Languages of Enos

Early in the history of things, right back to The Creation, there was language, for it was language that made this world, and it is said that language will unmake it, in time. There was first Primordial, the language of creation. The languages that evolved from Primordial in the early days of The Making closely mirror it in several ways, and are known collectively as the Primordial languages. These languages are Aquan, Auran, Ignan, Terran, Celestial, and Druidic. They all carry varients of the glyph and rune-based writing of Primordial, but none save Druidic still share the same power in the words themselves.   Over time, languages would diverge from the Primordial languages. Halfling, Sylvan, Gnomish, and Dwarvish diverged from Aquan, Auran, Ignan, and Terran, respectively - since each of those four races were created by the Primordial associated with their language's parent. Infernal diverged from Ignan, Giant diverged from Terran, and the dragons possessed by the Apotheotheticals diverged Draconic from the tongue of their masters.   After the Apotheotheticals were banished to The Unmaking Never and a modicum of peace began upon Enos, more languages began to descend from the Divergent languages. The goblins took most of their language from the halflings. The elves took their mother tongue of Sylvan and twisted it to their own tastes, only for the Dark Elves to further twist Elvish to Undercommon, in time. The churning legion of the Abyss took Infernal and corrupted it to their tastes, making Abyssal. The gnoll on the Prime Material still speak their own limited, chattering form of Abyssal, further decending the language. The wandering Orc tribes broke free from their giant rulers, forming their own language in time.  

Languages of Enos

Language	Typical Speakers	Script	Parent Language
Abyssal	Demons, chaotic evil outsiders	Infernal	Infernal
Aquan	Water-based creatures	Primordial	Primordial
Auran	Air-based creatures	Primordial	Primordial
Celestial	Angels, Aasimar, good outsiders	Primordial	Primordial
Common	Humans, halflings, half-elves, half-orcs	Common	—
Deep Speech	Mind flayers, beholders	—	—
Draconic	Kobolds, dragons, dragonborn	Draconic	Celestial
Dreamer's Cant	Dekenite Clergy	Pictograms	—
Druidic	Druids(only)	Druidic	Primordial
Dwarvish	Dwarves	Dwarvish	Terran
Elvish	Elves	Sylvan	Sylvan
Giant	Ogres, giants	Common	Terran
Gnomish	Gnomes	Common	Ignan
Goblin	Goblinoids, hobgoblins, bugbears	Common	Halfling
Gnoll	Gnolls	Common	Abyssal
Halfling	Halflings	Common	Aquan
Ignan	Fire-based creatures	Primordial	Primordial
Infernal	Devils, Tieflings	Infernal	Ignan
Orc	Orcs	Common	Giant
Primordial	Elementals	Primordial	—
Sylvan	Fey creatures	Sylvan	Auran
Terran	Xorns and other earth-based creatures	Primordial	Primordial
Undercommon	Dark Elves	Sylvan	Elvish

 

Other Languages

Outside of the Primordial, Divergent, and Decendent Languages, there exist only three others. The most obvious is Common, the world-wide, universal language that takes its roots primarily from Halfling, borrowing and stealing elements from Gnomish, Elvish, Celestial, and Draconic as well. Less well-known is Dreamer's Cant, the pictorial language that the followers of The Church of Deku uses to spread its message. Lastly, there is Deep Speech - the language from beyond the stars that invites madness to speak. Little is known of it, and there is little a sane mind would wish to know.  

The Guidance of Language

It's fairly well-known that there are only twenty languages outside the blended language of Common, the constructed language of Dreamer's Cant, and the unknowable language of Deep Speech. From the very beginning with Primordial, all of these languages have unfolded along with the flow of history in a manner too neat for a natural evolution. It is therefore the opinion of greater academia that a divine force shaped language to be how it is. Which divine force remains a mystery, though it could not be one of the Prime Beings, as they care little for the affairs of any others, and it could not be the Ascended, for they existed after language was guided. It therefore must be one of the Created. The gods of Tyranny, Despair, and Corruption hardly seem fitting, as do the gods of Chaos and Freedom. It stands to reason that perhaps Xelin, Deku, Dictum, or Enos would be the entity responsible, with Dictum being the most likely, given their portfolio.  

