Languages

There are many cultures and languages spread throughout the world of Eberron. Strangely, every language *regardless of origin* uses the same name for the world. This is one of the pieces of evidence that supports the myth of the Progenitors: Eberron, Siberys, and Khyber are somehow universal terms. It’s possible that this is due to dragons pushing them on developing cultures, or it could be a magical effect of the prophesy.

## Language Rules

### Translation

In order to translate a message, either from a different language or from a difficult-to-understand dialect of the same language, you need to make an Intelligence (Glyphbook) check. The base DC for tanslating a simple message in a language you have proficiency in is 15, affected by the following modifiers:

 Different language script
 Different language family
 Using a Glyphbook

### Character Abilities

* **Druid: Druidic.** The Druidic language is known as Vvaar, and is part of the Eberral family. Regardless of whether a character knows the Vvaar language, the ability to use hidden messages is unique to the class feature.
* **Rogue: Thieves' Cant.** There are multiple types of thieves' cant that are used by different criminal organizations. When you gain this ability, you learn a number of normal, secret, or dead languages equal to your intelligence modifier (minimum of 1). Remember that knowledge of secret languages are not freely shared with outsiders, so choose options that make sense for your character. Regardless of whether a character knows a secret language, the ability to hide messages in ordinary speech is unique to the class feature.
* **Linguist (Feat).** You learn an additional number of languages equal to your intelligence modifier (minimum of 1). The languages you learn from this feat can be normal, secret, or dead languages. Additionally, you gain proficiency in the Glyphbook.

### Innate Languages

Ancestries with ties to the planes or shared dreams are born with an innate tie to a magically-transmitted language and culture. If your race has an innate language, you must choose it.

You must choose the language given on the Innate Languages table as one of your languages.

### Secret and Dead Languages

Secret and dead languages can't be learned by normal means, but they can be translated by a character with a glyphbook. Secret languages are often literally encoded, but sometimes they represent a language used by an isolated community. Dead languages are tongues that are no longer have any speakers; some ancient languages have *never* been translated into common. Dead languages are marked with a dagger symbol (†), and secret languages are marked with a double dagger symbol (‡) in the text.

## Rhiavhaan Family - Khorvaire

The Rhiavhaan family descend from the ancient languages of Sarlona, the cradle of humanity. Today, Rhiavhaan languages are commonly spoken across Khorvaire, but it also has descendants beneath the waves and in modern Khorvaire.

## Cryptographic Family - Thieves' Cant

Cryptography is not an actual language family as such, but a study of one set of secret messages grants facility with deciphering any of them, and they’re treated as a language family by this guide.

## Dhakaal Family - Goblin

The Dhakaal family is descended from the engineered language of the ancient Dhakaani Empire; while its descendants’ spread remains restricted to lower-class areas, Darguun, and Droaam today, its script has reached far beyond its origins.

 Goblin, Hagspit | Droaamites; Hagspit is a pidgin of every monsterous language in the area, but draws most heavily from goblin.
 Taarka’vuul | Worgs, worg riders
 Dhakaal ‡ (Ancient Goblin)

## Eberral Family - Druidic, Primordial

Eberral is the language of Lamannia and the natural world; creatures with Lamannian or primal origins often speak Eberral languages, and the Druidic language is derived from Eberral as well.

## Khybran Family - Abyssal, Infernal

The languages of Khyber are spoken by fiends and their mortal creations.

## Lashti Family - Sarlona, Quori

The root -lasht- in these languages means “dream”, and many Khorvairians are familiar with the rumor that in Riedra nobody ever has nightmares, leading some to suspect that the Inspired channel the power of Dal Quor, but with Dal Quor knocked from its orbit, Khorvairian mages cannot summon quori and realize that their language is one and the same with that of the Inspired. Kalashtar, of course, know the truth.

## Oural Family - Giant

The Oural family, named after the giant god Ouralon Lawbringer, is spoken throughout Xen’drik.

## Siberine Family - Celestial, Draconic

The Siberine family is the speech of celestials and mortals closely associated with them.

## Sylvan Family - Elven, Gnomish, Sylvan

Sylvan languages descend from the musical speech of Thelanis, and usually have a tonal element.

## Xoriai Family - Undercommon, Deep Speech, Dwarven

Xoriai languages descend from Xoriat, the Realm of Madness, even when the connection is not immediately obvious.

## Khorvaire Languages (wip)

As humans immigrated from the continent Sarlona, so did the precursors of modern human languages and scripts. For more information on these tongues see the Exotic Languages page.

