MossyMorel
Merchant
[DISCLAIMER- All that is below is my own perception and interpretation of things and stuff. Should a staff member come along and bash it all, so be it, but I feel the need to rant, so without further ado-] Why does everyone and their grandmother know fluent Elven?
More than half of the character profiles I stalk have listed the char as knowing Common and Elven, and yesIhaven'tcountedElvencharacters.
Now, I understand and totally think it's cool that for some reason in your character's backstory they know Elven. But it seems to me like people are simply slapping it on their profile with no good reason, because "oh Elves are really common and he/she would've picked it up", perhaps.
Take the Forest Elves. As a general culture, they distrust humans because all they've ever seen them do is chop trees and burn woods and murder each other pretty much constantly. You think they'd happily give out the secrets of their language? Keep in mind they're a heavily spiritual/religious culture and would regard language as a powerful tool.
Take the Silver Elves (now this is sketchier, as there's no official lore on them, yet). It was my impression that Silver Elves are the haughty, pale-skinned cousins of the Forest Elves. Many are arrogant, almost all are intelligent, and hardly any would deem a human worthy enough to share in their tongue.
Also, the difference in accent between the Forest and Silver Elven language is vast, so much so that a Forest Elf might have difficulty understanding a Silver Elf if they were speaking fast (think of it like an incredibly strong Irish accent, when you're a Londoner), not to mention that with centuries apart, the two cultures will have differing everyday lexis (some words being different for Silver Elves than with Forest Elves).
Now, to those of you who have legitimately had their character learn Elven from a close Elf friend of theirs, that's awesome. I love characters learning things, and I'm in no way saying that no Elf ever would teach someone their language. I'm simply saying it's a much rarer occurrence than what a lot of people seem to think it is (kinda like Elven children).
In my currently agitated state of mind I may have said silly/stupid things, so please call me out on those and prove me wrong where it's due, debates are always fun!
Edit: And as for the "I hang around Elves lots and I've picked it up" excuse, Elves would speak in Common tongue in the presence of anyone other than Elves (except those that live in secluded settlements, and would have no knowledge of humans or their language). Why would most Elves know Common? Well, observe the name of the language.
More than half of the character profiles I stalk have listed the char as knowing Common and Elven, and yesIhaven'tcountedElvencharacters.
Now, I understand and totally think it's cool that for some reason in your character's backstory they know Elven. But it seems to me like people are simply slapping it on their profile with no good reason, because "oh Elves are really common and he/she would've picked it up", perhaps.
Take the Forest Elves. As a general culture, they distrust humans because all they've ever seen them do is chop trees and burn woods and murder each other pretty much constantly. You think they'd happily give out the secrets of their language? Keep in mind they're a heavily spiritual/religious culture and would regard language as a powerful tool.
Take the Silver Elves (now this is sketchier, as there's no official lore on them, yet). It was my impression that Silver Elves are the haughty, pale-skinned cousins of the Forest Elves. Many are arrogant, almost all are intelligent, and hardly any would deem a human worthy enough to share in their tongue.
Also, the difference in accent between the Forest and Silver Elven language is vast, so much so that a Forest Elf might have difficulty understanding a Silver Elf if they were speaking fast (think of it like an incredibly strong Irish accent, when you're a Londoner), not to mention that with centuries apart, the two cultures will have differing everyday lexis (some words being different for Silver Elves than with Forest Elves).
Now, to those of you who have legitimately had their character learn Elven from a close Elf friend of theirs, that's awesome. I love characters learning things, and I'm in no way saying that no Elf ever would teach someone their language. I'm simply saying it's a much rarer occurrence than what a lot of people seem to think it is (kinda like Elven children).
In my currently agitated state of mind I may have said silly/stupid things, so please call me out on those and prove me wrong where it's due, debates are always fun!
Edit: And as for the "I hang around Elves lots and I've picked it up" excuse, Elves would speak in Common tongue in the presence of anyone other than Elves (except those that live in secluded settlements, and would have no knowledge of humans or their language). Why would most Elves know Common? Well, observe the name of the language.
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