¶ Languages of Faerûn
This map shows majority speakers. People are likely to speak multiple languages especially in border regions.
Faerûn has a variety of languages, and hundreds of dialects. The following list has been compiled from many sources, some of which have conflicting information.
Only languages actually present on the server have been included in this writeup and the image above. Where possible, smaller languages have been “folded into” a bigger language that shares its language tree, instead of simply being left out.
¶ Trade Languages
These languages are spoken far-and-wide, though they do not possess the nuance to discuss truly in-depth topics and philosophies. All characters start with Common, but can decide to forgo it at the cost of 5 EP, which will grant them +2 language points to put towards other languages
¶ Common
Written in Thorass. Common is the trade language of Faerûn. Almost every sentient, civilized being speaks a smattering of it, and most are fluent. It is no one's native language. According to Faerûnian linguists, Common developed directly from Thorass, which was itself a pidgin variant of the Jhaamdathan language and Alzhedo. Among living languages, Common is most closely related to Chondathan. Someone who speaks Common might be able to make out a few Chondathan words here or there, but they are not mutually intelligible.
¶ Undercommon
Written in Espruar. Undercommon was a trade language spoken by the majority of intelligent races native to the Underdark. Like the Common spoken in the aboveground world, Undercommon is no one’s native language.
¶ Regional Languages
Regional languages cost 1 language point to learn at character creation.
In addition to Common, every character typically knows the regional human language of their homeland. Most people communicate using their regional language first, and then if there's no understanding, switch to Common. Only the most isolated of places would not know their regional language, although there are races and cultures that don't have an understanding of Common.
¶ Aglarondan
Written in Espruar. Some scholars place Aglarondan in the broad Thorass language family, along with languages such as Common, Chondathan, and Turmic. Other scholars argue that Aglarondan has more similarities with Damaran than with the other Thorass tongues. All scholars are in agreement, however, that Aglarondan is strongly influenced by the Elven language, as it has many Elven loan words and uses the Elven alphabet.
¶ Alzhedo
Written in Thorass. Alzhedo is very closely related to the languages spoken on the Elemental Plane of Air (Auran), and this fact lends credence to the theory that the first civilizations in the Calimshan area were made up of travelers from that plane. Alzhedo is spoken at court, in all government and judicial proceedings, and throughout polite Calimshan society.
¶ Bedine
Written in Thorass. This is actually a mutually intelligible dialect of Midani, the common tongue of the southern continent of Zakhara. The true name of this dialect is Uloushinn, though that name is only used by scholars. This dialect of Midani is strongly influenced by old Netherese.
¶ Chessentan
Written in Thorass or Untheric (archaic). During the occupation of Chessenta by the Untheric Empire, Untheric was the court tongue and as such modern Chessentan has a lot of Untheric loan words, especially as pertains to “fancier” matters like diplomacy and statecraft.
- Alambit is the Aglarondan variant of the Chessentan language. It descends from the language of the Chessentan settlers on the southern coast of Aglarond, and is lacking in the Untheric loan words that mainline Chessentan now bears.
¶ Chondathan
Written in Thorass. Chondathan is similar to Common, but is far more expressive and complex in its grammar, to the extent that the two are not mutually intelligible.
- Northern Chondathan is spoken in Northwest Faerûn, all the way from Neverwinter to the Ten Towns in Icewind Dale. It has a strong influence from Illuskan, and most who speak it also speak that tongue.
- Southern Chondathan is spoken in the Lands of Intrigue. Amn, Tethyr, and northern Calimshan. Especially in Amn, it keeps some archaic conventions for far longer than its more northerly counterparts. It is influenced by Shaaran and Alzhedo.
- Trade Pidgin is the variant of Chondathan used on the Sword Coast proper, as well as much of the Western Heartlands and even parts of the inner sea region among minorities of Chondathan speakers. Trade Pidgin is so diverse that speakers from two different regions will often have problems understanding each other.
