Dwarven Curiosity

[newcresty]

Just something i realized reading the archives about the barbarian dwarf kraagor.

So far any dwarf we've seen (excepting hilgya, but then again maybe cos she hate dwarven culture) had the caracetristic dwarven accent.

If im not wrong, barbarian usually get penalty to languaje, writing and other int based things, but he manage to talk common without an accent

any thought on it?

[Skorj]

Sadly, it just the only fluff dwarves have: heavy drinkers and speaking with a bad Scottish accent.

The world really needs a top-tier fantasy author to focus on dwarves, and create some deeper, more interesting tropes for everyone to imitate!

[NerfTW]

I think it was just a slip up. He's only ever said one line in the entire comic so far.

The dwarves in Origin of PCs talk with Durkon's accent.

[Watcher]

Assuming he has an INT of 9 or better, there's no penalty. Assuming not all dwarves grew up in the Dwarven Homelands, he could just be from another place. His voice is bolded, though.

[The Extinguisher]

We have seen what, five dwarves in total. Including the ones in Origins.

Three have been lawful, two have been chaotic.
Three spoke with a Scottish accent, two didn't.

Coincidence?

Origins spoiler:
Actually, there was also that priest of Odin. He didn't have an accent.

So yeah, my theories kinda busted.

[Spiryt]

If im not wrong, barbarian usually get penalty to languaje, writing and other int based things, but he manage to talk common without an accent


Ugh, due to too much fluff packed in just base class (IMHO), barbarians are illiterate, and that's it, no "penalties to int based things".

And, anyway, what has intelligence to do with speaking with or without accent?

[Linkavitch]

Somebody else posted this, I think, but maybe the Scottish Dwarves and the Not-Scottish Dwarves are from different places?

[Optimystik]

Kraagor speaks in SoD as well. "Raging makes Kraagor a thirsty boy."

Note that he uses the same "barbarian-speak" as Thog. For most races, being a barbarian means being raised away from others of your kind, orc-bloods being the exception. So we can presume the Kraagor, being a barbarian, was not raised in typical dwarf society for some reason and so never picked up the accent.

[Watcher]

That's just Third Person, though. He still has correct grammar conjugation otherwise.

[Optimystik]

That's just Third Person, though. He still has correct grammar conjugation otherwise.

I know that. I'm saying two things:

1) He speaks in third person because (primary) barbarians in OotS speak that way;

2) He doesn't have the dwarven accent because he wasn't raised in Dwarven lands, or at the very least he wasn't raised in the same part of those lands that Durkon was. Given that he's a barbarian, that's a pretty likely origin story for him.

[Starscream]

Sadly, it just the only fluff dwarves have: heavy drinkers and speaking with a bad Scottish accent.

The world really needs a top-tier fantasy author to focus on dwarves, and create some deeper, more interesting tropes for everyone to imitate!

*Cough*Pratchett*Cough!

[Trobby]

Just something i realized reading the archives about the barbarian dwarf kraagor.

So far any dwarf we've seen (excepting hilgya, but then again maybe cos she hate dwarven culture) had the caracetristic dwarven accent.

If im not wrong, barbarian usually get penalty to languaje, writing and other int based things, but he manage to talk common without an accent

any thought on it?

It is entirely possible that Kraagor, having such a low Int score, had to choose either Dwarven or Common as his base language, and he chose to NOT know how to speak Dwarven.

I doubt that, so I'm just going to say that, maybe, the whole "accent" thing is an exception, rather than a rule. We've seen four dwarves in this comic who spoke; Durkon, The Gunman, Kraagor, and Hilga. Of those four, two of them had an accent. Not to mention, Durkon actually writes his out, while no other Dwarven script we've seen (and we did see Dwarven script, if you'll recall) has that accent. So it might be possible that some dwarves, either a minority or majority, simply do not have that accent.

[Kish]

It is entirely possible that Kraagor, having such a low Int score, had to choose either Dwarven or Common as his base language, and he chose to NOT know how to speak Dwarven.
Not very possible. There's nothing in the rules about that. Rich bends the rules when it makes it funny; he doesn't arbitrarily add not-funny house rules.

Single-classed barbarians are illiterate. Two skill points in the Speak Language skill or a single level of another class lets them read and write; notably, Thog's first fighter level should render him literate, which I wouldn't be at all surprised if Rich made a joke about at some point ("thog take fighter levels to learn to hit things better, but he get scribblies which he not want too.") Barbarians do not have general "penalty to languaje, writing and other int based things"; they have something very specific (illiteracy) which goes away completely with the application of two skill points, and for all we know Kraagor has/had an 18 Intelligence. (Kraagor the Barbarian Roy...)

[Optimystik]

Kraagor's use of the third person implies that his INT was low, as other low INT characters refer to themselves in the third person; in addition to Thog, we have the barbarian guild and the island orcs.

Elan is the exception (slightly higher than the others), though even he does it once or twice :smalltongue:

[Tass]

Elan is the exception (slightly higher than the others), though even he does it once or twice :smalltongue:

So does Belkar (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0075.html) :)

[NerfTW]

We've seen four dwarves in this comic who spoke; Durkon, The Gunman, Kraagor, and Hilga. Of those four, two of them had an accent. Not to mention, Durkon actually writes his out, while no other Dwarven script we've seen (and we did see Dwarven script, if you'll recall) has that accent. So it might be possible that some dwarves, either a minority or majority, simply do not have that accent.

There's many more Dwarves in Origin of PCs, and they all talk with Durkon's accent. It's more along the lines of Kraagor and Hilgya are the exceptions to the accents. Since both are not "traditional" dwarves, it's either intentional or a mistake.

[The Extinguisher]

There were only three that talked with an accent in Origns. And one of them was Durkon.

[AxeD]

*Cough*Pratchett*Cough!

If anyone can top that hard act, it'll be The Giant!

[MasterofMockery]

We have seen what, five dwarves in total. Including the ones in Origins.

Three have been lawful, two have been chaotic.
Three spoke with a Scottish accent, two didn't.

Coincidence?

Origins spoiler:
Actually, there was also that priest of Odin. He didn't have an accent.

So yeah, my theories kinda busted.

Wait, does that mean that poor Scottish accents are the key to being a law-abiding dwarf ?

[Zolkabro]

*Cough*Pratchett*Cough!

Skorj said "imitate."
Awesome though Discworld Dwarves are, I doubt many people are going to imitate all dwarves being ambiguously gendered.

[Turkish Delight]

for all we know Kraagor has/had an 18 Intelligence. (Kraagor the Barbarian Roy...)

This is what I'm hoping for, if Kraagor still lives. If anything, Barbarians have an even bigger reputation for being knuckle-dragging morons than fighters. It would be nice to see a subversion; if he isn't a genius, I at least hope the Giant doesn't make him an idiot.

[DoctorJest]

Skorj said "imitate."
Awesome though Discworld Dwarves are, I doubt many people are going to imitate all dwarves being ambiguously gendered.

That started with Tolkien, actually.

"It was said by Gimli that there are few dwarf-women, probably no more than a third of the whole people. They seldom walk abroad except at great need. They are in voice and appearance, and in garb if they must go on a journey, so like to the dwarf-men that the eyes and ears of other peoples cannot tell them apart."
Return of the King, pg. 360 (Apendix A)