Language works a little different in StormWorld. The first major difference is StormWorld does not conform      to the third edition notion that MOST people are literate, in fact, most people are ILLITERATE. The second      difference, there are no alignment languages, animal languages or “terrain” languages (like Ignan or Terran).      Lastly, not all languages are written or capable of being spoken by all creatures.

     Speaking and Reading Languages

     Speak Language and literacy are separate skills, and must be learned separately. You learn to speak a      language, you learn to read an alphabet.

 

     Characters do not gain “ranks” in Speak Language or literacy for a language. Each skill only has the potential      for 1 rank and everytime a charcter spends a skill points on Speak Language or Literacy it is for a new      language. There is no degree of fluency in languages. You either know it or not. A character must spend  skill      points to speak a language and skill points to be literate in a language. Normally there are no skill checks in      speak language or literacy (read language). Trying to speak a language in an attempt to fool someone (i.e.      with out an accent), however, requires a Bluff roll (usually DC15).

 

     The intelligence modifier represents the number of additional languages a charcter can learn beyond his      native tongue. It DOES NOT give you free bonus languages. Each slot has the potential to support speaking      and reading a language. So a character with a 14 Intellignce can learn to speak and read 2 additional      languages beyond his birth tongue.

 

     The only exception to this is the Bard. A bard, as a function of her class, can learn as many languages as her      level will allow, in addition too her intellignce bonus.

 

     All characters begin the game being able to speak their native tongue, you do not have to spend skill points for      this. Also every character has the potential to be literate in his native tongue. Unless you are a Wizard, your      character starts the game being illiterate.The character needs to spend a skill point to be literate in her native      tongue. This does not count against the maximum number of languages a character can learn. Other      languages may be learned by spending skill points. A character’s native tongue is always considered a

     class skill.

     Types of languages and Class Skills

     There are Modern languages, Ancient languages and Secret languages. Modern Languages are nomally      broken down into regional dialects.  Modern Languages are considered class skills for all PCs unless      otherwise noted. Ancient languages are class skills for Bards, Priests, and wizards. They are cross-class      skills for all other character classes.  Secret languages are cross-class skills everyone (except Bards), unless      otherwise noted in the language description.

 

     Special: Characters trying to use Decipher Script who know a language with at least the same alphabet as the      piece they are trying to decipher, gain a +2 synergy bonus on the check.

 

     Table *-*: Language Table

Language	Dialect	Alphabet	Classification
Ahrouish	Tribal	Ahrouish	Modern
Ahreman	None	Ahreman	Ancient
Barbaric		None	Modern
	Grey Mist		Modern
	Landmar		Modern
	Parati		Modern
	Sargothi		Modern
Battle-Tongue	Many	None	Secret
Celestial	None	Celestial	Ancient
Draconic		Celestial or Infernal	Ancient
	Draconian	Celestial or Infernal	Modern
Druidic	None	Early Runic	Secret
Dwarven	None	Dwarven Runic	Secret
	Dwarvish	Dwarvish	Modern
	Duergar	Infernal	Modern
Elven (True)	None	Elven	Ancient
	Drow	Infernal	Modern
	Elvish	Elvish	Modern
Goblin	Tribal	Goblin	Modern
Giantish (True)		Early Runic	Ancient
	Fire	Early Runic	Modern
	Storm	Early Runic	Modern
	Frost	Early Runic	Modern
	Mountain	Early Runic	Modern
	Stone	Early Runic	Modern
Guilder	None	Guilder	Modern/Secret
Halfling (Romish)	Early	Romish	Ancient
	Modern Romish (Eastern)	Romish	Modern
	Modern Romish (Northern)	Romish	Modern
	Modern Romish (Southern)	Romish	Modern
Imperial (Common)	None	Imperial	Ancient
Infernal	None	Infernal	Ancient
Kyanjii	High	Kyanjii	Ancient
	Low	Kyanjii	Modern
Magic	None	Symbolic	Secret
Phaegian	Tribal	Ahreman	Ancient
Regional (Common)
	Tithian	Tithian	Modern
	Parlandrian	Parlandrian	Modern
	Ulandrian	Ulandrian	Modern
	Aurlandrian	Aurlandrian	Modern
Sokut	Tribal	Imperial	Secret
Titan	None	Celestial	Ancient

* This is not a comprehensive list of all languages spoken upon Ias. This only what I have completed, though it does represent the majority of the work.

 

 

Ahrouish: (alphabet: Ahroun) The language of the Ahroun people. An ancient common tongue amongst these desert living people used before the acsension of the mage-Lord empire. Its use re-emerged after the Sundeirng. Similar in sound too Arabic.

