Café de Nuit

Hello,

I got a question, Assuming a person from gothic earth was misted into Ravenloft, would they be able to understand anyone in Ravenloft? For example a person is brought into the Mists from France and winds up near Dementlieu, would they be able to understand each other or is french and high mordentish two completely different languages despite looking similar.

herkles

Well, I've always looked at Gothic Earth as kind of a stand alone Ravenloft Domain in it of itself. Gothic Earth, outside of the Red Death, and it's minions, is no different than our world was during the 1890's. I consider the Ravenloft Core Domains, etc. to be that of a Fantasy Gothic Horror setting. Should they be allowed to intermix? Mmmmmaybe..., but I think it's stretching it a bit. The two appear to be as different as vinegar and water, and neither the twain should meet. At least, this is my take on the subject.

The languages of Ravenloft do borrow from real world languages, and that's what Gothic Earth uses. Darkonese (and I could be all wrong) seems to be Latin, High Mordentish is French while Low Mordentish is pre-Norman English (what was spoken before the invasion of England in 1066). Others...well, could someone help? I'm still recovering from a medication issue and my mind is the consistency of gum with all the flavor chewed out...oh, wait. That's how it always is.

Souragnien is French isn't it? Is Falkovnian German? I don't really know any others but am sure somewhere on our site each language is explained

Souragnien is actually closer to Louisiana Creole, a mix of Spanish, French, English, and indigineous languages. French is a bit more dominant than others largely because the Louisiana Territory was French territory before 1802.

Well Barovioan would diffently a Slavic base. Vistani would be a mix much like gypsies of Gothic Earth a dabble of indian (dots not feathers), slavic and a touc of arabic.

Officially (at least in 2E), only one Gothic Earth language is spoken in Ravenloft: Italian, spoken by the residents of Odiare.

Garudos Celestar wrote:Officially (at least in 2E), only one Gothic Earth language is spoken in Ravenloft: Italian, spoken by the residents of Odiare.

With the release of the canon Gazetteers, it became pretty clear that domain languages were based on real-world languages. The domains reflect fictional and non-fictional areas and stories from reality; why reinvent the wheel when making their languages? Exceptions like Borca (Venice under Borgia rule) are unique because they already have ties to other domains that trump what they would speak if this rule was adhered to too closely.