DFE 1 Linguistics

Ok, here's a copy of my linguistics emails with Larry. [Laura]

=== '''2-As the party linguologer, she is quite sure she can make the language mess at Mac’s better. She also tells you that even if Mac’s Tower is a Tower of Babel, at the very least she will be able to get a catalog of local languages, and where the tribes are, more or less!''' ===

[This is the sort of thing an NPC sage can really do to help.  I don’t think any other PC even thought about this. Don’t tell them  - I’m going to run a short test to see]
Yes please, I would like Kakra to do a linguistic inventory and rough dialect map. If Leonard doesn't mind, she could even stay in Eberrons Rest to work on it while we go to Stormreach and back (with 38 women, it could take more than a week. If she stayed there for a couple weeks she might also be able to pick up some language basics herself, at least comprehensibly pronounced greetings and statements of nonaggression.) I won't tell the other players I've asked her to do so, but honestly it's not terribly surprising if I'm the one it occurred to soonest--I mean we know what we know. Nick knows what a heavy crossbow sounds like and I know what field linguists do, ROFL!

We can ask the women to discuss amongst themselves whether one of them might be interested in accompanying us as a native guide when we pass through next. With dozens of women in there, it's possible one of them might be willing to leave Mac's side for a while. If Kakra is able to work WITH a native who knows one or more of the local languages while we travel, she'd be able to figure a LOT more out than she can on her own.

Please discuss with Leonard.
3) Under my linguistic guidance (not Jq's), Kakra has decided to stay in Eberron's Rest for the next 12 days interviewing the multilingual tribal women in Mac's tower while the rest of us are reporting to Stormreach and back. Leonard agreed to this plan. Kakra's goals are to A) prepare a language inventory (including analyzing which languages are likely related to each other), B) prepare a rough linguistic map, C) record some base vocabulary and communication phrases in each of these languages, D) see whether one of the women would be willing to hire on as a native guide and language assistant for our expedition, E) learn which tribe the attackers came from, and see whether the women have any idea why they may have been attacking.

I need definition from you of what I assume is a term of art, ‘language inventory’. If its not a ToA, tell me.
Collect language materials from all speakers in this highly target-rich environment. Language materials include a catalog of the sounds present in each language and a list of base/root vocabulary (Swadesh list) present in all the languages/dialects. Then A) determine how many mutually intelligible languages exist in the data and sort the language sets into languages, B) create a phonemic inventory from the sound sets, C) sort the languages roughly into related language families. This should give Kakra an excellent chance of recognizing which language is being spoken and whether it's related to one of the ones she's studied, even if she can't understand what they're saying. In hunter-gatherer societies, the correlation between shared culture group and shared language is very strong, though obviously not 1:1.

I need definition from you of what I assume is a term of art, ‘linguistic map’.
This one is intuitive, make a literal map of which languages are spoken in which areas. Likely inexact due to the fluidity of borders in hunter-gatherer tribes, but even a rough map of who lives west of whom and who lives on which side of the river Xen and so on can be useful.

If Mack agrees, at least one will do so. (hire on as a native guide)
Great, we'll pick her up when we come back through. That should give Kakra a +DRM on her Linguology rolls, make her learn to communicate in these languages faster than she normally could, and provide for fluent negotiations in the woman's own known language(s.) I will talk to Leonus about this. The native guides will need to be reasonably paid, which I do not think Leonus will balk at.

Jaicinteleq suggests to Kakra that she prioritize communications with any NEW women who show up at Mac's during the days we're away.

The loss of >100 men is going to be a huge deal in a hunter gatherer society. The other tribespeople are all going to know whose village this has suddenly happened to-- too big a social change for anyone to keep secret for long. There will probably be dozens of newly widowed young women being competed over or menaced by opportunists, if nothing else, and those are the kind of women most likely to escape to Mac's...

Excellent idea. Claim it for XP. How will you know if there is shared group culture?
We won't. This is predictive, not informative. If Kakra is able to determine which of the tribes have related languages, it gives her an important clue about which of the tribes are likely to share cultural aspects with each other. It's not going to be a 1:1 correspondence, but in hunter-gatherer communities, it's a pretty strong clue. She can share these clues with her Archaeologer husband, who should know what to do with it. :-)