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I was musing on the Thassilonian language early today, and how long it has been since the time of the Thassilonian empire, as well as the nature of the runes and the Runelords; then the following thought struck me.
What if at some point, the names of the runes representing the seven sins and thus the Runelords became mixed up with the names of the Runelords themselves? I rather imagine it would puzzle modern scholars who study ancient Thassilon to find references to nations ruled by Pride, Greed, Wrath, and so on.... And it might really serve to add some interesting flavor to the AP when the characters find out who happens to be behind everything. Imagine having a warlord confess it was working for Karzoug, only to have it be interpreted by the Thassilonian-speakers as a confession it is working 'for greed'. Bit of a red herring, that...
I like that idea. Names becoming titles or descriptions.
Imagine having a warlord confess it was working for Karzoug, only to have it be interpreted by the Thassilonian-speakers as a confession it is working 'for greed'. Bit of a red herring, that...
I will just do that!
Thanks for the idea.
I yoinked this idea. We had a character death two weeks ago, so the player made up a character who focues on Thassilonian knowledge. I've been feeding him conflicting information, saying that names broken down linguisticlly imply something different than when first read.
For example, if a scrap from the Sccribbler said this: "The wrath of Alaznist will ruin Karzoug."
Then, when the names were broke down, it said this: "She of the Bright Flames ruins those of Gold."
He's been chasing his own tail trying to figure out who these people are and so far thinks they're some kind of demi-god. I likes it.
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I yoinked this idea. We had a character death two weeks ago, so the player made up a character who focues on Thassilonian knowledge. I've been feeding him conflicting information, saying that names broken down linguisticlly imply something different than when first read.
For example, if a scrap from the Sccribbler said this: "The wrath of Alaznist will ruin Karzoug."
Then, when the names were broke down, it said this: "She of the Bright Flames ruins those of Gold."
He's been chasing his own tail trying to figure out who these people are and so far thinks they're some kind of demi-god. I likes it.
That's beautiful. I'm glad this idea is proving that useful at creating twisted subplots and knots for your players.
It has, I believe, happened in the past, having names become titles, or vice-versa, with a title becoming a name.
Perhaps the most famous example is "Caesar", originally a Roman cognomen or family nickname meaning "a full head of hair" - ironic since the most famous Caesar, Gaius Julius Caesar the Dictator, inherited male pattern baldness from his mother Aurelia's family.
In the decades and centuries following that Caesar's assassination, in the Roman tradition of adopting heirs into one's own family, the emperors began to designate their heirs by conferring upon them the name of Caesar; this remained traditional even long after the emperors' family relationship with the real Caesars was broken following the death of Nero.
The use of "Caesar" as a royal title continued right down into the 20th century with the "Kaiser" in Germany (close to the original Latin pronunciation of the word, actually) and the "Tzar" or "Czar" in Russia.