5th Cylus, 719
There are fifty two languages that are currently used in Idalos. Some of those languages are harder to learn than others. But it is a well known fact that it is easier to learn a language if you are already fluent in another language within the same family because some words are similar. It is also important to keep in mind that building blocks are important; the alphabet leads to words, and words lead to sentences.
Ari'sora paused in her reading to consider what she had just learned. The thought that there were fifty two languages was a fascination one to her. She wanted to learn them all. That some languages were harder to learn than others were made perfect sense to her. Languages that were only spoken by one people, or only in a small area wouldn't have as much written about them that more common languages would. And unless one learned the language from the natives, having a book or a teacher who was fluent in the language was crucial to learning the language itself. Both of those would be harder to come by if a language was rare, and seldom used.
And as for it being easier to learn a language if you were fluent in a language in the same family as the one you want to learn...well, I've already come across something like that. Since Scalveen has some words that were taken from Common, I'm having an easier time learning it than I would have if the two languages were completely different. she mused.
The part about building blocks seemed to be especially important, so Ari'sora made a mental note to remember it before she continued on with her reading.
Morphology is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to other words in the same language. Morphology skills require an understanding and use of the appropriate structure of a word, such as word roots, prefixes, and affixes. All of these are considered to be morphemes. Morphemes are the smallest meaning bearing units of language. In essence, morphemes are the building blocks of language.
And the building blocks are important. Ari'sora told herself as she read.
Words can be either simple, or complex. Simple words only consist of one morpheme. They don't have internal structure, and they can’t be split into smaller parts that carry meaning or function. Some examples of simple words consist of run, walk, swim, can, do, cat, and sleep. Complex words, on the other hand, consist of two or more morphemes. They do have internal structure, and can be split into smaller parts that carry meaning or function. Examples of complex words include sleeping, worker, and runner.
When she reached the end of the chapter, Ari'sora felt torn. She would be quite happy to read some more. An entire trial spent in the library was her idea of fun. But she had errands that she needed to run, and only a limited amount of time before she had to get back home to her daughter. So with considerable reluctance, she put the book she had been reading back on the shelf, and made her way out of the library.
When Ari'sora reached Little Korlasir, she paused to look at the blacksmith shop curiously. She had heard a lot about it, but had never been herself. One of the people who were teaching her how to defend herself suggested she go there to buy her weapon once she had reached the point that she was ready for one. According to her mentor, the shop sold the usual weapons and armor, but you could also buy jewelry there. And it also offered a number of services like engraving, and the reinforcing of locks and picks. Her sister, Mi'zuri had told her than Little Korlasir was run by Hurk, an imposing looking human man who was a lot friendlier than he looks.
Little Korlasir was located between a bakery, and a general goods store. And it was the latter that Ari'sora was interested in now. She made her way towards the store, but before she could go inside, she heard a strange sound coming from a nearby alley. After a few trills of hesitation, she decided to go see what had caused the muffled thudding sound.
When she got to the alley, she found a person on the ground. She couldn't tell if the person was a girl or a boy, but they were small enough that she believed them to be a child. That child was on fire. To Ari'sora's horrified eyes, it looked as though the fire had somehow jumped from a torch that was attached to the opposite wall to the child. And it couldn't have been an accident because the torch was higher up on the wall than the child would have been able to reach had they been standing up. The child thrashed on the ground for a few trills, then was still. And through it all, the only sound was the fire crackling hungrily. Something had prevented the child from screaming.
"That will teach you to run into me, little girl. You won't be running into anyone else now, will you?"
Until the man had spoken, Ari'sora hadn't even noticed him, transfixed on the horrible sight of a child in flames as she had been. The man was huge. Easily well over six feet tall, and his broad, muscular shoulders made him look strong enough to lift an ox with one hand. His back was turned towards her, so Ari'sora couldn't see his face. But he had dark skin, and tattoos of fire covering his arms.
