(Moved) Dark elf language ear question

[Xaltotun]

Can someone clarify something for me before this post closes please?

What exactly is the language (ear) dark elf or drow? I use the command
    =c setlang drow
to get the ear to work.

What does the dark elf ear allow you to speak - dark elf, undercommon, Deep or what? I am very confused over which language the dark elf ear actually is giving the user.

And is dark elf language the same as the Deep language, as it's not clear if they are one and the same.

Thanks

[Dorganath]

Moved this to a more appropriate place.

[Dorganath]

The Ear for Drow language is the language of dark elves.  Nothing more. Nothing less.

It's called "drow" because it's a hold-over to when we called them by their FR/AD&D name versus the more generic and uncopyrighted "dark elves". Consider the terms interchangeable when you read them, but do not use the term "drow" in RP or any IC context.

There is no single language of the Deep.

There is no Ear for Undercommon.

Not all the languages for races that live in the Deep are represented mechanically.

[lonnarin]

In fact, I think the deep dwarves still speak standard dwarven since dwarves are so traditional and never saw fit to make their own.  (they consider themselves more "dwarven" than the surface dwarves)  Dark Elves may have made their own tongue in line with their teachings of being a superior race to all, and any mention of them being "kin" to surface elves would likely result in violence, such is their seperatist nature.  Dark elf language also is the spoken word only, not sign language.  I do not believe dark elves of Layonara have their own sign language the way RA Salvatore's mythos had them.

[Nehetsrev]

...  I do not believe dark elves of Layonara have their own sign language the way RA Salvatore's mythos had them.

 
 
Actually, according to the LORE write-up for Layonara's Dark Elves, they do have their own "silent language" or sign-language which takes special tutoring in order to learn.  However, it is not represented mechanically in-game with a language ear.

[Xaltotun]

Thanks but none of these answer my original query which was -

What does the dark elf ear allow you to speak - dark elf, undercommon, Deep or what? I am very confused over which language the dark elf ear actually is giving the user.

And of course it is the language of dark elves, but my query was, which one? And by extension, which language do dark elves actually speak then, both in front of slaves and also to each other, assuming they are different.

[Alatriel]

Thanks but none of these answer my original query which was -

And of course it is the language of dark elves, but my query was, which one? And by extension, which language do dark elves actually speak then, both in front of slaves and also to each other, assuming they are different.

Dark elves speak their own language (which I believe has been referred to as "dark elven" and "deep" but we're talking about the same language- the dark elf language- verbal) when talking to each other.  When they are on a raid, they will use the silent hand code.  When they talk to other races in the deep, they use Undercommon.  If they are speaking to slaves, they would likely use Undercommon, but if that slave does not know Undercommon, and the dark elf knows the slave's native language (common, elven, etc.) then they would possibly use that language, or simply beat them until they did what they wanted them to do.  Undercommon is going to be the most used "lesser" language of the Deep.

[Xaltotun]

Thanks Alatriel and re-reading Dorg's response I see that I am even confusing myself on this one

So if I have this correct, the language "dark-elf" and "the Deep" are one and the same?

The languages, "undercommon", "high deep" and "the silent language" do not have mechanical representations?

And if a dark elf was talking to, say, a slave, they would use either undercommon or any other language the slave would use, but they would not use "dark elf" to avoid it being tainted by a lesser race. Or beat them until they got the point (the latter of which I prefer as a dark elf *smiles*).

[Dorganath]

I don't know what "Deep" is, unless you're calling it another name for "Undercommon".  Regardless, the dark elf language is not undercommon or "Deep" or anything else.  It's the common speech of all dark elves among themselves. Any "high" version of the language is limited to high temple rituals and the like.

Dark elves would not, other than to bark simple commands or insults, speak to their slaves (or anyone not a dark elf) in the dark elvish tongue.  They would use a lower language to do so, as it is better to dirty their own tongues than to risk having their language profaned by such lower forms of life.

The only language associated specifically with the Deep that has a mechanical representation is the dark elf language.

[Xaltotun]

Dorg, the "Deep" to which I referred comes from Layo's Lore page on dark elves:
Dark Elves have their own language, also known as “Deep” LORE: Dark Elf

and which was originally mentioned in a reply to Anamnesis's post about her character Cord http://forums.layonara.com/recent-approvals/285608-cord-new-character-submission.html#post1739618.

[Dorganath]

D'oh.  Missed that somehow.

Then as long as it's not misunderstood that "Deep" is spoken everywhere in The Deep (i.e. by races other than dark elves), I have nothing more to say.