Languages
Every character in The Domains of Dread understands Common - known as "the trade tongue" fictionally - unless forfeited during character creation. Those who forfeit this knowledge must learn Common as they would any foreign language, the mechanisms of which are discussed below.
Allocating Languages
A character may, at any time, allocate knowledge for a language. This is performed by summoning the languages menu using the !m language command, short alias !m l. Speak Language is a deprecated skill and does not exist in The Domains of Dread. Instead, a character will have additional language slots made available depending on chosen background, feats, and permanent positive Intelligence modifier.
For example, a Wizard who begins play with a +3 Intelligence modifier will have three bonus language slots to allocate and, should during play get to +4, will have another bonus language slot made available at that time. Should their background state they are a native from Barovia, they will also have received Balok, for free, and without expending one of these bonus language slots. The bonus language slot cannot be less than 0, in case of a negative Intelligence modifier.
Language allocation can only be done inside the out of character experience, not in the world.
Using Languages
Any character who speaks will do so in Common unless they do not understand Common, have had their default language changed, or is currently switched to speak another language. The default language may be changed using the !language default [opcode] command, short alias !l d [opcode], by anyone and at any time.
To change the character's spoken language, use the !language speak [opcode] command, short alias !l s [opcode]. When speaking another language, any text enclosed in the chosen emote escape characters or otherwise escaped by enclosing in "<>" without quotes will render in plain text, useful for single words in Common or proper nouns. The "<>" is culled from the text at render. Those that wish to return to Common or their default may use !language speak default, !l s default, or !l s. Common itself may be called with !language speak com or !language speak 000.
It should be noted that selecting the emote escape character style is performed in the language menu. There are three available options:
- A: Emotes in the asterisk style, eg,
*action* Dialogue. - B: Emotes in the bracket style, eg,
[action] Dialogue. - C: Emotes in the narrative style, eg,
action "Dialogue."
All text renders in the C or narrative style regardless of actual style selected. The language renderer makes best effort to add capitalization and punctuation even if the source did not have punctuation, eg, "hello" verbatim would render as "Hello." This may be escaped with "<>", as above.
Languages foreign to the listening character are cipher scrambled at render. The cipher will not change with the spoken language.
Learning Languages
It is still possible to learn languages even after a character's bonus language slots are exhausted. By summoning the language menu, a player may opt the character into studying any language which they have heard or read at least once. By choosing to begin study of a foreign language the character receives periodical updates to their understanding of that language IRT. This duration may be shortened through a positive permanent Intelligence modifier and/or exposure to the language by native speakers.
As a foreign language is learned, sentences will be cipher scrambled less and less until no more words are scrambled, the learner becoming conversationally fluent in that language and able to speak it through the normal means. It cannot be assumed that this is represents total mastery fictionally, with the character still subject to mistakes or misunderstandings at the player's discretion.
Unsupported and Homebrew Languages
Five language families are officially supported at this time for The Domains of Dread: Forgotten Realms, Krynn, Greyhawk, Ravenloft and agnostic (racial languages). Official support implies that most, if not all, major languages in those settings or races are available as-is from the languages menu.
Languages from unsupported or homebrew settings must be mutually intelligible with a supported language. For example, a character from a homebrew world may choose to allocate Darkonese/High Cordovan to represent their native language from their setting as a separate, but intelligible, dialect.
A Note About Real-World Language Allegories
Many languages in Ravenloft and, indeed, the wider supported settings in The Domains of Dread take heavy inspiration from any given real-world language. For ease of player intuition these allegories have been included where appropriate in the following list of supported languages. It must however be noted that these languages are provided as inspiration - no language in The Domains of Dread is literally and without modification the language of a real-world group or people. Recall that Gothic Earth is not an available setting for any character. Exercise restraint and respect for these inspirations when they are included.
