

  

  An example of elvish script.
• Giant- The tongue of giant-kin is bellowing and boisterous. Mostly sounds made mostly of loud expulsions of air from their bellies. Tales say this is a debased form of the primordial language. All the sub-species of giant use the same language. The giants do not use a written script.
• Goblins- The goblin tongue sounds like a bunch of chittering sounds, growls, yelps, and clicks of the tongue. They also tend to use body language to communicate as much as they do vocalization. Goblins do not possess a written language.
• Infernal (exotic)-This is the language and script of the dwellers of the Nine Hells; the devils. It is described as harsh and alien in nature, since it developed among beings with thought patterns very unlike those of of sentient species. Apart from being used for communication between the devils, in its written form it was also used to pen down infernal contracts.
  

  

  The script of devils. You might see this on an infernal contract.
• Northman- The tongue of the Northmen Of Brondheim, both humans and dwarf. The spoken language is harsh like the frozen waste they hail from. However, there is a bright feel to vowels, almost a lilt in the speaker's voice. The runes that make up the Northman written language is a derivative of dwarven rune scribing. The humans of Brondheim adopted the runes of the dwarves who settled there, much as the dwarves adopted the Northman's tongue.
  

  

  The runes of the Northmen of Brondheim.
• Orc-The orcish tongue is a harsh and gutteral language filled with grunts, growls, and spitting. Their language drips with violence and strength, and is neither poetic nor easy to listen to. The orcs do not use a written language, instead using crude drawings to communicate non-verbally.
• Primordial
(exotic)-The verbalization of the very first form of communication before the world was fully formed as we know it. It is now a dead, and forbidden, language. Scholars theorized that the Nameless Ones spoke in this tongue to communicate with their mindless thralls. Whatever the true origin might be has been lost to time.
• Sylvan
(exotic)-The langauge of the fae, the faerie, and the other denizens of Arboria; the home of the god of nature, Silvanus. The language itself predates the primeval langauges, and has changed very little throughout the ages. It flows easily, similarly to elvish; in fact many linguists believe that the elven and druidic languages are derived from sylvan. Although it uses the script associated with elvish, the language is hardly ever written. (see sidebar)
• Thieves Cant (exotic)-A pidgin of verbal communication that also includes hand gentures and other aural sounds like whistles. Theives Cant is used by Theives Guilds exclusively; a universal way for rogues, burglars, assassins, and thugs to communicate with each other, no matter where they individually might be from. A non-member of the guild that knows the Thieves Cant is looked upon with suspicion, and could be held as an infiltrator or spy (see sidebar). (exotic)
• Common/Trade-Also known as by the residents of The Silver Shores as Imperial. Spoken as native languages by the residents of the three major kingdoms of the land, each kingdom has their own dialect and accent. Certain words might be replaced with others, and the sound and cadence of their speech differs from Galador to Vaszkyzia to Lumenia.The Imperials possess a blunt, guttural, clipped, and heavy accent to their speech; a bold accent, with heavy, rolling R's and broad intonation. The Lumenian accent is definitely shorter, more defined, slightly more open, less rounded. Their R's are rolled as well but in a more lilting manner. Many consider the Lumenian accent to be one of seduction. And finally the Celinadians have several dialects and accents within the Kingdom of Galador, mostly based on social status. Pristine, quaint, and/or stuffy-mouthed dialects lean more towards nobility and the welathy. A crude, gutter patois is often heard within the lower class citizens.
  

  

• Zylistanese-The language of the people of the desert kingdom, the Sultanate of Zylistan . It can be described as the most unique and strange of the human langauges because it is derivative of nothing. Beautiful, alien, but can also sound gutteral, and agressive, because of harsh consonants and a higher level of energy and volume compared to other languages. Zylistanese uses the same alphabet as the Trade language, but their calligraphy and the letters they put together to make words are very different.
  

  

  The script of the Zylistanni people.

A character who is a Sage, or possess the Linguist feat can learn whatever language:

There are two types of languages; Standard and Exotic. Each language entry will show if it is one of these two language types. Standard languages may be picked by the player at character creation. Exotic language may only be picked with approval of the DM (me). The following exotic languages have suggested prerequisites that are preferably met before making a character fluent in the language, unless that character has the Sage background option or Linguist feat.

• Arcane- Must possess the Sorcerer, Warlock (with an appropriate patron), or Wizard class.
• Celestial- Must possess be a Cleric, Monk, or Warlock (with the appropriate patron)
]
• Dornican- Must be a or descendant of a Native Dornican
• Druidic- must be a be a Druid, or member of the Wardens Of The Druidwash
• Sylvan-all Elves or Druids.
• Thieve's Cant-Character must be a Rogue

When selecting your starting languages, please provide a role-playing reason why your character would be fluent in an exotic language.