Ruathlek

**Ruathlek** is a "secret language" and magical script of Illusionist mages. It was created by the cooperation of the goddess of illusions and deception, Leira, and the descendants of the Netherese that had established themselves on the isle of Nimbral. Rather than use Iokharic as its script, Leira and the mages created a magically guarded script that could be deciphered without higher-level spells. Ruathlek and its new script became popular among the mages of Nimbral, and even became a popular secret language among Illusionist mages outside the island who had been taught it. On Nimbral however, the language quickly evolved from a secret language to the primary language of the magically-inclined Nimbrali.

## Speakers

On Nimbral, Ruathlek is far from a secret language- being used for both magical and mundane activities on a daily basis. Leira, being a patron deity of the magic-loving peoples of Nimbral, allowed her chosen mages to spread the language to others on the island nation- on one condition. While the people of Nimbral would be taught the inherently magical tongue and its strange script, no one from outside the island was allowed the secret without dedicating themselves to the art of Illusion magic- and they could only be taught the language by a Nimbrali descent. This was not only a law for the mages to follow, but something enforced by the deity herself.

As a result, outside of Nimbral usage of the language in its spoken form is extremely rare- though mages as far as Luskan prize tomes written in Ruathlek and cast expensive rituals just to decipher the magically-guarded script. Initially, only powerful illusionists trained on Nimbral spoke the language and learned to read it naturally, though this number has increased after the death of Leira during the Time of Troubles. No longer bound by divine will to spread the language, Illusionists from outside of Nimbral were now capable of teaching it to other mages of high skill, as long as they specialized in Illusion magic.

## Script

Ruathlek's script is the reason the language is valued so highly by mages. Only skilled Illusionists, or someone of Nimbrali descent, can comprehend the strange script as it truly is. Anyone who attempts to learn the script without this descent or skill will find themselves unable to comprehend the writings, with some mages even going mad attempting to. Spells such as a *comprehend languages* or *tongues* do not work when attempting to understand spoken or written Ruathlek, though some closely guarded rituals known by many archmages in Toril are able to decipher the language even without the caster dedicating their skills to the Illusion school.

Due to the properties of the Ruathlek script, many Illusionists who have learned the magical language choose to use it in their Spellbooks as extra protection against those who wish to steal their closely guarded knowledge.

## Appendix

### Connections

* **Waelic**
	+ Waelan | Cosh | Druidic
* **Ulou**
	+ **Netherese**
	+ **High Ulutim**
		- Uluik | Ulutiun
	+ **Low Ulutim**
	+ **Chardic**
		- Damaran | Easting
	+ **Central Thorass**
	+ **North Thorass**
		- Auld Tharian | Tharian | Zhentarim Argot
	+ **East Thorass**
		- Aglarondan | Telpi
	+ Turmic
* **Chessan**
	+ **Chessentic**
		- Auld Chessic | Thresk | Chessentan | Alambit
	+ **Akalaic**