td;lr - I need to be able to speak Infernal because I have created a kingdom whose primary language is Infernal, with only traders/artisans speaking common.
Do any of you know of any resources that can teach me to speak Infernal? I would specifically like to learn the fourth or court form of the infernal langue. This is the form spoken by pit-fiends and archdevils. However, if there are no specific resources for learning the specific forms of Infernal, resources that could teach me to speak a general form of Infernal would still be a really big help.
Basically, I have a Kingdom that I have created within my homebrew world called Ishtar. This kingdom was constructed by half-fiends (mostly Tieflings) under the guidance of Asmodeus and with the help of several fiends, who now occupy positions of high authority within the Kingdom of Ishtar - making sure its citizens follow the rules and laws that was set down by Asmodeus.
One of the laws of the Kingdom states that although its a necessary evil (no pun intended) for citizens like traders and artisans may speak common when dealing with outsiders, all the citizens of Ishtar must only speak infernal to each other as all other languages (and especially common) are considered the tongue of the weak, who will eventually be conquered by Ishtar in the name of Asmodeus and thus bringing the entire material world and all its peoples under his control.
This whole conquering the world thing isn't going to happen really. Its more of just a prophecy and explains why the Kingdom of Ishtar is more militaristic and aggressive than all the other kingdoms in the world. Essentially, the Kingdom of Ishtar is one vast military machine that is designed to breed and train warriors and the prophecy explains why that would be so - they are preparing for the time of reckoning when they will conquer the world in the name of Asmodeus.
All this boils down to the fact that as the creator of this world and the DM of the campaigns held within it, I need to be able to speak Infernal - at least to some passable degree as Infernal is the primary language of Ishtar.
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A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
It's interesting that I thought there would be some actual official linguistic material. I couldn't find any but assumed that I must be looking into eh wrong place.
I find it interesting that there is not an official resource for this though.
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A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Creating a functional language that can be learned and spoken fluently is extremely difficult and time consuming. On top of this, it’s something that an overwhelming majority oplayers are likely to skip. Its easier on the player and DM to make note of the language and coninrue. For example:
They say in infernal “Woah, you know infernal?’”
They are speaking in a guttural and disconcerting sounding language you don’t understand.
Honestly, if really want the effect of speaking in another language, it’s equally as effective to makeup words and sounds vs learning the syntax and grammar of a fantasy language - either way, the players won’t understand what you’re saying.
I do think you would be better served investing the time in building encounters and the world rather than trying to learn a new language. That said, i appreciate your commitment.
I think Latin would be a good real- world parallel , if you're committed to definitely learning a language. Plus, that'd be cool/ practical knowledge out of the game as well!
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I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
I often use Enochian as a proxy for Celestial as it fits quite nicely, though you could arguably use that as a stand in for infernal too :)the black tongue of mordor would be a good one as mentioned previously.
I think Latin would be a good real- world parallel , if you're committed to definitely learning a language. Plus, that'd be cool/ practical knowledge out of the game as well!
That’s a good idea. It sounded real gross in those short terrifying clips in Event Horizon.
That's pretty much what I do. I basically make guttural demonic sounding words up on the fly, taking Inspiration from Sauron in the LotR movies and Huttese from Star Wars
Use GPT. I've tried with Infernal, but I had reason to have a lot of people who spoke a faux-ancient-norse for a recent campaign. It works a charm, it has zero challenge making up something really very convincing.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I use Klingon. Its a fully developed language with lots of great resources available. So when my Baator-born Cambian Illrigger speaks Infernal, I just substitute the appropriate Klingon. For example his pet Hellhounds are named N'iH and PoS and his Nightmare war stallion is named N'oH.
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td;lr - I need to be able to speak Infernal because I have created a kingdom whose primary language is Infernal, with only traders/artisans speaking common.
Do any of you know of any resources that can teach me to speak Infernal? I would specifically like to learn the fourth or court form of the infernal langue. This is the form spoken by pit-fiends and archdevils. However, if there are no specific resources for learning the specific forms of Infernal, resources that could teach me to speak a general form of Infernal would still be a really big help.
Basically, I have a Kingdom that I have created within my homebrew world called Ishtar. This kingdom was constructed by half-fiends (mostly Tieflings) under the guidance of Asmodeus and with the help of several fiends, who now occupy positions of high authority within the Kingdom of Ishtar - making sure its citizens follow the rules and laws that was set down by Asmodeus.
One of the laws of the Kingdom states that although its a necessary evil (no pun intended) for citizens like traders and artisans may speak common when dealing with outsiders, all the citizens of Ishtar must only speak infernal to each other as all other languages (and especially common) are considered the tongue of the weak, who will eventually be conquered by Ishtar in the name of Asmodeus and thus bringing the entire material world and all its peoples under his control.
This whole conquering the world thing isn't going to happen really. Its more of just a prophecy and explains why the Kingdom of Ishtar is more militaristic and aggressive than all the other kingdoms in the world. Essentially, the Kingdom of Ishtar is one vast military machine that is designed to breed and train warriors and the prophecy explains why that would be so - they are preparing for the time of reckoning when they will conquer the world in the name of Asmodeus.
All this boils down to the fact that as the creator of this world and the DM of the campaigns held within it, I need to be able to speak Infernal - at least to some passable degree as Infernal is the primary language of Ishtar.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
https://lingojam.com/D&DInfernalTranslator
Blah, that's just a straight letter substitution. I think there is a Mordor vocab out there, that might be as close as you can get.
It's interesting that I thought there would be some actual official linguistic material. I couldn't find any but assumed that I must be looking into eh wrong place.
I find it interesting that there is not an official resource for this though.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Creating a functional language that can be learned and spoken fluently is extremely difficult and time consuming. On top of this, it’s something that an overwhelming majority oplayers are likely to skip. Its easier on the player and DM to make note of the language and coninrue. For example:
Honestly, if really want the effect of speaking in another language, it’s equally as effective to makeup words and sounds vs learning the syntax and grammar of a fantasy language - either way, the players won’t understand what you’re saying.
I do think you would be better served investing the time in building encounters and the world rather than trying to learn a new language. That said, i appreciate your commitment.
I think Latin would be a good real- world parallel , if you're committed to definitely learning a language. Plus, that'd be cool/ practical knowledge out of the game as well!
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
I often use Enochian as a proxy for Celestial as it fits quite nicely, though you could arguably use that as a stand in for infernal too :)the black tongue of mordor would be a good one as mentioned previously.
That’s a good idea. It sounded real gross in those short terrifying clips in Event Horizon.
That's pretty much what I do. I basically make guttural demonic sounding words up on the fly, taking Inspiration from Sauron in the LotR movies and Huttese from Star Wars
Use GPT. I've tried with Infernal, but I had reason to have a lot of people who spoke a faux-ancient-norse for a recent campaign. It works a charm, it has zero challenge making up something really very convincing.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I use Klingon. Its a fully developed language with lots of great resources available. So when my Baator-born Cambian Illrigger speaks Infernal, I just substitute the appropriate Klingon. For example his pet Hellhounds are named N'iH and PoS and his Nightmare war stallion is named N'oH.