Modern Languages

Many characters in a game will have access to multiple languages, and I think it is only fair to enumerate them for the setting.

Far and away, the most common language for Humans (and those dwelling with them) in the Valley is Westron.  This language is a modern variant of the original language spoken by the Human settlers who came into the Valley from the west.  The language has changed over the past 1500 years quite a bit, and when written word and documents are encountered written in the original form, it is referred to as Old Westron (generally not understandable by speakers of the modern language - like old english, there may be a few word similarities, but no fluency could be expected).  There is a written form that is very similar to our roman letters, called Westschrift.

Destrikking - This is the language of the Storm King tribes, although it is frequently called the "Northern Tongue".  The written form is in runes called the Ainark Runes.  Following a storyline of something written in Ainark would be difficult, but it is perfectly suited for recording spells and also associating great deeds with the names of heroes.

Holab - This is the language of the tribes of the Sun King, in its basic form.  There are two very different dialects, which we will call Eastern Holab, and Western Holab.  Details on the Sun King tribes will be coming soon, but for now just remember that those speaking Eastern Holab want to kill you and remove your organs for sacrifice.  Those peaking Western Holab want to kill you and eat strips of your flesh in order to capture your magic.  Clearly a travelogue, with lots of cheerful drawings and translation of common phrases would increase tourism in the area.  While both languages are mutually exclusive in spoken form, they share the same written language, which is very simple and not capable of conveying any nuance.  Sun King tribal wizards and shamans will usually employ some complex method of recording magical spells that involves complex knotted strings with hollowed out stones of different colors on the mesh the strings form.

Elves have a traveling language that they employ exclusively (when not speaking a Human tongue) while in the Valley, at least Wood Elves and High Elves.  They call it Eldarin and it differs from the language of Faery that they speak while in the Seelie Realms.  In an effort to mark their departure from Seelie culture entirely, the Gray Elves have their own tongue, which is completely different, it is called Elanarif.  Both of these have their own written form. It is considered highly heretical for an Elf to use the language of the Seelie Realm on this side of their portals.

The Dark Elves have their own language, as well, called Mortiggo it incorporates some languages of Goblyn (see below), and any words it has for surface geographical features (such as Tree, Mountain, Grass, etc) come from Eldarin.  The Dark Elves have a complex runic written form, called Mortine Runes.

The Dwarves have a language of their own, which they call Ardspeke.  It is written as Ardrunes.  Gnomes have a different spoken language, known as Kurakka Kurad, but it borrows the Dwarven runes for its written form.

The Goblyn races (Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Ogres, Hobgoblins, etc) each have their own racial tongue, although there is a simple lingua franca used amongst them that is simply called Goblyn Speech, or sometimes referred to as the Black Tongue.  It exists in a very crude runic form, called Goblyn Runes.

Forest Folk usually will speak Westron, as will Halflings.

Giants will speak a confused mashup of Westron and Goblyn Speech, except for Frost Giants, which speak the Northern tongue exclusively.

Dragons do not speak modern languages.

The Saurian Races (Lizard Men, Kobolds, Yuan Ti, Turtle Folk, etc.) speak a language called Saurial (it is difficult for mammalian mouths to pronounce).  Their written language is mostly a simple script of horizontal and vertical scratches.  Much of their knowledge (as it is) is transmitted by unspoken low frequency sounds, and the same is true for spell casters of this race.  They will record spells by committing the instructional form of them to memory as a simple song played on a drum or flute, and accompanied by what sounds like a guttural humming or moaning.  This is repeated when a saurian spell caster needs to re-memorize a spell, or teach it to another.

The Earthy Peoples

This is a brief overview of the last of the demi-humans who can serve as player characters (dwarves, gnomes and halflings) have not been covered yet, in terms of their place in the cosmology of the Valley of the Old Ones.

The Dwarves and Gnomes are among the oldest races to live in the Valley.  Their presence dates back to before the cataclysm that sundered the Seely Realms from the world.  It is unclear why they are separate from the rest of Faery, but it is so.  For a while, before the establishment of the Old Ones, the Dwarves and Gnomes were the only peoples living.  The Father deity of the Dwarves, known simply as The Krung, was responsible for building the framework of the world - it's mountains.  Out of the rocks of the mountains, the Dwarves were originally formed.  The shield bearer of The Krung, who is simply referred to as Mika, smoothed the land between the mountain spines and the flat plains by forming hills.  Out of these came the Gnomes.

As the Dwarves and the Gnomes began working the gifts given to them, they inadvertently awakened the elder elemental gods who brought forth the Old Ones.  As the myth recorders from Parn Tandalorn are apt to point out, eventually the Old Ones vanished, and gave way first to the Storm King tribes.  These became so numerous that they threatened the Earthy Peoples and also the Faery Peoples.  There was a war, with the Elves and Dwarves on one side, and the massed tribes of the Storm King on the other.  Something happened - none alive today know what it was, but the Dwarves never showed up at any of the battles.  In the end, the Elves capitulated, and agreed to stay to their own forests.  The Dwarves (and Gnomes) were not part of the treaty, but fled to the mountains and hills from which they were born.

The Halflings, on the other hand, are of an unknown origin.  There is no indication that they dwelt in the Valley in the time of the Old Ones.  There is also no indication that they dwelt in the lands to the West, from where the Westroners came before they migrated into the Valley.  Today, however, there are small settlements and communities of Halflings spread throughout the Baronies.  The Halflings are not known to have any deities of their own, but rather make themselves comfortable in the Westron Church.