Ari'sora felt sick. She was cold, but it was an icy chill that had nothing to do with the weather. Her feet were rooted to the ground. She didn't think she could move if her life depended on it. Time itself seemed to move strangely. Each beat of her heart seemed like it took forever to come.
When he shifted his position, Ari'sora could see that he had a tattoo of a spiderweb on the back of his right hand. It almost felt as if she had been caught in a web. Her thoughts skittered through a thick haze that her mind was trapped in.
Then he turned, and the spell was broken. Ari'sora caught a glimpse of dark eyes that gazed at her coldly. Icy terror stole her breath away. Was he going to burn her alive the same way that he had burned that little girl? In that moment, she found that she could move again, and she bolted.
Ari'sora didn't know how long she ran, but she knew that she couldn't stop. She couldn't hear the sounds of anyone following her, but her heart was pounding so loudly that it drowned everything else out. Ari'sora kept running until her strength ran out and she collapsed, shaking in reaction to what she had just seen.
"She didn't scream." she mumbled numbly, still trembling.
"She was burning, but she didn't scream."
Off Topic
Desired Skill Knowledges
Detection: paying close attention to detail
Linguistics: morphology is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to other words in the same language
Linguistics: morphology skills require an understanding and use of the appropriate structure of a word, such as word roots, prefixes, and affixes
Linguistics: morphemes are the smallest meaning bearing units of language; essentially morphemes are the building blocks of language
Linguistics: word roots, prefixes, and affixes are all considered to be morphemes
Linguistics: simple words only consist of one morpheme; they don't have internal structure, and can’t be split into smaller parts which carry meaning or function
Linguistics: complex words consist of two or more morphemes; they have internal structure, and can be split into smaller parts which carry meaning or function
Linguistics: Some languages are harder to learn than others due to a variety of reasons
Linguistics: it is easier to learn a language if you are already fluent in another language within the same family because some words are similar
Linguistics: Building blocks are important; the alphabet leads to words, and words lead to sentences
Linguistics: There are 52 languages used in Idalos
Non Skill Knowledges
Location: Little Korlasir
Little Korlasir: located in Scalvoris Town between a general goods store, and a bakery
Little Korlasir: is a blacksmith shop where people can buy jewelry as well as weapons and armor
Little Korlasir: offers services like engraving, and the reinforcing of locks and picks
Little Korlasir: owned by Hurk
NPC: Hurk
Hurk: an imposing looking human man who is a lot friendlier than he looks
Hurk: a blacksmith at Little Korlasir
Detection: paying close attention to detail
Linguistics: morphology is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to other words in the same language
Linguistics: morphology skills require an understanding and use of the appropriate structure of a word, such as word roots, prefixes, and affixes
Linguistics: morphemes are the smallest meaning bearing units of language; essentially morphemes are the building blocks of language
Linguistics: word roots, prefixes, and affixes are all considered to be morphemes
Linguistics: simple words only consist of one morpheme; they don't have internal structure, and can’t be split into smaller parts which carry meaning or function
Linguistics: complex words consist of two or more morphemes; they have internal structure, and can be split into smaller parts which carry meaning or function
Linguistics: Some languages are harder to learn than others due to a variety of reasons
Linguistics: it is easier to learn a language if you are already fluent in another language within the same family because some words are similar
Linguistics: Building blocks are important; the alphabet leads to words, and words lead to sentences
Linguistics: There are 52 languages used in Idalos
Non Skill Knowledges
Location: Little Korlasir
Little Korlasir: located in Scalvoris Town between a general goods store, and a bakery
Little Korlasir: is a blacksmith shop where people can buy jewelry as well as weapons and armor
Little Korlasir: offers services like engraving, and the reinforcing of locks and picks
Little Korlasir: owned by Hurk
NPC: Hurk
Hurk: an imposing looking human man who is a lot friendlier than he looks
Hurk: a blacksmith at Little Korlasir