Modern Traditions

This page details dialects, the calender, and the monetary system of Var'Tareen. The calender and monetary system were agreed upon by the gods and mortal leaders after the War of Ascendance.

Divine Standards
By the guidance of the gods in the years after the war many things are standardized in Var’Tareen. There is a standard system of money used by every country. Of this there are two denominations. The first is a silver square called a Regent. On one side there is a map of Var’Tareen and on the other information on where the coin was minted. There are six mints in the world. Two in Toalla, two in Mordehall, one in Roadon, and one in Maristoll. The mints are each run by a different god and council of humans. Most gods leave this function to humans. The second denomination of currency is the Gold Talent. Three hundred Regents make one Talent. The Talent is hexagonal in shape, slightly larger than the Regent, has one side with information on the mint, and the other has a image of the head of the god who runs the mint. Items are worth varying amounts of currency in different places but the money is accepted anywhere. Also established by the gods is a universal calendar. It is one of the calendars of old but renamed for the new gods instead of the old. There are eight months. Six for the pantehon, one to remind people the dangers of Nezeril, and one for the people. The months are Rallius, Cainus, Ghuramus, Sharus, Selvus, Yaerrus, Nezus, and Mortus. Each month consists of six weeks of seven days. The days are named for human heros of during the War of Ascendance but in the past were also named for the gods. The seven days of the week are Shyllin’s Day, Wenta’s Day, Annin’s Day, Qualler’s Day, Kerwoll’s Day, Geirmin’s Day, and Remin’s Day. Days last twenty four hours.

Languages and Dialects
During the War of Ascendence several languages were spoken in the world. The gods and their servants spoke The Elder Tongue. A poetic language by which many things are named. It is still studied to this day and considered to be a difficult yet beautiful language. The Elder Tongue conjures forlorn imagery and mysterious recollections of the old times. It is now used as the language of art and poetry. The script of The Elder Tongue is logographic. There is a different rune for every word. Humans entered the war speaking many different languages. This was determined by the various commanders to be a strategic nightmare. To solve this issue they created The War Tongue. A short and compact language designed to be easy to learn and to get instructions across quickly. Different than the language of gods it has a twenty six letter alphabet. This language is still used today by the majority of people. Many dialects have sprung up. The Southern Isles have their own dialect that is practically its own language. In The Wildlands countless versions of The War Tongue exists created by isolation from the rest of the world. They are more traditional than the version spoken today. Finally the dialect of Maristoll is slightly unique in that they have changed the alphabet to a twenty eight letter script.

Of the languages of old, only two have survived. Some people in Threnarau speak Denlin. This is a simplified version of The Elder Tongue that was spoken by lords of the old age. It differentiates itself by having an alphabet of thirty characters and more conjunctions and simplifications than language it is based off of. Roots of The Elder Tongue can be heard in in but Denlin was much changed by the war. The second language from the past age is called Carindus and is spoken in parts of the Southern Isles. It uses the same script as Denlin. The existence of the language heavily influenced the dialect of The War Tongue spoken there. It has also contributes to the rumors that remnants of the old age exists hidden in the Southern Isles.

Two new languages have also been developed in the current age. In an effort to distinguish their country from their Northern counterparts, Roadon developed their own language. Roadonese was made to sound as different from the other spoken words of Var’Tareen as possible. It consists of harsh sounds and is spoken in a somewhat chanting manner. It uses a twenty one character alphabet of entirely new symbols. Roadonese is the official language of Roadon. The second new language is a closely guarded secret. Spoken by the Dral’Kaar, The Warden’s Tongue is used to secretly convey messages across the world. Like The Elder Tongue it is logographic. But The Warden’s Tongue is made of entirely new symbols. The purpose of this is to make the language harder to decipher incase it is intercepted. Precious few people speak The Warden’s Tongue.