Supported Languages
Of the Core (Ravenloft)
Balok
bal or 001
The Core's eldest language and the lingua franca of its central-southern cluster, having spread from Barovia along the Balinoks. There it presents as guttural though in Borca a softer, lilting dialect is found. Despite its age Balok receives much of its penetration from trade rather than education or literature, as the de facto trade tongue for merchants following the veins of the Old Svalich east and west. Patois syncretic with Balok and the native vernacular are not uncommon along these routes. [Middle Romanian]
Luktar
luk or 002
Luktar is the lingua franca of the former kingdom of Gundarak, still spoken with defiance by native Gundarakites in their now annexed lands claimed by Barovia and Invidia. Pogroms instituted by the rulers of both domains designed to eradicate Luktar from the Gundarakite palate have proven ineffective, with Luktar growing increasingly associated with the black powder, Gundarakite "freedom fighters" and their sympathizers. Luktar presents as relaxed and flowing compared to the hard stops of Balok. [Middle Hungarian]
Darkonese and High Cordovan
dak or 003 (Darkonese) hgc or 004 (High Cordovan)
The twin languages of Darkon and civilized Cordova are known for their precision, structure and complexity. Though Darkonese is the original, Darkon's sudden collapse in the wake of the Requiem and subsequent disappearance of Azalin Rex has left it to wither next to its younger, more agile cousin, unable to defend against High Cordovan's meteoric rise for matters of education and writings inside the Eastern Core. Nevertheless Darkonese still clings to association with eastern intelligentsia, occultism and spellcraft. [Latin/Byzantine Greek]
Allocating Darkonese allocates, for free, High Cordovan and vice versa.
High and Low Mordentish
hgm or 005 (High Mordentish) lom or 006 (Low Mordentish)
High and Low Mordentish are endemic to Dementlieu and Mordent. Mordentish, the original, is today considered crassness for the lips of the lowborn compared to the panache of Dementlieu's lingua franca, High Mordentish. They are spoken dialects only as written Mordentish is identical save for regional, but intelligible, differences. The influence of Dementlieu as the center of learning in the Western Core looms large, with High Mordentish spoken by countless inventors and innovators from this region. [Middle French/Middle Franco-English]
Allocating High Mordentish allocates, for free, Low Mordentish and vice versa.
Kartakan
ktk or 007
Romanced the Core over as the language of poetry and music, Kartakass's Kartakan lives up to reputation. Marked by melodious vowels and enunciating harmony, any self-respecting bard educates themselves in Kartakan and perform in it widely regardless of origin. As Kartakan-speaking singers, travelers and minstrels appear in more domains, greater premiums are being placed on performers and especially performers capable of singing the patois that mingles the Sithican dialect of Elven. [Middle Norwegian/Danish]
Falkovnian
flk or 008
If Barovian Balok is taken as unpleasant, then Falkovnian must be an all out assault for any delicate ear. Lingua franca of its fatherland Falkovnia, even the calmest intonation in this language could be construed as aggressive by a foreigner; written, its infamy lies instead with the difficulty in untangling its long, ponderous compound words and sentences. A variety of dialects exist though the one most likely for a foreigner to ever hear outside of being shouted at on the battlefield is plains Falkovnian spoken by traders, associated with her fields of rolling wheat and rye. [Middle High German]
Lamordian
lmd or 009
The lingua franca of Lamordia is one oft identified and almost intelligible to Mordentish or Falkovnian speakers, taking from them many artifacts and nuances of vocabulary. It is neither soft like High Mordentish nor harsh like Falkovnian, marrying the two in a manner unusual yet strangely familiar to either. Nevertheless Lamordian use suffers as the taciturn nature of its speakers and a willingness to adopt the mother tongues of her neighbors when conducting business constrains Lamordian to Lamordia. [Middle Swiss French/High German]
Tirimisce
tir or 010
Associated with the "savage" northwest demidomain inside Cordova, the Tirimisce Lands, Tirimisce is as ancient as it is baroque. Spoken by the inheritors of her fallen kingdoms, many tribes speak their own individual dialect yet every Tirimisce understands what they call the tongue primordial. It has an alphabet not seen elsewhere in the Core, with bespoke letters and plosive consonants. Those that speak this language do so with resistive pride, sharing their outlook with the Luktar speaking Gundarakites in Barovia. [Middle Western Slavonic/Polish]
Nymaran
nym or 011
