Rówśpiew
Rówśpiew, the song of Magnum Opus' northern snowfields. It's a long spoken language, even before Magnum Opus was seen as little more than idyllic wilderness. While it's undergone it's own challenges and struggles, it is a staple of Magnian culture, specially in the northern mainland.
History, roughly
The language that is now recognized as Rówśpiew has it's first recorded entries dating back as far as -2600 EE, although written accounts of the language are sparse, most of them recorded stories that were being passed down already, meaning the language in this older yet recognizable state stretches back even farther.
Even after that time period, when Rówśpiew writing became more frequent, it was largely an oral language, so any writing was either short and to the point or a recording of stories and songs. This was even noted in records from Arctic and Central Magnian records, as they spoke of "The song carrying through the breeze, full of profanities and laughter." Conveying the stereotype of northern magnians as rough folk, with a penchant for crass language but positive spirits.
When the Afallonian occupation of the Seat began, the scholars put in the most intense work to get the ins and outs of the language down on paper, whereas historically it was just common knowledge for the people of the region. While they didn't outlaw the language as Atalanta did to the cousin tongues in the south, they did treat it as a tertiary form of language, and outlawed many of the communal acts of storytelling and singing that were common, as they claimed the tales of hunting and heroic battles were garnering thoughts of unnecessary rebellion.
When The Exile's Din came to pass, these songs came back in full force and were sung by the rebels in the north as they reclaimed their mines, their homes, and their songs.
The struggle for recognition would unfortunately not end there, however, as when Mangum Opus was formed the southern half of the mainland became the political center of the newly found nation. Thus, the language of Walhallen1 became seen as the native language of Magnum Opus. While there was nothing legal and hardly social that repressed the use of Rówśpiew, the fact that Walhallen was the language most associated with the nation lead to much confusion, and often meant that businesses and citizens had to resort to using it in place of Rówśpiew when dealing with governmental or international affairs. This has gotten better in the modern day, especially during the reign of King Diomedes the 3rd, as he has made it mandatory for government agencies to have employees that speak all manner of languages, and especially the five main languages of Magnum Opus.
1: German, the name is taken from Wald meaning forest and hallen meaning echo
Speaker Demographics
Culturally, most Rówśpiew speakers reside in, or otherwise come from, the Northern Magnian culture region spanning from the northmost coast of the mainland down to around Wind. Many people in Magnum Opus have taken it up as a secondary language, and it's a niche yet trendy choice for students in Laputa and some cities within Afallon.
Species-wise, it's mostly spoken by the humans of the northern magnian culture, but many of the once-nomadic beastkin, Lycanthropes, and other beastial form species of the region also spoke it alongside Coșopti2 of the Central Magnians.
2: Romanian, the name was taken from Codru and șopti meaning Forest and Whispers
Linguistic Quirks
Rówśpiew is a very song-like language, with vocal inflections and accents resembling the fluctuations in music. Vowels are often extended, and consonants are often quick and sharp, especially at the end of a sentence. This, combined with the need to have voices carry over the frequent winds of the snowplains, resulted in a loud echoing language, as well as the progenitor of Magnian Opera.
This also led to Rówśpiew being a flowery and figurative language, with the messages of many sentences being wrapped up in idioms, metaphor, and simile. If one comes across an odd turn of phrase or quirky saying in Magnum Opus, no matter the language chances are it began in Rówśpiew. They are credited with such phrases as "The giant raising his heel", "The first cry is never the loudest, and the loudest is never the last", "Speak your words to the trees and see how they bleed", "If it's said again I'll be a young man once more", "The quickest blade breaks first", and many more.
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