Language and Religion

The religions of Mor-Thir vary about a theme: a benevolent god, a trickster, and a serpentine god of chaos. Most Men of Mareten worship Alehim, and none other, though some men do follow the gods of other cultures. The men of the southern deserts worship Kai-ra, the sky god; Aladeen, a cunning opportunist; or Erklik, evil god of the underworld. The Northern Tribe worship the gods of Beasts. Dwarves serve Thor, god of thunder and earth; Loki, god of tricks; or Jormungan, the evil snake, destined to eat Thor. The gnomes and the descendants of the True Elves serve Danu, mother of gods; Manannán, god of boats and pranks; or Balor, a suspiciously serpentine one-legged, one-eyed giant whose gaze destroys all life. The Fae and their ilk serve (rarely) Lleu, uplifted king; Gwydion, trickster and prankster; or Ysbaddaden, a terrible serpent. The beasts and other tribal creatures worship the Bear, kind yet strong; Coyote, spirited trickster; or Serpent, the two-tongued creature that smells of death. The creatures of chaos serve a number of demons and dark gods, too many to list here, and there exist numerous minor gods and goddesses, worshiped or served by various peoples.

The languages of the men, elves, gnomes, and dwarves somewhat resemble the speech of our world; for instance, the Mountain Dwarves speak a language that sounds rather like Norwegian, or possibly Swedish, while the Hill Dwarves of the Wild Plains speak Common; however, their dialect is not unlike English as spoken in Somerset. The Deep Dwarves speak a language similar to Norwegian as well, though enough time spent away from their brethren has changed it into a separate language. The two can only converse through great effort. Humans, of course, speak Common, at least in Mareten - though their religious and scientific works use Latin, or a form thereof. In the Wild Plains, many speak a language somewhat similar to Spanish, while deep in the Southern Deserts, many men and lizardmen speak a language akin to Turkish. The Fae speak in faerie-talk, which sounds quite similar to Welsh, while True Elvish and Gnomish are the similar, yet very different Scots Gaelic.