I just realized I never posted my sanitized list of Ravenloft names in this thread. So here goes:
Lamordia: Nortenmark (pseudo-Germanic "northern reach", hinting at a Falkovnian-invasion history)
Mordent: Cosabel (pseudo-French "côte sable" - black coasts)
Dementlieu: Maresotes (marées hautes - high tides, in honor of the many lakes there)
Richemulot: Praquadie (par arcadie - like Arcadia)
Darkon: unchanged, but etymology derives from Darcalus Conclave
Invidia: Întradevâr (pseudo-Romanian for "in truth")
These are just for my own personal use. Feel free to borrow whatever you like and leave what you don't.
Silly RL names
Re: Silly RL names
Skimming this thread, I may have missed it, but it seems like everyone overlooked Richemulot, which in my opinion has always had some of the worst offenders:
Ste. Ronges - from French "ronger", "to gnaw"
Pont-a-Museau and Musarde River - "mus" being the taxonomical genus for mice
Also Verbrek seems to come from the german "Verbrechen", which means crime or felony. I've excused this in my campaign by giving the region a reputation as a refuge for criminals fleeing justice (think Sherwood Forest, only not so friendly). Though I've worked in some cheesiness of my own. Relating to Anglo-Saxon as the basis for Low Mordentish, people in southern Mordent call Verbrek the "Wargwood". "Warg" coming from the A-S "wearg", which was a word used for outlaws which means both "wolf" and "strangler".
Of course this is just reputation. Just because outlaws fled there, doesn't mean they ever came out again.![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Ste. Ronges - from French "ronger", "to gnaw"
Pont-a-Museau and Musarde River - "mus" being the taxonomical genus for mice
Also Verbrek seems to come from the german "Verbrechen", which means crime or felony. I've excused this in my campaign by giving the region a reputation as a refuge for criminals fleeing justice (think Sherwood Forest, only not so friendly). Though I've worked in some cheesiness of my own. Relating to Anglo-Saxon as the basis for Low Mordentish, people in southern Mordent call Verbrek the "Wargwood". "Warg" coming from the A-S "wearg", which was a word used for outlaws which means both "wolf" and "strangler".
Of course this is just reputation. Just because outlaws fled there, doesn't mean they ever came out again.
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Deranged Comics Fan
Strife-monger
Daughter of a Troll
Strife-monger
Daughter of a Troll
- devilfox
- Conspirator
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Sat May 26, 2012 5:23 am
- Gender: Male
- Location: Newcastle, Australia
Re: Silly RL names
These are brilliant! Especially Maresotes and Praquadie. I dunno. They just resonate with me for some reason.HuManBing wrote:I just realized I never posted my sanitized list of Ravenloft names in this thread. So here goes:
Lamordia: Nortenmark (pseudo-Germanic "northern reach", hinting at a Falkovnian-invasion history)
Mordent: Cosabel (pseudo-French "côte sable" - black coasts)
Dementlieu: Maresotes (marées hautes - high tides, in honor of the many lakes there)
Richemulot: Praquadie (par arcadie - like Arcadia)
Darkon: unchanged, but etymology derives from Darcalus Conclave
Invidia: Întradevâr (pseudo-Romanian for "in truth")
These are just for my own personal use. Feel free to borrow whatever you like and leave what you don't.
Personally, though, I think Mordent needs to be more Old Mordentish (ie. Old English / Anglo-Saxon) and less High Mordentish (French).
In other news, it is quite possible that Har'Akir comes from the Ancient Egyptian ḥḳr (pronounced something like ha'kir) meaning 'hunger'.