- Cormanthan is the Chondathan spoken chiefly in Cormyr, Sembia, and the Dalelands. It has seen influence chiefly from Damaran (especially Easting), but also Tharian.
- Chondathian is the dialect spoken in the actual Chondath region. Like Southern Chondathan, it has a predisposition towards keeping words and conventions considered archaic by other dialects. It is influenced by Turmic and Chessentan, and to a much lesser degree Shaaran. It is, perhaps ironically, something of an exclave to wider Chondathan.
¶ Chultan
Written in Iokharic. Chultan proper is spoken chiefly in the cities of Chult, whilst its dialects are more widespread in the countryside and especially within the jungles.
- Tabaxi is the primary language of the Chultan language group. It is characterized by its use of inhaled and exhaled vowels, consonants, clicks, and a singsong cadence.
- Akurian is a regional dialect spoken in the southernmost reaches of the peninsula, especially within Samarach.
- Akalan is a very minor regional dialect spoken in the easternmost reaches of the peninsula. Shaaran influences.
¶ Damaran
Written in Dethek. The official language of the kingdom of Damara, with its dialects likewise functioning as official languages of various other nearby kingdoms and city-states. Damaran is an old language, descended from Ulou, the precursor language of Netherese.
- Easting is the language used by the common people of Impiltur (where the elites use proper Damaran) and all of the inhabitants of the city-states of the Vast. Unlike mainline Damaran, it is written in Thorass rather than Dethek.
- Allesian is spoken chiefly in Thesk and Ashane, with a number of more local dialects. It is written in Thorass. It chiefly has influences from Aglarondan and Thayan Mulhorandi, and is otherwise strongly linked with Rashemi, which is sometimes called Rasallesian.
- Vaasan is the Damaran spoken in the old realm of the Witch-King Zhengyi. At the court of the Witch-King, Thayan Mulhorandi was spoken, so many of the more high-minded words relating to statecraft and courtly matters are loan words from that language. Vaasan also has some influences from Tharian in the south and old Ulutian in the north.
¶ Dambrathan
Written in Espruar or Dethek. The official language of the kingdom of Dambrath. Dambrathan was originally a creole of Old Illuskan and Narfelli, descending from two ancient languages not native to its local area. The tongue uses very few loan words, and is an isolate.
¶ D'tarig
Written in Dethek. D'tarig is an Ulou (Netherese) language spoken by the D'tarig tribes of southeastern Anauroch. It is a throaty tongue which is strongly influenced by Dwarvish.
¶ Durpari
Written in Thorass. Literacy was high among the Durpari people, as it was a requirement for the mercantile trade. The Durpari language was a mixture of Draconic and Mulhorandi, with influence from Midani to the south.
- Shaar-Patois is the word used to describe the quasi-Durpari spoken by the Shaaran tribes in the eastern Shaar. Most of these tribesmen also speak Shaaran proper.
- Mulho-Patois as above, this quasi-Durpari exists on the fringes of Durpari territory. Mulho-Patois includes all speakers of Durpari who mix their language with Mulhorandi, especially Untheric and proper Mulhorandi.
¶ Halruaan
Written in Iokharic. An Ulou (Netherese) language that is essentially a modern dialect of ancient Netherese. It has very few influences from nearby languages and is an isolated enclave.
¶ Illuskan
Written in Thorass. Illuskan was commonly used as a lingua franca along the Sword Coast North, in addition to the ubiquitous Common and the less ubiquitous but still very popular Chondathan. It derived from Old Illuskan and was strongly influenced by Netherese. True Illuskan is spoken in a few city states such as Luskan.
- Bothii is the language spoken by the Uthgardt tribes in the north. Each tribe has a local variant, and it is not uncommon for someone to understand one tribe fluently while struggling to understand another.
- Reghedjic is spoken by the Reghedmen, barbarian tribes who inhabit the Reghed Glacier as well as other more southerly tribes who live along the Spine of the World. It is closer to Old Illuskan than the other dialects, old conventions of speaking having survived.