Primordial Languages

The Primordial languages are those languages which came directly from Primordial itself, evolving early in the history of creation. These are the languages of gods and early creatures.  

Primordial

When the world began, the Fourfold Primes and the Twins spoke only this language. Infused with the magical power of Creation, to speak this language is to invoke the cosmos itself to move. As such, it cannot be spoken by mortal tongues without great magical expenditure. It can be read and written, however, and uses a runic script that seems to tremble when viewed, as if barely containing a raw power. Words of power and arcane glyphs use this language to inscribe meaning and pull effects from the magic in the air.  

Aquan

Sharing many words and concepts with its parent language of Primordial, Aquan has a slower, more relaxed sound that is not imbued with power, and thus speakable. Speakers of Aquan include many underwater races, and its written script is runic, though more photographic and less layered than Primordial, since the erosion of water would otherwise render a layered script illegible.  

Auran

Breathy and as free-flowing as the air, Auran is perhaps the most beautiful of the spoken languages, and many arias are written exclusively in this lilting, soothing language. Speakers of Auran include cloud giants, birdfolk, and professional singers. Its written script is runic like its parent, though often read from bottom-to-top and left-to-right, as the wind rising off an open plain.  

Ignan

Shot through with cracks and pops of the tongue, Ignan takes the raw chaos of its parent language and imbues it with the roaring chaos of a wildfire. Speakers of this language know that the meaning of words can change depending on the speed and urgency at which it is spoken, which is often horridly confusing for those trying to decipher Ignan oratory. Its script is still runic, though the spacing of the runes matters far more than in any other runic language, as closely-written runes have a different meaning that spaced-out runes of the same shape. Ignan is most often spoken by some tieflings and ifrits from the Plane of Fire.  

Terran

An archaic, almost eternally unchanging language, Terran remains the closest to Primordial of any of the Primordial Languages. Its script is almost identical to Primordial, save that the depth of the carving of each rune can change the meaning of the word, and as such, Terran is rarely written on anything but clay tablets or stone. While there is a method of writing Terran on paper with additional marks and flourishes that preserves the original meaning, few outside clustered academic circles and specific clergies bother. The language is slow and plodding when spoken, though far less flowing than Aquan. Gutteral growls are common in the language, and it is often spoken by deep underground races.  

Celestial

Spoken primarily with monosyllabic words, this language sounds as if it is moments away from a song at any moment, as the pitch of the pronunciation changes the meaning of the words. Written in an evolution of Primordial's runic system, Celestial arranges the morphemes of the original rune into spaces relative to one another, as if on sheet music. Indeed, the basis for modern sheet music owes its ease of reading to Celestial arrangement and convention. Its speakers include all good-aligned outsiders, and was the first language spoken by nobility, as it was the language of the Dragon Kings when they were first set upon the world. For this reason, it is still common for the coronations of kings and rulers to use Celestial, and clergy of most non-evil-aligned gods use it in their songs.  

Druidic

Of the Primordial Languages, Druidic is the only language other than Primordial that has retained its power. While individual words in Primordial carry great power, it is phrases in Druidic that carry the same, and Druids are careful to guard this language from outside ears because it carries the very essence of nature itself. Its script is unique - a bastardized version of Primordial's script that twists and curls like ivy. The language itself carries a mysticism with it, and it requires a group of speakers to speak it at higher than a hushed whisper. Its speakers include druids exclusively.  

Divergent Languages

Draconic

As the only language that diverged from Celestial, Draconic bears a unique place among the world's languages. Adapted by the first dragons taken by their Celestial-speaking Apotheothetical masters, this language is uniquely suited for draconic forms. In its speaking, Draconic is a bellowed convolution of the tones and phrases of its parent, though the melodic meaning of Celestial is stripped in favor of intonations from deep within a throat. As dragons are all magical beings, Draconic is best-spoken by those that are able to hold latent magical power in their vocal cords, as several of the inflections require a minute charge of magic to pronounce properly. The written part of Draconic evolved from the glyphs of Celestial to the mono-, bi-, and tri-claw marks of dragon claws, often layered on each other in a rich symbolic vocabulary. Its speakers include dragons, many scholars, and dragonborn.  