A small language owed to the coastal dwelling, northern indigenous peoples of Cordova. Nymaran shares little texture with either Tirimisce or High Cordovan, a testament to the Nymari's relative solitude among the Core. Warm and sophisticated in timbre, only Kartakan rivals its penchant for melody. Though the grand sum of its speakers is tiny even when compared to Tirimisce, Nymaran indentured servants - fleeing famine of their ancestral ymna - are resettling across Cordova as house servants and other laborers, gathering their language to hitherto uncharted places. [Finnic/Sámi]
Lakant
lak or 012
To speak Lakant, for many, is to speak the language of seafaring vagabonds and thieves. Lingua franca across the shores of the Nocturnal Sea, Lakant radiates from the Isles Crescendia where it and its native Lakoi reside. It is altogether a patois formed from a countless tongues parleyed and purloined from island to island, syncretic to the point of assimilation. In the Eastern Core, Lakant is associated with rogues and anyone else who may benefit from obscurity. [Caribbean Dutch/Creole]
Tepestani
tep or 013
Unrelated to any of Tepest's neighbors, Tepestani instead shares notes with the southern language Forfarian though how such a connection might have been made given their distance and disparate geography is an incongruence better left to the scholars. Regardless, Tepestani has only been written in the last generation with the advent of the Tepestani Inquisition, with so little penetration into any domain not Tepest save, perhaps, Cordova. It presents as ululating vowels kept apace by a sing-song cadence. [Scottish Gaelic]
Forfarian
far or 014
Though native to Forlorn, Forfarian's living speakers are instead found in pockets in other domains due to the migration of Forfarians once the kingdom collapsed to the goblyn tide and descendants. The language has managed to survive surprisingly intact as Forfarians have, more or less, kept amongst themselves, intermarriage with their hosts in these domains remaining rare and scandalous. A melancholic energy is impressed onto the listener when Forfarian is spoken, vowels deep and from the diaphragm. [Irish Gaelic]
Veldtan
vlt or 015
A so-called "primitivist" patois of Low Mordentish - least to the ears of a Dementlieuse - reigns in the Killing Fields, the Veldt. Syncretic with the indigenous language of the Valachani now Veldtan, no written records of Veldtan language in its present form are known to exist. It is a heady, thumping thing, many of its sounds difficult to reproduce for even the most spirited foreigner. [Middle Breton]
Sithican
sth or 016
Sithican is derived from Elven, or what Elven was to the elves of Sithicus before their deportation beyond the Misty Border. Reflecting the vengeful and sorrowful nature these elves are now imbued, Sithican is darkness where Elven is harmonia; aggressive where once elegant. Yet to human ears Sithican remains complex and pleasant where compared to their own tongues, humans that would surely struggle to speak Sithican correctly - save for the Kartakans of neighboring Kartakass. [Elven]
Sign Language
sgl or 017
Sign language in the Realms of Terror derives from the trade tongue and, like it, is broadly applicable across domains between understanding performers. Unhearing people, nonverbal persons and more all practice this language to express ideas and deliver silent instruction, a quality prized for circumstances where making noise may attract untoward or even monstrous attentions.
In The Domains of Dread, characters who do not understand sign language will see this language as detailed but indecipherable gestures. Single, obvious hand signs (such as for "stop") may be emoted in Common, instead.
Forgotten Realms
Languages of the Forgotten Realms are categorized by family group rather than by individual language in The Domains of Dread, as to elucidate on every possible human language would bloat the list well beyond what is already available. Therefore, anyone who speaks a selectable language family is assumed to be mutually intelligible with any language normally derived from that language family, listed below. Characters may portray their 'accents' in this way at the players' discretion.
Similarly, regional dialects of Elven and Dwarven have been folded into their mother racial tongue for purposes of intelligibility.
Illuskan
ill or 018
Spoken in Northeastern Faerun; including Icewind Dale, Luskan, the northern Sword Coast, the Silver Marches, Gundarlun, Ruathym, the Moonshaes (Waelan), and the Uthgardt Tribes (Bothii). The language of the Northmen, stubbornly retaining their own languages and identity in the face of growing homogenization by the Chondathan-speaking nations. if it sails the sea or lingers in the wilderness of the Sword Coast, one speaks Illuskan. It is a complex, unfriendly language, and evolves to its own flavor of unintelligibility when left unattended in a culture. [Proto-German / Scandinavian]
(Waelan, also spoken in the Moonshaes, is held as a dialect of Illuskan due to cultural encroachment. Speakers of Waelan would know either Illuskan or Chondathan, unless they lived under a rock for their entire lives.)