Gorrem - City of the Ten Gates

The namesake, and chief, city at the heart of the Barony of Gorrem is also called the City of the Ten Gates. It has a population of 27,000. There are a number of towns that are reliant on it - these are the chief population centers of the Barony, along with each having its own supporting network of villages and farm country.

• Colvine (population 4,500) to the north
• Harwych (population 6,000) to the east
• Sallow (population 6,500) to the southeast
• Haventown (population 5,000) to the south
• Lightcastle (population 5,500) to the west
• Aldbridge (population 4,000) to the northwest

The Barony is located in the Wychwood (south central) region of the Valley, and its chief political neighbors are the Barony of Lynch (east, on the far side of the Tiazarr River); the Barony of Pellorix on the far side of the Ancelhenn Lake to the southwest; north across the Great River is the Barony of Na Kram.

Much of the Barony is forested, and in addition to the many human towns listed above, there are a large number of "forest folk" in the wooded areas of the demesne.  To the west (in the Redsmoke Woods) there are a large number of Hedgehog People.  To the east, in the Plum Woods and the Belley Woods, there are a number of Mouseling communities.  Also in the region between Belley and Plum is the Green Apple Commonwealth - a small Halfling county that owes fealty to the Barony of Gorrem.  In the forests in the northern reaches of the Barony, along the Great River, there are numerous forest settlements of Wolflings.

The Barony is not home to many Dwarves or Gnomes.  And the few Elven settlements that exist are deep within the forested regions of the demesne.

The current ruling family is the Household of Terrasund, with Baroness Catherine II on the throne.

The city is home to the Homehall Cathedral - maintained by a community of clerics and monastics of the order of St. Ermo.  The Tower Druaqua (Bardic College of Maelwyn) is there. Also within the walls of the city can be found Castle Tattelis - home of the Terrasund family.  Not really of political concern, but of possible interest to adventurers and explorers - the abandoned tower of Ordobrandt is also within the city, but it is guarded by city guard.

Within the walled fields surrounding the city, there is the keep and practice grounds of the Knights of the Malmen Rose.  The Knights are a chivalric (but not Paladin) order that has a loose alliance with Gorrem, but have a distinct arrangement where they do not have Feudal duty, but are rather allies.

The Ten Gates, as well as much of the city, are protected by the city watch, known as Gorrem Levy.  They are much more than a levy, however, as they are a regular full time soldiery.  Typical equipment includes ring mail, simple helmet, bardiche, and short sword.  The Gorrem Levy are (total) approximately 2000 strong, however only 800 are serving at any one time.  There are several towers both on the outer walls and located along the inner walls where these are housed.

In addition to the sites and locations already mentioned, the city is somewhat known for its Inns and Taverns, each of which boasts its own ales and beers.  There are competitive wars between the larger Taverns, each claiming to be the "Best in Gorrem" or "The Baroness' Favorite".

Retro-Clone RPG based on the RC of BD&D

Okay, I think that is the most Acronym laden title of any article here at Gaming with Chuck.  (The Staff is currently on a Health Improvement Program (HIP) and that means increased levels of vitamins being consumed.  So there is a big fascination with letters....)

Okay, a Retro Clone of a Role Playing Game is one of a new-ish batch of RPGs that seek to capture either the specific rules or the flavor of classic RPGs.  You know - like Good Old Dungeons & Dragons (or Basic D&D).  One of the versions of that game (a pretty good one) was the old Rules Compendium.  A great collection of rules.  It has everything in it that I usually like in a simple RPG - good distinct classes.  Nice list of spells and equipment.  Skill system.  Weapon system.  In fact, for me, the only things missing would be (1) Speed factors on spells and weapons (easy to add in), and (2) Tactical moves for doing combat with miniatures (also easy to add in).

Alright - so there is this great new retro-clone of the RC version of BD&D called "Dark Dungeons" (yes, named after the made-up game in the old Chick comic.  If you have to ask, then you are better off not knowing).

It has it all.  And in true to form honesty to old Basic D&D (or OD&D - Original D&D, although that is sometimes more narrowly defined as old White Box D&D - again, if you have to ask, you are better off not knowing, although it might be a good plan for the Staff to write a history of versions of D&D) there are only Classes, not the Race/Class combination we have seen in so many other RPGs.  This means that if you want to play an Elf - then that is your class.  This bodes well for the geek tshirt I once saw that said "I Remember when Hobbit was a Class" - and it was in OD&D.  It is again in Dark Dungeons (although, for several legal reasons, they are called Halflings).

How does this race-as-class thing work out?  Well it makes the race of non-humans Really important.  As in it is a big deal if you say you are an Elf.  Unlike in, say, AD&D when you are an Elf MU or an Elf Fighter, or an Elf F-M-C, then there is not too much of a big deal about the Elf Part.  Especially in 2E, 3E or 4E (remember the vitamins thing and acronyms).  But in OD&D - and in Dark Dungeons - being an Elf is a big deal.

So what are these races as class all about?  More coming in a future article but briefly - Elf is a Fighter/Magic User mix.  Halfling is a Fighter/Thief mix.  And Dwarf is crusty.  Like I said - more coming soon.

Also - look for some coming up articles on content for Dark Dungeons.  I am inspired . . .

ps- thank you especially to Matt and Braz, whom I saw at Battlefield Band in Williamsburg on Nov 5 - and they got me jazzed up on Dark Dungeons.  Previously my favorite retro-clones included Castles & Crusades (which I still love - and the Castle Keeper's Guide finally came out - w00t), and Mutant Futures.  Both of those generated a fair amount of press here at GWC.



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