- Moonshae Illuskan has a strong Waelan and Chondathan influence, especially from Trade Pidgin. A smaller Ruathym dialect has fewer Waelan and more Ten Towns loan words.
¶ Lantanese
Written in Iokharic. This language is also known as Lantanna, named for the human inhabitants of Lantan. Scholars suspect that the people of Lantan learned of this language through trade with early Halruaan traders, making it essentially a dialect of Halruaan. This is a controversial thesis and is far from accepted by everyone.
¶ Mulhorandi
Written in Celestial. Mulhorandi is highly inflected, that is, it relies on word affixes—suffixes or prefixes—instead of word order to convey grammatical meaning. To speakers of many other languages, it sounds slow and thick. It is a slowly evolving language and maintains much of the flavor of its earliest forms. Priestly rituals have a strong effect on everyday speech.
- Thayan is written in Infernal or Thorass instead of Celestial. Thayan is so closely related to Mulhorandi that many scholars do not even consider it its own dialect, and the distinction is mostly political. Thayans do not want to speak the same dialect as their old imperial “oppressors”, and Mulhorandi for their part do not want to be associated with Thayans. Thayan Mulhorandi is chiefly spoken in the south and in urban areas of Thay.
- Muhjuri is spoken in Murghôm and Semphar. Scholars classify Muhjuri as one of the Mulani languages, which implies that the language may have developed when Murghôm and Semphar were under the control of Mulhorand after the collapse of Imaskar. It is largely mutually intelligible with Mulhorandi proper, although certain words can trip you up. It also has many loan words and influences from Tuigan.
- Untheric is the modern form of the language spoken by the people who made up the core territory of the Untheric Empire of old. Unlike other dialects of Mulhorandi, which change very slowly over the centuries, Untheric evolved rapidly to become very different from its roots, being strongly influenced by Imaskari slave argot and other nearby languages.
¶ Rashemi
Written in Thorass. Also known as Rasallesian and connected to the Allesian dialect of Damaran. Rashemi is usually only spoken regularly within the borders of Rashemen—and in fact, of all those of the Rashemi ethnicity living in Faerûn, more speak Thayan Mulhorandi than speak Rashemi, as the common people of Thay are largely of the Rashemi ethnicity.
- Thayan Rashemi in the northernmost reaches of Thay, and in very isolated rural communities, a variant of Rashemi is still spoken. This dialect is considered very low-prestige in Thay, and is filled to the brim with Mulhorandi loan words and phrases.
¶ Shaaran
Written in Dethek. According to some sources, Shaaran is distantly related to Chessentan. Other scholars claim that the language is unrelated to any other Faerunian tongue, though over the centuries it has adapted some loan words from cultures trading in the area. Whatever the truth of the matter, Shaaran is a widespread and varied language nestled just between many other language families.
- Northern Laker constitutes all of the dialects of Shaaran spoken north and west of the Lake of Steam. It mixes readily with Chondathan and Alzhedo influences, and likewise provides a wealth of conventions to the Turmic Border Creoles to its north.
- Southern Laker constitutes the dialects due south of the Lake of Steam. While not the targets of as much admixture as their northern cousins, the southern dialects still see much influence via the sea route, especially from Chondathan and Alzhedo, but also from Chultan, Waelan, and even Illuskan. Consequently, many terms unique to these dialects in Shaaran are nautical loan words.
- Reacher Shaaran incorporates some of the very peculiar Chondathian spoken just north of it, which has largely been lost to most other dialects of Chondathan proper. It has some, though not many, loan words from both Chessentan and Durpari.
- Lapaliiyan is often counted as one of the southern Laker dialects, but it is truly massive in comparison with the others so most scholars give it a designation all its own. What sets Lapaliiyan Shaaran apart from other southern dialects is chiefly the use of some prestige loan words from Dambrathan and Halruaan—an affectation by the local nobility.
