Low Netherese Language

**Low Netherese** was the language spoken in the surface lands of Low Netheril before the region became almost lifeless Anauroch desert. There it influenced the languages of Netherese descendants (namely Halruaan & Ruathlek), until it had gone almost entirely extinct. When the Shade Enclave of Thultanthar returned to the Material Plane, the Second Empire of Netheril revived the language by forcing its new 'Low Netherese' populace to adopt the language to be seen as citizens of the empire.

## Speakers

Low Netherese, once known as just 'Netherese', was the primary language of Low Netheril and the commoners allowed access to the floating cities of High Netheril. Before the invention of its sister language Loross, it was spoken by the noble arcanists as the language of the Netherese ruling class. While many noble scholars still learned the language even after Loross was invented, the language became known as 'Low Netherese' due to its primary speakers being the commoners not privileged enough to be in Netheril's floating cities.

## Script

Low Netherese used the Draconic script of Iokharic. Scholars attribute this to the belief that the Netherese had a respect for the elder race of magically inclined race, but another far less accepted theory posits that a dragons, or some other scaled race, shepherded the ancient Netherese in the early years of their civilization.

## History and Legacy

Low Netherese is one of the oldest known human languages, dating back to two or three thousand years before the beginning of the Dalereckoning calendar. Initially a part of the Ulou language family, its influence is so profound that is now considered the head of the Netherese language family.

After Karsus' Folly and the fall of the First Netherese Empire, the survivors of the empire's collapse spread Low Netherese wherever they fled to, leading to the language of the commoners ironically having more of an impact of the languages of Faerûn than Loross. Descendants of the Netherese mingled with Zakharans to become the Bedine tribes, leading to a creole of the foreign Midani language and Low Netherese called Uloushinn by scholars (for the Bedine themselves do not have a name for the tongue). The Halruann (and later Ruathlek) langauge is considered a direct linguistic descendant of Low Netherese, but the language would also have influence over many other human tongues, including Chondathan, Damaran, Illuskan, and Tethyrian. Due to this lingering influence of the language, a large amount of magical items in Faerûn have command words that are in the language.

Low Netherese made a comeback in 1372 DR when the Shade Enclave of Thultanthar appeared over the Anauroch desert, having been spoken by a small amount of the Shadovar alongside Loross during their exile in the Shadowfell. It quickly became the Shade Empire's policy to force its conquered citizens in the Anauroch, now Low Netheril once more, to adopt the language. Formerly Bedine and D'tarig tribesmen adopted the language in favor of their own native languages, and even after the fall of the Shade Empire in late 1487 DR the language has remained dominant in the Anauroch.

## 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**