 

Ahreman: (alphabet: Ahreman) The first language of mortal man and only used today by the various churches. Ahreman is a descendant of celestial. Commonly reffered to as the holy tongue.

 

Barbaric Modern Language (no written form) There are many different barbaric tongues (all regional in scope), and each has to be learned as a separate language. They are all fairly basic in structure and are fairly simple to learn. Most barbarian tongues are a derivitive of some ancient language usually Imperial common.

 

Battle-Tongue: Secret Language (Alphabet: None) This is a sign language that relies upon finger and arm movements, with use of body language if required, in order to communicate information. It is a limited language not suited to expressing complicated ideas outside of tactical situations. The maximum effective range is about 30’'. It can be used indetectably unless there are others present who know it. It was supposedly developed by the subterranean races of Ias, most likely Drow, but it was adopted by many various military units and secret organizations. There is no single form of Battle-Tongue, there are hundreds of “dialects”. A character must learn each one independantly. Example: the Black Raven guards of the city of Odessa have their own Battle-Tongue as do the various Ninja clans of the Kyoton Empire. A character wishing to learn it would take a skill in Speak Language: Odessan Battle-Tongue.

 

Celestial: (alphabet: Celestial) The second language was that of the Celestials. This language cannot be spoken by mortals. They lack the physiology.

 

Draconic: (alphabet: Celestial or Infernal) Dragons do not have an alphabet of their own. Their language is either written in Celestial or Infernal characters. Mortals have a very difficult time speaking Draconic and suffer a –2 to Diplomacy and Bluff checks when commmunicating in this language.

 

Draconian: (alphabet: Celestial or Infernal) The lanuage of the Dragonkin race. It is a decendant of true draconic mostly changed to accommodate the mortal physiology of the Dragonkin race. This version of Draconic can be spoken by mortals. It uses either the celestial or infernal alphabet based on a particular tribes bent.

 

Druidic (alphabet: Early Runic) The ancient and guarded language of the Druids. This is a slow and ritualised language that incorporates words based on many natural sounds - bird calls, snuffles, whirring wings (it doesn’t use these sounds but the words sound like what they are describing).

 

Drow: (alphabet: Infernal) A true bastardization of Elven, Infernal and Goblin. It is a very coarse language spoken in a sticato cadence with very few pauses. The drow use the Infernal alphabet.

 

Dwarven: (alphabet: Dwarven Runic) The secret guarded language of the dwarves. This language embodies the culture and ideals of the Dwarves. It is very gruff and could be compared to Russian for the way it sounds. The Dwarves very rarely teach their language to other peoples, because they want to keep their secrets to themselves. It is a very ancient language and has remained unchanged since it was origanlly conceived by the Dwarves patron saint, Moradin (mo-ra-DIN). The Dwarven runic alphabet has a strong semblance to magic symbology.

 

Dwarvish: (alphabet: Dwarvish) A modern descendant of Dwarven used largely by Imperial dwarves. Though to the untrained listener this is what a dwarven language would sound like, it bears no likeness to true Dwarven. The alphabet is runic in nature but again bears no semblence to Dwarven runes. Dwarvish is often reffered to as lesser dwarven. Many tomes on engineering are written in Dwarvish.

 

Duergar: (alphabet: Infernal) The language of the dark dwarves and as close to an “undercomon” as there is. It utilises the infernal alphabet.

 

Elven (True): (alphabet: Elven) A beautiful, fluting, musical language that is enthralling to listen to, supremely melodious. The written form of the language has a beautifully cursive flowing script. The Elven alphabet was the first mortal written language.

 

Elvish: (alphabet: Elvish) A derivitve of True Elven and Imperial common maintains much of the melodious quality of the elven language in wording but is expressed for the most part in Imperial meter and inflection. Many Elven words have been blended with Imperial words to form a kind of “Elverial” terminology. This language is someitmes refered to as “lesser” elven. The alphabet is a derivitive of Elven and Imperial.

 

Giantish: (alphabet: Early Runic) After the corruption of the Titans by the Destructor the Titan race was divided into the many different strains of the giants. Giantish is based upon the Titan language but has lost all relation to the nomenclature of magic. In addition, all the various branches of the giant races have developed a separate dialect. These dialects share much commonality and one can communicate in one dialect with someone speaking in another with a –4 to all Diplomacy, Sence Motive or Bluff checks. The Giant alphabet is based loosely on the Dwarven Runic script.

 

Goblin (Dark Speech) (alphabet: Goblin) Most likely a derivitve of Elven and Infernal this is a very guttural language adept at expressing ideas of hate. While a very old language it has changed little over the millenia because of the high birth rate amongst the Goblins. Hence, the generational gap is usually quite small. The alphabet utilizes ideagrams rather than characters.

