Whalesong

Whalesong was the language spoken by all species of whales, aquatic mammals that inhabited the oceans of Toril and whose high intelligence was often overlooked by surface dwellers.
Instances of speech in this language were sometimes referred by other creatures as "whale songs" or "whalesongs". On other times, such instances of speech were given a prefix based on context, such as "mournsongs" or "mourning songs".
==Speakers==
Beyond whales themselves, Whalesong was commonly known in the oceans of Zakhara by the pahari. It was also a common secondary language among sea druids, a type of specialty priest in the Church of Deep Sashelas.
==Phonology==
Whalesong consisted of a series of booming squeals, squeaks, buzzes, clicks, and whistles.
Much like the dolphin language, Whalesong was a pure-sound language. This was in contrast to the many languages based around verbal speech that were employed by humans, demihumans, and humanoids. It was considered to be rather difficult for other creatures to fully emulate their language or even understand it—especially surface dwellers, who lacked the enhanced auditory and vocal capabilities of dolphins and whales necessary for such higher sounds. Not even the normally language proficient priests of Deneir were capable of speaking it. Combined with the high density of water, which allowed sound waves to travel four times faster than in the air, the haunting cacophony of whalesong was inescapable for those that dwelled beneath the waves. Some referred to it as being part of the background noise of the ocean depths, the "Hum of the Deep".
==History==
When the mythal of the underwater city of Myth Nantar was raised in , the Dukars added a noise-cancellation effect to block out the constant Hum of the Deep. However, their attunement of the mythal made an exception for whalesong, allowing it to penetrate the city's magical barrier.
Once every four years, on the same day that the Aryselmalyr Empire fell, the whales of Serôs sang a notably distinct whalesong. This leap day would later come to be marked in the Timesong calendar as "Sashelsong".
Following the Twelfth Serôs War, the tragic death of Nahaal the Great Whale during the conflict led the Sorlyn of Myth Nantar to establish a new tradition of undertaking pilgrimages to the deeper depths of the Inner Sea so that they could sing alongside whale pods in memorial of the great bard. This tradition was readily embraced by the Sorlyn faithful throughout Serôs.
==Notable Speakers==
* Oel'yvia Reefglider, a sea elven woman who worked as a barmaid at Bindle's Blade, had an uncanny ability to sing in Whalesong and would occasionally entertain guests with her lyrical abilities.
* Samalli, a witch rumored to live on Thordentor, was according to legend capable of sending out whale songs and that it was for this reason upwards of thirty whales annually beached themselves on the island.
* Among the people of Serôs, whalesong was counted as part of the divine portfolio of Milil, a Faerûnian and Serôsian deity of music. A few of the whales in Serôs were even worshipers of Milil, singing their language for the Sorlyn clergy in Myth Nantar.
* Many of the humpback whales of Serôs were bards in the Church of Oghma, who recited their ancient legends to the Oghmanytes through whalesong. Through their language the whale bards preserved much of the history and lore of Serôs. These Oghmanyte whale bards also possessed a unique ability to temporarily translate whalesong into Common.
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
===References===
===Connections===
Category:Languages