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Languages; Are there too many?
Topic Started: Jan 27 2016, 11:32 PM (2,138 Views)
Kwak
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Sous Chef
I, uh, figured that Abyssal/Celestial were equally as abstract as Spirit, but also like AD&D's Alignment languages. Sigmar can probably speak Tau just fine. And I don't think everybody knows Trade, but everyone with 6 background dots and 600 XP and superpowers does.

Oh yeah, almost forgot! I take Trade away from anyone who takes Clueless. Is that RAW? I don't remember
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Eisenritter
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Doc
Jan 28 2016, 04:01 PM
But no, apparently plant people, ghosts, and werewolves talk in the language of abstract thoughts and impressions, and actual gods are shackled to asking their followers what to do with words that exist. Um, what?
...I may have been unclear when stating my thoughts on how Celestial and Abyssal work. Please allow me to remedy that.

They represent unifying languages among those two particular pantheons. That does not mean that those pantheons are shackled to them; it just means that their followers have a common language that their gods may have fostered the development of for various reasons.

Primary among those reasons is of course that Aasimar and Tieflings are both artificial races created from other races, who may not have had common tongue before transformation. Even super-soldiers need some way of communicating between themselves; naturally, my line of thought goes to the gods willing languages into existence specifically for them to use for that purpose.
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weredrago2
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Clueless is all roleplay.
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Doc
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Kwak
 
I, uh, figured that Abyssal/Celestial were equally as abstract as Spirit

That would make it the exact same language of non-words and feelings, wouldn't it? Being a fleshy meatbag with a mouth-hole used to vocalize his thoughts, I'm not sure how one talks in abstracted thoughts and such, but I'm under the impression that the 'abstract feeling of despair' are more or less universal.

Kwak
 
Oh yeah, almost forgot! I take Trade away from anyone who takes Clueless. Is that RAW? I don't remember

It's not RAW, and arguably not what Clueless does. Clueless really just says that the character talks a lot of shit - it has very little to do with actually being educated (or not).

Eisenritter
 
Primary among those reasons is of course that Aasimar and Tieflings are both artificial races created from other races, who may not have had common tongue before transformation. Even super-soldiers need some way of communicating between themselves; naturally, my line of thought goes to the gods willing languages into existence specifically for them to use for that purpose.

But they could already talk to one another. There is not a single race I can think of that doesn't know Trade, so if an Aasimar/Tiefling wants to make sure they're understood, they could've just said the words in Trade.

The only benefit I can think of for either race knowing their own specific language is for coded messages. Which really means that Aasimar/Tieflings were changed so drastically that they forgot their original races language and instead learned one that only has the purpose of 'the other guys might not know it.'

Which I guess I can see, but I'd still find it odd.


I'm also coming to the realization that this is a wonderfully unproductive tangent that could really just be shut down by "Celestial/Abyssal existed before Trade." Which, while a point I don't think anybody can prove one way or the other, certainly would stop this silly discussion from dragging on more than it needs to.
Edited by Doc, Jan 28 2016, 04:32 PM.
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Eisenritter
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Doc
Jan 28 2016, 04:28 PM
I'm also coming to the realization that this is a wonderfully unproductive tangent that could really just be shut down by "Celestial/Abyssal existed before Trade." Which, while a point I don't think anybody can prove one way or the other, certainly would stop this silly discussion from dragging on more than it needs to.
...That is a distinct possibility, actually, given that Tieflings and Aasimar came about somewhere around six thousand years before the Council did.

And, uh, given that they were created for a war against beasties that are traditionally portrayed as highly intelligent telepaths (just highly intelligent here, of course), providing new languages for military code would be a good safeguard. Especially seeing that the creation of Aasimar and Tieflings basically ended the war. :(
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Doc
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Eisenritter
 
And, uh, given that they were created for a war against beasties that are traditionally portrayed as highly intelligent telepaths (just highly intelligent here, of course), providing new languages for military code would be a good safeguard. Especially seeing that the creation of Aasimar and Tieflings basically ended the war. :(

True enough, I suppose. Celestial and Abyssal just being fancy words for different military dialects certainly sounds like an interesting take on it, so I may have to just roll with that now.
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Kwak
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Things that could speak Celestial:

  • Unicorn
  • Fairy
  • idk

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weredrago2
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I could have Unicorns speak Syrneth. They had a close connection to the Syrne before shit went topsy turvy, so its a safe bet that they used the same language until they were rediscovered.

Then again, languages have the funny habbit of changing after 40k years.
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GuardianTempest
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+8:00 GMT || Unlucky & Miserable
I'm bringing up: Slimetouch, a non-verbal language that's basically morse code for Slyths (to be revised akin to Experiment One-like creatures).

Is there something that can be done with it or I can replace it with Primordial?
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Eisenritter
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Depending on how or if you revise the origin fluff, they could just speak "Trade, any one extra" with a particularly heinous accent? Replace with Aquan, maybe?
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