What happened to the 'i' in Chelaxian?


Lost Omens Campaign Setting General Discussion


I was looking over some official Pathfinder materials and discovered that the Chelish citizens of Cheliax are called "Chelaxians" and not "Cheliaxians" as I've been spelling it all along. Did they bargain away the 'i' in some infernal contract? Is the other usage still correct (contry name with the 'i' and ending in 'ian')?


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Because 'Cheliaxians' is really awkward to say. You might also ask what happened to the 'a' in 'Chelish." Similarly, it would be awkward to have it there.


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Also, Chelaxians is more appropriate for a culture that loves to chillax as much as the Chelaxians do :P


Chelish actually works for me, but dropping the 'i' from Chelaxian just looks like the writer mispelled "Cheliax."

Silver Crusade

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Why is the word "gubernatorial" not "governatorial"? There are just certain conventions of language.


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Why are people from Michigan Michiganders?

Silver Crusade

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I believe Baba Yaga took it to hang out with the I that she also stole from "Spanish."


She's making a collection!


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MichaelCullen wrote:
Why are people from Michigan Michiganders?

Because "Michigeese" was overruled.

Scarab Sages

It is a bit curious that they didn't go with "Cheliaxans," especially when in this very same setting, the inhabitants of planet Triaxus are called "Triaxans." That would've worked.

spectrevk wrote:
Also, Chelaxians is more appropriate for a culture that loves to chillax as much as the Chelaxians do :P

Heard that joke often enough before, but in all candor they actually seem awfully hard-assed (with the possible exception of Zarta Dralneen, of course)....

The Golux wrote:
MichaelCullen wrote:
Why are people from Michigan Michiganders?
Because "Michigeese" was overruled.

Why not "Michigoons?" Or "Michigganneh?"

Grand Lodge

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Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Autoduelist wrote:
I was looking over some official Pathfinder materials and discovered that the Chelish citizens of Cheliax are called "Chelaxians" and not "Cheliaxians" as I've been spelling it all along. Did they bargain away the 'i' in some infernal contract? Is the other usage still correct (contry name with the 'i' and ending in 'ian')?

It went to the same place where "Texian" resides.


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It's Cheliax. 'I' was sold to the devils.

Silver Crusade

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Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Not sold! It was leased on a contract to Asmodeus and the Chelaxians still think the terms of the contract work in their favour.


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Why do we say Polish instead of Polander?

Or Finnish instead of Finlander?

Makes as much sense to me as the actual question here.

Most languages have some hard rules and certain exceptional ones.

Scarab Sages

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Why do we say 'Londoner' and not 'Londish?'

Silver Crusade

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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Why do they say Welsh instead of Waleish?

Scarab Sages

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Why do they say 'Euskadi' instead of 'Basqu-*gets blown up*


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ICH BIN EIN BERLINER

Dark Archive

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Autoduelist wrote:
I was looking over some official Pathfinder materials and discovered that the Chelish citizens of Cheliax are called "Chelaxians" and not "Cheliaxians" as I've been spelling it all along.

Probably went to the same place as the 'R' in New Yohker.


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You betcha, why just come up yonder and get some good old minnesoooten hauspitality, just stop by the post office and Milly can get ya set up dare.

You betcha there.


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DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:
Why do they say Welsh instead of Waleish?

We do say Waleish. Just try saying it after you've tipped back a few pints and you'll hear it just fine!

Silver Crusade

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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Why do we say Aussie instead of Australian?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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We went with Chelaxian instead of Cheliaxian because it's easier to say the 4 syllable word than the 5 syllable one. The 4 syllable one flows off the tongue easier. And because minor variants in the way those word constructions work add verisimilitude to the world—as folks pointed out, there's lots of variations in the real world, so it stands to reason there would be in Golarion as well.


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You might as well ask why we don't just call it "a group of goblins".


Thanks for providing the official explanation James. I was already in agreement with the community on the spelling when I expressed my preference for "Cheliaxian", but nonetheless, I submitted a change for my Community Use file upload to match the advice I got here on Paizo's messageboards:

- Fixed spellings of Cheliax / Chelish / Chelaxian. This is similar to how Spaniards from Spain speak Spanish (they're not Spainards speaking Spainish.)

