Languages
Your knaves’ race, class, and background will determine the languages they speak. Here are the main languages used in the Kingdom, in order of importance:

Vernacular. Despite the numerous regional dialects, jargons, and local variants, the Kingdom’s inhabitants all speak and understand Vernacular, the common language in use from the Crown Mountains to the Charybdean Sea. Most people can also read and write, at least well enough to sign documents, read plates, signs, and bounties, and draw up short notes. Therefore, all characters who, in the players’ opinion, are likely to have had access to some basic schooling will be able to read and write Vernacular.

Draconian. Like many Occasian languages (such as Altomannic and Illusitan), Vernacular descends from Draconian, the language of the empire which fell more than a thousand years earlier. To study arcane texts, documents of the past, and inscriptions from the ancient empire, you need to be able to read and write Draconian, an extremely complex language taught exclusively in prestigious schools, colleges, and corporations. Characters who, in the players’ opinion, are likely to have had access to such knowledge, will speak, read, and write Draconian. For guiscards, this is an implicit and fundamental requirement right from the first level.

Macaronic. The language of the Kingdom’s religion and bureaucracy is Macaronic, a cultivated and codified derivation of Draconian, halfway between Draconian itself and Vernacular. Characters who, in the players’ opinion, are likely to have been educated in the Creed or have a high social status, will also understand and speak, read and write Macaronic. Anyone who knows only Vernacular and wants to use Macaronic must pass a DC 15 Intelligence (History) test.

Bedamn. Also called Black Lingo and Blackspeech, this is the language used in Inferno by devils, hags, fiends, and the damned, and taught to heresiarchs, sorcerers, and followers of dark powers. Unless they have consciously willed themselves to forget it, malebranche can instinctively speak, read, and write Bedamn. Characters who, in the players’ opinion, have had access to this cursed idiom, if only to fight it as exorcists, know how to speak, read, and write it.

Lingua Ignota (Unknown Language). Also called the Language of the Birds, this is the language of celestials, angels, and the inhabitants of Urania, used for the most complex prophecies and for the most sacred texts. Only some hermits and mystics who roam the Kingdom seem to understand it, though some say it is an inner language accessible to anyone, provided they are pure (or drunk) enough. Characters who, in the players’ opinion, are likely to have been exposed to it, are able to speak, read, and write it.

Petroglyphic. The oldest inscriptions that appear on monoliths, prehistoric caves, and primeval artifacts are petroglyphs: pictographic signs engraved or drawn on stone, representing concepts, rather than words or letters. Petroglyphic is the last remnant of an ancestral language, common to ancestors of sylvans and morgants, ancient Pelagians, and other prehistoric peoples.

Racket. Racket is the roguish jargon spoken by ziganes, lacklands, and norcitans, as well as by many companies of puppeteers, street actors, carnies, harlequins, thespians, and by all rovers, nomads, and wanderers in general. Racket uses the Vernacular alphabet.