Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

If a Yluhid were to choose Eidisi, or any other race with an uncommon or rare native language, as a second form after learning they are a Yluhid how would they go about learning the language required to pull that off? In the case of an Eidisi would they be able to learn it? Would they need to take on the appearance/identity of a young Eidisi and head to Viden to learn it there or would they be able to find someone to teach them in Uleuda. In the case of the latter would there be any language you couldn't learn in Uleuda. Given that every base race has been mimicked one could assume that in theory within Uleuda there are speakers/writers of almost, if not all, languages? The reason I am inquiring is for clarification as well as the fact that I am considering taking the Eidisi as my Yludih's second form as they are natural linguists and very much an academic type all around making it a perfect cover for them.

Just to be clear I am not trying to use this to start with the Ancient Language just trying to figure out how I would need to go about rping learning it and other hard to come by languages. Fully down for the nitty-gritty language learning thread.

Hi Al, me again.

My answer to your question how to learn the rare languages of other races would be this: you learn them the same way anyone else does, mechanically speaking, at least. So yes, you'd find yourself a teacher who knows the language and is willing to teach it, and follow the rules about acquiring the language found here (wiki/index.php?title=Languages_Used_In_Idalos).

Now, I know that wasn't what you're asking. You want to know how to get to that point. Well, honestly, it depends on the attitude of the Race speaking that language. Are they, as a culture, protective of their language and are unwilling to share it with outsiders?

In the case of Eidisi, I feel like attending the Viden University as a member of just about any race might get you access to language courses. Perhaps even the Ancient Language. However, I don't know much about Viden, so you'd have to browse the Viden forum --and the University pages in particular-- to get a better idea. In general though, I think the Viden Uni is your best bet for learning just about anything academia related.

As for Uleuda...that's a complicated can of worms. I believe you'd likely find someone there who knows the language (any language even) and would be willing to teach it. However, the lore surrounding Uleuda is skeletal and incomplete. As some of the first PCs to play there, Quio and myself made up a bunch of stuff to fill in the blanks and the questions we had. Things like "You can only speak Ulehi and Qa in Uleuda, any other language will produce no sound", "you cannot use magic in Uleuda", as well as stuff about the Nulliem, etc. But that's basically headcanon and there's nothing concrete to hold on to. And, honestly at this point I am unsure how much of what I know about the place are things we headcanon'ed.

In my opinion you'd be better off not using Uleuda to learn exotic languages and the like. It might not get you in trouble, per se, but the unclear nature of the lore makes it very difficult for mods and peer reviewers alike to figure out what is and isn't allowed/possible. You might want to send Pegasus or Pig Boy a PM to figure out what's what when/if you decide to try it anyway.

Tldr: it's probably best to learn the languages outside of Uleuda, I think, just to be safe. Your best bet on studying the rare languages would be Viden Uni.