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There are many languages in the world, and they are encountered in both spoken and
written form. While the gnome necromancer has already mastered the only important
language – Gnomish – a study of other languages can be helpful in communicating
with those lesser creatures who are destined to be our slaves.
All languages can be learned by spending enough time with a tutor, who can speak to you
in the language until you understand it. This process won't take long for gnomes.
Some languages can also be learned from your necromantic guildmaster, but the training
sessions are expensive in more ways than one, so finding a tutor is best. Those languages
which can be learned from the guildmaster are noted below. Note that guildmasters will not
train some languages until the necromancer has acheived a certain level of power.
Common Languages
There are a few languages which are normally shared by many races. This makes them
broadly useful, and finding an instructor shouldn't be difficult at all.
| Language |
Training |
100 Ways to Say... |
| Common Tongue |
None |
"I'm selling this for 50 gold." |
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Everyone is taught the Common Tongue as a child,
mostly so we can communicate with those linguistically-challenged humans who
know little else. Since everyone has it mastered, it's used almost exclusively.
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| Dark Speech |
Evil Tutor |
"Kill them now." |
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In the distant past, when the Teir'Dal first began
their dealings with the trolls and the ogres, the language barrier was substantial.
Eventually, the mutual efforts to communicate resulted in the Dark Speech, which
resembles a mixture of an elf whining, a troll grunting, a lizard hissing, and an
ogre howling – only not as pleasant. Nevertheless, as we necromancers
occasionally deal with such folk, it can be useful on occasion. The interested
gnome is encouraged to find a suitable tutor.
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| Thieves Cant |
Rogue |
"Shhh!" |
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Rogues of all races use a long-established
language of hand signs, code words, and catchphrases to communicate among
their own kind. It is of little use to the necromancer, but a fellow gnome
may wish to share a few phrases with you.
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Racial Languages
Before interracial trade made the Common Tongue the order of the day, the individual races
mostly kept to their own native speech. This was good, since we didn't have to listen to the
prattle of the lesser races.
| Language |
Training |
100 Ways to Say... |
| Barbarian |
Barbarian |
"UGH! Me tough!" |
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The barbarian language is approximately as useful
as your typical barbarian. I've occasionally had a pet that seemed to know a few
barbarian words.
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| Dwarven |
Dwarf |
"Hand me another ale!" |
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The dwarven language is a corrupted and simplified
offshoot of the advanced gnomish tongue. Yes, the dwarves were created first, but
let's be honest – they're not really known for their linguistic skills,
are they? In fact, "dvarf" is the gnomish word for "slow
learner." All gnomes, being familiar with gnomish, have a basic grasp of
dwarvish, but understanding their guttural dialect can be a challenge.
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| Elvish |
Elf |
"You offend me." |
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I do not have a deep and abiding love for elves
or the language they speak. Nonetheless, the written form of the elven language
is quite elaborate and compelling, and a good elven scribe can turn out a page
of text that rivals the other races' best artwork in terms of beauty and form.
Spoken elvish sounds apologetic to gnomish ears, something about the intonation,
and it can get on your nerves.
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| Erudian |
Erudite |
"Read the manual." |
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Not surprisingly, the Erudites have developed a
language that's almost as complex as gnomish. It's an excellent tongue for
debate, and an absolute necessity for theoretical magical research.
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| Gnomish |
Gnome |
"I've got an idea." |
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Subtle and mischevious, expansive and yet capable
of expressing volumes in a single word, gnomish is the language of choice if
you're trying to convey poetry, science, humor, politics, jewelcraft, magic, or
anything else worth spending your time talking about.
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| Halfling |
Halfling |
"Ouch!" |
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The squeaky chattering sound of the native
halfling tongue can't be mistaken for anything else. This is good, because
it makes targeting easier in the dark.
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| Lizardman |
Iksar |
"Die, soft skin!" |
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For a so-called "degenerate" race, the
iksar wrote down an awful lot of things in their native tongue. If you plan on
visiting Kunark (which I recommend every necromancer do at some point), it's
worth your time to find an iksar tutor, preferably a fellow necromancer, and
pick up at least the basics. Given the language's sibilant nature, it's an
excellent choice for chanting maledictions, as every word sounds truly evil.
You'll have an easily recognizable accent, though, unless you opt for a rather
painful tongue surgery.
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| Ogre |
Ogre |
"Move the troops." |
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You might expect the native language of the ogres
to be rather simple and childish. It is not; not quite, anyway. In everyday use,
yes, the ogre speech is short and harsh, almost brutish. That changes the moment
one enters the battlefield, where their elaborate grammer and extensive vocabulary
of war is immediately apparent. Even now, after the curse, an ogre general is not
to be trifled with, for his every thought is born from the language of strife.
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| Teir'Dal |
Dark Elf |
"I hate that." |
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Embarrassingly enough, the language of the sinister
dark elves is rather dull. I'm sure a dark elf would say that their language
reflects the subtle evolution of their race; I say, bah. Dull, dull, dull.
Functional, yes. Worth learning, yes. Dull, yes.
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| Troll |
Troll |
"Snack." |
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Just thinking in troll makes you hungry. The
name for practically everything that moves is also, coincidentally, the name
for some kind of food. Aside from that, the troll speech (I've never seen it
written) is pretty much what you'd expect it to be, with lots of words for
"swamp," "torture" and "blood" but only one
word for "city" (which, as it happens, is also the word for
"ruin"). Trolls I know swear that theirs is the Language of Romance.
I don't care to pursue that.
