"Gabriella: 'But Classical is a much more elegant language, don't you think?'
Felix: 'I don't know that I agree. I think it's the choice of words that makes a statement elegant, if that's what you wish, rather than the language it's written in. Certainly I can think of just as many bad poems written in Classical as Imperial. More, actually, since it was the language of scholars and poets for so much longer.'"
- —Countess Gabriella and Felix Jaeger discussing the use of the Classical tongue in formal writing.[10a]
"First the ice falls and then the snow
In hallowed halls, a prince laid low
Cloth'd in shadow, the betrayer reigns
A city of sorrow, the lion is slain."
- —The present year's foretelling quatrain according to Via Astra(Translated from Classical).[3a]
The Cult of Verena gave rise to record-keeping and the art of writing among the great tribes of Men who dwelled within the Reik Basin, the future lands of the Empire. However, many scholars of the Old World believe that the first written language of Men is what is now called Classical.[2b]
Classical, also known as Old Reman[8a], is an ancient language that originated in Tilea that is still spoken and written by Human academics of all kinds. It is the first recorded written language of Men in the Old World -- making it over 3,000 years old -- and it is used in most scholarly texts of the Empire including wizard grimoires and many holy books.[4a]
Since it is an old tongue favoured mostly by academics and the well-educated, Classical is rarely actively spoken or understood anymore among the common folk of the Old World. However, even some poets find little appeal in writing poetry in this language. This could be because they believe it is overused or that it invites unfavorable comparisons to the great masters of the past.[1a][10a]
Tilean linguists find translating a Classical document into the Tilean tongue easier than others due to the many similarities between the two languages.[1b]
Each star sign known in the Old World has an original Classical name.[9a]
History[]
Disputed Origins[]
"Rest now, it told the fallen. Your sacrifice is acknowledged, your valour praised. We honour our dead and our enemies’ dead. We thank you for your bravery. As long as we live we will not forget you, and when we die we hope to lie beside you."
- —‘The Hymn to the Glorious Dead,’ An old Reman hymn still known in the Empire and beyond by many.[8a]
"We are the guards of the guards of hell."
- —Old Reman saying[13a]
A Tilean rat catcher's sign in Classical.
According to History of the Cults of the Empire by Hieronymous of the University of Nuln, while it is well-known that the founding of the Empire was the starting point of all true Human civilisation in the Old World, scholars of the Tilean city-states claim that it was their ancestors that were the true civilisers, with scrolls and records dating from that early time.[2a]
The academics assert that, much like the fertile Reik Basin to the north, the drier lands to the south were also populated by tribes of Men. However, unlike the northern tribes, who were invaders from foreign soil, Tileans argue that their ancestors had long inhabited their lands, and cite the myths of great Tilean cities supposedly founded during the occupation of the Old World by the High Elves as proof.[2a]
The legacy of this mythical civilisation was the written word, which Tilean ancient texts suggest was gifted to them by Verena, the goddess of law and wisdom. Whatever the origin of this ancient written language, it is now called "Classical," and its present-day equivalent is still used across the Old World as the primary script of academic study, and as a common tongue between enlightened folk of all the Old World nations.[2a]
Thus, long before the great city-states of Tilea had been wrought, it is claimed there was an intellectual elite that could read and write in the south of the Old World. As most of their early settlements were built in and around the ruins abandoned many centuries ago by the High Elves, the Tileans also reason their ancestors must have translated the impossibly complex runes of that race. From these translations the Tileans then claim to have learned the founding principles of modern philosophy, medicine, theology, astronomy, and, most importantly, they believe they uncovered the existence of many new gods.[2a]
Whatever the truth, the Tileans were an adventurous and curious folk and soon organised expeditions to explore the surrounding lands. When they eventually encountered the northern Human barbarian tribes of what would one day become the Empire of Man, they brought with them knowledge of their written language and Classical Gods, and had a broad-reaching impact upon the future culture of the Empire.[2a]
The originally Tilean settlement of Nuln, constructed during the years that saw the rise of the Reman Empire on the borders of the newborn Empire, was where the first holy sites dedicated to Verena and Shallya in what eventually became Imperial territory were established.[2c]
