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Hey friends,
my question is pretty much in the title. To elaborate:
I will start GMing Carrion Crown next friday and as you all know the AP takes place in Ustalav. From time to time the first module mentions something to be in Varisian, suggesting that Taldane still is the go-to language and Varisian is just something most people speak, but not that many.
On the other hand Prince of Wolves points out (and occasionally makes a plot point out of) Rodovan's inability to understand the spoken Varisian, even sometimes needing a translator to communicate with some of the people around him. I unfortunately don't remember when those situations took place and am not willing to reread the whole book to see the context of those difficulties. And my experience from other RPGs tells me that novels usually differ from the "official" view of the world somewhat.
I imagine Ustalav as a place where the common folk speaks mostly Varisian and is capable of speaking Taldane to some extend, especially people with jobs requiering them to (like travelling merchants or innkeepers), so I would rule that every character can decide whether to speak Taldane or Varisian as a first language (they of course can still learn the other one with high INT or Linguistics). I also consider just giving them both from the start unless their background makes it somewhat illogical.
At one point the characters might interact with children who are stated to speak Varisian. Those are not children from Sczarni or something, suggesting that Varisian is the first language everybody learns around there.
So. Input, please! I'm very interested in hearing your opinions. :)
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Okay, thanks - I kinda hoped for more than one answer, but I guess I can live with this. If one of the characters comes from outside of Ustalav I might have to reconsider this, but as far as I know all of them are Ustalavians (?), so it shouldn't be too much of a game breaker to just give them the second language for free.
(The only statted NPCs in the first module all have INT>=12, so they aren't really an indicator...)
I'm thinking it's a class thing.
The aristocracy likely speaks Taldane (common) and some of the more haughty ones won't deign to speak with you unless you do it in Taldane like a proper civilized person.
The majority of the population speaks Varisian at home. Taldane is learned in the market or taught by the church, a trade language needed by merchants and the educated.
So the people of Ravengro likely speak Varisian, the majority of them switching to Taldane (with a grumble and a harumph, spoken with a heavy accent and in slow insulting tones) when the PCs look confused.
Whereas the people of Caliphas would speak Taldane. Even the beggars learn enough Taldane to get by, they have to. Speaking Varisian in public is like admitting to peasant blood, not something to endear you to others in normal circumstances.
Skald is likely a tertiary language, spoken among families and used for inventive swearing while in public.
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According to the wiki page:
Languages Common, Skald, Varisian
I know which languages are spoken in Ustalav, just not which is taken under what circumstances - I really, really doubt you'd get far with just Skald as a language, for example.
I'm thinking it's a class thing.
(Followed by stuff)
I thought so too, yeah. I guess it isn't really spelled out anywhere, but it makes sense to do it this way.
In Avistan and northern Garund, Common = Taldane. Pretty much any NPC can be assumed to speak it on at least a basic level unless there are special circumstances.