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  1. Decent stuff. I have two really off-track questions.

    “All elves know the former [common writing (called sanat, meaning ‘words’)], and all elders know the latter [(called voimat, meaning ‘powers’)] as well.”

    My curiosity is about the definition of “elders”. Does an elf become an elder simply by living long enough, or is there some selection process which might in rare instances result in a relatively young elf holding the position, or is it something between the two?

    Also, “no human PC should know the elven tongue as the elves do not readily teach it to others….” Are there half-elves? Do they speak elvish, or are they integrated among humans, or do they have their own culture (and if so, does it have its own language)?

    Good list. It’s kind of funny, really. I actually catalogued all the languages in OAD&D (here http://www.mjyoung.net/dungeon/lang.html on a random language selection table), and still felt the compulsion to create a baker’s dozen of “ancient mystery languages” (here: http://www.mjyoung.net/dungeon/mylang.html with brief explanations) so I could use them for ancient texts. I do like your ideas about probability of understanding a related language. I’m not sure I know the difference between “a sound-based system of letters” and “a sound-based system of runes”. I take it that a rune system that is not sound-based is more word-based like hieroglyphics or hanzi.

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