Hi guys,
Currently running History of Ashes for my players. I was considering how Shoanti language would sound like and thought it would have a pretty neat effect if I RP'd some NPCs speaking the actual language. However I'm afraid of sounding either racist or culturally insensitive by speaking total gibberish. Any thoughts on possible parallels to real world dialects that I could perhaps take words and phrases from?
Well, remember that both the Shoanti and the Varisians originated from the two main human servant groups of the Thassilonian Empire, so that's a very distant root language, with Azlanti an even deeper root. After 10,000 years, there could be very little similarity to those languages, but you can look to Thassilonian/Azlanti people and place names as a start.
That said, I've always leaned towards the idea of using Native American badland and plains cultures as a template for the Shoanti; perhaps Apache?
Browolfe is spot on, and I use my cousin Jason as my model for Belor Hemlock. Jason was born and raised solely on reservation, and I don't think he was off it at all in the first seventeen years of his life.
Navajo/Apache