- Tharsult is the Shaaran dialect spoken by the inhabitants of the island bearing the same name. To the Shaaran on the mainland, their cadence sounds almost sing-songy, though this is not something that is evident to those who do not speak the language fluently.
¶ Tharian
Written in Thorass. Tharian is a language isolate descended from Auld Tharian, one of the last surviving North Thorass languages. It is distantly related to other Thorass languages like Common and Chondathan, but very little common ground still exists between them.
¶ Turmic
Written in Thorass. Turmic is the language of the Turami people and the official tongue of Turmish. Turmic employs the Thorass alphabet, which the Turami learned from trade with the Chondathans and Calishites.
- Telpi is a dialect spoken by the inhabitants of the Dragon Coast and the Pirate Isles. The dialect of the pirates of the Sea of Fallen Stars was strongly influenced by other languages of the region. They used it as a sort of secret language for carrying on their illegal activities.
- Border Creoles are plentiful on the Shining Plains, and the inhabitants here are likely to speak some combination of various Chondathan, Shaaran, Alzhedo and Turmic dialects. They are categorized under Turmic, as most of those speaking mainline Turmic are able to understand the Border Creoles, with some difficulty. Even local lizardfolk sometime speak this dialect.
¶ Tuigan
Written in Thorass or Imaskari (archaic). Tuigan has harsh consonant sounds, and the sound of L is heavily aspirated. Its grammar has a subject–object–verb order. This tongue was spoken primarily by the nomadic Tuigan tribes. It is strongly influenced by the Mulhorandi Muhjuri dialect, especially in terms of loan words relating to trade or diplomacy.
¶ Ulutian
Written in Thorass. Also known as Ulutiun, this language is spoken chiefly by the Ulutiun people of the Great Glacier. The three tribes of Ulutiuns—the Iulutiuns, the Angulutiuns, and the Nakulutiuns—have their own tribal dialects of the language, but these are mutually intelligible. It is an Ulou (Netherese) language, and is closely related to the Narfelli language spoken in the bygone empire of the same name. Ulutian supposedly has about twelve different words for various kinds of snow and no words at all for sand.
- Naric is the modern language closest to Narfelli, and is spoken chiefly by the Nar tribes still inhabiting what was once the core of the Narfelli Empire. It has many influences from various Damaran dialects, as well as Tuigan. Most Nars also speak Damaran.
- Erakic is spoken by the Eraka, the barbarians of the northernmost Moonsea Ride. Though mutually intelligible with Naric and Ulutian, it has many Tharian, D’tarig, and Midani (Bedine) loan words in circulation.
¶ Waelan
Written in Thorass. Waelan is the native language of the Ffolk of the Moonshae Isles. Once upon a time all of the Moonshaes spoke Waelan, but with the encroachment of the Northmen in the northern isles, Waelan is now largely confined to the south. In addition, Waelan has taken many loan words from Illuskan. The secret Druidic language is derived from Waelan, but the two are no longer mutually intelligible—something intended by the Druidic Circles.
- Cosh is a regional dialect spoken in the Nelanther Isles. It keeps more archaic Waelan words than Waelan proper, and is less influenced by Illuskan. Curiously, it also keeps some truly archaic Chondathan—almost Jhaamdathan—words and phrases.
¶ Racial Languages
Racial languages can be taken at character creation just like regional languages, but require slightly higher investment (2 language points instead of only 1) since they are rarely spoken outside of their racial group.
¶ Drow
Written in Espruar. Drow is not mutually intelligible with the Elvish language.
- Deep Drow also known as Low Drow or Drowic, is the normal language of the drow. Each isolated community has its own variant with a distinct accent.
- High Drow is a more complex language than Deep Drow. This language is primarily used by priestesses in their rituals and by nobles.
¶ Dwarvish
Written in Dethek. The dwarves call it Dethek, like the script, but most other races stick to calling it Dwarvish even if they know the proper name.
