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In addition to the ubiquitous Taldane (which the arrogant people of Taldor call "Common"), what else is spoken there? I figured the north (Issia) has some Skald because of the Ulfen. But what about in Rostland? I had thought that they were ancestrally Kellid with a lot of trappings from Taldor (such as "Common"). If I'm right, then the more remote villages would still be likely to speak Hallit.
This has been my working assumption for years. I started a Rostlander in Hero Lab Online and it says
Characters from Brevoy gain access to the regional languages Skald and Varisian when choosing languages.
I was surprised to see Varisian. I can imagine a few villages here and there, but I'm surprised to see it listed above Hallit. Looking it up in the pathfinder wiki I see
Having received waves of migration from all over Avistan, the people of Brevoy speak a large number of languages, depending on their own ethnicity. These include Hallit, Skald, Varisian, and of course the common language of that part of the world, Taldane. Strangely, a significant minority of people also speak Draconic, which is quite unusual for non-dragons to be conversant in.
So, what is the traditional language for the peasants of Rostland? If there is a group of Rostlanders who want to split Brevoy and go back to the glory days of "free Rostland", what language are they most likely to speak?
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I suspect Hallit is your best bet as that's perhaps the most common "native" language in that corner of Avistan. Virtually every nation in that general area can be traced back to the various clans of Kellids. That being said, Taldane does have a significant presence in the region by the time Rostland emerges as a political entity, given Sirian Frist/Aldori, the first Swordlord, was himself an immigrant from Taldor.
Varisian seems to be, from my perspective, something brought in from the west, through the River Kingdoms and Numeria from Ustalav, which is a center of Varisian culture.
So, in my admittedly incomplete perspective, I imagine Rostlander partisans speaking of the Swordlords' glory days would primarily speak a blend of Taldane and Hallit, the ratio likely depending on class, with nobles and Aldori Swordlords speaking more Taldane and peasantry speaking more Hallit, much like how modern English evolved from a French-speaking Norman aristocracy ruling over a mostly Anglo-Saxon peasantry.
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Brevoy has plenty of Iobarians, so I imagine their language would be spoken there as well.
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Technically yes, back in 1e Iobarian was the local language of Iobaria should you want to set a game there, and while it ISN'T listed as an option in 2e I'd generally assume it's still around and learnable, as 1e Pathfinder had a LOT of learnable languages that kind of sprawled out from the original list.
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Yeah, but given that the Iobarian language exists, there are Iobarians living there, and Iobaria is just across the Lake of Mist and Veils from Brevoy, it would be weird if the language wasn't spoken there at all. If I had to guess, it probably just wasn't listed because the language wasn't part of the rules yet.
It does, though it feels a bit artificial.
The heavy suggested presence of Varisian might indicate the Varisian wanderers actually manage to travel all the way across here, or have some sort of ancestral connection to the lands before being severed by the World Wound.