Back

Languages in Sulaar

Common: The founders of Hawkwind spoke common, as they did in the land they originated from. This was passed on through the generations and aside from a few slang words that developed and other words or phrases that were taken from the languages of neighboring lands, it's pretty much the same. This language is considered common for all tense and purposes. In the Loomian Empire, many scholars as well as government personnel and military officers are taught common for the purposes of infiltration and deciphering intercepted information or messages. Rinns have also learned "Hawkwind Common", as they call it, and can speak it quite well. It's taught for the sake of enhancing communication and business between the two friendly nations. In fact, it's so common that it's the unofficial second language of Rinnland.

Rinn: As you've read in Stories From Hawkind, you'll recall the lands of Rinnland and Loomia. Rinns speak their own language based on a very crude form of common; so crude that speakers of Common won't pick up more than a word or two... literally, one or two. Their language sounds like Latin and could be a crude, early dialect of Common.

Lommian: Loomians speak Loomian, their native tongue. It is very smooth and easy to pronounce, but very large in structure. It contains many words, some with multiple uses and many which are interchangeable. This leads to nearly 13 genders within the grammar. For example, in common, one may use the same word in 10 different applications (consider "the"), while in Loomia, they actually use 10 different words, each representing a different usage (i.e. the wagon and the person and the day vs. til wagon, het person, the day).

Chilna: Loomia also has an ancient and forgotten tongue named Chilna. It was originally practiced exclusively among sages, spellcasters and nobility during its earlier years as a means to communicate important information that had no business with the "common man". It surfaces on occasion whenever someone conducts ancient research dealing with that land. Many Loomian artifacts have been discovered in Hawkwind, primarily on the now-abandoned northwest coast, which were found to have words and scriptures written in Chilna across their surface.

Sheen: The Sheen Islands speak a broken and very complex language. Unusual when you consider the level of education and artistry they have attained. The Sheen language sounds like a mix between Russian and Chinese and is quite difficult to learn. This makes people, outside of Sheen natives, who know this language very unique.

Big: The giant community in the Northern Bottoms has adapted a language all their own, humorously named "Big" by Hawkwind sages. Because it was created in the Northern Bottoms, and because they have very limited exposure to the outside world, it is a language that will not be heard anywhere else. Anyone who speaks Giant will understand the majority of things said (70%), but there are many words, especially frequently used terms, which may go incomprehensible.

Hawkwind Hob: Finally, the Broken-Bone clan of Hobgoblins east and northeast of the Barony speak a dialect of standard hobgoblin. This gives anyone that knows regular hobgoblin a slim 10% chance of understanding what Hawkwind Hobs are saying. By the same token, those versed in Hawkwind Hob will have the same slim chances of understanding traditional hobgoblin.

Back
1