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| Vah Shir |
Vah Shir |
"Grrrrrrr." |
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I haven't spent much time with the Vah Shir,
but what little I've heard of their tongue left me with an impression of
growls, purrs, and whines. Some study of the language is in order if you plan
on spending any length of time on Luclin, although the language is poorly suited
for the gnomish throat (or, for that matter, the throat of most humanoids).
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Monstrous Languages
Many of the less adventuresome races (some would say "monsters") have racial
languages of their own. As a tribute to how low the humans will sink in their trade relations,
all of these races now speak the Common Tongue to a greater or lesser degree.
| Language |
Training |
100 Ways to Say... |
| Dragon |
Guild |
"Foolish mortals." |
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The language of Dragons is difficult to master,
particularly in speech. However, the dedicated necromancer will make the effort,
as the third book of necromantic research is written
in Dragon runes.
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| Faerie |
Guild |
"Mushrooms?" |
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It surprises some people to discover that I have
a relatively good opinion of faeries. While they do seem a bit too friendly
with the elves, they have enough sense not to bother those who do not bother
them. I appreciate that in a neighbor. Their tendency to keep to themselves
perhaps explains why their language is almost entirely unknown – I have
neither seen nor heard the Faerie tongue.
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| Froglok |
Guild |
"Croaaaak!" |
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I've been tempted to learn the secrets of the
weird Froglok tongue just to have a few words with their necromancers. Which god
do they follow? How are they raising their ghouls? An alliance with a small army of
undead frogloks would fit nicely into my plans for Norrath. Outside of such
personal conversations, though, there is little reason to make the effort to learn
their speech.
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| Gnoll |
Guild |
"Intruders!" |
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If you need to yell and scream a bit, the yipping,
barking languages of the gnolls makes for great stress relief. There are also
histories kept by some tribes which may interest scholars and explorers. It
really is a shame that the noble and resourceful gnoll tribes have been brought
to such a level of paranoia and distrust through their dealings with the
humans. They no longer exhibit their friendly nature known from ages past, and now
they even fight among their own kind, which was virtually unheard of until recently.
Perhaps giving them Halas as a peace offering would begin the healing process.
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| Goblin |
Guild |
"Fire, fire, burning higher." |
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Learn the goblin tongue if you wish to know the
language of the enemy. The war between Goblin and Gnome has been going on for
ages, and will only end when we're finally rid of the vile creatures.
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| Orcish |
Guild |
"Set up a camp here, we fight soon." |
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From the fortress of Crushbone to the camps in
the Desert of Ro, the orcs prepare for battle. They've been preparing for
battle for ages, and their language reflects it; the only indications of
time, for example, are "before the battle," "during the
battle" and "after the battle" (with further modifiers to specify
which battle). Unlike the ogres, however, there are no greater concepts
of strategy and tactics. The orcs are footsoldiers, not generals, and their
thoughts and words are only for the next attack.
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Ancient Languages
There are a few languages that are no longer natively spoken. For some languages, the native
speakers are no longer to be found. For others, the language has evolved so greatly over time
that the modern version bears only a moderate resemblance to its distant beginnings.
| Language |
Training |
100 Ways to Say... |
| Combine |
Guild |
"Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair." |
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The Combine tongue rivals both Erudian and Gnomish
for magical and technological development. It is not a simple language, but its
logical structure make it less of a challenge to learn than many other languages.
Finding a fluent tutor is the difficulty. Curiously, many of the giants in the
world seem to speak a crude dialect of Combine, perhaps as a result of some
joint effort in that distant past; you may occasionally see this language
referred to as Giant.
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| Elder Dragon |
Guild |
"So be it." |
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In the beginning, Elder Dragon was the only language.
There are those who still know it, hidden away, but even they do not use it for
casual speech. It is the language of the oldest and darkest magic, and simply
learning its twisted runes can have profound effects on the mind. Some powerful
necromancers attempt to master this most difficult of tongues, since it is the
key to understanding the final secrets of necromantic
research; other necromancers choose to learn those secrets secondhand,
willing to forego complete understanding in favor of mental stability.
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| Elder Elvish |
Guild |
"This is an old forest." |
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As much as I'd like to hate it, I find Elder Elvish
to be a fascinating language, with subtleties and evocative phrases that can
simultaneously inspire courage and chill the blood. In addition to the expected broad
vocabulary concerning nature and "pure" magic, there's a surprising
degree of depth in the areas of stonework, smithing, and dragon lore. For reasons
detailed elsewhere, necromancers who wish to delve into their own practice of
necromantic research will need to spend a bit of effort
getting their Elder Elvish to a reasonable level of mastery.
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| Elder Erudian |
Guild |
"Knowledge." |
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Historically, it is the language of Erud and of
Miragul. Many of the original treatises on the theories of magic are written
in Elder Erudian, making it a fairly well-known language in the circles of
scholars and librarians. The modern necromancer has little use for it,
however.
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| Elder Teir'Dal |
Guild |
"This is going to hurt." |
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Elder Teir'Dal is everything that Modern Teir'Dal
isn't: refined but with a harsh edge, darkly suggestive, easily adapting to both
wicked-sounding curses and soft veiled threats. It is ideally suited for darker
magics, and has a long history of use in necromantic texts – as particularly
demonstrated in the second book of necromantic research.
Every necromancer, researching or not, should make an effort to master this
expressively evil tongue. As an interesting aside, I've heard a few phrases of
Elder Teir'Dal spoken by kobolds. How and when those dim beasts picked up words
from such an advanced language is quite beyond by understanding.
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