Selan has had several very ancient cultures in its long history. Each has created a language family and separate dialects
down through the ages. Characters with one language can attempt to understand and speak any other language in the same
family. For every step away from the known language, there is an additional -50 penalty to skill rolls for a very basic
understanding of meaning. Different languages in the same tier have only a penalty of -25 to all skill rolls.
This penalty applies to any word-games, cryptography, or other language-based puzzles.
Once the dwarves and elves went to war, they began using new terms and words to confuse the enemy. Each eventually created a new language for their own people. The elves called this Warlon after the family name of their High General. The dwarves continued to call their language Hannarian; they felt that they were continuing the grand traditions and culture created by their ancestors. Even so, the language continued to evolve into Modern Hannarian as new terms, ideas, and technology was created. Rumors exist of another form of Hannarian spoken by dwarves who never left their underground homes and instead dug deeper into Selan: Deep Hannarian. The truth of the existance of this language has never been proven to the satisfaction of prominent sages and scholars.
When the elves arrived upon the surface they destroyed most references and sources of the original language of the human kingdoms that were there at the time. This original language was known as Selanese and is a separate language group. The elves forced their subject races to learn their own language of Warlon. The original language languished and died under the oppressive elven regime. The vartith and legyre were able to maintain their original tribal languages, even under the significant elven pressure.
Eventually the elven nobles decided that they required a more formal and refined language for their courtly affairs. The result was a finer and softer sounding language with many slippery multiple definitions for words. High Warlon, also sometimes known as Courtly Warlon, was born. The more common version of Warlon was dubbed Low Warlon and was relegated to the slave races and elven commoners.
After the Great Rebellion, the language slowly divided further. Nothing was deliberately done to cause this split, words
and meanings simply changed and altered with the long course of history. The Merchant Kingdoms on the far side of the
mountains eventually developed a version called Mercan. This version has many words still in common with its elven
heritage. Students of Mercan have only a -25 skill penalty to understand Low Warlon, but a -35 penalty to understand the
other common language derivatives.
Faistian is a variant of Mercan that is spoken in the Republic of Faistan. Located at the pass between the Merchant Kingdoms and the Empire of E'gath, it has been very influenced by both Mercan and E'gathin. Speakers of Faistian have only a -15 penalty to speak either language, but a -35 penalty to speak other derivatives in this language family. Kuriel is a nation of xenophobes. Their language is rarely known, much less spoken outside the Nation of Kuriel. The few individuals that leave the borders usually share this suspicion. Only a handful of outsiders can read or speak this language, and guard this knowledge very carefully. There is a -50 penalty for any of the other derivative languages in this family to understand this language.
The language of the Empire of E'gath is simply known as E'gathin. E'gathin is spoken across the entire empire, but has three distinct dialects and accents. The western half of the empire has a predominantly british accent and dialect. The farther east one travels, the more germanic the dialect becomes. The whole empire is interspersed with pockets of unusual dialects that vary from the local standard. One such dialect abberation exists in the northeast of the empire where the local dialect greatly resembles Scottish. The Duchy of Rantoric has a french inflection to their speech, and their vocabulary has changed significantly from standard E'gathin. If this trend continues for several more centuries, scholars believe that Rantoric may be an additional language in the E'gathin family.
At the time of the Great Rebellion, the Pelini Isles spoke the common Low Warlon of their neighbors. For a long while afterwards they spoke the same developing E'gathin language. Eventually their isolation from the mainland weakened their ties to the original language. The Pelini language was born, and with its extensive maritime vocabulary quickly became the language of choice for sailors and seafarers.
Wartith is the tribal language of the Vartith. It is spoken primarily by the Vartith of the tribal lands. It is also spoken in Drachan, but is often intermixed with Mercan. Wartith does not have a written version of the language, instead it draws upon the pictograph style and meaning of the Leganese language.
Leganese is only spoken in the Tribal Lands of the Legyre. The spoken language has borrowed words and concepts from the other Warlon derived languages when needed. They rarely use this additional vocabulary, preferring to rely on their traditional skills and methods. The written language of Leganese does not use a traditional alphabet. Instead it uses a pictographic form for each word and concept. Original Leganese pictograms were far more iconic in design - the symbols seemed more like illustrations than modern design. Now the pictograms use simple lines, slashes, and shapes to generate the feel of the original picture.
Selanese was the name for the language shared by a large number of loosely aligned kingdoms, citystates, and human nations. This language was most common on the E'gathin penninsula, but several island chains and small outposts also used this language. Human seafarers transported their culture and language far and wide, with a significant co-mingling with the Kingdom of Akuacin. In fact, the two cultures eventually began using the coins and money from the other. If the gods and elves had not interfered, they might now be a powerful and united nation. Now the Selanese language is simply an oddity to be studied and researched by sages and scholars. Even then, very few examples of the language exists today in the Empire of E'gath.
Akuacine is the language spoken by the Tritons that live under the waves of the Great Sea. This proud people had great hopes and loyalties to the daring sailors that sailed above them. Akuacine has a much softer and more flowing sound to the words they use. The average triton also speaks with a higher pitch to their voice, making even the most masculine triton sound feminine in their speech.
Garnathian is a very dead language. It was at one time the language of the Nation of Garnath, now its entire former territory is a deserted wasteland of rocks and sand. A few examples of Garnathian still exist, often with lettering several feet in height. Some scholars suggest that a very mutated and degenerated form of Garnathian may still be used by modern ogres and giants. This uncultured and bastardized version of Garnathian is often simply called giantspeak. The final language of this language group has never had any formal ties to Selan: the Realm of Shadow. The realm of shadow seems to be an alternate plane of existance that is very similar to the original layout and culture of Selan. Mages and others who summon shadows have occasionally noted the lack of any elven looking shadows. Perhaps the elven invasion that occurred on Selan never happened in that other world.
Nogar is the racial language of the Nogashim and a common trade language in the Dragonmouth Desert. While the elves did enslave many Nogashim, the Dragonsmouth Desert was simply not attractive enough to spend the time and resources to conquer. As a result many Nogashim never experienced the harsh elven oppression so common to the ancestors of the other races. Nogar has changed very little over time. New technologies, magics, and philosophy rarely travels as far as the northern desert and their language has stagnated. It is commonly used by Chak'arian traders and merchants who travel to the northern coast to trade with Nogashim and other travellers.
Chak'arian is a very rare language outside of the Dragonsmouth Desert. Chak'ar are not fearful of outsiders learning their language, they simply don't see the point in expending time and effort to teach it. Few Chak'ar venture beyond their borders, and those rare few simply find it easier to learn Nogar. Chak'arian is very harsh and has many clicking consonant sounds. The written language is runic in nature, with sharp lines, angles, and dots used to inscribe stone and metal.
Gruzzan is a very growlish language used by the bear-like Gruzzo. Like the Nogashim, the Climate of continent of Ice and Claws was simply not conducive to conquering. Instead the elves created slaveports, in order to capture and transport individuals to their gladiatorial arenas. Gruzzo tend to be very suspicious of everyone, including other Gruzzo. The live isolated and solitary lives, occasionally meeting with close family and friends. Rumors of Gruzzan suggest that the language has thirty different words for snow, eighteen for cold, fifty-five for ice and only two for friend.