MID Menu: HOME HUMAN LANGUAGES PANTHEON TYRNE

LANGUAGES OF MIDIAN

ANALUZ

The Analuz language is the Native and national language of the nation of Analuz. It is also the most commonly known language among pirates (aside from Trade), merchant marines, and other independent Occidian denizens of the Midian Sea. It is descended from the much older Baraque and Ibenian languages of the peninsula whose coastline, along with the mountains at its landlocked base, forms the natural borders of the Kingdom of Analuz. Its modern form is influenced by old Aquilano, Merovechian, and Aram from the Far South across the Midian Sea, though its alphabet is essentially identical to that of other Occidian languages, derived from the ancient script of Torin.

AQUILANO

The Aquilano language is the Native and national language of the nation of Aquilan. It is also the "mercantile language" of the continent of Occide. In cases where merchants of varying regions come together and do not share another language in common that is more comfortable for all involved, it is usually the Native language of the nation of Aquilan that is used to break down language barriers. By custom, it is generally the case that Aquilano is the first language learned by a successful merchant for purposes of improving his or her ability to deal with other merchants when his or her Native language is not enough, as one can be reasonably certain that other merchants of other lands are more likely to know Aquilano than any other language other than that merchant's own Native language. Aquilano is also one of the three national languages of the cosmopolitan nation of Sverz.

DURICHVER

The Durichver language is the Native and national language of the nation of Durich. Durichver is also one of the three national languages of the cosmopolitan nation of Sverz. It is a common second choice for Native speakers of Volac and (Norse) as well, as Durich is by some considered the gateway to civilization for many Volac and (Nordic) people. The dominating political presence of Durich in central and north-central Occide, with more expansive political boundaries than any other nation on the continent, ensures that it is a language known far and wide, and often used. It does not share the popularity for specific purposes that other languages do, nor the tendency of the Tyrnian tongue to "leak" across national boundaries, but in any given region it tends to be at minimum the third most likely language to be known by any given ethnicity.

ELVEN

The Elven language is actually representative of a number of dialects derived from an old "mother tongue". They are still similar, and related, enough that speakers of one dialect can make himself or herself understood to speakers of another Elven dialect, sometimes with some effort, though the various ethnic variants of the Elven race themselves consider the various Elven dialects to be separate languages. Each Elven ethnicity has its own Native dialect.

MEROVECHIAN

The Merovechian language is the Native and national language of the nation of Merovenne. It is also the "language of Court" across the continent of Occide. This does not necessarily mean that all nations use it in their courtly proceedings. Rather, it is the commonly used language of diplomacy in cases where officials of various nations come together, if some more appropriate choice does not present itself. While some such officials of nations other than Merovenne may bristle at such a custom of Courtly dealings, and the diplomats of Merovech do occasionally enjoy some slight advantage as a result, in practice the advantage is usually imagined and the tradition persists. Merovechian is also one of the three national languages of the cosmopolitan nation of Sverz.

ORCISH

The Orcish language, while it varies slightly in terms of accent and slang from region to region, is largely unchanged across the world. It is the Native language of pure-blood Orcs everywhere, and the "official" language's syntax, written form, and grammatical structure are proudly maintained according to the strict rules of the language itself by Orcish scholars. Some local dialects do exist, similarly to English dialects across the United Kingdom in the "real world", but are regarded by speakers of mainstream Orcish to be aberrations and tend to be limited in both propagation and divergence by the strong racial impetus to maintain a "true" Orcish language. This contrasts sharply with the only mostly-compatible Elven dialects, which have diverged for centuries due to the fractious and isolationist tendencies of the various Elven ethnicities.

In general, all Orcs share Orcish as their primary Native language choice, barring cultural separation in a given Orc's upbringing. Choices of additional Native languages and Bonus languages vary by region and cultural influences. For instance, an Orc born and raised within the borders of Durich may have an effective list of Native languages that consists of Orcish and Durichver, but as normal that Orc only receives the Orcish language as a free Native language and must "buy" the Durichver language with a Bonus language "slot" if his player desires for him to enjoy the cultural benefit of knowing the regional Human language at a Native fluency.

TORIN

The Torin language was at one time the "Common Tongue" of the Occide continent, by virtue of the fact that it was the official language of the Tor Imperium. Aquilano is the modern descendant of Torin, but has diverged significantly from its roots thanks to Merovechian and Durichver influences. Tyrnian is the other language most influenced by ancient Torin, but it derives as much from Merovechian and Durichver as from Torin. The Analuz language is influenced significantly by early Aquilano, but not sufficiently to bear much resemblance to ancient Torin. The written form of Torin forms the basis of most languages encountered on the continent of Occide, though they have all diverged from its original roots enough that the connection between Torin and other languages' scripts can be only ambiguously identified by scholars in many cases.

TRADE

The language colloquially known as "Trade" is, in fact, a pidgin of terms and grammatical conventions "borrowed" from slang usage in every regional Human language in the continent of Occide. It has grown from an international commingling of the criminal and grey trade jargons of many nations into a generally useful language in its own right, so that while someone familiar with the shadier side of a local slang dialect may catch a few familiar words and phrases here and there in Trade, that person will not be able to effectively communicate in Trade without knowing the language itself.

Only in the case of individuals who have grown up under very suspicious circumstances, with little contact outside the gritty underworld of the black market and grey trade dealings of an international port city or similar conditions, should Trade ever be considered an option for the primary Native language. In general, Trade is a language picked up alongside, and in addition to, an ethnic or national Native language. For Occide's pirates, slave traders, international smugglers, and other nationally ambiguous ne'er-do-wells, the language known euphemistically as Trade is the closest thing to D&D's standard "Common Language" in the world of Midian.

TYRNIAN

The Tyrnian language is the Native and national language of the nation of Tyrne. It is also the most likely language to be known commonly by people from other nations as a general-purpose language for communication with foreigners who are not from a directly neighboring nation. While there is no general purpose "Common Tongue" of the world of Midian, per se, Tyrnian is as close to such a thing as you're going to get.

VOLAC

The Volac language is the Native language of the Volac peoples, descendants and remnants of the inhabitants of the now-vanished Volanic Empire of Eastern Occide. The westernmost Volanic lands have been absorbed by the central and western Occidian kingdoms, but often prove to be unruly annexes to otherwise relatively stable nations that maintain much of their own Volac culture regardless of any attempts to assimilate them fully. While the Volanic Empire has collapsed under the weight of its own infighting in the wake of significant economic and martial hardships in past centuries, the Volac language itself is alive and well among the insular, nomadic communities of Volac who travel central Occide, and the fractious petty tyrannies that have arisen amongst the rubble of a once great empire.