Chondathan (Thorass)
cho or 019
Spoken in Eastern and Central Faerun; including Waterdeep, the southern Sword Coast, Najara, Elturgard, Amn, Tethyr, the Border Kingdoms, Cormyr (Cormanthan), Turmish (Turmic), the Dalelands (Cormanthan), the Dragon Coast (Telpi), Aglarond (Aglarondan), and the Great Dale (Auld Cormanthan). Derived from the ancient language of Thorass, one of the farthest-reaching language roots in Faerun. Chondathan is considered the language of trade for all of Faerun, its roots tangled so deeply into the cultures it has touched that its many speakers can often accidentally find their way into understanding one another. Nearly all written correspondence in human lands is done in Thorass script. [Romance]
Damaran
dam or 020
Spoken in Eastern Faerun; including Halruaa (Halruaan), Vaasa (Chardic), the Dalelands, Sembia, the Vast (Easting), Impiltur (Easting), the Great Glacier, Damara, Narfell (Naric), the Ride (Arakic), and Altumbel. Drawn from the mother tongue of Ulou, an artifact of the fallen Netherese Empire, Damaran persistently holds out in its corner of the world, survived in part by its role as a trade language between its many disparate dialects exchanged across the Sea of Fallen Stars and Dragon Coast. It is a frighteningly quick language, which blurs together into indecipherable but somewhat pleasant harmony to the unprepared listener. [Middle Lithuanian]
(Netherese, a long dead language nonetheless beloved by esoteric scholars seeking to one-up each other, is impractical for spoken conversation and not supported.)
Chessan
chs or 021
Spoken in Southeast Faerun; including Tashalar, Sespech, the Shaar (Shaartan), Akanul (Akalaic), Chessenta (Chessentan), and Dambrath (Dambrathan). The Chessan languages are ancient and unlike anything but each other. Tone, inflection, and supposedly even the expression and mood of the speaker can dramatically change the meaning of its free-flowing words, and dialect disputes are commonplace. Chessan's influence wanes with every generation, as the insular cultures that still utilize it make no concerted effort to expand its range. [Hellenic]
(Includes both the Chessentan and Akalaic branches of the language. In the rare event someone actually runs into this interplay and plays out struggling to understand one another, that someone may have a hard candy from the jar on the desk.)
Raumtheran
ram or 022
Spoken in Northeast Faerun, including Rashemen (Rashemi), Thesk (Alessian), Sossal (Sossic), Ashanath, and the Great Dale. An evolution of Halardrim, being the assorted languages of the lost Raumathari Empire. Mistakenly believed to be a brutish language with little room for high concepts, a belief that is often shaken when one attempts to commit the long, entangled syllables into Thorass script. To a native speaker, Raumtheran is flowing, efficient, and without substitute, though the encroachment of Thay to the south and the people of the Hordelands to the East makes it increasingly obscure. [Middle Slavonic]
Chultan
cht or 023
Spoken in Southern Faerun, including Chult and Samarach. A curious language, developed and evolved as a mutual ground for communication between the human and tabaxi groups of these regions. It incorporates a wide range of highs and lows, with deceptively similar sounds that all too easily elude the untrained ear. Thorasta text cannot accurately parse the complex range of Chultan meaning, leading to the adoption of a simplified form of Draconic for their written cipher. [Twi]
Imaskari
ikr or 024
Spoken beyond the Eastern border of Faerun; the Tuigan clans of the Hordelands (Tuigan), Durpar (Durpari), and the nomadic people known as the Gur (Gurri). Uniquely, it also lingers in the language of the remote island kingdom of Lantan (Lantanese). One of the last remnants of the Imaskari Empire on the surface, this language has contributed to the evolution of the Mulhorandi languages, but is distinct unto itself. Imaskari is not held to be a warm language, believed by some to be meant to be spoken through a set jaw -- but this could be an artifact of the historically tense relationship between its modern speakers and the people of Faerun. [Mongolic]
Mulhorandi
mul or 025
Spoken in far Southeastern Faerun, between the nations of Thay and Mulhorand. It is a flowing language, heavy on vowels and lacking in brevity. Outsiders whisper behind their hands that this 'droning and wailing' is well suited for the many undead and countless slaves that are incorporated into the cultures, but Mulhorandi is also known to possess one of the most creative arsenals of insult and curses in the Realms. [Middle Egyptian]
Untheric
uth or 026
