Languages
There are many different languages spoken all throughout the various cultures, races, and locations of Siliren. Many people in Siliren know and are able to speak multiple languages, while some only ever learn their native language. Player Characters have the freedom to learn new languages at any time throughout their travels and interactions. However, learning new languages requires the Player Character to follow specific rules.
There currently are two different language skills: Spoken and Reading & Writing.
Spoken
New Player Characters at this time are allowed to start speaking a maximum of two different languages, one at a Fluent competency and the second at a Poor competency. Characters, however, do not have to know two languages at their creation, especially if the player does not think this would make sense to their story. While it is highly recommended you start with at least one known language, players aren’t required to start off with any languages at all if they would like.
Reading & Writing
Most languages have a written alphabet, some languages will not. At creation, players are allowed to choose if their characters know how to read and/or write in any specific language. Their understanding of the reading and writing skills for each language must either match the fluency of the spoken language or be at a level below. Therefore a Character who is Fluent in one language is allowed to also be Fluent in reading and writing in that language – or levels below such as Conversational or Poor.
While the reading and writing skills do not have to be at the same fluency level as their spoken skill, currently they cannot be at a fluency level above the spoken skill.
Reading and Writing are not two separate skills. If a Character knows one, they know the other.
Language Proficiencies
Poor: when a Character or NPC speaks, reads or writes a language at a Poor level they can only understand basic words and very few phrases. They may be able to say their own name and ask others for theirs or ask simple questions. The language comprehension is simple and they won’t be able to follow conversations, speak quickly or without thinking, or understand words that are not spoken slowly and deliberately. Reading and writing at this stage is possible, although slow going and restricted only to the words they know how to speak.
Conversational: when a Character or NPC speaks, reads, or writes a language at a Conversational level they are able to string together complex sentences, speak at a slightly less than normal rate and hold basic conversations. They are not yet able to understand slang or puns and have a hard time following conversations that involve multiple people talking one after the other. Reading and writing at this stage generally allows the Character to function at a reasonable pace but they cannot read books past a young adult literacy level and their words per minute in both reading and writing will be few. Written words will often be misspelt.
Fluent: at a Fluent level a Character or NPC can speak fast and without error or much thought. They can read and write perfectly and understand slang and jokes. Characters who have a Fluent level of understanding in two or more languages can freely translate between them and switch their speech without hesitation.
Learning & Improving Language Skills
New Language – No skill -> Poor Level
A Character must complete a thread of at least 2000 words in which the Character is actively learning the new language, and the learning of it is the main activity of the thread. A Character must have a Teacher in the thread who is teaching them. This Teacher, if an NPC, must have at least a Moderate fluency level in the Characters main Fluent language and Fluent in the language that is being learned.
If the Teacher is a PC then the PC must have at at least a Moderate fluency in both the language being learned, and the Characters Fluent language. The PC Teacher must write at least 1000 words in the training thread and the Character must write at least 2000 words for a thread total of at least 3000 words.
Poor Level -> Conversational Level
When a Character wants to improve a Poor language to a Conversational fluency they must follow a similar rule set as described above. A Character must be taught to improve the language by a Teacher. The Teacher, if an NPC, must speak the language being taught and the Characters main Fluent language at a Fluent level. This thread must be at least 2000 words in length.
If the Teacher is a PC then the PC must speak the language being taught at at least a Conversational fluency as well as the Characters main Fluent language at at least a Moderate level. The Character must write at least 2000 words in this thread and the Teacher PC must write at least 1000 words, for a total of at least 3000 words in the thread.
Conversational Level -> Fluent Level
When a Character wants to improve their Moderate language to a Fluent skill level they must follow a specific rule set. A Character must write a thread in which they are taught by a Teacher to improve their language skill. Weather the Teacher is a PC or NPC the rules are the same. The Teacher must be Fluent in both the language being improved upon and the main Fluent language of the Character. The Character must write at least 3000 words in which they improve upon the language skill and demonstrate a Fluent level. A PC Teacher must write at least 2000 words in such a thread for a total of 5000 words.
Other Regulation
Reading/Writing:
For the Character to learn or improve upon a languages reading and writing skills they must add at least 500 words to the spoken language training thread. There must also be clear mention, and preferably practice and detail, of learning these specific skills in thread. This is only if the Character learns the reading and writing skills in the same thread they learn the spoken language skill. If they would like to learn these skills separately then they would need to write a 1000 word thread that follows the same rules regarding a Teacher as the spoken language skill improvement described above.
Season Delay Requirement:
Characters can only learn or improve upon 2 languages per season and only improve upon each language once per season. Therefore, that means, at max, only 2 language threads can be written per season, and they each need to be for different languages. This rule exists to give some realism to the skill learning. IRL people spend many years of their lives learning new languages to a Fluent level, and even then most are never as Fluent as someone who spoke the language as a first language. This rule, while attempting to bring realism to the game, still allows a Character a massive advantage compared to the real life skill.
Existing Languages
Below is a list of languages that currently exist within Siliren that PCs are able to learn. Be sure to read the rules above to understand how to learn languages, and read each Language Lore Article as some have extra restrictions.
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