- Kurit is used by arctic dwarves, and is strongly influenced by Ulutian.
- Riftspeak is the dialect of the gold dwarves, and has barely changed in over 10,000 years. This is probably due to the great care gold dwarves take in learning languages. Gold dwarves are one of the most literate races of dwarves in Faerûn.
- Duergan originates from Shanatan, the dialect of the shield dwarves. Since the split, Duergan has changed dramatically, leaving it as one of the most altered Dwarvish dialects. The drow and illithid influences in this dialect are hard to ignore, having altered its vocabulary and grammatical structure.
- Shanatan is used by western shield dwarves; this dialect can be traced back as far as the founding of Shanatar around −10,800 DR.
- Galenan is used by eastern shield dwarves. It is strongly influenced by Damaran.
- Authalan is the dialect of the wild dwarves, an ancient and simplified version of the Riftspeak dialect. Authalan also had noticeable Chultan influences. Literate wild dwarves were extremely rare.
¶ Elvish
Written in Espruar. The elves call it the True Tongue. It has very little deviation between the different elven people, except for the drow who have purposefully tried to make their dialect unintelligible to the elves.
¶ Gnomish
Written in an adapted form of Dethek. This language is known as Gnim to the gnomes. Gnim has a simple structure and fluid tones. Most gnomes have a truly daunting vocabulary, however, with extremely fine degrees of distinction in, for example, kinds of love or shades of green. Their language is thus ideal for academic, artistic, and engineering pursuits, and it is widely used in academic circles even among other races. There are no strong distinctions between the different gnomish people in terms of language, and a Svirfneblin can easily be understood by a Rock Gnome or a Forest Gnome, and vice versa.
¶ Luiric
Written in Thorass. Also known as Lurienal, the language is spoken by the Hin of Luiren. Since Hin are so adaptive by nature, the vast majority of them outside of Luiren abandon this language and speak Common or other human languages instead. In the few places where Luiric survives outside of Luiren, it is commonly known as Hinspeak and has many local loan words.
¶ Jotun
Written in Dethek. Believed by some to be derived from the Primordial language, the Giant tongue was taught to the giants by Annam All-Father. It is one of the oldest active languages. It is believed that the language shares some of its roots with Thorass, and therefore Common. Each giant subtype speaks a variant of the language, but they are all more or less mutually intelligible. These include Jogishk (ogres), Jotunalder (ceremonial), Jotunhaug (hill and mountain giants), Jotunild (fire giants), Jotunise (frost giants), Jotunskye (cloud and fog giants), Jotunstein (stone giants), Jotunavar (storm giants), and a dialect exclusive to the hill giants of Kara-Tur.
¶ Sylvan
Written in Espruar. This is the language of the fey, but also a language spoken by Forest Gnomes, Wood Elves, and Wild Elves. It is customary that fey pacts include some rhyming scheme in the Sylvan tongue, often bookending the important part of the pact.
¶ Gnoll
No written form. The language is not a complete one, only able to communicate basic concepts. It consists of cackling, howling, and whining sounds and often relies on gestures and facial expressions. Such words are mixed with a broken version of the Abyssal language, allowing the leaders among them to communicate more complex thoughts.
¶ Goblin
Written in Dethek. The goblin tongue, also known as Ghukliak, is a guttural one with many grunting and whimpering noises. Each tribe of goblinoid tends to have its own distinct dialect, but they are all more or less mutually intelligible.
¶ Bugbear
Written in Dethek. While the bugbear speak their own variant of Ghukliak, they also have an older language from the time where Hruggek had an entire pantheon beneath his control. Today it has many loan words from Ghukliak, but it is still distinct enough to not be mutually intelligible. Perceived by other creatures as being rather uncouth, this unnamed language consists of a variety of different grunts, snarls, and gestures.
¶ Orcish
Written in Dethek. Known more properly as Daraktan. It evolved from the archaic Hulgorkyn language also used by the orcs. There are many local variants and each tribe essentially speak their own dialect, but they are mutually intelligible for the most part.
