Graf

[Sorontar]

I have always thought that High Brecht should be treated like Medieval Latin, but if you are searching for a real language to base it on, then perhaps High and Low German should be what we use.... perhaps Old High German even to give it "age".

The only problem is that I believe that it was High German not Low German which became the "official" language.

Sorontar.

[The incredible, edible Phil]

In the Brecht expansion and muden accessories, it relates that Graf is considered the highest title of nobility among their people, both before and after the conquest by Anuire. The Duke of Grevesmuhl took that title as it was grandeur among the Anuireans but is otherwise derided by other brecht. Danigau and Müden, the two most respected sovereigns in the Great Bay, are Grafs.

[kgauck]

To distinguish sovereign grafen from provincial grafen, we've used the term Pfalzgraf for a sovereign graf and a Graf for a provincial graf. Pfalzgraf means palace count, so it makes perfect sense.

[kgauck]

I'm not disputing the German, just the "Greek" High Brecht: The word comes from the High Brecht word "graph", meaning "to write", suggesting an origin as an administrative post.

Are we equating High Brecht with Greek, as we do with Old Andu and Latin?

German itself was/is fond of Greek, more than Latin, though there is some of that too. The theory that the German title was derived from the Greek word was an actual false etymology.

Additionally, the use of a single word, or even several words doesn't mean that such derivations are the standard analog for the game language. Europe alone has many dozens of languages. Cerilia has five modern, and if one likes, another five primitive languages , of which Old Andu, and High Brecht are established. Maesetian would be an 11th language. Clearly there are far more European languages than Cerilian, so no 1:1 correspondence is even desirable. For the richness of the analogs, cultures should draw from several real world cultures and from individual creativity, rather than expecting a single source.

As such, Greek is a good analog for the Brecht. They are sea-going, mercantile people, who had a mountainous homeland and in many respects have much to offer the Brecht as analog. They have divided city states, most are naval powers, but the occasional land power is present as well.

The Brechts are certainly richer if understood as a combination of unique Brecht stuff, Hanseatic Germans, Dutch, Aragonese, Portugese, Florentine, Ventian, Carthagenian, and Greek. So that when a DM is thinking about a particular, realm, domain, or location, any one of these might be an inspiration for characters, organizations, or situations because all of them reflect naval/mercantile powers. None of them are a complete analog for the Brecht because the Brecht are their own people, not simply the Hanse on the Great Bay instead of the Baltic.

As another example, I have been thinking about using Caribbean and West African spiritualism as a partial analog for Khinasi curses. We know that Khinasi often prefer wars of insults and curses rather than street violence in feuds and other disputes. Voodoo style curses adds an exotic other to the Khinasi, comports nicely with the Spirit World that is well established in Cerilia.

Our analogs should be derived from the Cerilian culture as a whole, not just its superficial qualities, such as what the language looks like, or how they dress.