Roleplaying a Linguist

Why Play a Linguist?

What is the point? Does it make sense to pick a secondary class that grants only a few additional starting languages -- languages that one can pick up in game through everyday play anyway?

On the surface it may appear that the Linguist secondary class is limited. You speak the three most common languages in Zalanthas: Sirihish (the human common tongue), Mirukkim (the dwarven common tongue) and Allundean (the elvish common tongue). However, most business in populated centers is conducted in Sirihish, everyone can learn languages over a period of time, and other secondary classes offer more apparently "useful" skills right from the start.

There is a point, however. This guild shines when you focus on the roleplay of a character who is culturally adventurous, well-traveled, has a scholarly mindset, or simply has a facility for languages that helps him or her gather information.

Key Concepts

Zalanthas culture is all about groups - isolated tribes of elves, humans, gith, halflings, Northern society, Southern society, secret groups, shady groups, courtiers, merchant houses and plenty more. Many of these groups have different languages that are their "mother tongue," some have secret coded languages, some of them write these down - but each has an individual culture, a set of mores and norms that make each group distinct from the other.

Understanding how and why these groups differ and, more importantly, how to integrate oneself into the culture is the forte of the experienced Linguist. In a world where scarce resources and harsh existence has encouraged xenophobia to flourish as a survival mechanism, it is the rare individual that can understand another culture and act as a bridge which may facilitate communication. Knowing the Allundean word for kank-honey may be useful, but knowing that while eating dinner with the Sand Digger tribe, you only use three fingers of your left hand may help you avoid making a disastrous social faux pas and may show the hosts that you respect (or seemingly so) their traditions and beliefs.

Keeping this in mind, one can see that being a Linguist isn't just about the languages, though by every measure knowing three languages perfectly at the start of the game is an excellent advantage in mixed company. It's really about understanding cultures and being above, or pretending to be, the racist attitudes that act as survival mechanisms in Zalanthas.

Common Roles for Linguist Characters

There are plenty of roles available for Linguists. Here are a few to give you an idea of the variety of possibilities.

• Spy: Knowing a few languages well is an excellent way to pick up information, especially if no one else knows them. You see those dwarves over there talking in Mirukkim? If you understood them, you might know they're planning a big raid on your employer's warehouse. Or what about that group of elves over there sizing up that wealthy noble? I bet he'll pay a few coins to know about their intentions.
• Merchant:Selling weapons to a bunch of underprivileged nomads might seem like a cake-walk, but what if you can't speak a word of their language? Too bad you didn't spend many a late night learning, eh? If you had, you might also know they only use spears and staves because of a religious belief or cultural tradition. You might also know that traditionally they exchange gifts first before any negotiation - typically glass. Now, who's going to earn their respect, the merchant who can speak their language and is familiar with their culture, or the one who's only guessing and using grunts and gestures?
• Scholar/Historian: What is a person except an accumulation of their knowledge? Years spent in study, tracing the roots of language, the types of cultures, the arts and sciences - these all mingle together helping a scholar figure out the big picture and what it's all about. Obviously a thinker is going to spend time learning about the world around him or her and thus the groups of people that inhabit it. Picture the dusty philosopher poring over rare and dusty (not to mention illegal) parchments written in some long-dead hand in a language never spoken. It is this fellow that will unlock the secrets of the past, putting the weight of their understanding into figuring out how this dead language is put together and how the concepts in these documents relate to the present day.
• Seasoned Professional: What merchant or noble house wouldn't hire someone with expertise in diverse cultures when sending highly-trained and expensive troops out into the unknown? Will there be enough food and water? What dangerous critters that frequent the area? The seasoned professional will have contacts in the area, have collected tribal lore or, at the very least, will be able to quickly establish communications with groups in the area, trading for information and assistance.
• Nomadic Representative: Nomads travel a lot and they end up meeting many different people. Surely a few have found it profitable to learn the ways of other tribes, picking up tidbits of knowledge, or whole cultural histories. Maybe he or she has spent his time forging trade agreements between elf and human tribes (no easy task) or maybe they visit city dwellers often enough that their skills with language and culture help the tribe sort out the bizarre maze of behaviors demonstrated by the people of Allanak and Tuluk. In either case, the simple beliefs of the kank herder or suspicious shaman aren't going to help the tribe. It's up to someone who can navigate the complex weave of culture differences.
• Envoy/Agent: The real power in the known world, if you ask any city dweller, is held by the noble and merchant houses. They can make a person rich and have access to the finest that Zalanthas has to offer. Their power stretches over all the land and thus they have great need for people who can speak a variety of languages, are quick to pick up new ones and can tread carefully on other culture's values and beliefs all while making diplomatic inroads. The successful envoy will see the value of the other culture to their own and use his or her knowledge of other cultures to further a mission where a less thoughtful would fail to grasp the advantage.

Twelve Tips for Playing a Linguist

1. Figure out how your character learned these languages so well. Was he formally schooled? Did she live with each group for a time? Include this information in your background and determine your character's feelings for each group.
2. Read the docs for each group whose language your character knows. Does s/he speak Allundean? If so, s/he probably has a pretty good grasp of elvish culture relative to their background. Same with dwarves or the various human and humanoid tribes.
3. Read the docs about every language available so you can understand, OOCly, how the languages relate and how they evolved to where they are today. Allow your character to make use of accessible information. If s/he is a formally trained linguist, perhaps s/he's learned that one language branched from some other language and can draw conclusions about groups and people and things that cultures leave behind: documents, ruins, or little etchings on bits of stone found in the desert.
4. Speak appropriately to the language. It's not likely a tribe of primitive nomadic elves are going to understand the concept of Templars, cities, and nobility right off the bat. Try to use words that a native speaker would use, if the character is a human city dweller employed by an noble, perhaps s/he refers to their own tribe, their own chief and in between extols the culture and beliefs of the listener as superior, giving examples.
5. If your character is fluent in dwarvish and knows a bit about the character and nature of dwarves, perhaps when s/he approaches them s/he'll use their language to put them at ease, and refer to things like a dwarf would. When in Rome.
6. Make mistakes and show a lack of knowledge. Even the most trained and socially aware character is going to have gaps in their knowledge, especially those formally schooled on documents rich with cultural bias.
7. Learn from your encounters and become more facile with the culture. This is a greater measure of your success as a linguist than speaking the language. If, while wearing your hooded cloak you can fit in with a group of elves, gith, or dwarves, you've met the goal.
8. Remember that the linguist is a warrior with words and, like a soldier, strikes where the enemy is weak. Almost everyone appreciates those who are like themselves. Use this to your character's advantage and you'll be able to sell sand to desert elves.
9. The history of Zalanthas is rich and broad. There is a lot to know. Playing a linguist is a chance to explore, in detail, what makes up the world. Play with the same sense of curiosity and intelligence that got your character to learn three languages perfectly just out of the starting gate.
10. I'll restate - read all the language docs and pay attention to the world around you. The life of a linguist is the life of someone who takes time to understand what people are saying and more importantly, why they are saying it.
11. In real life we use bits of other languages all the time - things that a few words in another language express more fully than a paragraph in our native tongue - sub rosa, faux pas - I'm sure you can think of a few yourself. Your character, too, can find an Allundean description of the weather more appropriate than something in Sirihish and quickly switch to that language to make the statement.
12. Consider using aliases to allow you to quickly switch from one language to the next - speaking to one person in Sirihish and then another in Mirukkim, for example.

Good luck!