¶ Class Languages
These are languages that you can only gain access to by starting as a specific class. They can as a rule not be taught to other people outside of the class.
¶ Druidic (Druid)
Written in Druidic. This language and script diverged from Waelan to become the secret language of the Druidic Circles. It is never taught to non-Druids. The form spoken by the vast majority of druids is called Drueidan, and was developed by the faithful of Silvanus.
- Daelic is the variant spoken and written on the Moonshae Isles themselves. Slightly closer to the Waelan from which Druidic ultimately originates. This variant was stewarded by the faithful of the Earthmother, some say a local name for Chauntea.
¶ Animal (Druid, Ranger)
Never written. Less a language and more a very deep understanding of inter-species body language and signaling. Useless for conveying complex thoughts.
¶ Special Languages
All of these languages are considered especially rare or otherwise hard to learn. As such they all require EP to unlock at character creation, except for Primordial which can only be unlocked by playing a Genasi or being taught by one.
¶ Shou (25 EP)
Written in Shou Chiang or Iokharic. This language is more properly called either High Shou or Kao te Shou. It is the official language of the empire, by custom and imperial edict. It is spoken by all Shou, from all social classes and professions, including the Emperor, a commonality that helps to unify the nation. High Shou was viewed as the model that all other dialects of Shou and their speakers were expected to strive for. However, in practice, there were many dialects for each of the provinces.
¶ Abyssal (75 EP)
Written in Infernal or Barazhad. Abyssal is a form of the Primordial language warped and twisted by the evil of the Abyss. Lower-ranking demons speak using sounds like the barking of canines, while the speech of more refined demons sounds like softly droning ocean waves mingled with the violence of a swarm of angry hornets. As with everything involving the tanar'ri, however, their speech is unpredictable, and sometimes an elite balor's words are rougher or a lowly Quasit's words smoother. Tieflings of Abyssal heritage know this language even if they have never been taught it.
¶ Celestial (75 EP)
Written in Celestial. It was brought to Toril through contact with good folk from other planes. It is described as beautiful, yet alien in nature, since it developed among beings with thought patterns very unlike those of humanity. Clerics and priests often take the time to learn it, and a few churches like that of the Triad even use it as a sort of liturgical language. Aasimar know this language even if they have never been taught it.
¶ Infernal (75 EP)
Written in Infernal. The Infernal tongue was tied closely to the baatezu caste system, being divided into four parts. Though each part uses the same basic foundation, each expresses different concepts and uses different words. Tieflings of Infernal heritage know this language, even if they have never been taught it.
- I the tongue of the least baatezu, such as the spined devils, is a simple, harsh tongue suited for shouting commands across a battlefield.
- II the tongue of the lesser baatezu is equal to any mortal tongue in complexity, used to communicate abstract concepts. It is less gravelly than the tongue of the least baatezu, though not exactly musical. Most non-devils who learned Infernal learned this variation of it, and it is the variation Tieflings know.
- III the stilted, formal, grating yet strangely melodic tongue of the greater baatezu is full of obscure patterns that seemed to meander misleadingly before snapping to an unexpected point. It was nearly impossible for mortals to learn.
- IV the fourth form of Infernal is the court language of Baator, used only by pit fiends and the archdevils. This form of the language is so utterly corrupt and evil that its malevolence can drag listeners into hateful despair just through hearing its patterns.
¶ Draconic (100 EP)
Written in Iokharic. The proper term for the language being Glav (meaning "speech/converse") and Draconic being an exonym rarely used by the dragons themselves, nor any of the other draconic- or reptilian-related races who speak it such as kobolds and lizardfolk.
- Yipyak is the tongue of the kobolds. It is a variation of the Draconic language that sounds like the yapping of a dog. Kobold sorcerers also know how to speak true Draconic, which requires more exacting pronunciation than Yipyak.