The Pathfinder Tales "King of Chaos" book I was reading by Dave Gross used terminology associated with demons to describe a character that was clearly a devil, so based on that error, it was unclear to me if his spelling of Chelaxian was correct, which is how I noticed my error in the first place.

I don't know what a group of goblins are called, but I can tell you a group of copyright lawyers is a Disney - A Disney of copyright lawyers.


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Just to clarify my terminology comment, Pathfinder (and D&D) make a clear distinction between demons and devils. Demons are chaotic and live in the Abyss. Devils are lawful and live in the Hells. As a reader, I like to see those distinctions enforced when describing demons and devils. Here's some examples I've come up with that make me, as a reader, expend additional effort parsing an author's intent (these are not direct examples of Dave Gross's novel, although I can find specific examples if you require it):

Demons should never be described as "hellish", unless it's intended as an insult for the demon; nor should devils be described as looking "demonic." I can make an exception for a demon like Sifkesh, who's rumored to have originally been a devil.

You can't kill a demon and "send it back to hell." You can only send it back to the Abyss.

Devils don't make "demonic pacts" they make "infernal pacts" (or contracts if you like.)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Autoduelist wrote:

Just to clarify my terminology comment, Pathfinder (and D&D) make a clear distinction between demons and devils. Demons are chaotic and live in the Abyss. Devils are lawful and live in the Hells. As a reader, I like to see those distinctions enforced when describing demons and devils. Here's some examples I've come up with that make me, as a reader, expend additional effort parsing an author's intent (these are not direct examples of Dave Gross's novel, although I can find specific examples if you require it):

Demons should never be described as "hellish", unless it's intended as an insult for the demon; nor should devils be described as looking "demonic." I can make an exception for a demon like Sifkesh, who's rumored to have originally been a devil.

You can't kill a demon and "send it back to hell." You can only send it back to the Abyss.

Devils don't make "demonic pacts" they make "infernal pacts" (or contracts if you like.)

Edit: Nevermind.

Executive Editor

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James Jacobs wrote:
I like to think we're getting better at it, because each time I see it pop up in something that I don't have direct control over (such as novels or card games) I get all crusady.

This is purely theoretical, of course. The novels don't have problems. The novels have *never* had problems. The novels will walk your dog when you're out of town. When you text the novels late at night because you're feeling lonely, they don't mind, because they were thinking about you, too. The novels would fight a shark for you. The novels remind you to call your mom but understand when you forget. I heard that one time a guy with blisters held a novel over his feet for an hour, and they healed.

/novel facts


James Jacobs wrote:
Edit: Nevermind.

I don't know what was written here before (much to my sorrow), but this made me laugh. Well played, James. Well... played...

Autoduelist wrote:

Just to clarify my terminology comment, Pathfinder (and D&D) make a clear distinction between demons and devils. Demons are chaotic and live in the Abyss. Devils are lawful and live in the Hells. As a reader, I like to see those distinctions enforced when describing demons and devils. Here's some examples I've come up with that make me, as a reader, expend additional effort parsing an author's intent (these are not direct examples of Dave Gross's novel, although I can find specific examples if you require it):

Demons should never be described as "hellish", unless it's intended as an insult for the demon; nor should devils be described as looking "demonic." I can make an exception for a demon like Sifkesh, who's rumored to have originally been a devil.

You can't kill a demon and "send it back to hell." You can only send it back to the Abyss.

Devils don't make "demonic pacts" they make "infernal pacts" (or contracts if you like.)

For me, I tend to have the same reaction... until I separate my in-game knowledge from their in-character feelings.

In-game, the terms are rather strictly defined. In-character, though? I'd imagine they are much messier, similar to how it is in the real world.

While most people use demon and devil as interchangeable... they're not. Not really. Or, at least, they didn't start out that way.

Hence, I just kind of try to accept it as in-character rather than in-game. If that makes sense.

Dark Archive

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Ahhh language. The multitude of languages.

One of the preeminent causes of wars.

Mien gods how I love language so!


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Fortunately, this is all make believe and not actual history, so the errors don't matter in the grand scheme of things.

