Speaking Like an Azergadling
Common Tongues of Azergad
Azergad is a diverse world full of intelligent beings that speak a huge variety of languages. Below is a brief guide to help you understand common tongues.
Common serves as the primary trade language throughout Azergad, developed from ancient human diplomatic traditions and now spoken by educated members of most races. It uses a standardized script (a simplified version of Inazri) that has been adapted by many other languages.
Kystri functions as the dominant trade language throughout the Kystrilands and coastal regions of the Violet Sea. Born from dwarven maritime culture, it combines various dwarven dialects with Common words and is considered essential for sea traders. Expect most merchants, seafarers and coastal dwellers to speak it at a basic level, at least.
Wendric (Uncommon) serves as the traveling tongue of wanderers, nomads, and long-distance traders. Created by the Wendric halflings, it incorporates vocabulary from numerous languages and uses the Common script. Many Common words are present in Wendric with varying degrees of modification, but often have different meanings. Caravaneers, guides, and adventurers learn Wendric to communicate across cultural boundaries. Nowadays, it is frequently used as a lingua franca among the northern and eastern rural regions of Azergad, including Zilwynbar, Azelliot, Bisengal, and Inazria.
Veldtwin is the language of the Veldtwin, the predominant people group spanning the entire length of the Veldt forest. The Veldt is a forest of impressively massive trees: they are wide enough to fit entire towns, potentially stand kilometers tall, and grow in close proximity to each other. Veldt-dwellers frequently live high up in the leaves and branches of the giant trees. This is because the forest floor tends to be cold, void of useful resources, and full of dangerous monsters. Constant square kilometers of forest span the length of several nations.
Currently, the Veldt occupies the bulk of northern Avarazhan, thins out at the border between eastern Inazria and western Azelliot, and stretches through the foothills of southern Bisengal and western Zilwinbar. This unique region has been continually administered by the Veldtwin for centuries, and thus travellers who seek to pass through it must speak and understand the language at a basic level. Veldtwin is frequently spoken as a second language by people groups that live throughout or near the forest.
Common Communication Styles
While role playing as someone from one of Azergad’s many people groups, consult this short guide for how to talk to other characters:
Direct vs. Subtle: Orcs, Dwarves, and Hyzalians typically prefer straightforward communication, while Elves, Kelanari, and Dalvas often use indirect methods. Halflings adapt their style to their audience.
Volume and Pace: Kaikone Dwarves and Jaziko Dalvas speak loudly and quickly, Lendolo Dalvas speak slowly and quietly, while Hyzalians combine verbal and gestural communication. Mismatched communication styles can lead to unintended offense - know your audience!
The Dalvas Voice: A Dalvas throat holds many tones and volumes at once, including clicks, doubled tones, and layered sounds no other mouth can make. Therefore, a Dalvas language can only be understood by a studious outsider - not ever fully spoken by one. Expect a Dalvas to speak at volume as a courtesy rather than a breach of it, to hold conversations across absurd distances, and to treat a new song, dance, or story as the only proper payment for hospitality. Arriving at a Dalvas camp with nothing to perform is the true faux pas.
Signals Beyond Speech: Some peoples carry whole languages that are not speech at all. The Vailoko dwarves of Andasena keep a whistled register that cuts through the roar of their waterfalls (outsiders hear only birdsong), the Yaz’togal orcs signal across the Marram by horn and banner, and Pelagoran Kelanari communities sing verses that carry for miles across open water. All three will patiently teach the basics to a trusted friend. Being taught is usually considered a great honor and a clear sign of acceptance.
Hospitality: Dalvas, Wendric halflings, and most humans have very social and multi-cultural societies, while Elves, Orcs and Hyzalians prefer minimal formal interaction with outsiders.