**Common (Galifarian).** *Script: Common.* **Common** is the official common language of the Kingdom of Galifar, descended from the Old Common spoken by settlers from the continent of Sarlona. Though both Riedran and Common come from the root Old Common, they have evolved differently enough that someone speaking one cannot understand the other.

* Local Language for each of the Five Nations
* Orcish Languages
	+ **Daraktan** **†.** *Script: Daraktan.* **Daraktan**, sometimes refered to as "Old Orcish" is the language that was used by the orcs of the Shadow Marches prior to the Age of Monsters. After the Dhakaani language took root in the Age of Monsters, Daraktan was largely forgotten.
	+ ***Azhani.*** *Script: Dhakaani.* **Azhani** is an uncommon language spoken by residents of the Shadow Marches. Until relatively recently, the Marches were isolated from the rest of Khorvaire. The Dhakaani language took root during the Age of Monsters, but with the arrival of human refugees and the subsequent evolution of the blended culture, a new language evolved. Azhani is a blending of Dhakaani, Middle Common, and a little of the long-dead Daraktan language. It’s close enough to modern dhakaani that someone who speaks it can understand azhani, and vice-versa; however, nuances will be lost.
	+ **Jhorash.** *Script: Daraktan.* **Jhorash** is the language spoken by the Jhorash'tar orcs of the Ironroot Mountains. It is a direct descendant of Daraktan and has no traces of Dhakaani words or phrases, which leads modern sages to believe that the Jhorash'tar migrated to the east side of the continent some time before the Age of Monsters.
* Goblin (Dhakaani). Script: Dhakaani
* Old Dhakaani. Script: Old Dhakaani
* **Zil (Gnomish).** *Script: Zil.* **Zil** is an extremely unique language in that it did not naturally evolve from other sources; the gnomes of the Shimmerwood Forest constructed it whole cloth in the Age of Monsters to be a perfectly logical "metric" language. Amendments to the language are passed by the Triumvirate every few years when a new word is required to describe a newly discovered object, creature, or natural phenomena, or when the Wordsmiths of the Ninth College discover a "more perfect" version of an existing phrase. The Ninth College is Korranberg's center for linguistic studies, whose members spend their lives dedicated to developing new forms of magical and linguistic communication. Its members have a reputation for eccentricity; Unbound Scroll Harlus Haskal d'Sivis has spent twenty years trying to devise the perfect single-word greeting, while Syla Syrralan d'Sivis has spent a fortune crafting inks from the blood of rare and deadly aberrations.
## Sarlona Languages

**The Old Kingdoms of Sarlona.**

* Rhiavaan † – the ancient language of Rhiavaar. Believed to have been the 'base language' on which Old Common and Middle Common were built, though no evidence of its existence has ever been found. The only reason modern scholars know of Rhiavaan's existance is through heavy use of divination magic. Uses its own script.
* Aventuu † – related to modern Entuusi; the language of the sunken island nation of Aventus.
* Corvurisi † – the ancient language of Corvagura, related to modern Corvelish. Uses its own script.
* Dhakhunan † – the ancient language of Khunan. Uses its own script.
* Dhamecha † – the ancient language of Lamecha. Uses the Dhakhunan script.
* Dhasunya † – the ancient language of Sunyagir. Uses the Dhakhunan script.
* Kaluuni – the ancient language of Ohr Kaluun; it is retained by tribal changelings in Khorvaire. Uses its own script.
* Khaleshi – the ancient language of Khalesh; it is retained by shulasskar and related to modern Daskari. Uses its own script.
* Maleeriq † – the ancient language of of Dor Maleer, related to modern Tashaniq. Uses its own script.
* Nulakese † – the ancient language of Nulakesh, related to modern Thaliais. Uses the Khaleshi script.
* Sadh-Kree † – the ancient language of MaeKree. Uses the Rhiavaan script.
* Tashaniq – the language of the continental Tashana Tundra. Related to Maleeriq. Uses the Maleeriq script
* Torhush – the ancient language of the Borunani ogres, retained by Syrk ogres and eneko (half-ogres). Uses the Dhakhunan script.
* Vyson† – the ancient language of Pyrine, related to modern Metron. Uses the Corvurisi script.

(†) A Dagger symbol indicates that the language is dead.

## Argonnessen Languages

**Argon.** *Script: Old Common and Iokharic.* Argon is a mix of Old Common and Draconic that is spoken by the Seren of Argonnessen.

**Draconic.** *Script: Iokharic.* Draconic was one of the earliest languages, influencing or creating the language of kobolds and other races. According to dragons, their language is the oldest mortal tongue and all other mortal languages descended from it. Draconic is a monolithic language, and it remained almost unchanged since its creation; the only known divergence between Ancient Draconic and modern Draconic occured in the years following the Age of Demons. This divergence occured for unknown reasons, and the draconic language has not changed since. Though humanoids can learn to speak a diminished facsimile of this ancient tongue, only the voice of a dragon is capable of producing the nuanced inflections that gives the Draconic language its power.

