Languages

On Languages

Like many things, speech has magical properties on Ariath. Any time words are spoken aloud, anyone who hears them can understand them as though they were spoken in their own native language. It's not commonly known why this is, but as far as anyone can remember it has always been this way.

In addition, anyone who knows any written language is granted the ability to, while in Ariath, write down their words in such a way that anyone else can read them. While other written languages exist in the world, brought there by visitors, the only other written language that will be story relevant (and thus require a skill to read) is the ancient script of Ariath.

Because of how language works in the game world, natives to Ariath, visitors from Earth, Kudarr, and Caramahz can all understand each other without hindrance. This also means that players can, if they wish, play characters from any nation on Earth who are native speakers of any language, and still participate fully in conversations.

All of this applies to Folk, as well as people who have given up their Folk nature to become Wicked. It does not apply to beasts, or other creatures normally incapable of language. It also does not apply to codes, ciphers, or other communication that's deliberately made hard to understand.