Mythic ability "Tongue of the Land" - understanding

[aegrisomnia]

Henry the Druid 8 / Hierophant 4 has "Tongue of the Land" (see below) and runs across Ned the Nuckelavee. (See http://www.dxcontent.com/MDB_MonsterBlock.asp?MDBID=1223 for details)

Ned speaks Aklo, Common and Sylvan. For the sake of argument, let's say that Henry speaks only Common and Druidic.

Questions:

1. Can Henry understand Ned when Ned speaks in Aklo? What about Sylvan? (I assume Henry can always understand Ned perfectly well when Ned speaks Common). Does Henry always understand Ned, since Ned is a Fey?

2. When Henry speaks to Ned, what language does he hear, if any? Can Henry choose?

3. If Henry can understand anything Ned says when not speaking Common (see question 1), can Henry tell which language is being spoken?

4. Suppose Nelly the Nymph walks up. Can Ned and Henry converse in Aklo so that Nelly doesn't understand, or is it assumed that one of the common languages is being spoken?

5. What about other Fey, like the Alplualachra (see http://www.dxcontent.com/MDB_MonsterBlock.asp?MDBID=2657) that only speak Aklo, but not some other language? If you're speaking to an Alplualachra, you're presumably speaking Aklo; does Nelly understand the conversation?

Thanks for any RAW/RAI interpretation, examples and/or opinions. Thanks!

Quote:

Tongue of the Land (Su): Animals, elementals, fey, and plants are magically able to understand you when you speak Druidic, as if you were using speak with animals or tongues. If speaking to creatures of different types at the same time, you can allow all of them to understand you or speak understandably to just one type at a time. For example, if speaking to a group of animals and fey, you can make yourself understandable to all of them, just to the animals, or just to the fey.

[anthonydido]

1. TotL specifies that they understand you, not that you understand them so I would say no, Henry can't understand Ned unless Ned speaks Common. However he could just tell him in druidic what languages he knows and to speak in one of those.

2. I would say Henry is still speaking druidic and Ned just knows what he is saying "magically".

3. See 1

4. See 1

5. You would still be speaking druidic. You pick a creature type that understands you. So if you are talking to one fey and another fey walks up they would understand you too.

This is what I gather by reading the ability.

[aegrisomnia]

Thanks for the quick answer - that definitely seems like a good interpretation. A follow-up question, then, is this: do Ned and/or Nelly recognize the language as Aklo, Sylvan, or Common; or, do they simply understand as though by telepathy? TotL says that the Fey understand you as if you were using Tongues, and Tongues says:

Quote:

Tongues

...
This spell grants the creature touched the ability to speak and understand the language of any intelligent creature, whether it is a racial tongue or a regional dialect. The subject can speak only one language at a time, although it may be able to understand several languages. Tongues does not enable the subject to speak with creatures who don't speak. The subject can make itself understood as far as its voice carries. This spell does not predispose any creature addressed toward the subject in any way.

This makes it sound like you're actually speaking the real language, although the path ability does say you're speaking Druidic. Then again, it also says they understand you as if you were using Tongues, and Tongues sounds like you're speaking the target's language.

[anthonydido]

1. Typically you use the Linguistics skill when trying to figure out a language.

2. Yes, the spell tongues does let you speak to them. However the TotL ability just says they understand you as if using those spells. Not that you can speak to them. If that was the intention I would think it would say "you are able to speak with them as if using speak with animals or tongues", not break it down to just understanding you.