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4 thoughts on “House Sivis and the Mark of Scribing”
“I’ve been looking forward to this…” Thanks for this amazing article on Sivis!
Talking about the Volaaganti with my partner and saying: Do you think that’s a meta reasoning that a character can understand when a player uses a term like “joie de vivre”? Like these words and phrases that English has taken as loan words are actually understood in-character, because the volaaganti infected some creatures with an “alien” language,” and then House Sivis used these words and phrases when inventing the common trade language!
Perhaps not, but I thought it was funny all the same!
It’s a fun idea! Volaaganti aside, I’d certainly expect modern-day Common in the Five Nations to include loan words from the cultures that have blended into it. There’s surely some Goblin from city goblins, and I could see Elvish words being dropped in for a haughty posh vibe.
I imagine Sivis heirs take an interest in loan words, but I find it humourous considering how they would approach slang!
An interal conflict of those who enjoy watching language mutate, versus the old guard who will never believe that “sick” could define something as being good! A branch of the Speakers Guild having to constantly update their Dictionary of Urban Definitions.
Out of interest, how would you approach Sivis and Thieves Cant? I imagine it would fall within their decryption services if applied for by the authorities. It could be a Cant like Polari in terms of how it was built up over time and used by various groups, whose meaning is known to only those in-the-know. Maybe Thieves Cant even has Sivis origins, something that made it into the wider world past Oversight, so they’re unable to provide translation since it would also be a breach of SOME of their internal codes?
The thirteenth family might simply be Sivis d’Sivis.
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“I’ve been looking forward to this…” Thanks for this amazing article on Sivis!
Talking about the Volaaganti with my partner and saying: Do you think that’s a meta reasoning that a character can understand when a player uses a term like “joie de vivre”? Like these words and phrases that English has taken as loan words are actually understood in-character, because the volaaganti infected some creatures with an “alien” language,” and then House Sivis used these words and phrases when inventing the common trade language!
Perhaps not, but I thought it was funny all the same!
It’s a fun idea! Volaaganti aside, I’d certainly expect modern-day Common in the Five Nations to include loan words from the cultures that have blended into it. There’s surely some Goblin from city goblins, and I could see Elvish words being dropped in for a haughty posh vibe.
I imagine Sivis heirs take an interest in loan words, but I find it humourous considering how they would approach slang!
An interal conflict of those who enjoy watching language mutate, versus the old guard who will never believe that “sick” could define something as being good! A branch of the Speakers Guild having to constantly update their Dictionary of Urban Definitions.
Out of interest, how would you approach Sivis and Thieves Cant? I imagine it would fall within their decryption services if applied for by the authorities. It could be a Cant like Polari in terms of how it was built up over time and used by various groups, whose meaning is known to only those in-the-know. Maybe Thieves Cant even has Sivis origins, something that made it into the wider world past Oversight, so they’re unable to provide translation since it would also be a breach of SOME of their internal codes?
The thirteenth family might simply be Sivis d’Sivis.