But take this passage from page 144 of the King of Chaos and put oneself in the role of a reader who is encountering Radovan and Count Jeggare for the first time:

"The boss kept bugging me about my little chat with Viridio in the cathedral. The big demon put on a good front, but was scared enough to let go of me right away."

Earlier in the novel, Count Jeggare made the observation that Radovan was both a portal to Hell and the Abyss, so I had to check what I read previously to make sure I wasn't mistaken that Fell Viridio was a devil. Both characters had demonstrated they were familiar with the distinctions by this point in the story, and based on context, it didn't seem like Radovan was being intentionally flippant.

On page 316, Viridio is described as "nine feet of demon, claws carapace, and fangs" except he's actually nine feet of devil!

Executive Editor

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Autoduelist wrote:

Fortunately, this is all make believe and not actual history, so the errors don't matter in the grand scheme of things.

But take this passage from page 144 of the King of Chaos and put oneself in the role of a reader who is encountering Radovan and Count Jeggare for the first time:

"The boss kept bugging me about my little chat with Viridio in the cathedral. The big demon put on a good front, but was scared enough to let go of me right away."

Earlier in the novel, Count Jeggare made the observation that Radovan was both a portal to Hell and the Abyss, so I had to check what I read previously to make sure I wasn't mistaken that Fell Viridio was a devil. Both characters had demonstrated they were familiar with the distinctions by this point in the story, and based on context, it didn't seem like Radovan was being intentionally flippant.

On page 316, Viridio is described as "nine feet of demon, claws carapace, and fangs" except he's actually nine feet of devil!

Radovan's being imprecise in his language—Viridio is indeed a devil. (Jeggare, of course, would be horribly shamed not to distinguish properly between the two...)


Mmm... but Radovan is precise in plenty of other locations in the book, which is why it was confusing for me since the context didn't suggest a reason for the imprecision.

The slip-ups between demon and devil is what inspired me to ask about the spelling of Chelaxian, since I wasn't sure whether it was being spelled right (turns out it was correct.)

Executive Editor

Yeah, I suspect those are just typos.

The Exchange

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James Sutter wrote:
Yeah, I suspect those are just typos.

Given that someone recently published a book where 'participants' had been changed to 'particitrousers' for the UK market, I wouldn't worry :)

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

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brock, no the other one... wrote:
Given that someone recently published a book where 'participants' had been changed to 'particitrousers' for the UK market, I wouldn't worry :)

Particitrousers: a type of clothing worn by dawizards.


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Re "dawizards", I still have those four volumes of the Encyclopedia Magica ... :)

Sovereign Court

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Pathfinder Maps, Rulebook, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Dire Celestial Advanced Pig wrote:
ICH BIN EIN BERLINER

Mmmmm, Jelly Donuts!

Sovereign Court

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Pathfinder Maps, Rulebook, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Vic Wertz wrote:
brock, no the other one... wrote:
Given that someone recently published a book where 'participants' had been changed to 'particitrousers' for the UK market, I wouldn't worry :)
Particitrousers: a type of clothing worn by dawizards.

Do Iwizards work for Apple?

Dark Archive

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Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Dawizards might be the best unfortunate find-and-replace story from D&D, but my favorite unfortunate typo story hails from the 2E hardback Tome of Magic. It's probably best known to people as the birthplace of the wild mage, bane of serious roleplayers and the refuge of players that enjoy rolling on random tables more than is probably healthy. It had quite a lot of new spells for both mages and priests, but the one I'd like to talk about is a little gem called endure heat. It does pretty much what you'd expect on the tin - you can survive comfortably in hot environments, like deserts, without any special precautions. You'll still burst into flames if you head into the Elemental Plane of Fire, but naturally hot environments held no problems for you. It's not quite as good as 3E's (and therefore PF's) endure elements, but it's clearly the progenitor of this particular spell.

So, what's the typo? Well, it's actually nowhere in the spell description, but instead in the list of spells by sphere in the back of the book. There, the spell is mistakenly spelled as endure head.


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Obligatory "Queen Elizabeth has 10 times the lifespan of workers and lays up to 2,000 eggs a day".

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