The Accent of Krashin and Bastil

[stragen]

The Accent of Krashin and Bastil

The tribal warriors of Krashin and Bastil are proud of their heritage.  They survive in a harsh land, and in many ways are a harsh people; they are fierce, loyal, proud and war-like.  Their tribal belief system is the heart of their nomadic culture.  To those within their tribe they are fiercely loyal.  Those outside the tribe are enemies, and can be raided and crushed without remorse.  There are dozens of tribes in the North, not all are known to outsiders.  There are at least half a dozen tribal feuds and alliances occurring at any one time.  Some of the better known tribes include, The Elk-Soul, The Bear-Claws and The Long-Spears.

To outsiders the various tribes’ folk are all the same in both speech and mannerism.  However it would be considered a grievous insult to a tribesman to be mistaken for another tribe.  Many tribes’ folk appear to have a strong accent when entering the lands of Mistone.  This accent tends to be mistaken for stupidity or a primitive upbringing.  Pity the poor fool who calls a tribes-person a Barbarian.  Insults to the tribe are dealt with swiftly and violently.

The accent responsible for this miscommunication is a follows:
Common:  Today I hunted deer
Tribe-folk:  Mes hunt deer.

Common: Would you like another slice of lamb?
Tribes-folk: Yous eat yous meat?

Common:  I find that last comment insulting.
Tribes-folk: ROOOAAR! Mes smash yous into ground.

[Tanman]

I thought it when refers to yourself, you would say something like: Eghaas uses magical powers on yous!

[Acacea]

I don't think all of Krashin has a "me smash yous" speech and intelligence deficiency... they went viking with it, so think Mist.

Though yeah I know...tribal warriors, not "every single person on the Barbarian Islands."

I wonder how that would really work for communication between them... hunting the animals of allied tribes and the resulting confusion about cannibalism...

Actually never mind it's early.

[Meizter]

As this is in just for fun I will assume it a joke

But still I'd like to say that the differences

Common: Would you like another slice of lamb?
Tribes-folk: Yous eat yous meat?

is not accent that is lack of skill to form a proper sentence structure and lack of vocabulary. Language such as this would fit so very well with the stereotypical barbarian, which I find sad honestly, as nothing is more devoid of depth than stereotypes. Just because a society is viewed as barbaric by people in one place does not mean it is in fact barbaric by another standard nor that the people there are devoid of intelligence and mannerism.

I would also add that it warms that Acacea says it is more viking as it was what I always envisioned it as when writing about it.

[EdTheKet]

I realize this is in "Just for Fun" but if you're playing a barbarian from the Barbarian islands, you don't really sound like, well, an orc or something. They have a very extensive tradition of storytelling, so they know their words, even though most may not read or write much (or be able to).

[DMOE]

Meizter - 10/11/2006  9:00 AM  As this is in just for fun I will assume it a joke  But still I'd like to say that the differences   Common: Would you like another slice of lamb?  Tribes-folk: Yous eat yous meat?  is not accent that is lack of skill to form a proper sentence structure and lack of vocabulary. Language such as this would fit so very well with the stereotypical barbarian, which I find sad honestly, as nothing is more devoid of depth than stereotypes. Just because a society is viewed as barbaric by people in one place does not mean it is in fact barbaric by another standard nor that the people there are devoid of intelligence and mannerism.  I would also add that it warms that Acacea says it is more viking as it was what I always envisioned it as when writing about it.

 I have to agree 100% and I also see it as more viking.
  It is with the viking idea in mind that I try to play my Mistys background and attitudes.