**Draconic, Ancient Draconic.** *Script: None/Iokharic.* The draconic of today is much different than Ancient Draconic, the language of the Draconic Prophecy and the dragonmarks; however, there are enough similarities that someone who understands modern draconic could translate a dragonmark into the reader's language.

**Draconic, Iokharic.** *Script: Iokharic.* Iokharic was the name of the runic script used by the Draconic language. Dragons believe that the Iokharic script was created by Io, the great dragon of magic and knowledge, so his peoples could record their impressions of the world he hoped they would inherit. Non-dragon scholars believe Iokharic was likely created long after its spoken form was standardized, as dragons had little need to write like other races. The script is believed to have been influenced by giant runes, but dragons themselves dismiss such a connection. Aereni scholars have a theory that kobolds, rather than the dragons themselves, were the ones who actually created Iokharic, as it was widely believed that the earliest kobolds served dragons, learning dragon ways. The oldest historical records of kobold history began with paintings, then pictograms, and gradually developed into the Iokharic script.

**Draconic, Yipyak.** *Script: Iokharic.* Yipyak was the language spoken by kobolds. It is a dialect of the Draconic language that sounded like the yapping of a dog. Kobolds originally learned the Draconic language directly from true dragons. The earliest kobolds were instructed to speak Draconic in a variety of accents and dialects, and when they became independent of their dragon masters, they took their language with them, dispersing it among their various clans and tribes. As these independent kobolds interacted with one another, their inherited Draconic dialects mingled, creating Yipyak, the common kobold tongue. Kobold sorcerers also knew how to speak true Draconic, which required more exacting pronunciation than Yipyak.

## Exotic Languages

**Secret Languages.** Secret languages can't be learned by normal means, unless you have a feature that gives you a secret language (such as the rogue's 'Thieves' Cant"). To learn a new secret language not given to you by a class feature, you must know the required language and study with someone who already knows the language.

* Druidic (Draconic, Primordial, or Sylvan). A univeral language that has been discovered independantly by druidic sects on every plane. It is said to have been the first language spoken by the dragon Eberron herself.

**Underwater Languages.** Dialects of Aquan.

* haSarnath – the language of the Sahuagin Empire of the Thunder Sea and the Dragonreach, spoken by aboleths, locathah, kuo-toa, and sahuagin. Has a signed version. Uses the Khybran script.
* Alula – spoken by the merfolk and merrow peoples of the Barren Sea. Has a signed version. Uses its own script.
* Emea – spoken by the merfolk and merrow peoples of the Lhazaar Sea. Has a signed version. Uses its own script; also has a well-known Maleeriq transcription.
* Entuusi – spoken by the merfolk and merrow peoples of the Sea of Rage. Has a signed version. Uses the Aventuu script.
* Isochar – spoken by the merfolk and merrow peoples of the White Sea and the Koralandaluun. Has a signed version. Uses its own script.

## Planar Languages

**Qualith.** *Script: Qualith.* **Qualith** is the written language of the illithids. It took the form of four parallel lines that had texture that conveyed meaning when read by an illithid scanning its four tentacles along the lines simultaneously. The script was imprinted psionically onto the surface and transmitted the thoughts of the mind flayer that had inscribed it to the reader. It could be written on parchment, in books, or carved into surfaces. Degradation of the material could cause the message to fade over time. Qualith was extremely difficult to read for non-illithids and usually required magic such as a *comprehend languages* spell to decipher because each of the four lines of script modified the others and only when taken as a whole was the full meaning understandable. Readers attempting to decipher the message, if successful, could gain insight on the writer's thoughts, its meaning, and even who the message was intended for. Failure, however, could drive the reader mad, or at least with a bad headache.

**Quor.** *Script: None.* **Quor** is the language of the natives of the plane of Dal Quor. The most significant of these inhabitants is the Quori, have invaded Eberron multiple times in the past. The quori have brought their language to Eberron through their Inspired: psychic overlords who serve as vessels for the quori. Quori is one of the dominant languages of the continent of Sarlona. There is no written form of Quor, and the language can only be fully understood through telepathy. For record keeping, the Inspired of Riedra have taken to inscribing Quor using a modified Qualith script with the help of a specially crafted tenticle rod.

* Daanvi, the Perfect Order
* Dolurrh, the Realm of the Dead
* Irian, the Eternal Day
* Mabar, the Endless Night