![]() Second, they possess the Fey Ancestry trait. Given this, one might well ask what about the Drow?First of all, by the RULES drow speak Elvish. Captives of the giants, descendants of Qabalrin refugees, the unconquered ancestors of the Tairnadal-despite their different cultures and histories, they were united by the Elvish tongue and could always understand one another. But this is also a crucial factor in the eventual uprising. But it was unquestionably SUPPRESSED, and elves would be punished for speaking it. It’s not that Elvish was preserved, because the elves couldn’t forget it even if they wanted to. The giants weren’t going to learn Elvish, so elf servants had to learn at least basic Giant. The original question included this: was Giant the language that the oppressed elves were supposed to use with their overlords, while Elvish was preserved as the language they used among themselves?Absolutely. How would that affect the development of culture? It is fundamentally the antithesis of the Babel story-the people of the world are divided by their many languages, but all elves are united by their common tongue. To me, it’s fascinating to consider the impact of having a language seared into your brain from the moment of birth. I like exploring worlds that are unlike our own. This comes back to one of my basic principles of world building. You are born knowing THE LANGUAGE, the language that will allow you to speak to any elf anywhere. As an elf, you never have to develop a new language. This makes sense if elves have a greater degree of engrained knowledge and instinct than humans. It further reinforces other things we’ve established about the elf cultures, namely that they are extremely tied to tradition and that they aren’t as innovative as humans. They are fundamentally alien beings whose minds do not work the same way as human minds. They aren’t just humans who have pointed ears and live for centuries. WHY DO THIS? What appeals to me about this is that in concretely establishes that elves are not human. It is impossible to be an elf and NOT understand Elvish. You don’t have to be taught the language a part of you, tied innately to the Fey Ancestry feature. It doesn’t matter if you’re an orphan born in a Sharn gutter or a proud Aereni. Second: In my Eberron, every elf is born with an innate understanding of the Elvish language. It is only when you and a dryad LEAVE Thelanis that you realize that you can’t understand her any more, and start hearing her words as Elvish instead simply understanding their meaning. When you’re wandering through the Endless Weald, you can understand the songs of the dryads singing in the trees you are part of the story and that means you understand its words. With that said, one of the minor effects of Thelanis is that while you are in Thelanis, you understand Elvish. The planes are universal concepts, and their fundamental principles don’t change (setting aside the complications of Dal Quor!). So I’ll tell you my answer, but then I want to talk about WHY I’d answer that way.įirst: Elvish is the language of Thelanis. To me, this is a perfect example of a choice where you need to think about the broader implications-you need to be sure you WANT your story to go down a particular path. ![]() It has no foundation in any canon source, though as far as I know it doesn’t contradict any canon source either the topic has simply never come up. So first, to be clear, everything I’m about to say is what I do IN MY CAMPAIGN. There’s no explanation of where the language came from or how they come to learn it. There are no canon answers to these questions. ![]() did Elves speak that language prior to their enslavement by the Giants? Also, if Elvish is the language of Thelanis, are Elves born knowing it, or must it be taught to children like any other language? ![]() Since the answers have broader implications on a general philosophy of worldbuilding, I wanted to make it a standalone IFAQ. In the comments, a question came up about the role of the Elvish language in the world. Yesterday I posted an IFAQ about developing languages. My new book Exploring Eberron is available now on the DM’s Guild. ![]()
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