Dwarvish

As the first Dwarves began their journey upwards, their language began to shift from the rocky rumbling of Terran to Dwarvish. The newer language was far more kind to soft tongues, though it still held on to several of the harsh, scraping sounds of its parent language. Dwarven poetry is often regarded as some of the very worst for this reason alone, while war songs accompanied by the percussive music of hammers and picks has propelled many Dwarven bards to fame. Their written language is almost identical to Terran in terms of the basic alphabet, but its script is far more deconstructed. It prefers to take each individual part of the Primodial Terran script and lay it out symbol by symbol, reading left-to-right, bottom-to-top. Its primary speakers are Dwarves, though it isn't uncommon to meet giants that can speak the language as well.  

Giant

As the Dwarves were moving skyward, the surface-dwelling Giants saw their language diverge from Terran as well. They began to project their words from deep inside their massive chests, and it has often been noted that normal conversations in Giant sound like shouting matches, as each sentence builds in volume from the first word to the last, before resetting. As a hunter-gatherer culture, Giant's written form is far more pictographic than Terran, augmenting the most basic Primordial glyphs with rich painting, symbology, and some of the Common script. Its speakers include Giants, some trolls, and other primitive, subterranean species.  

Gnomish

The passion inherent in each word of Gnomish is obvious to anyone that has ever heard two Gnomes speaking about a subject they disagree on. Descended from Ignan, Gnomish is a rich broth of powerfully punctuated words, as the punch of each word helps differentiate meaning. It is full of archaic and discarded words for alarmingly specific things, as its speakers are known for leaving behind half-finished ideas, meaning that it has one of the largest vocabularies of any language, barring Infernal. It uses the Common script, though heavily-accented with inflection marks that make the writing look as if aflame. Its primary speakers include Gnomes and those of inventing bents, as its rich lexicon allows for precise communication of ideas of such a type.  

Halfling

Perhaps of all the languages, Halfling is the most mutable. Speakers of the language think little of it, but when a Halfling speaker can't 'find' the word they are looking for, they simply make up a new word. Since Aquan is the parent language, Halfling has a rich group of prefixes and affixes to join with their root words, and clusters of Halflings the world over can sound as if they are speaking wholly different things for the same concept. Despite this strangeness, anyone that learns the building blocks of the language can easily understand the intent behind the words, and it is for this reason that Halfling is considered one of the easiest and most poetic of the languages to learn. Its written form is in the Common script, and while its words are often long conglomerations of many different and small lexemes, it remains one of the easiest languages to translate. It is spoken primarily by Halfings, though poets and songwriters love it for its ease of use.  

Infernal

Among all the languages of the multiverse, Infernal is perhaps the most useful for communicating written ideas. When written, the precise accents on each word leave absolutely no room for ambiguity, making this the de facto language used to writing contracts among both devils and mortals. When spoken, however, a novice in Infernal may quickly find that slight changes in the pronunciation of most words can make them take on meaning wholly opposite to the meaning desired. It is therefore best to request that anyone speaking Infernal write down their intentions, as many a soul has been ensnared by mortals foolish enough to take a fiendish Infernal speaker at their word. Although descended from Ignan, Infernal has tamed the pops and cracks of its parent language, and reined in its chaotic nature. This language possesses the single largest vocabulary of any language in existence, and is spoken primarily by fiends, cultists of fiends, and lawyers and other court officials, as it is used in their works.  

Sylvan

Divergent from Auran and the parent language of Elvish, Sylvan is a cadent language that relies heavily on pitch, tempo, and volume to convey emotion in addition to the intent of its meaning. It is unique among languages in this respect, and its many fey speakers have leaned heavily on an oral tradition of history through Sylvan's ability to preserve emotion and empathy in the spoken word. Its script is decorative and full of flourishes, curves, and accents, as it is often conveying both the literal meaning and the feelings behind the author simultaneously. A simpler version of Sylvan exists that does not preserve emotion, though its phrases and words have mutated somewhat. We call this language Elvish, and Sylvan speakers would prefer it not be spoken about. Its speakers are very often fey, Elves, Druids, and other creatures connected deeply to nature or the Feywild itself.  

