Anyway, this storyguide is of the opinion that all variations of Greek, ancient, Romaic, medieval, and even modern; thse are all the same language. I base this opinion on my grandmother, who has stated as much to me herself. She was born here in the US in 1925 in Chicago, but she spoke only Greek until she first entered public grammar school as a child. She also went to Greek school, run through the church I believe, and she told me that in school she was taught how to read Aristotle and etcetera in their original language, much the same as we are taught to read Shakespear. Additionally, she told me that when she visited Greece, she could read the graffitti etched upon many a ruin (a lot of it was smutty in nature, but still classical Greek with all capital letters and old forms of verbage).
I rule it as a double dialect penalty. -1 for different dialect, -1 for different era. A score of Greek 5 equals Ancient Greek 3, enough to speak and read a bit, but not good enough for writing. A score of 6 in one equals 4 in the other, good enough for copying (though not perfect).
Write a letter (as in, write up what your character would write as a letter then post it, I have seen that in a few games and it is fun).
Or you can just wait for the Terror in Transylvania story, which starts tonight
I am thinking we do indeed need to expand our scribal & linguistics staff. The Tremere offer Vocis various resource opportunities, and if you want, the local Exarch will send you a few guys right away. Vocis is also authorized (and encouraged) to hire mundanes. The closest resource being Barcelona, Carles of Jerbiton can suggest trustworthy few. Languages needed include Latin, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Catalan, Castilian, French, Basque, Tartesian, Iberian, English, Norse, Farsi, Chaldean, Klingon, Esperanto, ...
Maybe just the first few or so.
Oh, for the Greek scribe with the modern (medieval) dialect, if his score is 4 or higherhe gets a dialect and a specialization (which could be another dialect). Specialize in translating
Solomon comes from the classical side, so his translations would be perfect. The scribe is sufficient, just a -1 Quality penalty.
Ah, I forgot about that language house rule. Amada (Vocis's daughter) actually has Greek 5 and should probably have a specialty in translating, so we're set after all.
Encouraged by whom? The covenant or his House? I'm sure we can afford to bring in a few more scribes and translators, but I'm not seeing an immediate need that would allow him to justify the expense.
Encouraged by the Pontifex, Carmen. She is also the treasurer, and is lieral in allowances for the library budget. She also specifically requests that we have Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic covered.
Then Vocis will get right on that. We're only lacking Hebrew from those four, so he'll look for someone with that and some more obscure languages. He'll also look into hiring a couple interpreters who can accompany covenant personnel on missions to foreign lands or assist in negotiations with foreign merchants. Neither Nicasi nor Amada can really fill those roles.
Excellent idea. We do need verbal translators. Make sure they have other useful expedition skills. Carmen has hired a guide who speaks Arabic and is skilled with desert expeditions
Carmen knows some Herew and can hire a scholar easilly. That covers the main four academic languages. Now while on the hunt for a few obscure languages, serious suggestions include: Tartessian, Coptic/Demotc, Persian/Farsi, Basque, Chaldean/Aramaic, and other cool stuff 8)
I'm looking for non-Gifted (or Gently Gifted) verbal translators to help with mundane interactions. I'm afraid Solomon's Gift would interfere if he's our translator in some situations. As for book learning, does he have any other languages he'd like to learn? Vocis can start shopping for books.
I'm looking for non-Gifted (or Gently Gifted) verbal translators to help with mundane interactions. I'm afraid Solomon's Gift would interfere if he's our translator in some situations. As for book learning, does he have any other languages he'd like to learn? Vocis can start shopping for books.
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Ah, that totally makes sense. And oddly enough, Selim wouold be horrible at being a translator for anything other than Arabic. My understanding of Faerie Speech is that he can only be speaking one language at a time. So if he was talking to someone in some other language, he could absolutely understand them, but couldn't translate in anything other than Arabic (since he actually knows Arabic).
As for other languages for Solomon, I'll have to look, but I wanted to pursue the Language of Adam (from Ancient Magics I think), which means he needs to learn at least one other language (I don't have my books here right now) before he starts combining them to learn the proto-languages, or whatever they're called.
Did I mention that the mysterious Basque language is not related to any other?
Tatessian also, but that is a dead language that exists only in written form, the Iberian Script, which is not the original alphabet for that language. It originates with Cantabrian and Iberian, which are Celtic languages I believe. Basque still lives, written in Latin letters but also spoken by a large ethnic/linguistic minority. Tartessian is lost. The only understanding we have of it is phonetic reconstructions of words using another dead language. In my imagination, this qualifies both of these as mythical magical languages.
A further note on Basque. It is not really a magical language. It is neolithic in origin and utterly unrelated to any other language on this planet. But it is also a living modern language that has evolved and grown. It is used in media and broadcast and is used by mechanics and technicians and etcetera. Basques are predominantly Catholic, and for many the tongue is a second language.
As for Tartessian, I do not know how much would be known about it in the 13th century. Roman authors mentioned the Tartessians and their strange language, and anything written in Iberian script would be a rare artifact (and probably written in Celtiberian or Cantabrian). I am not sure if Cantabrian is Celtic, I might be talking out my @$$. I will check.
I mention all this because A) Basques are real and local with a rich mythology and a unique hedge maguc tradition, B) Iberian Script ties into the Valdarius mysteries, part of the ancient history of this covenant, C) This lost language stuff ties into the Fertility Magic and Adamic Language from Ancient Magic.
