Language

Language is a system that consists of the development, acquisition, maintenance and use of complex systems of communication; a language is any specific example of such a system. Listed on this page are the known languages of the Musea story universe, their speakers, and their real-world derivatives.

## Primary language

Characters of certain races begin play knowing "the primary language(s) of their home society." When you see this phrase, it generally indicates the language Common for Musea, Hapanui for the Majority, or Hyksos for other planets. However, there are some exceptions. For example, it could reasonably be assumed that a tiefling raised in a strix tribe would only speak Strix as their primary language. An ifrit born in Panohsem could hardly get by without knowing some Seshat in addition to Common. When deciding a character's starting languages, players who choose these races should engage thoughtfully with the world of Musea and consult with their DMs to pinpoint exactly what "primary language(s)" means for that character.

## Aboleth

### Speakers

Aboleth and other deep sea (aquatic) aberrations

This is the common parlance between most evil and deep sea creatures, especially aquatic aberrations, sirens, and sahuagin.

## Abyssal

### Derivatives

Tribal languages

The primary language of demons and the Abyss, this dialect featured heavily in Ora's Threnody. Proper pronunciation includes long, low, hard sounds. Lots of holding/rolling of syllables.

## Aklo

### Derivatives

Lovecraft

Cthulhu and his various servants speak the inscrutable, Lovecraft-inspired Aklo. On the Material Plane it’s mostly used for dark incantations/spells, trading secret messages in cults, and sacred evil texts. Speaking it in a casual setting would get you a lot of weird looks.

## Auran

### Speakers

Flying creatures, air-based creatures

The patron language of the now-extinct Irit, and the sacred language of the god Avani. Described as “soft-spoken and breathy” by Pathfinder.

## Boggard

### Speakers

Boggards

The language of boggards.

## Catspeak

### Speakers

Cats

A secret language, it is impossible for a creature other than a feline to truly “learn” Catspeak. A particularly powerful magical item called an Amulet of Catspeak exists, but how to craft them is unknown. They often appear through mysterious means, usually involving the influence of a Sphinx.

## Celestial

### Speakers

Angels, other good outsiders

This is the language of angels, but in recent centuries it’s become popular on the Material Plane as a sign of status.

## Chroma

### Speakers

Shokucirri (and some other chromatic races)

A secret language insofar as that most people can’t learn it; it’s like sign language, but communicated with body colors in addition to hand gestures. Only chameleonic species are capable of learning this language.

## Common

### Derivatives

Latin, Germanic

Invented by the elves when they met the first humans, this literal “common tongue” is meant as a language bridge between species. Knowing Common is expected and considered polite by most other species of the Material Plane. Most Outsider species either don’t know this language exists, or don’t care for it.

## Cyclops

### Speakers

Cyclops

A derivative of the ancient language of giants, Cyclops is primarily spoken by large or larger monstrous humanoids.

## Darkish

### Speakers

Dark folk (dark creepers, slayers, stalkers)

The native language of dark folk.

## Draconic

### Derivatives

Ancient Khitan, ancient Korean

A very proud language for a very proud people. Many dragons won’t talk to you unless you speak Draconic. This language is older than your home plane, yeah? Show some respect. The Draconic alphabet is a combination of ancient Khitan and Korean scripts. Feel free to get creative/subjective with symbols. A Draconic translator can be found here.

## Drow Sign Language

### Speakers

Drow

This is a secret language spoken primarily by drow spies and emissaries in order to trade information. As it is a secret language, it is impossible to learn from a book or classroom; it must be willingly taught to you by a drow. Because it is so difficult to learn, many drow will instinctively trust you if you begin signing to them.

## Druidic

### Derivatives

Twilight Princess Hylian

Another secret language, Druidic is a magical tongue tied to the mechanisms of nature. If a druid teaches this language to a non-druid, they immediately lose their druid magic. This language has its own alphabet.

## Dwarven

### Derivatives

Russian

The language of dwarves.

## D'ziriak

### Speakers

D'ziriak

The insectoid d'ziriak language consists of buzzes and chitters. It is an obscure one known to few outside their race.

## Elven

### Derivatives

French, Welsh

The most well-known tongue of Musea, Elven goes through a variety of dialect changes depending on what region you’re in.

## Fetchling

### Speakers

Kayals and other creatures from the dead Verse

The primary language of the kayals, this tongue is primarily spoken by the survivors of their race.

 kalee subah
 the fate of our Verse is yours

## Giant

### Speakers

Cyclopes, ettins, giants, ogres, trolls, etc.

A brutish, heavy language with multiple variants. Less common than Cyclops, but more prestigious.

## Gnoll

### Speakers

Gnolls

The language of gnolls.

## Gnome

### Derivatives

Spanish

The language of gnomes.

## Goblin

### Speakers

Bugbears, goblins, hobgoblins

Primarily spoken by goblins and hobgoblins, with some variation between the two.

## Grippli

### Speakers

Grippli

The language of grippli.

## Halfing

### Speakers

Halflings

The language of halflings.

## Hapanui

### Speakers

Most, if not all, residents of the Majority

### Derivatives

Hawaiian, Japanese

A vibrant, vowel-heavy language. The Common-equivalent for the Majority; Common is used very little there.

