_Compiled by Archivist Meriel of the Alexandrian Guild of Lorekeepers, Year 874 A.R._
> “Words are the bones of magic — they outlive empires, outlast kings, and whisper through the planes long after the last bell tolls.”
---
## 🌍 The Core Tongues of the World
The following catalogue records the **principal languages known to scholars of the Guild**, including the tongues most commonly taught to adventurers and those encountered in planar scholarship.
**Difficulty (1–10)** reflects how long a literate adult typically needs to become conversational **without magical aid**, assuming regular exposure.
### At-a-glance Catalogue
|Language|Script|Family|Typical Speakers|Difficulty (1–10)|Where You Hear It|
|---|---|---|---|--:|---|
|**Common**|Common|Mortal|Most civilised folk|1|Cities, ports, guildhalls, roads|
|**Dwarvish**|Dethek|Mortal|Dwarves|5|Holds, forges, clan ledgers, old roads|
|**Elvish**|Espruar|Fey-root|Elves, half-elves|4|Courts, ruins, songs, ancient texts|
|**Halfling**|Common|Mortal|Halflings|2|Inns, caravans, family books, river trade|
|**Gnomish**|Dethek (adapted)|Mortal|Gnomes|4|Workshops, diagrams, journals, burrows|
|**Giant**|Dethek|Mortal|Giants, goliaths|6|Runestones, cairns, high passes, oaths|
|**Goblin**|Dethek (var.)|Mortal|Goblinoids|3|Warbands, caves, scavenger markets|
|**Orc**|Dethek (var.)|Mortal|Orcs|4|War camps, lineage chants, territory law|
|**Undercommon**|Espruar (simplified)|Mortal|Drow, duergar, traders|5|Underdark markets, tunnels, prison talk|
|**Draconic**|Iokharic|Planar-ancient|Dragons, dragonborn, wizards|7|Arcane texts, wards, imperial ruins, oaths|
|**Celestial**|Celestial|Planar (Upper)|Angels, aasimar, clergy|6|Hymns, holy seals, sanctums, relic-script|
|**Infernal**|Infernal|Planar (Law)|Devils, warlocks, scribes|8|Contracts, bindings, hell-forged writs|
|**Abyssal**|Infernal (corrupted)|Planar (Chaos)|Demons, cultists|9|Curses, blood-rites, profane graffiti|
|**Primordial**|Barazhad|Planar (Elemental)|Elementals, genasi|7|Storm-sites, elemental shrines, old scars of magic|
|**Sylvan**|Espruar (elder)|Fey|Fey beings|4|Crossings, glades, circles, bargains|
|**Deep Speech**|None (impressed / telepathic)|Far Realm|Aberrations|10|Breaches, lesions, places where reality thins|
|**Druidic**|Sigils / knots|Secret|Druids|7|Cairns, trees, standing stones, hidden paths|
|**Thieves’ Cant**|Marks / oral code|Secret|Rogues, smugglers|5|Alleys, docks, black markets, safehouses|
---
## 🧭 The Linguistic Family Web
```mermaid
graph TB
A["Mortal"] --> B["Planar"] --> C["Far Realm"] --> D["Secret"]
subgraph M["Mortal"]
direction TB
M1["Common"]
M2["Dwarvish"]
M3["Elvish"]
M4["Halfling"]
M5["Undercommon"]
end
subgraph P["Planar"]
direction TB
P1["Draconic"]
P2["Celestial"]
P3["Infernal"]
P4["Abyssal"]
P5["Primordial"]
P6["Sylvan"]
end
subgraph F["Far Realm"]
direction TB
F1["Deep Speech"]
end
subgraph S["Secret"]
direction TB
S1["Thieves Cant"]
S2["Druidic"]
end
A --- M
B --- P
C --- F
D --- S
```
---
## 🔮 On Translation and Spellwork
Scholars agree: translation magic yields **meaning**, but rarely grants **custom**.
### What is reliably gained
- the **literal sense** of a sentence
- the **subject and intent** in plain terms
- a functional grasp of **basic instruction**
### What remains perilous or incomplete
- **Infernal**: loopholes, definitions, omissions used as blades
- **Elvish / Sylvan**: layered metaphor and socially “obvious” implication
- **Celestial**: ritual subtext — what is being invoked, not merely said
- **Thieves’ Cant**: the second message carried by timing, gesture, and context
- **Deep Speech**: comprehension arrives like a splinter in thought — understood, and yet unsettling
> **Archivist’s Caution:** a translated vow may be understood, but still binds the spirit of a culture. Dwarves do not forgive those who “spoke without knowing”.
---
## 🪶 Scholar’s Notes (Cross-language Truths)
- **Scripts travel more easily than tongues.** That is why Dethek appears across many peoples who share neither friendship nor history.
- **Planar tongues do not age as mortal tongues do.** They remain tethered to principle: Law, Chaos, Element, Radiance.
- **Undercommon is not owned by any one people.** It is the language of trade and survival beneath the world.
- **Draconic underpins arcane notation** because it endures copying without losing meaning — a rare virtue in spellcraft.
---
## ✨ Appendices (Local Variants)
### Appendix A — Kalteo Cant (Local Underworld Code)
**Family:** Secret (Urban). **Script:** Hybrid (Common + Dethek marks).
Used by Syndicate agents and fixers. Treat as Thieves’ Cant with Kalteo-specific signs and vocabulary.
### Appendix B — Amethyst Draconic (Scholarly Register)
A draconic register used by scholars of Visidera: Draconic with diacritics for astral/psionic concepts. Treat as Draconic; scholars gain advantage on relevant lore at DM discretion.
---
If you want this to be _even better than this_, the final “prestige” upgrades would be:
- a **one-paragraph intro** about _why_ Alexandria catalogues tongues (Vecna, forbidden texts, planar leakage),
- a **single recurring motif** (Meriel’s recurring warning about “names”),
- and 2–3 **tiny “found document” inserts** (a sample Infernal clause, a Sylvan invitation, a Dethek epitaph).
But as a _website-ready lore page_?
This version is the cleanest, most immersive, and most “published” form of what you’re trying to do.