Pathfinder Chronicles - Gazetteer - Asamnet

Pathfinder Chronicles
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goal, be it knowledge, power, or fame, is never far from
a wizard’s thoughts.
Appearance: Many wizards are so driven by their
goals that personal appearance is of little concern. After
all, when plumbing the depths of the universe, what difference
does the cleanliness of your robe make? Others
care deeply about their raiment, preferring to dress in
a manner befitting their power and prestige, wearing
colorful robes decked with gems, precious metals, and
magical trinkets.
Nations: Wizards are a varied lot and can be found
in nearly any community. There are great wizard
colleges in Absalom, Cheliax, Geb, Kyonin, Nex, Nidal,
Rahadoum, and Varisia, all of which focus on their own
individual philosophies.
Class Abilities: Wizards who train at the Arcanamirum,
a famous college of the magical arts located in Absalom,
spend much of their time studying the practical
applications of their spells, often in the school’s dueling
fields. As such, some of them have learned the arcane
duelist special ability, which replaces the Scribe Scroll
feat gained at 1st level.
Arcane Duelist (Su): Wizards with this ability are specially
trained to push their spells when needed to gain the upper
hand. When pushing a spell, the wizard can choose
one of the three following effects: increase a spell’s DC by
+1, add +2 to the level check to ove come spell resistance,
or add a +2 morale bonus on attack rolls made with the
spell. A wizard can use this ability a number of times per
day equal to his Intelligence bonus. Using this ability is a
swift action.
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Hundreds of languages and dialects are spoken in the Inner
Sea region. The following list presents a broad overview of
some of the most prominent human languages.
Azlanti: The living language of Old Azlant died with
the destruction of its home continent eons ago. Survivors
f leeing the devastation of their homeland mixed with local
populations in Avistan and elsewhere, and the human
cultures that f lowered during the Age of Destiny often
rightfully claim lineage dating back to the earliest known
advanced human society on the planet. Thus, Azlanti
words and grammatical structure serve as the foundation
of Taldane, the most commonly spoken language in the
region. Certain Azlanti words survive to the present day, but
it generally takes a scholar or the employment of magic to
decipher the time-faded glyphs of secluded (or submerged)
ancient ruins on what remains of the devastated, largely
sunken continent of Azlant. Only the mysterious sea elves
of the Mordant Spire speak the language f luently, barking
aristocratic orders to explorers they discover investigating
the Azlanti ruins they claim as their own.
Common (Taldane): Taldane is the ancient tongue of
the kingdom of Taldor, whose borders have encompassed
much of Avistan in the five millennia since its founding
on the eastern shores of the Inner Sea. Because the
language’s inf luence expands as far north as Varisia and
even into Garund in the south, Taldane is sometimes
called Common or the Common Tongue. When Cheliax
split from Taldor, the language remained the official
tongue of the new empire, whose residents often call it
Chelaxian. No matter what it is called, however, Taldane
is the language most likely to be understood throughout
the Inner Sea region. Taldane’s root language is Azlanti,
but certain Kelish, Skald, and even Hallit terms and
concepts have worked their way into common usage in the
thousands of years since the language first took form.
Hallit: The harsh Kellid tongue of Hallit is considered
by most cultured folk a crude language of illiterate
barbarians. Modulations of tone and volume play a much
stronger role in its construction than in other languages,
often resulting in speech that sounds like a heated
argument. The tongue has no formal written form (as
most of its speakers do not read or write). Frontier scholars
of the River Kingdoms have, throughout the centuries,
pieced together several competing systems of phonetic
transcriptions that often do more to confuse the issue
than to help it. Because many menials in Absalom and the
borders of the old Chelish empire speak Hallit, the tongue
is often used by servants wishing to speak freely under the
noses of their unwitting masters.
Kelish: The domain of the Padishah Emperor of Kelesh,
greatest of the Diamond Sultanates, sprawls across much
of central Casmaron. From the shining sands of Qadira
on the Inner Sea to the edge of distant Vudra, the Kelish
tongue—throaty, phlegmatic, passionate—holds sway.
Its f lorid script recalls banners in f light, twisting and
turning on the desert winds.
Osiriani: The national language of Ancient Osirion is
the oldest known living human language spoken in the
Inner Sea region (save perhaps Vudrani, if that culture’s
improbable mythology is to be believed). The language
contains predominantly short-syllable words combined
in bewilderingly complex patterns and arcane hierarchies
of syntax. Its written form is hieroglyphic in nature and
highly symbolic.
Polyglot: The countless tongues of Garund’s Mwangi
tribesfolk share enough remnants of a mysterious root
language that members of different tribes from vastly
divergent regions of the Expanse can generally understand
one another even though they appear to be speaking
completely different languages. No written form of modern
Polyglot exists, but ruined cities and vast monuments half-