Is either Sakkara or the Auran Empire Primer going to have lists of common names by region and race that people in the campaign setting often have? If not, could we get one here? The setting’s real-world antecedents certainly assist in name-generation, but it would be interesting to see any authorial insight utilized in name-selection.
For my campaign I used the following:
Auran Empire: Greek or Roman
Rorn: British
Jutland: Icelandic
Skysos: Mongol
Ivory Kingdoms: African
Sunset Kingdoms: Turkish or Persian
Here are Auran names.
Male Names: Amador, Andë, Arjenus, Arëkyr, Arëtar, Arëzenar, Arkaun, Audarius, Audaric, Aundan, Aurius, Azeo, Balus, Balic, Balen, Belefan, Bellos, Celic, Celdor, Cellë, Cinmenar, Danir, Darbellus, Darmanos, Dornethan, Drusus, Eanar, Ellus, Erín, Eranth, Eríntar, Essir, Ezelus, Ezen, Galen, Gundan, Gundus, Icus, Ionnic, Ionicus, Justir, Jonus, Kaun, Komnaurius, Kyrus, Laman, Lammir, Lan, Lazar, Malyn, Manth, Mennic, Mir, Miren, Miruant, Narmir, Nic, Nicus, Nuvicus, Omalan, Ommador, Omus, Orn, Pirus, Pendaelen, Quelluar, Quellus, Rand, Ravil, Romus, Sürius, Süroman, Süromus, Syrenic, Tarcal, Tavic, Tavus, Tavusar, Tellus, Tiren, Tirius, Ulrand, Umic, Valen, Valerian, Valenus, Valros, Valuin, Victir, Zamus, Zelicus, Zeodan
Female Names: Adara, Allyria, Ammala, Anna, Aria, Audnea, Aundëmë, Aura, Aurë, Azenea, Belefa, Bellyn, Calefa, Candra, Celena, Dalefa, Dana, Dëmë, Doarë, Draka, Drakima, Drandanna, Drapsë, Elen, Elenar, Erin, Ethlyn, Genelen, Hyapsë, Hyandrann, Hyatavië, Ianna, Ionudanna, Ilyn, Istria, Lynara, Lynia, Malefa, Melluin, Mityanna, Mona, Naunara, Nauriva, Narravië, Nuvië, Nuvilyn, Oma, Oslyn, Pendalyn, Pendara, Rianna, Sara, Syrena, Tara, Tiruin, Valara, Valanna, Valefa, Zeodana, Zeodarë , Zelluin
Example pronunciation:
Andë - “ahn-day” (rhymes with dawn-way)
Miruant - “meer-oo-ahnt” (rhymes with deer-goo-Kant)
Hyatavië - “high-ah-tah-vee-ay” (rhymes with high-saw-mauve-see-way)
Sürius - “soor-ee-us” (rhymes with sewer-knee-fuss)
GRAMMAR
a “a” as in arm closes to “e” as in perfect
o “oh” as in soak closes to “oo” as in hook
u “uh” as in cinema closes to “ui” as in suit
e “eh” as in bed closes to “ay” as in bay
i “ih” as in bit closes to “ee” as in deer
Dipthongs include w sounds:
au “aw” as in awful
ou “ow” as in house
eu “ew” as in queue
Semi-vowels include:
y “eye” as in ire
A, E, U, and O are always open, except when directly preceding another vowel, or when marked, as noted with an umlaut: ä, ë, ö, ü.
Certain vulgar written dialects of Auran uses a “y” to represent the umlaut, but the umlaut is the Imperial standard.
I is always closed, except when preceding a c, marked with a diacritical or as noted below: í
The diacritical (open) I is sometimes spelled with a “y” (as in Aurelyn). This is an irregularity in the language that appears in some very old words, such as “cybele.”
When a vowel proceeds a different vowel, both vowels are pronounced (except for diphthongs). The first is pronounced closed, while the vowel following is pronounced as if open.
Auran Consonants:
B, D, F, H, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, Y, Z, all as English, except
c “c” as in cool
k “k” as in keep
j “j” as in justice, never as in jalapeno
g “g” as in giggle, never as in giant
x “ks” as in extreme
K and c have similar but slightly different sounds, as in the sentence “keep cool” (known as a ‘back k’ and ‘front k’ sound).
Note that there is no “w” sound except for “u” in special cases (after a vowel or q), and in certain very old words, and foreign words adopted into the tongue.
Consonantal Combinations:
Th “th” as in theatre
Sh “sh” as in shop
Wh “hw” as in whale
Ch “ch”, as in chapter
Kh “hk”, glottal sound
Other consonant combinations should be pronounced.
James’ notes are quite spot on. Here are the language correlations/inspirations… they map up along a historical tree.
Elven: Gaelic
Rornish: Cornish/Breton/Welsh
Nicean: Greek
Auran: Latin
Celdorean: Iranian
Somirean: Indic
Jutlandic: Old Norse
Skysos: Mongolian
Zaharan: Akkadian
Beastmen: Assyrian
Opelenean: Levantine Arabic
Kemeshi: Late Egyptian
Kushtu: Swahili
Thrassian: New Sumerian
I actually constructed a Classical Auran language but for the others I substitute in real-world words from the real-world languages that parallel the Auran Empire’s. This is similar to how Tolkien represented Sindarin with actual Sindarin, but represented Rohan as Old English.
Auran is Latin-esque but it is its own language. Here is a sample sentence:
“To the victor go the spoils.”
Auran: Celdori all andrasë.
Latin: Victori ire spolia.
Umm, this is awesome. This should be added to the “Want to Learn More” section on the home page or added as a download somehow.
Which part in particular was awesome?
Well, I did crib them off one of your previous forums posts.
The list of Auran names is especially very valuable I think, and the list of language correlations, is helpful in describing the richness of an Auran campaign setting.