Spoken in Southeastern and Southwestern Faerun; Calimshan (Alzhedo), Unther, and Zakhara (Midani). Many languages thrive on their use in trade, and the Untheric language family is no exception. Midani and Alzhedo do much of the legwork keeping the tongue alive, and are keen to insist they are the core of the dialect, the seemingly immortal nation of Unther has unquestionable coherency with both. Sharp, high vowels and sibilant consonants persist in all dialects, and it is beloved for its use in oration, song, and poetry. [Babylonian]
Shang-Chou
shc or 027
Spoken in Kara-Tur, beyond Faerun. There is, in fact, a great number of countries, with their own distinct languages, beyond the reaches of the Faerunian states. However, Shang-Chou, or quite literally, 'Trade Tongue' in Midani, is accepted between all of them. It is a hybrid language, evolved over the many years, rises, and falls of the peoples of Kara-Tur. Across a hundred tongues and conflicting accents, it is an accepted hazard of the language that two speakers may have to shout the same sequence of syllables at one another until commonality is found. This is still more efficient than attempting to teach one another their disparate tongues, and far preferable to caving to speaking High Shou for most traders and itinerants. [Middle Chinese]
(The range of Kara-Turan dialects is vast, and its many nations are not fully supported at this time. Shou, Wa, and Kozakura'abchang-Chou unless, as previously stated, they live under a rock. An extremely large, extremely dense, and practically immovable rock.)
Krynn
Abanasinian
abn or 028
The common language of Abansinia, it sounds quite mild with little tonal shifts. Its speakers are a resilient people who have had to rebuild their communities every generation as war has swept through the region.
Ergot
erg or 029
Making up the alphabet of most modern human languages on Ansalon, Ergot was once the tongue of the Ancient Empire of Ergoth, a bastion for humans. It was torn asunder during the cataclysm, and though Ergot lives on in pieces in many languages, it is only spoken in its entirety in Northern Ergoth, one of the remaining pieces of land from the old empire. The language has evolved though, now spoken by seafaring people.
Karolian
krl or 030
A regional language used in the nation and city of Tarsis, Karolian has been dying out for a long time. Named for nearby Karolis mountains, the people of this area were once notoriously wealthy, living in a trade center for all realms. After the cataclysm, Tarsis became landlocked and cut off from all other civilization.
Khur
khu or 031
Spoken only by the nomads belonging to the unified seven tribes of Khur, the language is highly localized and not well known. Using short and few words for ease of communication, but with flowing syllabes and rolled r's, the language is pleasant to the ear, if foreign to most of the inhabitants of Ansalon. When written, it utilizes the ancient Istarian alphabet, rather than the human Ergot alphabet.
Nerakese
nrk or 032
The language spoken in the dark city that once hosted the Queen of Darkness and its surrounds. It utilizes an Istarian alphabet, a mix of the ancient language of Istar with the influence of Dragons and Draconians. It is guttural, and borrows several words and concepts directly from its cousin language of Draconic.
Nordmaarian
ndm or 033
A language regional to a group of nomadic humans who live in the northermost province on Ansalon, a tropical land. The language is the only thing that unifies the nomads in the area, who are split into different factions and beliefs.
Saifhum
sfh or 034
A language known only to those residing on the island on the Blood Sea which the language is named for. The people who live there are descendents of the freed slaves and criminals fleeing the Empire of Istar following the cataclysm. Many are still pirates to this day. The language is know for its long vowels and sharp sounds.
Solamnic
slm or 035
The language of Solamnia, commonly spoken among human populations of Ansalon. Full of distinctive and strong consonants, the language can sound harsh, but it is spoken most commonly by those wishing to further the decaying legacy of the Knights of Solamnia.
Greyhawk
Old Oeridian
oer
Ancient Suloise
sul
Ancient Baklunish
bak
Flan
fla
Agnostic (Racial Languages)
Elven
elv
Dwarven
dwv
Halfling
hlf
Orcish
orc
Draconic
drc
No character is conversationally (spoken word) fluent in Draconic in The Domains of Dread. It is assumed that by taking this language, the character hails from a setting where Draconic is the language of spellcraft, such as Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms. In this way they would know enough Draconic to recite incantations and read relevant scripture. In the Realms of Terror, spellcraft is performed in the vernacular language, a cultic patois or precursor by native individuals.