There are no alignments in Arda. Some classes require characters to follow a code of conduct.
Your character is fluent with all their starting languages. All characters can speak Low Bacchile (Common), and may know how to speak other languages of Selentia, languages of the various animals (such as birds, fish, and horses), or languages of the various elements (air, earth, fire, plants, water, and their lingua franca, Primordial). Characters may also be able to read languages that they speak if the language has a written form.
Learning new languages may be easy or difficult, depending on the complexity of the new language. Characters can learn new languages by studying with a tutor, spending time living among foreigners and only speaking the language you are trying to learn, or doing both simultaneously.
To learn a new language you must succeed on an Intelligence check after the required period of time has passed. Learning with a tutor requires 4 hours of study every day. Learning by immersion requires 2 months regardless of the complexity of the language, while learning by immersion with a tutor requires only 1 month.
| Complexity | Examples | Intelligence Check | Learning with Tutor |
| Simple | Thieves' Cant | DC 5 | 3 months |
| Typical | Angate, Galdarve, Jezant, Low Bacchile, Nascarine | DC 10 | 6 months |
| Complex | Bakkatun, High Bacchile, Klav, Tellandari | DC 15 | 1 year |
| Esoteric | Ancient Kaikuhuran, Cabbandari, Dakkandi | DC 20 | 1 year |
If you are fluent in a related language (for example, Low Bacchile and High Bacchile; Cabbandari and Tellandari), you receive a +5 bonus to the Intelligence check. Employing a tutor gives you advantage on the Intelligence check.
The first time you succeed on a check, you learn the language to an intermediate level. You must succeed on a second check to become fluent in a language.
When building your character, you can choose to be literate in the alphabet of the languages you speak if any of the following conditions apply:
If you know an alphabet, it is possible to read other languages that use the same alphabet and know what the written words might sound like, without knowing the meaning of the written words.
Learning a new alphabet follows the same process as learning a new language, except that it is not possible to learn an alphabet by immersion.
| Complexity | Examples | Intelligence Check | Learning with Tutor |
| Typical | Classic, Klav | DC 10 | 3 months |
| Complex | Old Emphidian, Runic, Lughwyd | DC 15 | 6 months |
| Esoteric | Qemor | DC 20 | 1 year |
All backgrounds provide you with a Profession proficiency, such as soldier, farmer, blacksmith, or cook. You add your Profession proficiency bonus to any appropriate ability checks.