 

Guilder (the Trade Tongue) (alphabet: Guilder) If there is a modern equivalent to Imperial Common it is Guilder, the language of the world spanning trade guild. It is a sparse language founded around simplicity and neccesity. There is no poetry or literature written in Guilder. Its main purpose is to facilitate communiation for business purposes between disparate peoples. It is generally considered rude, or at best, impolite to communicate via Guilder if another option is available. The universally accepted system of weights and measures is expressed normally in Guilder. While many people speak Guilder few know how to read or write in Guilder as contracts are normally converted to native tongues. So while Guilder is considered a modern tongue, the alphabet is considered secret.

 

 

 

Halfling (Romish): (alphabet: Romish) Romish is the original language of the halflings. It is a vibrant language filled many differnet names for all types of things as Romish uses proper names in place of adjectives. Example, Romish has a distinct name for spring rain as apposed to a late summer rain. The alphabet is as complex as the language not only having many characters but also using color to differentiate meaning. Example, a blue letter M has a different meaning then a red colored M. The modern dialect of Romish is not that different from ancient Romish but does include the use of more adjectives (usually derivitives of Imperial) making it seem to someone who understands Early Romish like the speaker is a fountain of Hyperbole. Literacy is rather low amongst the Roma. Training in literacy is usually reserved for those with a need, therefore the Roma tradition is very oral. Modern Romish is subdivided into three main dialects, Eastern, Northern and Southern.

 

Infernal: (alphabet: Infernal) The third language was that of the rebellious Infernals. The alphabet is a derivitive of Celestial. This language cannot be spoken by mortals. They lack the physiology.

 

Kyanjii: (alphabet: Kyanjii) the language of the Kyotan “empire”. A human language that predates the Mage-Lord empire and remained in use (illegally) during that reign. Once the empire fell the Kyotan people quickly reverted to its use. It is mainly used in those lands and areas they influence. The two deritives are mainly a distinction of social class. Nobles use the older and more formal High Kyanjii while commoners speak the more slang filled low Kyanjii. They both utilize the same alphabet though few commoners can read and write.

 

Magic: (alphabet: symbolic) The first Language was magic. However Magic is not a true language in that is does not facilitate communication between beings. The language of magic facilitates understanding between a being and the natural element of magic. Because of the nature of the language its alphabet cannot be truly understood or expressed outside of its purpose, the formulaic expression of magical action. In this way it is more closely related to mathematical formula than an alphabet. No one learns Magic as a language and arcane spellcasters must use the read magic spell to even understand it.

 

Phaegian: (alphabet: Ahreman) The language of the Phaeran peoples. Similar too Egyptian.

 

Imperial (Common) (alphabet: Imperial) At its height the Mage-Lords empire dominated everything to include language. Imperial common was the only legal language for trade and record keeping. All other languages were outlawed. Though many languages survived underground , Imperial common was spoken over the whole globe. The Imperial alphabet is very stark in form, there are no curves at all. It is comprised completely of vertical or horizontal lines and is read from top to bottom in columns and then left to right. Imperial is often refered to as Archaic common.

 

Regional Common(s) (alphabet: localised) These are all decendants of the Imperial language as they descended on the three main continents of Ias after the fall. While similar in grammatic strucutre, nomenclature has completely changed over the millenia. Each region has also developed their own alphabets based on the easier top to bottom and left to right format. These decendants are as follows;

   Tithian-the common tongue of the Bastards states of Tith and common tongue amongst the sailors of the world

Parlandrian-the common tongue of the northwest continent (germanic in nature). Sometimes called Northern common.

Ulandrian-the common tongue of the southwest continent (russian in nature). Sometimes called Southern common.

Aurlandrian-the common tongue of the northeast continent (greek in nature). Sometimes called eastern common.

  

Sokhut: (alphabet: Imperial) the Kindred language of Sokhut is based on ancient Imperial common but involves a significant signing component - to modify words or to give added expression or emphasis. This is do to the broad differneces in physiology between the various animal hybred folk of the kindred (i.e. some have mouths some have beaks). It can be understood to an extent without the signing, but important parts of a message will probably be misinterpreted. This language is considered secret only because most people find it cumbersome to learn with its broad signing variations.

 

Titan: (alphabet: Celestial) The titans were the first race upon Ias and aided the creator in the shaping of the world after the goddess had given up her essence to create the world. Thier language uses many of the true names of things based upon magic but is a true language because it allows the communication of ideas between two beings. The Titans used the Celestial alphabet.