Descendant Languages

Abyssal

Mutated from the precise and tricky language of Infernal, the chaotic and ever-shifting language of Abyssal mirrors the fickle and ever-churning nature of its demonic speakers. A fast-evolving spoken language that is rarely written, this language sounds like a jumble of harsh sounds to a nonspeaker. Many words of Abyssal mean different things at the same time when spoken, making the language itself serve the chaos of The Abyss, adding to the confusion among those in the vast hordes of chittering flesh.  

Elvish

Taken from its parent language of Sylvan, the Elves that emerged from the Feywild onto Enos stripped the language of their home plane of its entirely. It is a free-flowing language, sounding ever-beautiful to the ears of anyone with ears to listen, and it borrows the same cursive script of its mother language. Elves have added many shades of meaning to its vocabulary over the years, with particular emphasis placed on internal rhyming schemes and how they change the severity of a sentence. The language is most often spoken by Elves of all sorts, save for the Dark Elves, which have their own language that they share with the others banished to the darker realms of the south.  

Goblin

The fate of the Goblins is well known among scholars, but what is most interesting is that the curse placed on those unfortunate souls that would become the first goblins is that their language was cursed with them. While it uses the same script, many of the root words from its parent language were removed somehow, making this among the most simple of the languages. It still looks and sounds like Halfling to a large degree, except the pronunciations of words are so vastly different that a Halfling would struggle to understand a Goblin speaking. Its main speakers are Goblins and associated creatures, and while it isn't difficult for a non-Goblin to learn the language, it is difficult for a Goblin to learn any other language, as evident by the scarcity of Common-speaking Goblinoids.  

Gnoll

As the taint of Abyssal crept into the world, those underground creatures that first heard it fashioned themselves a language in the early days when it was still possible. Those were the Gnolls, and their language consists primarily of yips, clicks, and yells. Very few examples of written Gnoll exist, and it is hotly debated as to if these examples weren't just an older version of Abyssal. Gnolls and their ilk speak this language.  

Orc

After they threw off the oppressive chains with which their Giant masters bound them, the Orcs of the early first century Queen's Era formed their language of warcries, chants, and powerful tones. These first Orcs would take the rich pictographs of the Giants and strip away the art, making a brutally efficient, succinct alphabet of only fifteen characters. The fact that the entire language has only two vowels makes this a hard-to-speak endeavor, but the pitched cries of Orc in combat can deliver immense amounts of tactical information with distinct enough sounds that the din of battle does not obscure them. This language is spoken primarily by Orcs, though they teach their language to mercenaries often enough that it is one of the more commonly-known tongues.  

Undercommon

When Pythas ascended in the early days, those left in the new god's wake were blasted with the energy of ascension. This marked their skin with a dark, magical tone, creating the Dark Elves. Their new god immediately gifted them with a mutation of Elvish, and their location under the eternal shadow of the continent of Valorus gave it the name Undercommon. It is a blended language of Sylvan and Primordial, giving the words uttered by its speakers a subtle charge to them. The Dark Elf mages that stay in the shadows at the bottom of the world are the vast majority of the speakers of this language, and their creations comprise the rest of those that know it.  

Common

Every sentient creature born upon Enos has the capacity and divine guidance needed to learn to speak Common at an incredible rate, and every single creature that learns the language learns the same basic form, as Common is a divinely-crafted blended language of Halfling and Sylvan and Gnomish and Dwarvish, the Divergent languages spoken by each of the four Elemental Primes. While blended language dialects of Common exist, the magic and divine mandate placed on the tongues of mortal creatures prevents the languages from drifting apart and into different sublanguages. Why and what god remains a mystery, but this fact all but ensured that trade, science, and thought progressed through Enos at a rate far more rapid than it could have oterwise.  

Deep Speech

The language from between and beyond and beside, Deep Speech haunts the nightmares and the places in shadow. Its words can make a pit fiend tremble, and its utterance is to invite doom to sanity. It will not be written of further, and should be avoided at all costs. This is black speech, the words of nightmare. It is not to be spoken. It is not to be written. It is not to be read.  

Dreamer's Cant

The Dekenite Clergy were gifted this pictographic, nonspoken language by Deku in the early days following the god's creation. Often done in spirals or circles, those that know its forms can write great stories and moments in a way that magically conveys the same emotion each time any sufficiently intelligent creature looks upon it.