Nations and Cultures

Nations and Cultures

 * 1)  Languages
 * 2)  Nations
 * 3)  City States
 * 4)  Guilds
 * 1)  City States
 * 2)  Guilds
 * 1)  Guilds

1.0 Languages
Xolvyria has a wide variety of languages that very strongly from one another. In the current age it is common in most societies for someone to be fluent in at least two languages by the time they reach adulthood.

A soft and musical language with many words and many ways to describe things of beauty, virtue, and strength. The myriad of concepts covered in incredible detail in Celestial makes it a favored choice for philosophical debates. The beautiful and soothing nature of the language makes those debates almost tolerable to listen to. Smooth and sibilant, Chthonic is often compared to smoke or fine scotches by connoisseurs of language. It is also the the speech of the Burning Lands, the realm of demons who, historically, tend to not have the best interests of other peoples at heart. This earns it the nickname of "Infernal" from most mortal races. Regardless, it is not uncommon for successful merchants or members of nobility to be well versed in it, as the language is second to none for contracts and legalese. Bombastic and grand, Draconic is the language used by dragons to communicate with one another and with the chosen few they have gifted with it. It utilizes large, polysyllabic words with rapid-fire speech and razor-sharp enunciation. It is incredibly difficult to master, but those determined to be truly insufferable at parties are often avid scholars of the language. Without question, Entropal is the most dangerous language in existence. Most mortal species can barely form the words without brutal surgeries, and speaking it for any length of time literally tears the speaker apart from the inside, giving the language it's colloquial name of "The Red Tongue."
 * Celestial
 * Chthonic
 * Draconic
 * Entropal

Regardless if the risks, there are some who study the language in secret as there are certain magics that can only be performed with Entropal incantations... and certain beings who will answer to no other speech save their own.


 * Fennish

The Fennish language masters the art of contradiction. Spoken by the multitude of different societies that dwell in the southern marshlands, Fennish is a soft-spoken and the speakers often sound somewhat demure to those of different linguistic origins. However, it is an incredibly direct language focused on conveying information at speed, with many different small words to convey elaborate concepts in a short amount of time. Developed by those who dwell in truly monster-infested areas, and in some cases the monsters themselves, Fennish is unique in that is quite intelligible even when spoken at very low volumes.

This is probably going to sound like Welsh?
 * Halfling Placeholder

Resonant and solem, Primordial is spoken primarily by elemental beings and minor gods, but it is also embraced by a handful of mortal societies. It contains words for many concepts that have no direct parallels to things comprehensible to mortal minds, so those words are frequently used as profanity, euphemisms, or innuendo.
 * Primordial


 * Sigillic*

The full lexicon of this language is recorded in only one place: carved deeply into the anvil of Ausha, the World-Forger. Smatterings of it exist in places, primarily as components of Invocations. A mortal being cannot use this language to communicate, as it would manifest unbridled and catastrophic acts of creation. Named for the flow of coin it facilitates, Silvertongue is one of the more difficult languages to learn. This is ironic because it is the most commonly used language to convey information from one culture to another. It is a chaotic pidgin dialect of several other languages mashed together with contradictory rules and very context-specific spelling and pronunciation for words. It is incredibly difficult to convey highly complex or technical information in it, so most traders know a few other languages as a backup. Sparktongue is dominant language of the southeastern continent, spoken by both of the warring factions that occupy the the lower two thirds of the region. It is considered to be harsh, guttural, and overly blunt. However, it has a number of incredibly specific words that easily convey some extremely esoteric concepts. Lyrical, poetic and lilting, Stormspeech is primarily used by the remnants of the Loxodon empire, but is also highly favored by bards, storytellers, and writers for it's graceful composition and ease of rhyming. Many are those who appreciate the language, but most do not understand more than a handful of words, so it is often used as a way to obliquely insult people during various performances.
 * Silvertongue
 * Sparktongue*
 * Stormspeech

Spoken by the inhabitants of the central deserts and northeastern, Luminal is a joyous-sounding and vibrant language with sensible grammar and few linguistic pitfalls. This makes it a highly popular choice among traders, diplomats, and anyone tending to do a lot of travel. Spoken by the Fey and the tribes dwelling in or near the Forest of a Thousand Teeth, Sylvan is the language of the natural world. much of the Sylvan language consists of what most mortals consider to be "sound effects" instead of words. Employing a bizarre and difficult script of intersecting lines, Sylvan is nonetheless a vital language for interacting with the Fey, as they consider cultural mistranslations and implied double meanings from other languages to be more of a "you" problem.
 * Luminal
 * Sylvan