[Wintersheart]

*On route to Krashin aboard Fury of the Lady Doom Rolf is disturbed by an ignorant tourist while listening to Geir recounting the saga of Erik Droweater*

Tourist monk: Look dear, a traditional shaman. Oh what a big flail he carries and a cute holy symbol, it even resembles that of Mist - if albeit a bit primitive.
Tourist cleric: Yes it does - you think he will put on a show for us. A coin or two should suffice for such primitive people.
Tourist monk to Rolf:: Yus spirit man - yus talkses to big bear in skys?
Rolf: *stares in disbelief*
Tourist cleric: *Points to the sky* yus talkses?
Rolf: *looks up and sees a seagull perched on the main mast, then returns his gaze to the idiots*
Tourist monk: Yus dans big bear, mes givses yus big coin
Tourist cleric: *Holds out a small gold coin*
Rolf: *stares in disbelief *
Tourist monk: Look dear, he looks stunned, maybe he has never seen a gold coin before?
Tourist cleric: Mes givses yus gold, yus talkses big bear. *Starts doing a mock raindance on the deck*
Rolf: Yus walkses liks fishy?
Tourist monk:: *mumbles and looks up the Shadon guide to all things Krashin* yus walks liks fishy... Ah "do I/you swim?", what a strange thing to say!. Mes no fishy walkses.

*Loud splashes*

Rolf: Yus bestes learn fast!

Rolf to Geir: Sorry about that old friend, now what was it that Erik killed the fifth drow with?
Geir: His grandfather’s pipe, rather painful when used that way…
Rolf: Ah yes… Well do go on then



On a more serious note:
a)   Had any players spoken like that on a quest on Krashin while I was a GM I would have had no qualms killing them.
b)   So-called primitive languages are NOT simpler than civilised ones. In fact their grammar is often more complex and terms such as family relations is often far more precise than those of English – which would be the closest we have to common.
c)   This type of portrayal of reeks of a stereotypical copy of Icewind Dales, which even “originally” was quite stereotypical (the term original should be used with great care when it comes to forgotten realms).

[DMOE]

*dies laughing*
  Yep..I have to say that Muireann has always had intelligent conversations with Geir & Rolf even though all three of them are either from Krashin or Bastil

[aragwen]

*cant stop laughing*
  Rolf, that is sooo funny!!
  This just reminded me how much Imissmy three "barbarian" friends.

[Meizter]

*hurting with laughter*

excellent!

[Acacea]

It was funny, and that's a scenario I can definitely see Rolf tossing someone overboard for.

Still, you can't really expect everyone to know the exact nature of the Islands when the handbook containing all of its information is not yet completed and released. I'm sure they would like to do so accurately, but they are simply waiting for it to be packaged in with the other world lore. It's not surprising to me that others will take a rather small description and go different places with it when trying to expand their own characters' backgrounds.

Don't worry too much about its inhabitants being forever misrepresented now that you've put a lot of work and depth into it, as people do try to preserve its integrity even without its history being released yet. It'll get in there and then it will come up less.

In the meantime though, it can seem like people are jumping on something that's kind of hard to be in the know about at the moment, if you haven't read every buried post on the forums or met some of the players of the characters who molded it into what it is now. People want to be consistent with what is in place, so they do what they see.

As for unoriginal and uninspired, considering how many things are simply reshapes and reincarnations of things that have been lived or written before, I think there is a danger for all things to seem "ripped off." As far as I know, elves in their canopied cities and dwarves hating the elves in their canopied cities isn't an idea invented here fresh and original... but they can be given more depth than a two sentence description that makes them seem flat and stereotypical. The same can occur for something written based on greek or norse or egyptian mythology. Whether it's based on vikings or picts, I think it's how much work you put into it, and in this case everyone else is looking at a few sentences... a few sentences about anything can be pretty uninspired and lead to completely different interpretations than what was intended.

(I realize that the Voices of Mist have some nice pieces of information, but when people look at "Krashin" they get essentially "barbarians in boats.")

...As an aside, even if one hasn't read the information on it, whole clans of actual people (as opposed to say, goblins...) are not going to be talking like idiots, as the "mes like smash" is used as the speech of a significantly less-than-average intelligence person, not an accent of an entire race of people... I've never liked the thought of having a huge number of literally stupid barbarians. Gruff, chaotic, passionate, tribal, smelly, whatever, all that is fine but the need for them to be dummies has never revealed itself to me.