The Pathfinder Chronicles ABCs!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Fantasy tales have a long and infamous history of creating new and difficult to pronounce words—not to mention inspiring decades-long arguments on how to say them. The Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting follows in this grand tradition. In the hopes of causing fewer games to grind to a halt over how to say "sceaduinar" (SKAY doo nahr), though, this 250+ page hardbound tome features a pronunciation guide of more than 300 words, ranging from Abadar (AH bah dar) to Zyphus (ZIE fess), drawn from Golarion and more than 35 years of fantasy RPG history. For a quick look—and a hint of what else you'll find inside—here's the Pathfinder Chronicles ABCs!

A is for Achaekek (uh CHAY kek), assassin of gods.
B is for Barbatos (BAR ba tus), who bears Hell's keys.
C is for Castrovel (KAHS tro vehl), up in the sky.
D is for Drow (DROW), hope this clears things up.
E is for Edasseril (eh DASS ur ill), the runelords' envy.
F is for Flauros (FLOR us), lord of the flame.
G is for Gogunta (go GUN tuh), to whom boggards croak.
H is for Hermea (her MEE uh), a nice place to visit.
I is for Infadibulum (ihn fah DIHB uh luhm), of arcana forgot.
J is for Jubilex (JOOB eh lex), master of goo.
K is for Khopesh (KOH pehsh), a blade with a bend.
L is for Limbo (LIHM boh), where reality is undone.
M is for Mephistopheles (mef uh STOF uh leez), who dwells in the depths.
N is for Nirmathas (NEAR math ehs), land of rangers at war.
O is for Oinodaemon (OIN oh day mon), boss of daemonkind.
P is for Protean (PROH tee uhn), primeval outsiders.
Q is for Qadira (kah DEER ah), our only "Q" word.
R is for Rovagug (ROH vah gug), who got locked away.
S is for Socothbenoth (so KOTH beh noth), my favorite demon lord.
T is for Tian Xia (TEE yawn shaw), where ninjas come from.
U is for Ulfen (OOL fen), where Vikings come from.
V is for Valani (wah LAH nee), father of islands.
W is for Wes (WES), 'cause I wrote this blog.
X is for Xanderghul (ZAHN dur gool), the smuggest runelord.
Y is for Yondabakari (yawn dah ba KAR ee), a river with a very long name.
Z is for Zirnakaynin (zeer nuh KAY nen), den of dark elves.

The Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting—chock-full of words—hits shelves this August!

F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor, Pathfinder