broghammerj
Explorer
Well considering that my druid has never encountered another druid in the game, I guess that I will just continue to speak druid to the voices in my head.
How far will your Druids go to keep their language secret?
- Thread starter frankthedm
- Start date
Nifft
Penguin Herder
IMC, Druidic is a language of power like Infernal or Celestial. There are powers which govern its use. One cannot lie in Celestial, one is eternally bound by an oath sworn in Celestial, and one is simply unable to comprehend Druidic unless one is a Druid.
Also, IMC, Druids can speak Druidic when Wild Shaped -- the language is essentially an expression of magic.
Thinking of trying to speak Druidic in an Anti-Magic Field? Well, there are some questions that aren't answered yet.
-- N
Also, IMC, Druids can speak Druidic when Wild Shaped -- the language is essentially an expression of magic.
Thinking of trying to speak Druidic in an Anti-Magic Field? Well, there are some questions that aren't answered yet.
-- N
wingsandsword
Legend
The way I see it, since Druids aren't universally bound by one overarching worldwide organization in 3rd Edition (thankfully), or one alignment, the procedures surrounding the language aren't identical by any stretch of the imaginination.
In my campaigns, Druidic is a language generally only usable in talking about nature, agriculture, and the elements.
The Druidic language itself is probably an offshoot of Sylvan, mixed with the 4 elemental languages and a lost local language. Sometime in the distant past on some distant world it was probably created by an order of LN Druids, who kept it to themselves, but then some other Druids started figuring it out (Druid/Bard on a Celtic-type world where Bards are also priests interact closely with Druids maybe, or a Druid/Wizard with Decipher Script and Comprehend Languages maybe). Then he started using it in his own notes or started mixing it with Sylvan in his own usage, which spread to his own faith, and it spread from there on to other Druids. Over several millennia, deities who accessed multiple material worlds/crystal spheres started sharing it with their own Druids, and Druids who planewalked or spelljammed started sharing it.
The unique Druidic script was actually probably the local script of that faraway region on that long, lost world. When the language spread, that script was preserved as it was passed along and Druidic was never transliterated into local scripts. In time, the vast majority of Druids forgot or just didn't care where Druidic script originated, just that it was passed down from other Druids. (Knowledge: Nature or Bardic Knowledge DC 40 to know the original home of Druidic, just DC 25 to know what's in this entry, and DC 20 to know it's derived largely from Sylvan and the 4 elemental languages.)
The "Don't teach non-druids" part, comes from a longstanding tradition, that it's a secret because originally only Druids (and non-Druids treated this dialect of Sylvan as a curiosity at best), but over the millennia some Druids and their deities got fiercely protective of it. To druids and their deities it's a insult (ranging from insulting to downright "fighting words") to speak it or to display knowledge of the language around them. Some Druids (especially NE ones, but not NG ones) would probably try to kill those who knew the language and weren't Druids. Others might try and steal his notes, or have a Cleric of the same faith place him under a specially researched Geas with an indefinite duration to never teach or use the language and to never try and have any Geas upon him removed. Others might try and get him to become a Druid, or at least take up a faith that sponsors Druids, so the knowledge stays close to the Druidic community. CN, N, or NE Druids might even break into libraries or archives and steal books on Druidic and assassinate those who know Druidic outside the Druidic world. There is probably at least one order of Druid/Assassins that keeps an eye out for leaks of that knowledge. In extreme cases that a Cleric, Sorcerer or Wizard (maybe a Druid/Mystic Theurge/Sorcerer) might even be called on to perform a Miracle/Wish and ask his deity that the target forever forget the Druidic language (if the target could not be dealt with in any other way)
As was said, in a world with Comprehend Languages spells and the Decipher Script skill, no written langauge, especially one that is used by something as common as a Core class, is going to stay 100% secret, but other than scholars who make a point of knowing every language in the world, well fortified libraries (especially those on the Planes and thus outside the influence of normal nature, or those under the direct protection of a deity), or possibly among the priesthood of a deity of knowledge or secrets (as one of their own secrets they know some of the secrets of others) you aren't going to find it.
In my campaigns, Druidic is a language generally only usable in talking about nature, agriculture, and the elements.
The Druidic language itself is probably an offshoot of Sylvan, mixed with the 4 elemental languages and a lost local language. Sometime in the distant past on some distant world it was probably created by an order of LN Druids, who kept it to themselves, but then some other Druids started figuring it out (Druid/Bard on a Celtic-type world where Bards are also priests interact closely with Druids maybe, or a Druid/Wizard with Decipher Script and Comprehend Languages maybe). Then he started using it in his own notes or started mixing it with Sylvan in his own usage, which spread to his own faith, and it spread from there on to other Druids. Over several millennia, deities who accessed multiple material worlds/crystal spheres started sharing it with their own Druids, and Druids who planewalked or spelljammed started sharing it.
The unique Druidic script was actually probably the local script of that faraway region on that long, lost world. When the language spread, that script was preserved as it was passed along and Druidic was never transliterated into local scripts. In time, the vast majority of Druids forgot or just didn't care where Druidic script originated, just that it was passed down from other Druids. (Knowledge: Nature or Bardic Knowledge DC 40 to know the original home of Druidic, just DC 25 to know what's in this entry, and DC 20 to know it's derived largely from Sylvan and the 4 elemental languages.)
The "Don't teach non-druids" part, comes from a longstanding tradition, that it's a secret because originally only Druids (and non-Druids treated this dialect of Sylvan as a curiosity at best), but over the millennia some Druids and their deities got fiercely protective of it. To druids and their deities it's a insult (ranging from insulting to downright "fighting words") to speak it or to display knowledge of the language around them. Some Druids (especially NE ones, but not NG ones) would probably try to kill those who knew the language and weren't Druids. Others might try and steal his notes, or have a Cleric of the same faith place him under a specially researched Geas with an indefinite duration to never teach or use the language and to never try and have any Geas upon him removed. Others might try and get him to become a Druid, or at least take up a faith that sponsors Druids, so the knowledge stays close to the Druidic community. CN, N, or NE Druids might even break into libraries or archives and steal books on Druidic and assassinate those who know Druidic outside the Druidic world. There is probably at least one order of Druid/Assassins that keeps an eye out for leaks of that knowledge. In extreme cases that a Cleric, Sorcerer or Wizard (maybe a Druid/Mystic Theurge/Sorcerer) might even be called on to perform a Miracle/Wish and ask his deity that the target forever forget the Druidic language (if the target could not be dealt with in any other way)
As was said, in a world with Comprehend Languages spells and the Decipher Script skill, no written langauge, especially one that is used by something as common as a Core class, is going to stay 100% secret, but other than scholars who make a point of knowing every language in the world, well fortified libraries (especially those on the Planes and thus outside the influence of normal nature, or those under the direct protection of a deity), or possibly among the priesthood of a deity of knowledge or secrets (as one of their own secrets they know some of the secrets of others) you aren't going to find it.
vulcan_idic
Explorer
Gez said:
This I like! Consider it yoinked!!