## Hyksos

### Derivatives

Pig Latin

Hyksos is the common tongue of space-faring races. While off of one’s home planet, Hyksos is considered the common tongue. It is essentially a Pig Latin of Common, with the addition of ever-developing slang terms and grammar phrases that have turned it into its own language. This tongue was invented by Fenton using a cipher.

Written Hyksos is portrayed by ciphering English through the following key.

 Hyksos letters

## Ignan

### Speakers

Fire-based creatures

Although the sacred language of the goddess Divakara, in practice this tongue is more commonly associated with Avani due to his power over fire. As such, it’s also called the “Tongue of Fire.”

## Infernal

### Derivatives

Latin (backwards)

The primary language of devils, this tongue is also a common favorite for evil or insane spirits and ghosts.

## Lycan

### Speakers

Wolves, werewolves

Like Catspeak, this language normally cannot be spoken by humanoids, which effectively makes it a secret language. It is a common tongue shared between canines and werewolves. The only way to “learn” it is by becoming a werewolf.

## Maenad

### Speakers

Maenads

The language of the maenads.

## Necril

### Derivatives

Periodic table mashups

As the stories go, this very ancient language was created by necromancers in order to keep their undead under control. Apparently teaching them Common gave them too much power, as it let them talk with outsiders. Nowadays Necril is used among most undead species. The language has a very unnatural sound, primarily consisting of guttural noises, clicks and screeches, and repetitive syllables and phonetic phrases. There’s usually a low concentration of vowels. To create a Necril word or name, open up a copy of the periodic table and start combining abbreviations until you get a word you like.

## Norliss

### Speakers

Norals and other Dreamscar residents

The racial language of the norals.

## Orc

### Derivatives

Hebrew, Romansh

The racial language of orcs, Orc is a very complex language with difficult pronunciation rules.

## Protean

### Speakers

Proteans, chaotic outsiders

The language of Chaos, Protean has no rules. It is complex and constantly changing. There is currently very little understanding of it on the Material Plane.

## Seshat

### Derivatives

Arabic, Persian

The patron language of the Divaharrat and the primary language of the desert. This tongue is spoken in Panohsem nearly exclusively, and it’s difficult to get any service or respect there unless you can speak it yourself.

## Sphinx

### Speakers

Sphinxes, particularly esteemed cats

This language is common in the desert, but Sphinxes can take residence in any city—usually without question due to their massive influence. Many Sphinxes are vain and easily bored, and won’t pay any attention to you unless you can speak Sphinx. Or if you have a cat with you.

## Strix

### Speakers

Strix

The language of the strix. A harsher, more consonant-heavy offshoot of Auran.

 Bol at Greth
 Dul at Ram
 Kul at Hathos
 til'evvik

## Sylvan

### Speakers

Centaurs, fey creatures, plant creatures, Kirin, unicorns

The language of forests and fey, this is considered a magical and sacred language. Has been somewhat “adopted” as the racial language of the Kirin.

## Talan

### Speakers

Aquatic and water-based creatures

The patron language of mermaids, and the sacred language of the god Kuldata.

## Teklan

### Speakers

Teklo

Teklan is the forgotten racial language of the extinct Teklo.

## Tengu

### Derivatives

Birdsong, chicken scratch

The official language of the tengu race, Tengu is a language that must be learned from the beak of another tengu, as it is made up of a series of noises one would hear from a bird. To outsiders, the written form of this language appears as little more than chicken scratch.

## Terran

### Speakers

Earth-based creatures

Considered a sacred language in respect to the goddess Medlayla and her territories.

## Tootega

### Derivatives

Inuit

The language of the arctic, called the Expanse or the Kaldr, is Tootega. Like Seshat in the desert, it is considered respectful to speak Tootega in the Kaldr.

## Treant

### Speakers

Treants

The language of treants.

## Undercommon

### Derivatives

Italian

This language developed deep underground after the drow were banished from the surface by the elves. It is spoken by most species that live underground—but not dwarves, they’ll find that suggestion offensive. Undercommon is superficially similar to Elven.

## Vegypygmy

### Speakers

Vegypygmies

Like Drow Sign Language, this is not a spoken dialect as Vegypygmies can’t speak. It consists primarily of rhythmic taps, beats, and clicks.

## Vesk

### Derivatives

Swahili

Vesk is the racial language of the Vesk and the primary language of Mvuapiki.

## Voidling

### Derivatives

Parseltongue

Voidling is a secret language because the only way to learn it is by physically travelling to the Void, the multidimensional space between Planes. Due to the Void’s absence of form and magic, Voidling is the only language which can be spoken in the Void. In the Outer Planes, knowing how to speak Voidling is seen as a sign of extreme skill and experience. It is a difficult language to listen to, similar to Harry Potter’s Parseltongue but with a louder and harsher phonetic quality.

## Xeph

### Speakers

Xephs

The language of the xephs.

## Yeetspeak

### Speakers

Yeets

Yeetspeak is the forgotten racial language of the extinct Yeets.

## Zend

### Derivatives

Old Iranian, Old Persian, Pashto

The language of the avesta.

## Trivia

* In Pathfinder, the aquatic language is called "Aquan." It was changed to "Talan" in Musea as a reference to the mer-language in Second Life.