Unfortunately, almost all of these early texts have been lost -- and those few that survived are almost impossible to translate, as the Classical language has developed much since that early era -- but their influence is still felt, for many of the holy books revered today are copies of copies of copies of those Verenan-recorded originals.[2b]
The language of the Unberogen tribe was formalised early in Imperial history, and a written form was created using the Classical alphabet of the southern realms influenced by the Dwarf runes of Khazalid, resulting in the written language now referred to as Old Reikspiel.[2c]
Lexicon[]
A[]
- Adamnos - The Classical name of the star sign called The Dancer.[9a]
- Alyoi - The Classical name of the star sign called The Bonesaw.[9a]
- Arachnidis - Spider[7a]
- Azurios - The Classical name of the star sign called the Big Cross.[9a]
C[]
- Comes – Companion. Sigmar named the twelve tribal chiefs of the territory that would become the Empire his "counts," which present-day scholars claim can be sourced in the Classical word comes, meaning "companion," for they were his companions on the battlefield against the Greenskins and against the tribes of Chaos-corrupted Men from the north.[4b]
E[]
- Eureka - A Classical word that stands for "I see it".[11a]
D[]
- Drakonos - The Classical name of the star sign called Dragomas the Drake.[9a]
F[]
- Folia Magii – The Classical name of mage-leaf, an herb used by the wizards to regain magical power more rapidly as they rest after a major channelling of magic.[12a]
- Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi – "Luck Rules the World." A common saying.[5a]
G[]
- Gileon - The Classical name of the star sign Grungi's Baldric.[9a]
H[]
- Hashoor - The Classical name of the star sign called the Two Bullocks.[9a]
- Hippo - Horse[6a]
K[]
- Kakeros - The Classical name of the star sign called Cackelfax the Cockerel.[9a]
- Kharnos - The Classical name of the star sign called The Broken Cart.[9a]
L[]
- Lupios - The Classical name of the star sign called The Drummer.[9a]
M[]
- Magistrix Regnat - Translates as something close to "Master Reigns." This was a newssheet serial written by an anonymous author, Magistrix Regnat, and it follows the life of an Aethyrically-sensitive woman born under the Witchling Star who joins the Celestial Order, rises to the rank of magister, and adventures across the Empire with her Halfling cook and High Elf companion.[9b]
- Mammius - The Classical name of the star sign called Mammit the Wise.[9a]
N[]
- Nuthlos - The Classical name of the star sign called Gnuthus the Ox.[9a]
P[]
- Playa - Beach.[11a]
- Potamous - Classical word meaning "Of the River."[6a]
S[]
T[]
- Talios - The Classical name of the star sign The Greased Goat.[9a]
- Tartotes - The Classical name of the star sign The Gloaming.[9a]
- The Fool - The Classical name of the star sign Mummit the Fool.[9a]
- Titanicus - Giant[7a]
R[]
- Rattus Rex Conspiriatus Phamplets Ap - Translates as something close to, "The King of Rats is conspiring, take an opuscule."
- Rionyes - The Classical name of the star sign Rhya's Cauldron.[9a]
R[]
- Solkios - The Classical name of the star sign The Witchling Star.[9a]
V[]
- Via Astra – Translates as "By Way of the Stars." This was a lurid little tome written by Acilius Geminus. Within it, he laid out detailed charts and timelines using his theories of stellar motion and astrological omens. His timeline stretches several thousand years forward, each year having a corresponding cryptic quatrain.[3a]
- Verros - The Classical name of the star sign the Limner's Line.[9a]
- Vobist - The Classical name of the star sign Vobist the Faint.[9a]
W[]
- Wymenos - The Classical name of the star sign Wymund the Anchorite.[9a]
Trivia[]
The Classical language's real-world counterparts are ancient Greek and Latin.
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Core Rulebook (RPG)
- 2: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Tome of Salvation (RPG)
- 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Career Compendium (RPG)
- 3a: pg. 21
- 4: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Core Rulebook (RPG)
- 5: The Burning Shore (Novel) by Robert Earl
- 5a: Ch. 8
- 6: Fell Cargo by Dan Abnett
- 6a: Ch. 24
- 7: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd Edition: The Enemy Within (RPG)
- 7a: pg. 134
- 8: Mark of Heresy (Novel) by James Wallis
- 8a: Ch. 8: "Mantra"
- 9: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Archives of the Empire - Vol. II (RPG)
- 10: Vampireslayer (Novel) by William King
- 10a: Ch. 7
- 11: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Lustria (RPG)
- 11a: pg. 48
- 12: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: Apocrypha Two-Chart of Darkness (RPG)
- 12a: pg. 80
- 13: Mark of Damnation (Novel) by James Wallis
- 13a: Ch. 4: "Learning"