- Lizardfolk is not the proper name of this dialect, because it has no proper name. This dialect consists of various growling vowels and sharp consonants. Meaning is typically conveyed through tonal qualities, as well as simple sound.
- Troglodyte also has no proper name, and is merely a very simplified form of Draconic. Troglodytes, however, still refer to their own language as Glav.
¶ Netherese (100 EP)
Written in Iokharic. Netherese is the dead language of the Netheril Empire. The version of the language taught to most scholars today is the “Low Netherese” that was spoken by those who did not live in the flying cities, but also by commoners in those self-same cities. As such, most of the day-to-day writing that survives from the Netherese Empire is in this variant.
- Loross is the High Netherese variant of the language. The two are largely mutually intelligible, but Loross was used strictly by the nobility and the archwizards.
¶ Roushoum (100 EP)
Written in Imaskari. The ancient language of the Imaskari Empire. It survives only among the Deep Imaskari who live in the Underdark in dwindling numbers. It is related to Durpari and Tuigan, among many other still-living languages.
¶ Primordial
Written in Barazhad. Primordial is actually four different dialects that are sufficiently similar that creatures who understand one of these dialects can understand the others as well. They are spoken chiefly on the elemental planes to which they belong, and all creatures strongly aligned with these (like elementals or genies) speak them. Genasi know these languages without ever being taught them, it is as much a part of them as the rest of their bodies.
- Aquan is the language of Water.
- Auran is the language of Air.
- Ignan is the language of Fire.
- Terran is the language of Earth.
¶ Scripts & Alphabets
By convention each language is written in a particular script. This is mostly for flavor, and you can assume that if your character understands the language (and can read), they will be able to understand the script it is written in as well.
Most scripts are dead, those listed here are those that survive to modern times and are actively used in the above listed languages.
The scripts are:
- Thorass was first developed for use with the now-dead Thorass (Old Common) language by a scribe whose name has been lost to history and was spurred by interactions between the kingdoms of Jhaamdath and Calimshan. It was influenced by the runes of the Untheric script.
- Espruar is a graceful and fluid script used to decorate jewelry and artwork even by those who do not use it day-to-day. The script was originally developed by the moon elves, but has been subsequently adopted by sun elves, drow, and other elven peoples as their preferred script.
- Dethek runes date back to the beginning of recorded history in Faerûn, but it was only one of a number of scripts in use by the dwarves, including individual clan codes. Dethek survived to become the most well known and commonly used. The simplicity of Dethek runes and their straight lines makes them ideal for carving into metal and stone.
- Iokharic is also known as Draconic. Dragons believe Iokharic was created by the dragon god Asgorath so his creations could record their impressions of the world he hoped they would inherit. Non-dragon scholars believe Iokharic was likely created long after its spoken form was standardized, as dragons have little need to write like other races. The script is believed to have been influenced by Dethek, but dragons themselves dismiss such a connection
- Celestial is rarely used as the main script of a language, outside of the Mulhorandi dialects. It is, however, a very popular liturgical script—prayers and treatises on theology are often written in the Celestial script even as the words themselves are not in the Celestial language.
- Infernal is used exclusively for the Thayan dialect of Mulhorandi. Apart from that, it is also used to pen down infernal contracts even if the actual words on the contract are not in Infernal.
- Barazhad is the Primordial script. Other than that, it is sometimes used for Abyssal.
- Untheric was once widespread at the time of the Untheric Empire. In modern times, it exclusively survives in some areas of Chessenta of all places. Unther itself has entirely replaced the script, first with Dethek (which Untheric itself was inspired by) and then Thorass (which it inspired).
- Imaskari is only found inscribed on a few ancient artifacts and the walls of Imaskari ruins.
- Druidic only exists as a code cipher for the Druidic languages of Drueidan and Daelic.
This Languages of Faerûn page and the accompanying map was written and created by Ed. using the official 3rd edition map of Faerûn as a base.